Chapter 142 The thatched hut was smashed, and the mother and daughter were both taken away.
"Making this a secret isn't difficult; all we need to do is create a legitimate reason to silence them," Officer Zhao's expression turned particularly ruthless. "Come closer, and this is what you'll do..."
After he finished speaking, several of his subordinates flattered him, saying that he was truly brilliant.
Officer Zhao clicked his tongue and said, "Enough with the nonsense, get to work. I'll be waiting for you here."
"Yes, boss!"
The police officers turned around and ran back to the thatched hut.
Ning Jinli's side.
After she and Xiao Qidi took Xiumei's husband to Medicine King Valley and settled him in with Doctor Lian, they took some contemporary clothes and daily necessities from Medicine King Valley to take back to Xiumei's family.
Although this cannot fundamentally solve her family's predicament, it at least provides substantial help.
The two of them still need to find out why so many absurd things happened in Hewan County, and why Xiumei blamed Xiao Qidi for her husband's misfortune, and even hated him to the core.
The problem here is clearly very serious.
As Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi walked towards the Medicine King Valley cave, Ning Jinli asked, "Aren't the corvée labor and taxes a bit outrageous? The taxes are another story; we've already seen them with our own eyes, and that was just the tip of the iceberg, yet it's already opened my eyes. And judging from Xiumei's family's situation, the corvée labor is also excessive. Shouldn't these two aspects be regulated by officials in the royal city? Didn't you notice anything amiss before?"
Xiao Qidi frowned and said, "I had already learned about all the laws and regulations of the Great Xuan Dynasty, from the capital to the local areas, before my coronation, and I did not find anything unusual. Otherwise, how could I have sat idly by after I took over the reins of government?"
“That’s true,” Ning Jinli nodded slightly. “Then it means that there’s a big problem with the executors below.”
Xiao Qidi frowned. "You mean... the minister in the capital who is in charge of this matter?"
Ning Jinli shook her index finger. "Not necessarily. Maybe they are their subordinates, maybe their subordinates' subordinates, or maybe it's just local officials doing wrong. Anyway, until the investigation is clear, anything is possible. What I mean is, since we don't know who is involved yet, you should keep a low profile and not reveal your identity prematurely. If there are any big fish, they might get away."
"Okay, I understand." Xiao Qidi nodded seriously.
As they talked, the two entered the cave and, in the blink of an eye, passed through a time tunnel and returned to the vicinity of the thatched hut.
After walking only a few steps, they saw in the distance that the thatched hut had collapsed.
"Sister Xiumei! An'an!" Ning Jinli exclaimed and ran over as fast as she could.
However, no one responded to her.
The already dilapidated thatched hut was now in ruins and a complete mess.
Ning Jinli searched through the ruins while calling out.
Xiao Qidi put down the pile of things he was carrying on his shoulder, which he intended to give to Xiumei's family. He squatted down and examined them, and said in a deep voice, "Jinli, judging from the marks, it must have been smashed by someone. There are many footprints and they are messy. It seems that a group of thugs came while we were away."
"Ah! The old lady is here!" Ning Jinli couldn't find Xiumei and her daughter, but she found the old woman under a wooden board.
Xiao Qidi immediately strode over.
The old man was curled up, his eyes tightly closed, his face pale, and bloodstains stained his messy white hair at the temples.
Xiao Qidi quickly checked her breathing and said gravely, "She's still alive, but in very bad condition. She's already old and weak, and then she was injured. Now she's barely breathing..."
"Take her to Medicine King Valley quickly!" Ning Jinli said swiftly. "I'll stay here and continue searching for Xiumei and her daughter!"
Without a word, Xiao Qidi prepared to pick up the old man. At this moment, the old man slowly opened his empty, lifeless eyes, reached out his hands, and groped for Ning Jinli's arm. "Zhao... Constable Zhao... they smashed up my house and... arrested... arrested my daughter-in-law..."
"And what about your granddaughter An'an?" Ning Jinli asked quickly.
Tears welled in the old man's sunken eyes. "They...they also took them away...They said...they were going to...sell them...to pay for their money..."
Ning Jinli didn't have time to think too much. At least now it was confirmed that Xiumei and her daughter were not in any danger.
She held the old man's withered, twig-like hand and said softly, "Don't be afraid, we'll take you to the doctor first."
"Fairy..." With her last ounce of strength, the old woman widened her blind eyes and uttered a hoarse voice, "Please...you must save Xiumei and An'an..."
"Okay!" Ning Jinli readily agreed, "Don't worry! I will definitely make sure nothing happens to them!"
"Thank you... thank you, fairy..." The old lady's body went limp instantly.
"Old lady? Old lady!" Ning Jinli exclaimed in shock.
Xiao Qidi hurriedly checked her breathing and pulse again, then shook his head helplessly at Ning Jinli.
The old man breathed his last, his eyes still open.
Ning Jinli's eyes instantly reddened, and she reached out and slowly closed the old man's eyelids.
After a few seconds of silence, she said to Xiao Qidi, "Let's take her body to Medicine King Valley first. We can't just leave it here like this..."
Ning Jinli paused, the sorrow in her eyes replaced by resentment, "Then find the murderer and tear him to pieces!"
Without delay, she and Xiao Qidi quickly took the old man's body to Medicine King Valley, instructing the people there to keep it safe and not to let anyone know until the old man's son recovered, otherwise it would definitely affect his treatment.
Then, Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi returned to the thatched hut.
“The old lady said the person who took Xiumei away was called Constable Zhao,” Ning Jinli said coldly. “Then she must have been taken to the county government office.”
Xiao Qidi frowned and said, "The old lady also said that An'an was kidnapped and they wanted to sell her to pay off debts. Could it be a personal grudge? Is Xiumei's family in debt to loan sharks and can't pay it back?"
"Let's not worry about what happened for now," Ning Jinli said decisively. "I'll go to the yamen to find out what's going on. You go and save An'an right away."
"good."
The two acted immediately and began their work right away.
Xiumei's family lived in a very remote location, with only a few other households nearby.
Ning Jinli and Xiao Qidi walked along the path Xiumei had led them along for quite a while before finding a house and asking for directions to the yamen.
The family also said that they did see several constables from the yamen escorting a woman.
Ning Jinli immediately went straight to the yamen (government office).
Xiao Qidi stayed behind and continued to inquire, "You should know who the woman the constables are escorting is, right?"
The family members avoided eye contact, indicating that they were too far away to see clearly.
"Are you very afraid of those constables?" Xiao Qidi asked again.
A look of unease flashed across the family's faces, and they quickly told him not to ask any more questions.
"Where is Xiumei's daughter?" Xiao Qidi asked in a deep voice. "Since you saw Xiumei being taken away by the police, you must have seen the little girl as well, right?"
"I don't know, I don't know!"
"We've said everything we need to say. Go ask around elsewhere!"
The family turned around and ran back into their house.
Xiao Qidi quickly stepped forward and spread his arms to block her way. "I won't ask any more questions. Just tell me who took An'an away and where she will be taken."
"Oh dear!" The woman of the house looked distressed. "What good will it do you even if you know? Can you bring An'an back? Let me tell you, no child who's taken away ever comes home! You don't even know this? You must be from out of town! Get out of here! Don't cause trouble, and don't cause trouble for us!"
Xiao Qidi's face tightened. He wanted to press the matter for an answer, but he was worried that it would bring trouble to the family, so he decided not to insist.
The family rushed back into the house and hurriedly closed the door.
Xiao Qidi had no choice but to find An'an's whereabouts on his own.
After a moment's thought, he left and asked around along the way. Fortunately, Hewan County was not large, and in less than half an hour, he arrived at the streets where locals usually bought and sold things.
Then I found a dental clinic and strode inside.
"Oh, please come in, sir!" A plump proprietress with a face full of thick rouge greeted him with a smile, the fragrance of which made Xiao Qidi frown.
The plump proprietress looked him over and asked, "Sir, would you like to buy a maid or a servant?"
Xiao Qidi did not answer immediately, but instead paced back and forth in the front hall, looking left and right.
The plump proprietress had probably seen many customers and had her own way of judging people, but she couldn't see through this young man for the time being.
He was unshaven, dressed in the coarse linen clothes that ordinary people wear, and looked like he had been wandering outside for a long time.
You might say he's poor, but his physique, appearance, and demeanor, especially the air of nobility that inadvertently emanates from his eyes, are things that a poor person wouldn't expect.
Could it be... the son of a once-wealthy but now impoverished family?
“Sir,” the plump proprietress asked tentatively with a smile, “could it be that you’re not here to buy a slave, but rather to sell yourself?”
Xiao Qidi didn't notice anything amiss in the front hall, so he asked, "Are there any other brokers here?"
“Yes, of course,” the plump proprietress leaned closer, waving a silk handkerchief in her hand. “They introduce shops, help people buy houses and livestock, and even lend money to people… there are so many.”
Xiao Qidi said with a serious expression, "I'm talking about someone like you."
The plump proprietress looked smug. "Oh, then I'm the only one left."
"So..." Xiao Qidi's eyes narrowed slightly, "Do you have any maids here?"
"Yes, I have them!" the plump proprietress patted her chest and said, "Tall or thin, fat or short, lively or quiet, skillful or hardworking, I have them all here. If I don't have them, you won't find them anywhere else."
Xiao Qidi uttered a few words calmly, "Are there any four or five years old?"
The plump proprietress paused for a moment, then burst into laughter and said, "Hahaha, you're really joking. This is a legitimate brokerage, not a human trafficker. I only accept those who voluntarily sell themselves into slavery. Who has ever seen a four- or five-year-old child who knows how to sign a contract of servitude? Even if someone wanted to sign, I wouldn't dare to accept them!"
"Then do you know where I can buy it?" Xiao Qidi continued to ask.
The plump proprietress's face twitched, as if she was about to lose her composure. Her tone turned cold as she said, "If you're sincerely looking to buy a servant, I can give you some good recommendations. But if you're just here to cause trouble, then you'd better leave."
Xiao Qidi plopped down on a chair in the front hall. "I won't leave until I get the answer I want."
"You..." The plump proprietress's eyes hardened, then she put her hands on her hips and sneered, "Fine, if you're not leaving, then you're not leaving! Someone, come here!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the curtain of the back door of the front hall was lifted, and several burly men with dark skin rushed out carrying sticks.
Xiao Qidi glanced at him sideways and said casually, "Is this how you do business? Getting into a fight with a customer, isn't that a bit inappropriate?"
“It’s alright if I don’t do business today,” the plump proprietress swayed her waist as she walked to the shop door, closed it herself, then walked up to Xiao Qidi, extended her small, radish-like index finger, hooked Xiao Qidi’s chin, and said with a smile, “I’m running a legitimate business, but that doesn’t mean I can be easily fooled. I can tell at a glance that you have no experience in the ways of the world. You’ll stay here as a laborer from now on. If you perform well, given your good looks, maybe you can serve me.”
Xiao Qidi chuckled, "Working as a laborer here? And serving you? You're probably not qualified."
"You'll find out soon enough whether he's qualified or not." The plump proprietress licked her lips, stepped back to the side, and waved her hand, saying, "Go ahead and teach this kid a lesson, but don't ruin his face."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Several burly men immediately swung their clubs and pounced on Xiao Qidi.
——
Meanwhile, Ning Jinli, who was acting alone, had already arrived at the Hewan County Government Office.
The county government office was tightly shut, and there wasn't even a single yamen runner on guard.
Ning Jinli looked left and right and noticed a large drum outside the yamen gate.
She knew this thing was called a "road drum," and it had existed long before this era; it was something that appeared in period dramas when scenes of people beating drums to appeal for justice were shown.
Anyway, we have to get the county government gates open.
So she went over, picked up the drumsticks, and started banging them down.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The drumbeats were muffled, but extremely penetrating.
A short while later, the gates of the county government office opened.
A constable ran out and saw that the person beating the drum was a young girl whose clothes and appearance clearly indicated that she was from the lower class. He then shouted with a stern face, "What are you doing!"
Ning Jinli threw down the drumsticks. "I'm already drumming, why are you asking me what I'm doing? Of course, I have something to say! Quick, let me see your county magistrate."
The constable stared intently at Ning Jinli's face, scrutinizing her several times before suddenly changing his mind and saying, "In that case, come with me."
Ning Jinli immediately followed her inside.
Once inside the yamen, they hadn't gone far when the yamen runner leading the way suddenly drew his sword and held it to her neck, shouting, "The woman who tried to break through the checkpoint has walked right into our trap! Someone, come quick!"
Two constables arrived immediately and quickly restrained Ning Jinli's arms.
The constable leading the way sneered, "You've got some nerve! We're out there arresting you all, and you dare to come to the yamen on your own, only to run into me, the one guarding the checkpoint. I remember your face all too well!"
"Throw her into jail, and let the warden take good care of her so we can interrogate her later!"
Ning Jinli's shoulders and arms were being pinched painfully by the two constables. She could have easily broken free, or even overpowered them, but considering that Xiumei was probably in a cell as well, and that she would be thrown in there soon anyway, she silently endured it.
Soon, she was taken to a dark and damp cell...
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