When Cheng Ruyi woke up, it was already broad daylight.
It still didn't snow today, but the sky was even more gloomy than yesterday. Ruyi opened the window to feel the cold wind, and she couldn't help but shiver instantly.
The temperature seems to have dropped again...
As for everything in the villa, it seemed to have been unaffected. If it weren't for the dozen or so bandits lying in the main room, it would have been no different from usual.
Earlier, Cheng Yan and Cheng Yunping had gone into the city to report to the county government. Just as Ruyi finished her hearty breakfast, the county government's yamen runners arrived at the villa, intending to take all the bandits back for imprisonment and interrogation.
Jiang Dutou spotted Cheng Ruyi at a glance. He walked over and told her that after the government finished interrogating these prisoners, they might be summoned at any time. He advised the Cheng family to be careful during this period and not to be late or absent.
Oh, so this means they want their family members to prepare a unified statement in advance.
After listening, Cheng Ruyi said she understood and handed over a heavy money bag. Jiang Dutou happily accepted it and then loudly instructed the yamen runners to be careful and not to damage the Cheng family's belongings when moving the bandits.
After the county officials left, she leisurely inspected all the surrounding areas to make sure there were no problems before returning to her room to check the system's progress on the mission.
Task Details:
Main Quest: Defend Our Homeland (Completion Level: A)
Side Quest 1: No Family Members Injured (Completion Level: A)
Side Quest 2: Uncover the Truth Behind the Incident (Incomplete)
Side Quest 3: Capture the bandits from Wolong Village (Completion: A)
Hidden Mission 1: No villagers in Lishan Village have died (Completion Level: A)
Hidden Mission 2: Find the defense map of Wolong Village (Completion: A)
Note: Both side quests and main quests will have a significant impact on the future, so please approach them with caution.
The main mission of defending our homeland has clearly been completed, and quite well at that.
In fact, when she was reviewing the task yesterday, she found that the definition of "homeland" was rather vague. Ruyi could only guess that in addition to family members, it should also include the old house in the county town, the Lishan villa, and the official road shop.
The old house in the county town is now basically used as a snack shop that is open during the day. There are no valuables inside, and no one lives there except on special days. Although bandits should not dare to attack the county town, she still asked Guo Qinglan to help look after it yesterday, so it seems that the old house is safe now.
She had already prepared the Lishan Villa early in the morning. Last night, after everyone had gone to sleep, she secretly hid the secret planting base with a concealment array to prevent anyone with ulterior motives from breaking in and discovering the trick. Of course, she removed the array before going back to her room to sleep in the morning.
So apart from accidentally damaging some furniture during the fight with the bandits and having a few ordinary chickens scared to death and some vegetables trampled by the various noises and screams throughout the night, Lishan Villa was basically unharmed. No matter how you look at it, it was definitely a successful protection.
Surprisingly, no bandits visited the shops along the official road last night. According to Tao Fei's report, even the snow walls outside were intact, which was quite strange. She had prepared herself for the system to deduct points for the shops losing some property.
In any case, the main quests of the system will definitely give the most spiritual energy, and it would be the best if you could successfully get an "A" rating.
As for the other three side quests, they were just as she had guessed, all revolving around the main storyline. As long as you put your heart into it, you can usually complete them smoothly.
The reason why the side quests haven't been completed yet is probably because they're waiting for the county government's case closure announcement. This isn't a big problem; she could guess it. Someone as smart as Luo Xian couldn't possibly not find out.
This time, the presence of two hidden missions was quite unexpected for Ruyi, especially the first one: no one in Lishan Village had died...
She looked at the task and fell into deep thought.
She had personally participated in the situation in Lishan Village last night, so she was fairly clear about it. The first wave of bandits was almost all wiped out outside the village last night. Only a few escaped and sneaked in, but they were quickly subdued by the villagers.
She vaguely remembered that several villagers were injured, but she went to check on them. She immediately gave those with more serious injuries special medicine. She never expected that this casual act would help her complete a hidden mission. She really hit the jackpot!
So it seems the system is encouraging her to do more good deeds~~ Hmm, it feels great to be rewarded for good deeds!
The next day, the entire Cheng family, including the village chiefs from several nearby villages, were summoned to the county government office for questioning. Fortunately, the Cheng family had experienced a lot during this period, so even the women who were entering the county government office for the first time did not appear too nervous. In addition, Cheng Ruyi's calm attitude, as if she were chatting with a friend, made them gradually feel at ease. Xu Cui, in particular, became more and more excited as she talked. Seeing that the topic was gradually going astray and she even started asking about the family situation of several yamen runners, Ruyi had no choice but to simply pull her away.
There was another thing that Ruyi discovered unexpectedly.
Although most of the ordinary bandits used weapons like wooden sticks or knives, the dozens of real bandits were all armed with broadswords. After they were subdued, she even examined the broadswords they had left behind.
Dai Viet has been at war for so many years that ironware is in short supply. Without connections, it would be impossible to buy a large sword like this that can be used to cut people.
Moreover, these broadswords are quite strange. They look as if they were recently made, brand new. There are no signs of use on the blade or handle, but the blade has several curled edges or chips, which means they were made recently with inferior materials. So, we might be able to find an entry point for the investigation here.
She didn't know if Luo Xian would listen to her, but she told Peng Zhubu everything, including the details. After that, it was no longer her concern.
Originally, it was thought that it would take some time for the county government to make a decision, but unexpectedly, it was done very quickly. Three days later, these bandits were publicly tried in the county government hall.
This was a rare public trial held by the county government, and the people of Huaishan County were incredibly curious, crowding the area outside the courthouse early in the morning.
After interrogation, everyone learned that most of these so-called bandits were actually refugees who had fled to the area during this period. After wandering around for many days and having nowhere else to go, they were taken in by different mountain strongholds.
Who knew that they were also starving and freezing in the mountain stronghold, and were often bullied and almost couldn't survive.
Just then, everyone heard a rumor that a group of very powerful bandits had come to carry out a big heist the previous night. It was said that these powerful bandits were ruthless killers, but they had a clear objective. If they wanted to get some benefits from their scheme, they had to follow their plan.
So these half-baked bandits followed the plan of those unknown but powerful bandits. They had arrived at the outer woods by noon yesterday and lay in ambush there for most of the day. Because the snow was thick enough, the villagers did not notice them.
According to Shan's original plan, this group of rabble should have focused their attacks on the outer villages. However, these refugees were not stupid. They knew that the villages closer to the county town were definitely richer. So, many of them secretly changed positions and joined the attack on the richer villages. This unexpectedly resulted in the first and second waves of attacks on the two outer villages not having many people.
What's even more surprising is that it wasn't just a few villages near Cheng Ruyi's home that were attacked last night; many villages around Huai Shan County were also attacked by bandits. However, the number of bandits attacking other villages was not large. It seems that this other group of bandits must have heard the rumors but did not join in, and just wanted to take advantage of the chaos.
As for the casualties and losses last night, they were not very serious. Compared to the tragic situation in Tianlou Town before, it could even be said that the bandits suffered a great defeat and the ordinary people won a great victory.
The onlookers couldn't help but express their opinions on the matter.
"This shows that the snow wall and patrol teams are indeed very useful. The government did a really good job this time!"
"What do you know! I heard that this was proposed by the patriarch of the Zhou family. My aunt's wife's eldest nephew lives in the Zhou family's village. They started doing this a week before the government made the proposal!"
"Huh? I heard it was the idea of the philanthropist Cheng? I saw them building a snow wall when I passed through Lishan and ate spicy hot pot half a month ago. I even asked them about it then!"
"Is this the branch of Cheng's Snack Shop at the foot of Lishan Mountain? What's it like there? Is it less crowded? How's the food?"
"Wow, there are far fewer people! The place is also big enough that there's no need to queue at all. As for the taste... I think it actually tastes even better."
"Really? I'll try it sometime. There are always so many people queuing up at the Cheng family's snack stall in the county town!"
"Speaking of which, didn't any of you notice? Those refugees were saying that a group of very powerful mountain bandits were planning a big heist, but in the end, no one explained clearly what it was about or whether it actually happened."
"Since no one has mentioned it, it must have failed, right?"
"Tsk tsk tsk~~~ In my opinion, there's no such thing at all. Those refugees were just fooled!"
"No way? They're so unlucky."
"How can you call this bad luck? These people attacked the village with the intention of killing and robbing. They clearly brought this on themselves!"
"Sigh... It's all because this world is so unfair. When will we be able to live a peaceful life?"
Cheng Ruyi and Guo Qinglan sat together in the room next to the courtroom to listen to the trial, and naturally they also paid attention to what the people outside were saying.
Yes, when will this world ever be a little more peaceful? She feels like she's been incredibly busy every day since she arrived here. She's even experienced several thrilling and dangerous situations. If this continues, will she suddenly die again?
Huh? If I die suddenly here, can I travel back in time?
"Do you think those refugees are telling the truth? Were they really instigated to act according to the plan? What exactly is this so-called big heist?" Guo Xiaoyu listened very attentively the whole time, and unable to suppress her curiosity any longer, she asked, "Sister Cheng, do you have any inside information?"
Cheng Ruyi calmly took a sip of tea, but silently thought to herself: the real target of those so-called ruthless bandits was probably herself.
But what exactly did those bandits discover? Why were they targeting their family like this?
Was it because of the bald guy incident? Was it because their family's rise to prominence was too rapid? Or was it because of the friction a month ago regarding the hiring of female workers? Could it be that they discovered her secret? If that's the case, it'll be troublesome.
"Ahem, I'm not too sure either. Although a few bandits have entered our courtyard, their martial arts skills are just average. They don't seem to be the very powerful bandits they described. Maybe they really have been deceived?" Ruyi dared not admit that she might be their target, so she could only try to gloss over the situation.
Unexpectedly, Guo Qinglan suddenly spoke up: "Actually... thieves also infiltrated the Zhou family that night. I don't know the specifics of what happened, but it seems very likely that the bandits' target was the Zhou family!"
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