"You said you're the brother of the goddess Zhuang Rongrong?"
The magistrate looked at the boy in front of him, who was about seven or eight years old. He was dressed in black and had a black paper umbrella on his back with strange symbols on the handle.
"Where is your sister now?"
Yu Shen said calmly, "She's dead. Don't look for the goddess anymore. She's already dead."
The magistrate scoffed, "You think you can just say someone dies like that? How do I know you're not lying?"
"Whether you believe it or not is irrelevant." Yu Chen raised his eyes, his dark pupils radiating black light. The magistrate was instantly struck as if by something, his body stiffening completely.
He was afraid, "You..."
The next second, the black paper umbrella hovered directly above his head, forcibly separating his body and soul and sucking them into the umbrella before closing and flying back into Chen's hand.
The county magistrate died without ever knowing who he had offended or how he had died.
"Zhuang Rongrong, don't lie to me."
A gentle laugh came from inside the umbrella, "Fourth Brother, of course I wouldn't lie to you. Now that you've fallen out with the Heavenly Realm, only by acknowledging that person as your master can you avoid being punished by the Heavenly Realm. Fourth Brother, I'm truly trying to help you."
What do you want from me?
"Resurrect me. Once I'm alive, I'll tell you who that person is."
He chuckled and said to Shen, "You still haven't given up? I told you long ago that you're no match for her."
Inside the umbrella, she became excited. "I don't believe it! How could a mere mortal baby like her be a match for me? Right, go and steal the Mirror of the Past to find out her identity. I want to see what kind of demon she is!"
“That belongs to the Dragon King.”
"That's why I sent you to steal it!"
With a lowered gaze, Yu Chen said, "Zhuang Rongrong, do you know the consequences of lying to me? You will die a terrible death."
"Fourth Brother, I am already dead."
He scoffed, and Zhuang Rongrong became anxious, "Stop laughing, go kill some people first! Souls, I need lots and lots of souls, stop dawdling."
………
You Rong was overjoyed when the Zhou family came.
She ordered the kitchen to prepare a lot of food. In the past, she had no interest in staying in the city lord's mansion, but now that the Zhou family had come, she had someone to talk to.
“Sister, Sisi is well taken care of by us, there’s no need to send a maid.”
When they arrived, the attic where they stayed was already cleaned up, and each of them had their own room. There were also several maids in the building who cleaned it. They usually did the cleaning themselves and never asked the maids for help.
With a mysterious smile, You Rong said, "Sister Qin, these two girls who follow Sisi are quite special. They are skilled in both music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. With them protecting her, we can rest assured when Sisi goes out to play."
Qin was indeed relieved; You Rong's thinking was indeed thorough.
The food was quickly served, and You Rong was about to sit down with Si Si when Sun Changjing suddenly asked, "Who made today's meal? Didn't I tell you beforehand that we needed fine rice because there are many children? Why is it brown rice again?"
The maid who brought the food was so frightened that she immediately knelt down, "Sir, the food was prepared by Chef Zhang."
"Call him over."
Seeing his angry face, Qin quickly stood up to smooth things over, "Sir, it's alright. We're all from the countryside, and we usually eat coarse rice."
However, she hasn't eaten it since Sisi stopped being mentally challenged.
You Rong smiled and said, "Sister Qin, don't ask. Let him manage. These servants in the mansion were bought to work for the master. Now they don't even listen to the master. Of course, they have to be managed."
Qin didn't understand, but she chuckled awkwardly and sat down again.
Soon, Chef Zhang was summoned. He knelt on the ground, trembling, and said, "Sir, it's not that I disobey your orders, but we simply have run out of fine grains."
"No fine grains? Didn't I send people down to collect grain a while ago? It's been so long and they still haven't come back?" Sun Changjing remembered clearly that his wife and niece had gone with him.
He turned to You Rong and asked, "By the way, didn't your niece go with them? Hasn't she come back yet?"
You Rong shook her head, then a look of worry appeared on her face, "He hasn't come back, could something have happened to him?"
"Sir, the grain collectors have returned. They did not receive any grain, and the owner of the grain shop that used to supply us with grain has been arrested. The people who returned said that the grain was stolen by bandits."
"The grain collectors have all returned, why hasn't Ranran come back?" You Rong anxiously pushed Lan'er, "Go and check her place quickly. If no one is there, go and ask the grain collectors."
Lan'er hurriedly ran out.
The Zhou family became embarrassed when the topic of grain collection came up. Sun Changjing asked, "Sister Qin, I remember our Sun family's grain team went to Peach Blossom Village. I heard that only the grain in Peach Blossom Village was not eaten by locusts. Didn't you see the Sun family's grain team?"
The old lady told the truth, "We didn't see the grain team, we only saw Miss You Ran, but for some reason she left. The grain team didn't come either, so we sold the grain to the grain shop in town. To be honest, the robbers stole the grain from our village."
"Is that really true?" Sun Changjing frowned. "These bandits are too arrogant."
"Alas, a year of drought, and now locusts. They must be very worried."
A short while later, Lan'er returned. "Madam, the people who collect the grain said they don't know where Miss Ranran went. They only heard from the grain shop in town that they were out of grain before they came back."
You Rong stood up anxiously, and Sun Changjing was quite frightened. "Be careful, you're still pregnant. Don't worry, I'll have Xu Zhenzhen send someone to look for you."
Everyone ate their meal without tasting it, except for Sisi, Gemstone, Xiaobai, the dragon, the snake, and the bird, who ate with great enjoyment. After the meal, Xiaobai suggested playing hide-and-seek and even dragged Xie Yan along.
Xie Yan had no interest in participating. He was annoyed to see the little guy leading the snake, so he sat in a pavilion and stared blankly. Unexpectedly, he overheard the conversation between the city lord and Xu Zhenzhen.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, sir. Miss Yuran died suddenly. Her body fell off a cliff. The cause of death is unknown. According to those who saw her, a seven or eight-year-old boy was always with her."
"Continue to investigate that boy."
"My lord, the Northern Barbarians are restless. Those bandits are actually Xiongnu in disguise. Their raid on our grain is likely due to the drought and locust plague. In my opinion, the ten-year non-aggression treaty between the Northern Barbarians and Qingyuan is probably going to be void. We should prepare as soon as possible."
Sun Changjing sighed deeply, "The emperor is incompetent, the regent is seriously ill, and if the Northern Di really invade, Qingyuan will only have to wait to die."
"My lord, I believe there is still hope for the Regent's illness, but..."
I couldn't hear Xie Yan after that.
Although he was young, he understood that when two countries went to war, it was the ordinary people who would suffer.
If what he said is true—that the emperor is incompetent, the regent is seriously ill, and no one in Qingyuan is willing to fight—then wouldn't he and his family be caught in the crossfire of war?
Xie Yan felt powerless. If only he were a teenager, he could be on the battlefield fighting the enemy, defending his country, protecting the Zhou family, protecting...
"If you want, you don't even need to be a teenager."
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