Guo Qing felt a chill run down her spine and took two steps back behind Mr. Guo.
"What other evidence do you need? Your valley is the evidence! I asked around, and it cost over a thousand taels of silver to build that valley. You bunch of refugees, you're lucky you didn't starve, where did you get the money to build that valley? You probably stole my brother's money! You're living off the blood of others, you only have your good life today by stepping on my brother's life!"
Li Lao Er turned around and went back into the house, grabbed the account book, and slammed it directly onto the table.
"Back then, we did get several bags of grain and over two hundred taels of silver from the bandits' den. But that doesn't necessarily mean the silver belonged to your Guo family! Besides, we protected your Guo family's collection of books and buried twelve members of the Guo family. Even if the grain and silver belonged to the Guo family, we would still be in the right. That was our due reward!"
"Speaking of building the hot spring valley, it cost more than a thousand taels. Apart from these two hundred taels, the rest was raised with the help of Madam Cui and the Marquis. All the accounts are here. You can check them if you don't believe me."
Hearing Li Lao Er mention the Marquis and Madam Cui, Guo Qing became somewhat more restrained, but still stubbornly argued, "These are your accounts, of course you can write them however you want! The Marquis and Madam Cui are your own people, of course they will speak on your side!"
"Fine, then tell me, what exactly do you want? To go to the government office to reason with them? Come on, we'll see you through to the end!" Old Li Er was also annoyed and reached out to pull Guo Qing out the door.
The villagers joined in the chant, "That's right, go to the government office, and if that doesn't work, file a complaint with the emperor! I refuse to believe there's no place in the world where justice can be served! If saving someone results in a mistake, who will dare to do good deeds in the future!"
Guo Qing was a little scared. He dodged Li Lao Er's tugging and shouted, "There's no need to go to the government office. Nobody has any evidence, and nobody can argue their case. It's easy to resolve this. You took our Guo family's money to build the hot spring resort, so just give the resort back to our family!"
Everyone suddenly understood, their faces filled with disdain.
All this talk of seeking justice and peace of mind is just a bunch of people who are envious of their wealth and have come to snatch it away!
Even Old Master Liu was extremely disappointed, looking at Old Master Guo, "Headmaster, do you also think that since everyone killed your children and grandchildren and stole your money, this hot spring resort should be returned to your Guo family?"
Mr. Guo's eyes were red and his gaze was somewhat vacant. Suddenly, two lines of tears streamed down his face.
"I just want to know how my Guo family's sons and grandsons all died! Were they killed by bandits, or did they die unjustly? As for the manor, what use is it to me now that everyone is dead!"
"No, Uncle, you've no use for it. You can give it to Wenhao. Wenhao's parents are gone, having another business will at least ensure he won't have to worry about food and clothing in the future!"
Guo Qing was afraid that the old man would change his mind, so he moved closer and hurriedly tried to persuade him.
Li Laosi, Liu Biaotou, the village chief, and Madam Cui exchanged glances and nodded with complicated expressions.
Li Laosi walked to the door and shouted, "Brothers who went to kill bandits back then, come in."
Immediately, more than twenty young men crowded the room.
Wu Laosan and Sister-in-law Qiong also moved silently to stand at the front.
Li Laosi glanced at Mr. Guo, his eyes filled with pity, but mostly with anger.
“We were initially soft-hearted and didn’t want the Guo family to be too heartbroken, so we concealed some details. But since the old gentleman has become suspicious, we won’t do anything more.”
He pointed to Wu Laosan and Sister-in-law Qiong and said, "We went there because the bandits kidnapped the child. One of these two is the child's father, and the other is Madam Cui's personal maid. They were both there that day. Let them explain themselves first!"
After saying that, he stepped aside. Sister-in-law Qiong was fine, but Wu Laosan was furious. He didn't care about anything else and started cursing: "You Guo family are really heartless. Did you waste all your education? We risked our lives to kill bandits and went through so much trouble to dig pits and bury your Guo family members!"
He got so angry that his face turned red, and he started talking non-stop.
From the discovery that the child was missing, to the message from the bandits, and then to the sneaking into the mountain stronghold, everyone listened to the details with great tension.
It wasn't until they talked about how the men of the Guo family were stripped naked and hung on trees, frozen solid!
Mr. Guo could no longer contain himself; his face turned deathly pale, and he muttered to himself, "No, no!"
Li Lao Er sneered inwardly and urged, "Continue."
Sister-in-law Qiong began to explain how she jumped into the yard to poison the plants.
Li Laosi then recounted the interrogation of the child who had been captured, explaining that he went to the cellar first to rescue the children. "I went down into the cellar, lit a fire to light it, and the first thing I saw was four children huddled together. They had been frozen to death for a long time, their bodies turning bluish-black. Gousheng was also feverish, so I carried him upstairs first."
Liu, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), also stepped forward. "The bandits in the main house were the leaders. They weren't poisoned, but when they came out and found us, they started fighting. It took me, Lao Si, Jia Yi, Liu Yang, and even Uncle Wu to fight our lives to kill them. We thought there was no one left in the house, but Jia Yi and Liu Yang went to the next room and found four women, all still alive."
He paused, looked at Mr. Guo, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
Mr. Guo's heart suddenly skipped a beat, as if something was telling him that he couldn't listen anymore.
But Guo Qing thought he had caught them red-handed and shouted, "It must be my sisters-in-law? They're all alive? Where are they? Did you kill them?"
Liu, the head镖师 (bodyguard/escort), shook his head and said, word by word, "They are alive, but they are barely clothed and have been violated by the bandits day and night for many days. They are no longer in their right mind. When they saw us, they thought we were bandits too, so they kept kowtowing and begging. They said they would offer their bodies, but they wanted us to spare the children who had already frozen to death!"
Barely clothed? Humiliated for days?
It was as if something exploded in Mr. Guo's brain, causing him to roll his eyes and faint!
Guo Qing was terrified and quickly helped the old man up, shouting, "Where's the doctor? Help!"
Unfortunately, the old doctor Zhang remained seated, drinking tea, and refused to move an inch.
"I'm a doctor, but I only save people, not ungrateful wretches!"
Jiayin was so impressed by the old man that she wanted to applaud him. He said it was so well said!
Although Mr. Guo did not accuse the crowd just now, he suspected that they had killed his son and grandson.
It's truly disheartening!
At this point, it would be good enough if people didn't kick him while he was down and mock him; who would care about his life or death?
In the end, it was Old Master Liu who felt a little sympathy and reached out to pinch the old man's philtrum.
Mr. Guo slowly awoke, tears streaming down his face like a spring. "Impossible, it can't be like this..."
But Liu, the镖头 (bodyguard), didn't stop and continued, "We're all men, so it wasn't appropriate for us to go forward. It was Sister Qiong who comforted them and carried the frozen child into the house. We were busy dealing with the bandits' bodies when we suddenly realized the door was closed. We went to knock, but those women had already hanged themselves!"
Upon hearing this, Guo Qing's expression actually showed a hint of joy, and even Old Master Guo seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
Old Master Liu saw this, remained silent for a moment, and then completely stepped aside.
Here's the update at midnight! The wind outside my window was at least level nine, it was terrifying, and the internet even went down. I finally caught up with the update! Please urge me to update more, please give me a five-star review, please do everything you can, thank you my darlings!
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