Sure enough, Liao Fusheng's attention was diverted, and he exclaimed in surprise, "This piece is engraved with the two characters 'Zhen Zhu,' and this one has the character 'Fan.' Could they belong to the Zhen family and the Fan family?"
Li Ruo said, "Do you remember that Zhen Huan, whom we killed before, was instigated by Song Zhijing to come to General Mountain? At that time, the rest of the Zhen family were in Beishan. They must have joined forces with Princess Yongjia and the others later. Do you think this jade pendant might have been taken by them when they were in Beishan?"
Liao Fusheng nodded: "Aren't those family heads still being held captive by Xie Xiao? Why don't we just ask them?"
"Hmm. I was thinking, if these things were taken from Beishan, who is the most likely person to have them?"
They exchanged a glance and simultaneously thought of the same name: Song Zhijing.
Liao Fusheng looked at the hairpins again and said, "These are not things that ordinary women can afford. I've heard that there are many wealthy families in Beishan."
"Song Zhijing took in those refugees; he might have been the one who ordered them to steal or rob."
Liao Fusheng was somewhat worried, "If Song Zhijing took the things, how did they end up in the hands of the Prince of Jiangning? It was clearly the Prince of Runan who took over Beishan."
“That’s right. I remember Xie Xiao saying last time that when the Prince of Runan went to Beishan, he only received Song Zhijing’s remaining soldiers and a few thousand catties of grain. There were no treasures. So, could these be things that Song Zhijing hid and that ended up in the hands of the Prince of Jiangning?”
Li Ruoyue felt increasingly uneasy.
Could it be... that he's not dead?
Liao Fusheng had the same thought as her, "And then they sought refuge with the Prince of Jiangning?"
Unable to figure it out, Li Ruo decided to stop thinking about it for the time being and changed the subject, "How are the newly recruited people? Are they obedient?"
Liao Fusheng said, "It's alright."
Li Ruo: "The situation is a bit serious now. We need soldiers, soldiers who are at the forefront. So, while being cautious, we still need to recruit more people."
Now that Xie Xiao already knows she can exchange gold and silver for overseas goods, she no longer needs to hold back. It's time for her to make a big move and turn the tables.
"It seems to be getting colder and colder."
It is both a challenge and an opportunity.
The next day, the temperature dropped to minus two degrees Celsius.
The rain continued and then it started snowing. The worst kind of sleet weather had arrived. Yang Huahua ran over and said that many people had frozen to death at the foot of Ziyang Peak.
The dead were not from Black Wind Stronghold or Purple Sun Peak, but the refugees who joined these two gangs were spared.
Most of those who didn't join felt that going it alone offered more freedom, while a small portion believed that the imperial court wouldn't abandon them and that they would eventually get their turn if they just waited. Joining Black Wind Stronghold, on the other hand, was considered rebellion and would result in the extermination of nine generations of one's family.
This idea would seem unbelievable in modern times.
However, in ancient times, when the divine right of kings meant that the emperor was the embodiment of heaven, this was a real phenomenon.
They died, and the imperial court didn't even send anyone to rescue them.
But so many bodies must be dealt with.
Otherwise, not only would it stink, but it would also breed plagues.
When the plague comes, everyone will die.
Li Ruo then learned that Black Wind Village had cleared out a piece of land on the mountain specifically for burying corpses, and those large pits were on the west side of the mountain, which was quite far away.
In recent days, Xie Xiao has had his brothers bury countless corpses.
Li Ruoxin wondered, when he retrieved the bodies of the original owner's family in the book, where did he bury them?
This feeling is very strange.
Li Ruo thought of the "evil trash can" in her space. Picking up corpses could earn her points, but—ugh—she killed them herself. Picking them up was fine, but she still couldn't bring herself to do it to the others.
Because so many people had died, Xie Xiao personally led his brothers over, and Li Ruo followed them.
Accompanying them was Sun, the village doctor.
Sun Langzhong said, "Most of them froze to death, some died from high fever caused by colds, and others starved to death. Those who starved to death had bloated abdomens, probably from tree bark."
Xie Xiao frowned suddenly. "There are some things that I'm afraid we can't hold back anymore."
Just then, a scream rang out from not far away, "Give me back my daughter, you heartless bastards!"
They ran over and saw a group of people, both men and women, holding down an older woman. When they saw people coming, they quickly blocked the pot behind them.
Li Ruo slashed out with a palm, sending the man blocking the pot flying. Upon seeing what happened, he almost vomited.
"That's an absolute beast!" Yang Huahua kicked the pot over, knocking it to the ground.
Xie Xiao's eyes were as dark as the underworld. "Everyone who ate this pot of food should be buried."
Then he looked at the people around him and shouted, "I said before that cannibalism is not allowed on General Mountain. Anyone who violates this rule will be killed without exception. Did you all just ignore me?"
The arrested men wailed in pain, and some even shouted defiantly.
"If we don't eat people, are we just going to wait to die?"
"One person died, but our whole family was saved."
"Who do you think you are, telling us what to do? It's survival of the fittest, so what if we eat people—huh!"
The person who said this was immediately beheaded by Xie Xiao. He shouted, "Who begged me to take charge in the first place! In General Mountain, it is under the jurisdiction of our Black Wind Stronghold. No cannibalism, no rape or plunder, no urinating or defecating anywhere. I said it long ago, you bunch of bastards, if you don't like it, come and fight, otherwise you'd better follow the rules!"
No one dared to utter a sound.
Only the woman who had lost her daughter remained, weeping uncontrollably.
The dead were transported away in carts made of wooden planks.
Even Li Ruo, who considered herself to have experienced countless deaths and carnage, found the scene horrifying.
"Xie Xiao, if we're going to clean this up, let's do it thoroughly," Li Ruo said.
What suggestions do you have?
"How about conducting a large-scale population survey at General Mountain?"
Xie Xiao's expression shifted slightly.
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