"That's really strange. Logically speaking, it should take about ten days for a child to grow this big!" The speaker gestured with his hand to indicate the height of four fingers.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nuan smiled slightly and explained softly, "I used a secret method to accelerate its growth, which is why it grew so fast. It's the same as a normally grown plant, so there won't be any problems."
"Fifth sister-in-law," Huang Sisao waved her hand and said, "Don't overthink it. We're not thinking anything of it. We just find it strange and are a little curious."
This is a classic case of "protesting too much," and Jiang Nuan silently lowered her head.
Sure enough, it was impossible to hide it from these farmers who deal with crops year after year.
“What’s there to be curious about?” Xie rolled her eyes. “It’s just that they grow a little faster. What’s so strange about that? Everyone has their own tricks up their sleeves. These seedlings have all grown up day by day, and we’ve all watched them grow.”
She pursed her lips and continued, "It's nothing. My mother can still grow vegetables in winter. It's a small thing, nothing to make a fuss about."
These people are just overthinking things.
Although she was also surprised, she wouldn't make a fuss about it.
joke!
She stares at the rice seedlings in the backyard every day; it would be too embarrassing for her to be so loud and boisterous like these people.
"Growing vegetables in winter?" Sister Huang covered her mouth, her eyes gleaming with a hint of excitement. "My God, is this really true?"
“This is not unusual,” Jiang Nuan explained. “I heard that there are such estates in the capital, but they are very troublesome and require careful maintenance. They also require a lot of capital, and ordinary families cannot afford to maintain them.”
"I see," Sister-in-law Huang said with some disappointment. "That's true. Those kinds of precious things are beyond the reach of ordinary farmers like us. Let's just forget about it."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nuan moved her lips but did not speak.
She does know how to grow vegetables, but with such harsh conditions, greenhouse vegetable cultivation is not feasible for widespread adoption. Let her explore for two years and find the knack before making any progress.
After dividing up the seedlings, these people didn't stay long, and the courtyard quickly returned to peace.
When the inspector came to the house, the family was cleaning the yard, which was covered in mud because of the rice seedlings.
Jiang Nuan was very surprised to see who had arrived.
“Madam Jiang,” Inspector Niu cupped his hands in greeting, “My advisor and I have some questions, and we hope Madam Jiang can enlighten us.”
"About Qingfeng Temple?" Jiang Nuan asked tentatively.
"right."
Then, Inspector Niu briefly explained the situation.
"So, you suspect that Qingfeng Temple has attracted the attention of higher-ups?"
Jiang Nuan did not suppress her surprise.
This was truly because it was beyond her comprehension.
Throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty, there were countless bandit dens, but Qingfeng Temple, a fake Taoist temple that was inconspicuous and well-secretly maintained, attracted attention. Ordinary people would never dare to think that way.
“Yes,” Inspector Niu said with a wry smile, “The county magistrate said that the people from above will arrive tomorrow. If Madam Jiang knows anything, I hope you will enlighten me.”
“Speaking of unusual things,” Jiang Nuan said slowly, turning her eyes, “there really are some.”
She carefully went through the matter and suddenly sensed that something was wrong.
"Qingfeng Temple is a well-defended place with quick and efficient personnel deployment. It doesn't seem like a rabble, but rather like... a large organization."
"Furthermore, they must have a powerful backer. They have no shortage of controlled resources like iron and horses, and everyone has a bow and arrow or a broadsword."
"A knife? A bow and arrow?" Inspector Niu stood up in shock. "How come I didn't see any?"
He only saw people who were half-dead!
"Well," Jiang Nuan awkwardly touched her nose, "we've worked hard all night, we should get something in return, shouldn't we?"
Upon hearing this, Inspector Niu lowered his eyes.
He felt that those words were extremely shameless!
The Qingfeng Temple is such a large place, yet the government officials didn't even get a sip of the soup. The blue bricks were all pried off. It's obvious who did it.
He was envious, but there was nothing he could do.
That wasn't just three people, it was three villages, hundreds of people in total. Even the county government couldn't afford to offend them.
What's more, these people are tough guys who have blood on their hands.
"Knives and arrows are controlled items and cannot be privately possessed," the clerk, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Nuan chuckled and said, "Knives and arrows cannot be kept privately, but farm tools are not. It would be good to melt them down and make a couple of hoes for the family."
Upon hearing this, Inspector Niu said sourly, "With so much stuff, isn't Madam Jiang afraid of overeating?"
The county government's warehouse didn't even have that many weapons, yet these people stole them.
"How about this," Jiang Nuan said, feeling a little embarrassed by the look, "I'll have them share a few with you."
Giving it up is absolutely out of the question; sharing it out a few times is the limit.
There were only a little over two hundred knives and a little over one hundred bows and arrows in total, not even enough for them to share.
The county government has already gotten a great deal; they can't possibly leave them with nothing at all.
"Ten knives are not enough to go around."
"Okay, ten rounds it is."
Upon hearing this, Inspector Niu regretted his actions.
If he had known that Madam Jiang would agree so readily, he should have asked for fifty.
The advisor shared the same thought, giving Inspector Niu a disappointed look before continuing, "Let's get back to the main topic. What else has Madam Jiang discovered?"
“There’s something else that’s strange. Last night, they didn’t fight to the death. A significant portion of them didn’t participate at all; instead, they retreated directly.” Jiang Nuan sighed. “When they left, they took a large amount of silver and weapons with them.”
"Is Jiang Niangzi sure?" Inspector Niu became completely serious. "They still have weapons?"
"I'm 90% sure. I found a curved knife hanging on the wall in the storeroom, and a gun handle that was broken in half. It must be the storeroom where the weapons are stored."
"Could you bring it over so that I may have a look?"
"Wait a moment, I'll go get it right away."
The scimitar was indeed with her; she felt that the broadsword did not suit her dignified and delicate temperament, so she took the only scimitar.
She examined it carefully and found no marks or large knives on it. It seemed that the two men would be returning empty-handed if they tried to find clues here.
And that was indeed the case. The two of them lay there for a long time, their eyes were blurry, but they still couldn't find anything special.
"Madam Jiang, I'd like to..."
“No,” Jiang Nuan refused before Inspector Niu could finish speaking. “There’s only one of these curved knives, and it doesn’t have any special markings. It’s the same as the broadsword. You can take that one, but I won’t give you this one.”
She always felt that if she agreed this time, the weapon would be gone forever.
Having finally obtained a weapon for self-defense, Jiang Nuan was unwilling to give it away easily.
"Would you like to reconsider?"
“There’s no room for discussion,” Jiang Nuan glanced at the two of them. “If I were you, I would hurry to Qingfeng Temple to investigate and see if there are any more clues.”
"Madam Jiang is really... assertive," the advisor said unhappily.
He had never seen such an arrogant widow.
Given his status, even the clan chief of Huangjiakou would have to show him respect, yet he felt absolutely no fear or apprehension towards this widow.
Seeing the clerk's dark face, Inspector Niu quickly changed the subject, "Clerk, Madam Jiang is right. Let's hurry to Qingfeng Temple."
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