Zhuang Li returned to the capital with the King of Qi overnight. Before leaving, he wanted to take Zhuang Laoer, Liu Chunhua, and Zhuang Jiuge with him, but the three disagreed. They were ordinary people with no greed and could not adapt to the life of a prince.
Zhuang Li went with him to treat the King of Qi. What right did they have to do that?
So Zhuang Lao Er repeatedly declined the King of Qi's invitation.
"In that case, this villa will be given to my father-in-law. The title deed is on the desk in the study, and my father-in-law's name has already been written on it. You can go and get it yourself." After leaving these words, the King of Qi carried Zhuang Li onto the carriage and left in a leisurely manner.
Zhuang Lao Er: “!!!”
The Prince of Qi's convoy had already disappeared into the night, leaving only a few scattered torches flickering in the distance. Zhuang Lao Er murmured in disbelief, "What did the Prince just call me?"
Liu Chunhua shook her head stiffly: "I didn't hear it clearly either."
Zhuang Jiuge snorted coldly, "He called you father-in-law twice, then left a house as a betrothal gift for my eldest brother and left! He did it on purpose!"
Zhuang Jiuge swung his sleeves and walked into the courtyard, vowing, "In the future, I will study hard, pass the imperial examination, become a high-ranking official, and possess power that surpasses that of the King of Qi! One day, I will rescue my eldest brother! He did this for our family!"
Zhuang Laoer and Liu Chunhua: "..."
---
The family of three didn't sleep well. When they woke up the next day, Zhuang Jiuge decided to go back to Luoxia Village.
When the guards were helping him move his things, they missed a stack of manuscripts. They were all the result of his painstaking efforts over the past few years. It was such a pity to lose them.
When he went out, dozens of guards left by the King of Qi immediately surrounded him and said they wanted to go together.
Zhuang Jiuge's repeated refusal was useless, so he had no choice but to lead this group of people.
At the moment, he was wearing a golden and red auspicious cloud brocade robe, a mutton-fat white jade hair crown, suede boots, and holding a fragrant ivory folding fan. Behind him was a group of tall and strong guards holding big swords, walking in the villa in a mighty manner.
If someone who didn't know the truth saw him, they would probably think he was some kind of prince or noble.
"Brothers, isn't it inappropriate for me to be dressed like this? Where are my own clothes?" When they reached the gate, Zhuang Jiuge hesitated to step out.
"Mr. Zhuang asked us to burn the young master's clothes." The guard replied respectfully.
"My eldest brother ordered it to be burned?" Zhuang Jiuge blinked, then nodded helplessly, "Forget it then. I'll wear whatever my brother tells me to wear."
The guard handed over a cloth bag and said, "This is full of amulets. Young Master, you can take them down the mountain and distribute them to the villagers of Luoxia Village. With the amulets, they will never be deceived by Zhuang Tianer again. This is what Mr. Zhuang said before he left."
"Brother, you're so kind! You even thought of the villagers before you left!" Zhuang Jiuge immediately took the cloth bag and waved, "Let's go!"
Three quarters of an hour later, the group marched into Luoxia Village, only to find a crowd gathered in front of Zhuang Tianer's house. From the courtyard, they could hear Zhuang Laoda's furious roar: "Call the police! I must call the police! You stole my silver! Old Liu, is that you? You're the most agile, you could easily have climbed over the wall and gotten in without making a sound! Old Dong, and you, too, can you make a drug to knock us out!"
"Okay, let's report it to the police! I was just about to sue your Zhuang Tian'er for misleading people and stealing property. She is an evil spirit! I will let the county magistrate burn her to death!" Old Liu said loudly.
Old Dong looked at the surrounding villagers and said, "There are more people who have been bewitched by Zhuang Tian'er than just the two of us. Let's all go to the county town and serve as witnesses!"
Some people responded loudly, some looked timid, and some turned around and sneaked away.
Most people are still afraid of Zhuang Tianer.
At this moment, Zhuang Jiuge walked over, took out the amulets from the bag, and distributed them to the villagers one by one: "This is a amulet made by my brother. Take it. With this amulet, Zhuang Tianer can't harm you."
When everyone heard this, they quickly gathered around and scrambled to take the amulet away.
Boss Zhuang glared at Zhuang Jiuge angrily, but was afraid of the group of guards around him. He did not dare to come over to grab the talisman, let alone shout at him.
Old Liu and Old Dong unfolded the talismans on their palms and explained: "That's right, it's because of the talisman from the Scholar that we both woke up. Yesterday, the evil spirit Zhuang Tianer tried to cast a spell on me, but my talisman immediately burned my palm and protected me. The talisman from the Scholar is really effective. With it, we don't have to be afraid of Zhuang Tianer at all."
The so-called burning palms were just an illusion of the two, but the villagers had no idea of the truth. They believed it.
Zhuang Li's authority had long surpassed Zhuang Tian'er's, and when Zhuang Jiuge returned to the village, he was dressed in splendid attire and surrounded by guards, looking incredibly impressive. Whatever the brothers had given him must be something good!
Furthermore, Old Liu and Old Dong were not polite to Zhuang Tianer at all. From yesterday to today, they were fine and had not encountered any bad luck at all. Instead, Zhuang Tianer's family was in trouble. This talisman must be useful!
Thinking of this, the villagers completely overcame their obedience and fear of Zhuang Tianer, completely broke free from her psychological control, and became clear-headed.
"Let's go, let's all go into the city and file a complaint! We didn't steal Boss Zhuang's money at all. It's obvious that Zhuang Tian'er is trying to steal his property by tricking people into giving her money!"
Someone shouted, and everyone raised their hands in response, "Let's go! Let's go testify for Old Liu and Old Dong!"
"I want to sue the authorities too! I am the best at climbing trees, so Zhuang Tianer often asked me to climb the trees to pick fruits for her. All the sweet fruits that her family took to the market to sell were picked by me. Once she saw a hawthorn tree growing on the edge of a cliff, so she asked me to pick hawthorns for her, and I almost fell off the cliff and died!" said a little boy of twelve or thirteen years old indignantly.
His mother quickly hugged him and asked in a trembling voice, "Why didn't you tell me you were back?"
"Zhuang Tianer asked me to forget those things, so I forgot them. I just remembered them when I got the talisman from Xiucaigong." The little boy patted his chest in fear.
His mother glared at Zhuang Tianer with bloodshot eyes and screamed, "Sue the authorities! We must sue the authorities! Burn Zhuang Tianer, this evil spirit!"
"My Xing'er must have been killed by Zhuang Tian'er! My Xing'er went fishing on the frozen lake and fell into a hole in the ice and drowned, but his fishing net was missing. During the days of my family's funeral, Boss Zhuang and his family stewed fish every day. Do you remember? The aroma of his fish filled the entire village, and you all gathered in my mourning hall to discuss it. You said that Boss Zhuang could still catch fish in the winter because of Zhuang Tian'er, but did Boss Zhuang ever go fishing on the lake? Did any of you see it? Those fish must have been caught by my Xing'er!"
A middle-aged woman with a haggard face shouted at the top of her lungs.
Zhuang Tianer was overly confident in her abilities, believing she could easily control anyone, so she acted without caution. Now that she was no longer blessed, the clues she left behind were quickly discovered.
Even a loss of life had been involved, and the villagers hated Zhuang Tianer even more. They raised their fists and shouted loudly: "Burn her to death, burn her to death, burn her to death!"
Seeing this scene, Boss Zhuang, who was determined to report to the authorities, became afraid and begged everyone to calm down. He also kept saying that he didn't want the hundreds of taels of silver and wanted to forget about the theft.
The villagers, who had never stolen anything from his house, naturally would not let it go. They were determined to tie Zhuang Tianer up and take her to the government office to burn her to death.
Seeing everyone rushing to tear down the courtyard wall and fence gate, Zhuang Tianer, who was hiding behind her father, shrieked, "The prince knows about my affairs. I'm going to go to him and sue you! The prince is an upright man. He won't allow you to resort to lynching!"
Zhuang Jiuge, hiding behind the crowd, spoke at the right moment, "The Prince of Qi died suddenly last night. Spreading rumors and slandering the Prince is a capital offense. I absolutely cannot say such nonsense."
Zhuang Tianer was stunned. In a trance, she seemed to see a stairway reaching heaven crumbling before her eyes, stage by stage, into ruins. All her fantasies about the future had vanished in that moment.
How could the prince die suddenly? No way! This shouldn't be the case! She pondered frantically and with great conviction, but she couldn't clearly explain how things should have been.
The villagers, without hesitation, immediately toppled the courtyard wall and rushed over to capture Zhuang Tian'er. Some held her head down, some tied her hands, some gagged her, and some took advantage of the chaos to kick and hit her. Before long, most of her clothes had been stripped off, her cheeks scratched, a rag stuffed in her mouth, and her hair was a mess.
As long as the villagers' confessions are consistent, the government will definitely burn Zhuang Tianer to death as a demon!
Boss Zhuang immediately abandoned his daughter and hid in the house, holding his head.
Old Mrs. Zhuang and Old Man Zhuang never showed up at all. They didn't care about their granddaughter's life or death at all.
Zhuang Tian'er's mother, Qin, kowtowed frantically to the villagers, crying at the top of her lungs, "Uncles, aunts, brothers, please spare my Tian'er! I'll give you money, will you please let her go? From now on, my family will move far away and never come back! I still have some money, and I'll give it all to you!"
She hit the ground harder and harder each time, and soon her head was bleeding and looked terrible.
Zhuang Tianer shook her head frantically, whimpering something through her mouth which was blocked by a rag.
Qin Shi didn't understand what she meant at all. She picked up a shovel and pried open the floor tiles of the pigpen. She dug out a package weighing dozens of kilograms and said breathlessly, "Here are 1,000 taels of silver. I'll give it all to you. Just let my Tian'er go!"
Zhuang Tianer was still shaking her head wildly, her eyes bulging out.
The villagers were all stunned. They had never imagined that Boss Zhuang's family could be so wealthy! First, a few hundred taels were stolen, and now they had another thousand taels! Just how rich was his family? Where did all this money come from?
However, this urge to get to the bottom of the matter was quickly overshadowed by greed. The villagers all realized that if they agreed to Qin's request, each of them would receive approximately 20 taels of silver, a huge sum of money!
The noisy courtyard immediately quieted down. Apart from Old Liu and Old Dong, no one wanted to send Zhuang Tianer to the government. Even the woman whose son had died chose to remain silent.
At this moment, Boss Zhuang and Mrs. Zhuang rushed out, threw themselves on the huge pig manure-stained package, and screamed, "No one can take our silver! You want to burn Zhuang Tianer to death, right? Whatever! Burn it if you want, we won't care, but no one can touch this silver!"
Zhuang Tianer, who originally thought that her mother shouldn't have taken out the money, was stunned, staring at the scene with wide eyes in disbelief.
Boss Zhuang, however, didn't care about his daughter's feelings at all. He roared at Qin, "You actually hid so much silver behind my back! Are you planning to keep it all for yourself? Fine, fine, you vicious woman, I'm going to divorce you right now!"
He didn't care at all about the source of this huge sum of money.
Old Man Zhuang also came out of the house and said calmly, "Take Zhuang Tianer away. We won't care anymore."
This cold and indifferent scene not only broke Zhuang Tianer's heart, but also made Zhuang Jiuge, who was hiding behind the crowd, see the true colors of these so-called relatives. He was very glad that he had come here, otherwise he would have returned to the village in a few days and brought his grandparents to live in the mountains.
He thought that family members didn't hold grudges overnight, but in reality, there might not even be any affection between family members, only cold-blooded interests and decisive choices. Even if some people became family members, they were no better than enemies.
He couldn't look such grandparents in the eye, just as he couldn't look people in the eye.
"Let's go, let's go back." He covered his eyes and said in a very depressed tone.
The leading guard waved his hand and whispered, "Young Master, please wait a moment. We want to see the silver in that bundle. Even if Zhuang Tian'er had all the means, she couldn't possibly have earned so much silver. Small Luoxia Village is not enough for her to plunder. We suspect this silver came from another source."
"Where did it come from?" Zhuang Jiuge's eyes rolled as a terrifying association came to mind. "A while ago, the imperial court lost 600,000 taels of disaster relief silver. The crime scene was not far from Luoxia Village. Do you suspect Zhuang Tian'er has something to do with that money?"
"That's right." The leading guard stared at the package covered in pig manure.
Money can move people's hearts. Since Qin has already said that she would give away the silver, the villagers are numerous and powerful, so they will definitely not give up. The silver will be exposed to them sooner or later, so they just have to wait and see.
As expected, the villagers abandoned Zhuang Tianer and rushed to grab the package. If several elders had not stepped forward in time to maintain order, Zhuang Lao Da, who was lying on the package, would have been torn to pieces.
In the end, the villagers took the silver and left, leaving the yard in a mess.
The wounded Zhuang Lao Da climbed up and fought Qin, while Mrs. Zhuang and Mr. Zhuang also rushed over to help. Forgotten Zhuang Tian'er curled up in the corner, staring blankly at the absurdity before her.
Zhuang Jiuge had already quietly left the Zhuang family courtyard, walked to the village entrance, stopped a villager, exchanged a piece of his own silver for the other's, and handed it to the guard for inspection.
"The silver is cut into pieces and the brand has been worn off. We can't tell whether it is official silver. We have to send it to Bazhou City to find someone to weigh it and check the purity of the silver. If the purity is as high as 100%, this silver must be official silver without a doubt." The guard pondered while holding the broken silver.
At the same time, detailed information about Miss Zhou's murder was also delivered to King Qi's desk. A record in it made Zhuang Li connect the incident with Zhuang Tianer.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
