Neither Zheng Ye nor Eunuch Xu made another move.
Ultimately, they are pitiful people, even though their actions are hateful.
Ning Xi'er, however, was not going to tolerate it and slapped her several times across the face.
The man's dark yellow face immediately turned red from the beating.
"You're miserable, but we're not?!"
Ning Xi'er's voice was neither loud nor soft, "You definitely see yourself as a hero, upholding justice for everyone..."
Ning Xi'er lowered her head and questioned, "Don't you know that we have no grudge against you, nor do we have any conflict with the government? If we did, wouldn't they have a legitimate reason to arrest us and throw us in jail?"
"Precisely because they don't have any, they dare not act openly. And fearing criticism, they resort to these underhanded tactics..."
"When the government ruined your crops and drove away your villagers, why didn't you dare to resist?"
"With your fearless spirit, why not scare them into drinking water? Wouldn't that solve everything? You could die to save the whole village. Why don't you dare do that?"
"A life for a life. I've never heard of anyone being implicated in this. Either way, you're going to die. Why don't you dare touch the people who harmed you, but instead target us innocent passersby?"
The man's face turned from red to white, and he couldn't utter a single word.
Ning Xi'er said disdainfully, "In the end, you're just like them, a coward who bullies the weak and fears the strong!"
"Because we are outnumbered, because we are not the powerful, they only dare to attack us!"
Eunuch Xu almost wanted to clap his hands and cheer. The princess had spoken exactly what he wanted to hear. It was so satisfying!
The man finally showed signs of weakness and collapsed to the ground.
Xie Zhun glanced at Ning Xi'er with satisfaction, and after she finished speaking, he looked at the person on the ground.
"You just said that the surrounding villagers are all in the same boat, that they have been displaced, where have they gone?"
The man honestly replied, "There's no way to get to the capital, so we had no choice but to flee towards the desolate region..."
The main road was also impassable; we could only traverse mountains and valleys, taking it one step at a time.
Ning Xi'er asked curiously, "The villagers have all been driven away. Aren't the government worried that they won't be able to collect all the taxes for the next two quarters?"
The man scoffed, "They're not afraid at all! Not only will some villagers be bold enough to return after half a month, but even if they don't know how, they won't be able to collect the tax grain..."
"The government handles their land on their behalf, so there's always some income. Besides, after Xuanming, unlike the north, this place is mountainous with little water, making it difficult to grow crops..."
"Most people live in the city. Only those who can't find work and make a living, like us, live in the countryside."
"The land yields little, and all the produce goes towards paying grain taxes, leaving little for the family to eat..."
Upon hearing this, Ning Xi'er felt a little heavy-hearted.
This person's actions are hateful, but the most hateful are the powerful figures who see Xie Zhun as a thorn in their side.
In order to starve Xie Zhun to death, they treated the lives of ordinary people like dirt.
Xie Zhun remained expressionless, but Ning Xi'er knew that he wouldn't feel good either, given that his surname was Li.
Xie Zhun instructed Eunuch Xu to give the man some food and let him leave.
The man's abdominal pain subsided slightly, and he looked at Ning Xi'er with trepidation, not daring to openly ask for the antidote.
"Get out of here! It's just a little laxative. Just be careful with your diet for the next couple of days."
Ning Xi'er said coldly.
Seeing that she wasn't joking, the man kowtowed several times to Xie Zhun and Ning Xi'er, then quickly ran away.
"Alright."
Xie Zhun said calmly, "Since you want to trap us, your attacks should be much less frequent recently."
Ning Xi'er took out several tents from her spatial storage and asked Xuan Feng, Xuan Shuang, and others to help her set them up.
Inside were large wooden barrels. Ning Xi'er took out fruits, vegetables, and grains from her spatial storage, and some were filled with spiritual spring liquid...
The tent canopy resembles a carefully constructed granary and reservoir.
Trying to starve them out?!
I'll make them want to vomit!
Ning Xi'er instructed Eunuch Xie that once everyone was awake, they should not approach the villagers' houses.
She worried that, in addition to the water source and fields, the officials had also tampered with the house.
These people will stop at nothing to take Xie Zhun's life.
Eunuch Xu nodded quickly, and then had Xuan Lei and Xuan Dian sprinkle the powder Ning Xi'er gave him around the village's open space to prevent snakes, rats, and poisonous insects from disturbing the area.
Ning Xi'er then pointed to the tent, saying that she had stockpiled enough food and water, and it would be best if someone managed it, as she would replenish it regularly...
They claimed that a dedicated person was responsible for collecting the information.
Grandpa Xu, drawing inferences from one instance, said, "Once they are sober, we will remind them not to go near the countryside and not to use any water sources from the villagers' homes or from outside."
Ning Xi'er nodded. After experiencing so much and with poisoning incidents happening repeatedly, everyone must be quite vigilant.
Xuanfeng, who had been quiet all along, suddenly became very talkative. "Master, are they going to all this trouble just to starve us?"
Xie Zhun shook his head.
Ning Xi'er also felt that this was not entirely true.
Even without Ning Xi'er's stored food and spiritual spring water, and even without food, they still had horses; by eating raw meat and drinking blood, they could survive for a while...
After a long silence, Xie Zhun said calmly, "What they're after is nothing more than a 'trapped' situation..."
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