When Jiang Lu reached the door, she only saw a shadow. She tilted her head in confusion and asked, "Sister, what are they doing here?"
Jiang Bai chuckled: "What can you do? You're showing your true colors now."
"How did you get here? Have you finished your studies?"
"My brother-in-law said we'll stop here for today. Oh, and he told you to go back inside; he has something to tell you."
Jiang Bai turned his head and saw that Ji Yanwen was indeed nowhere to be seen in the courtyard.
"Er Ya said you have something to say to me?"
Upon entering the house, one sees Ji Yanwen sitting at the communal table, with the books he had bought on it, and his brushstrokes flowing smoothly as he writes something.
He put down his pen as soon as he heard her enter the room.
"Did you orchestrate the removal of the magistrate of Nan'an County?"
I did it.
But how did you know?
Jiang Bai looked slightly surprised, but before he could answer, Ji Yanwen already knew the answer.
How did you know it was me?
She didn't conspire with him, so how come he always guessed correctly?
“I just told you that the magistrate might forcibly levy taxes, and you went out late at night and didn’t come back all night. The next day, I heard that the magistrate’s hands and feet had been crippled. Is that so hard to guess?”
"Now that you mention it, it's not hard to guess."
"But don't worry, no one will know that I did it. I blindfolded him when I did it."
Ji Yanwen's lips twitched. "Well, you've prepared quite thoroughly."
"Isn't this a good thing? As long as we cripple him, no one will come down to forcibly conscript him."
She refused to believe that with his arms and legs broken, he still had time to manage grain tax matters.
If he dares to come up with any more bad ideas, she'll feed him that intestinal herb and send him to line up early.
Jiang Bai thought to himself.
Ji Yanwen's expression was somewhat solemn. Seeing that Jiang Bai didn't seem to care, he took a deep breath and slowly said, "The county magistrate is backed by the Chen family, and the Chen family has other people behind them. Now that the county magistrate has been deposed and we are at a critical juncture where we are planning to forcibly conscript people, the Chen family is likely to suspect the people in the villages under Nan'an County."
“Last time they tried to kill us but failed, and now the county magistrate has been deposed. I’m worried that the Chen family will target you again.”
Since then, Jiang Bai has not encountered any trouble in Jiangjia Village, but that does not mean there has been no trouble.
The person behind the Chen family is a very important figure.
If you wanted to crush Jiang Bai, it would be as simple as lifting a finger.
They just didn't know what secret Jiang Bai held that made them want to capture her alive again and again; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to wait for someone to rescue her last time.
"Is Wang Shaoyang the person behind the Chen family?" Jiang Bai had wanted to ask this before, but he didn't because he saw that Wang Shaoyang's injuries hadn't healed yet.
After that, I was busy finding and planting yams, and didn't have time to think about anything else.
Now that he brought it up, she naturally asked the question.
"How do you know it's Wang Shaoyang?" Ji Yanwen's expression turned slightly unpleasant, wondering if she had already met him.
When Wang Shaoyang was mentioned, his tone became a bit more serious.
A hint of hatred flashed across his eyes.
"Yu Shang told me that the person who wanted to arrest me was Wang Shaoyang, and the assassins who came to arrest us last time were Wang's assassins."
For merchants?
Ji Yanwen paused slightly, recalling the voice he heard before he lost consciousness. His hand, which was resting on the table, slid down naturally and touched the dagger he had hidden. He lowered his eyes to conceal the expression in them.
"To be precise, the person behind the Chen family is not Wang Shaoyang, but the Wang family."
"The Wang family?"
"The Wang family is one of the four great families in the capital. Countless members of the family serve as officials in the imperial court. The current head of the Wang family is even a first-rank official."
"The Chen family, backed by the Wang family, also acted arrogantly and domineeringly in Nan'an County."
"Besides the Wang family acting as their backers, the Chen family itself also has a member serving as an official in the capital, reaching the rank of Fourth-Rank Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review."
At this point, Ji Yanwen paused, his clenched fist loosened slightly, and continued, "The fact that the Wang family's assassins personally took action to arrest people shows that the Wang family in the capital was also aware of this matter. Now that no one is coming to their door, perhaps they have been held back. Once they realize what's happening, they will definitely send people again."
Jiang Bai raised his eyebrows slightly.
Last time, she was exhausted from praying for rain, which is why she was beaten so badly by a mere twenty assassins. If they dare to come again, she can take down even forty of them, let alone twenty.
Just by looking at her face, you can tell what she's thinking.
Ji Yanwen felt helpless; violence alone would not solve the problem.
"I know you're not afraid of them, but have you thought about how you would deal with them if they attacked you openly?"
"For example, if they wanted to pin the blame on you for the dismissal of the county magistrate, would you resort to force to resolve the matter?"
Although this possibility is slim, it is still something we must be wary of.
Jiang Bai was shocked to hear this.
She, a weak, pitiful, and helpless little woman, who even had difficulty walking, how could she possibly sneak into the county town in the middle of the night and break the magistrate's arms and legs?
"Isn't this a bit too exaggerated? Putting the blame for the county magistrate's downfall on a weak woman, no normal person would believe it, right?"
Jiang Bai had considered this when he made his move: no matter what, no one would suspect an ordinary village girl.
He told her that even if she hadn't done it, those people would still pin the blame on her.
"Exaggeration?" Ji Yanwen suddenly sneered.
"Finding the truth isn't easy, but finding a scapegoat isn't?"
"Besides, who said they have to pin the crime on you? All they need to do is find someone to identify you, put you in jail, and then, whether they force a confession or force you to atone with your death, they'll achieve their goal."
She just hit someone, is that really a big deal?
"That man named Yu Shang said that he wouldn't cause me any more trouble. If that's true, then he was lying, wasn't he?"
Although Jiang Bai didn't really trust Shang, judging from his attire, he must be a rich young master. There was no need for him to play such a joke on her.
"That might not be a lie."
"But can he protect you for a while, or for a lifetime?"
Ji Yanwen remained silent for a while, then looked up and stared directly into her eyes, his expression dark and unreadable.
“Jiang Bai, don’t count on relying on others. Although I don’t know how your parents offended the Wang family, since the Wang family has even sent out assassins, this matter will not be left unresolved.”
His expression was so serious that Jiang Bai was taken aback.
She frowned slightly, her expression revealing a hint of annoyance: "Then tell me, how can we get rid of these troubles?"
Undoubtedly, Song's disappearance is related to the Wang family, and it is even possible that she is still living in the Wang family.
Ji Yanwen is right. She is very strong individually, but she doesn't dare to openly confront the entire imperial court.
The Wang family is powerful and influential. She, an ordinary citizen, can't possibly fight her way to the capital and force the Wang family to hand over Song Shi.
The Song family has many secrets. Who knows if other powerful families are watching them? What if they end up getting themselves killed instead of rescuing the Song family?
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