Chapter 508: He took the money to buy his life and then killed someone!
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Li Xiatian could no longer hold back and rushed over to grab Zheng Meiniang's wrist: "Mother!"
Zheng Meiniang gently pulled her hand away from Li Xiatian's. Her voice was eerily calm at this moment, "Xiatian, do you want your mother to cry and beg him to come back?"
"Should I take you to Youzhou, to confront that woman I've never met before?"
Upon hearing this, Li Xiatian was struck dumb, frozen on the kang (a heated brick bed), unable to move.
With the last stroke of her pen, Zheng Meiniang wrote her name, put down her pen, and let out a long breath, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
Once the ink on the paper had dried, she folded the divorce papers and put them in an envelope.
"Put it away for now, and when Uncle Tian returns to Youzhou, ask him to take it back to your father."
As she said this, Zheng Meiniang put the letter into the cabinet on the kang (heated brick bed).
Li Xiatian finally moved; she lay on the kang table and began to cry.
But she dared not cry out loud, afraid of waking Pingping and An'an, who were already asleep.
She sobbed softly, her head resting on her arm, like a little kitten; it was heartbreaking to watch.
Zheng Meiniang turned around, reached out and embraced Li Xiatian. She half-huddled Li Xiatian, her hand stroking the top of Li Xiatian's head. The tears she had been holding back while writing the divorce papers finally rolled down silently.
Outside the window, the north wind howled. Despite the warmth of the heated kang bed, Zheng Meiniang and her daughter Li Xiatian still felt a chill in their hearts tonight.
As dawn broke, Lijiatun was still shrouded in morning mist.
In a side hall of the council chamber, Li Wangtian was running a high fever.
Even with the lambs' careful care, Li Wangtian still developed a high fever at night.
Although she had already drunk the herbal medicine that Jin Daping had prepared in advance, Li Wangtian's temperature did not drop a little until dawn.
The lambs that hadn't slept all night were still in pretty good spirits.
He raised his hand and touched Li Wangtian's forehead on the low couch. He felt that it wasn't so hot anymore, and then he let out a sigh of relief.
Before he could catch his breath, a chorus of barking dogs came from outside.
"Woof! Woof! Woof!"
Lijiatun is far from Qingsong Town, Sanshan County and even the prefectural city, and Andong has a long winter with lots of snow;
For the sake of convenient travel in winter, and for the safety of the village, and also because of Li Shiyue's words;
In Lijiatun, not every household keeps dogs. Several businesses in the village, such as the paper mill, charcoal yard, rabbit farm, sheep farm, wool sweater workshop, and the medicine farm on the mountain, all keep a lot of dogs to guard the houses and yards.
Actually, this is mainly to prevent wild animals from entering;
However, because Lijiatun was a transit point on a trade route from Andong to the Turks, there were quite a few outsiders in the village.
This dog can also be used as a warning to prevent outsiders from having malicious intentions.
Moreover, besides the village's industries, the watchtower at the village entrance, the inn, the warehouse, and the council hall are all places where dogs are kept free-range.
Moreover, the dogs in Lijiatun are well-trained; they won't eat anything offered by outsiders except when fed by their own family.
Moreover, these dogs will at most bark as a warning to outsiders if they do not act aggressively.
The dogs will only pounce and bite after their owner gives the command.
So when the lamb heard his own dog barking wildly outside, he knew that something must have happened.
The lamb glanced at Li Wangtian, who was still fast asleep on the low couch, then turned and left the side hall.
However, he didn't dare go far. He just left the council hall and called out to the direction of the barking dogs: "What's wrong?"
Why is the dog barking?
Huh? Who was on duty last night?
What's wrong with the dogs in our village?
The lamb, who had been barking loudly in the direction the dog was barking, waited a few moments and then saw two people coming out from that direction.
Pockmarked man held a long stick with a sharpened tip, and he and Mole, who was holding a wood-chopping knife, walked toward the lambs.
"It's nothing. Two thieves climbed over the wall in the back warehouse, but Old Hei spotted them and bit one of them on the thigh and won't let go."
It's alright now, we've got him pinned down.
I've already sent someone to call my third brother.
How's it going on your end?
Just as Yangzai, Mazi, and Mozi said that Li Wangtian had a fever during the night, but that the fever was now showing signs of subsiding, the people of Lijiatun who heard the dogs barking all came out of their homes to see what was going on.
Meanwhile, the thief, whose thigh had been bitten by Old Black and was bleeding so much that his pants were soaked, was crying out in pain.
The other thief looked at his crying and screaming companion, then looked at the seven or eight baring dogs that were making threatening growling sounds around them.
And the Li family villagers behind the dog, holding sharp wooden sticks, were overwhelmed with regret.
These two, mistaken for petty thieves by Ma Zi and Mo Zi, had no idea that Li Jiatun was home to so many dogs.
In the past two years, there has been little rain during spring planting and autumn harvest, resulting in a significant reduction in grain production. In the countryside, there are not many families in the villages that can afford to keep dogs.
Not to mention that some people, like Lijiatun, raise such a large flock of them.
Moreover, the dogs in Lijiatun are well-bred and have always been fierce.
At this moment, they formed a battle formation, each with its head lowered and its hind legs taut, ready to pounce and bite at any moment.
Therefore, how could this man not regret it?
If they had known there would be so many dogs, the two brothers would never have taken the job!
The man whose thigh was bitten by Old Black was now lying on the ground groaning.
The other person was carrying a dagger, but faced with so many dogs and people, he didn't dare to move an inch.
He was afraid that if he made a single move, he wouldn't just be torn apart by the pack of dogs; those people from Lijiatun with their sharp wooden sticks might swarm him and stab him right through the heart!
After a while, Li Shiliang ran over.
"Who goes there? How dare you steal from our Lijiatun!"
Just as the sun was high in the sky, the lamb, who was wringing out a handkerchief to wipe Li Wangtian's body, heard someone come in from outside.
Holding a damp cloth, the first people Yangzai saw when he left the side hall were his master Jin Daping and his junior sister Li Yueniang.
"Master! Junior Sister!"
Jin Daping nodded to the lamb, and Li Yueniang called out "Senior Brother" before carrying her medicine chest and entering the side hall with Jin Daping.
Li Shiliang, standing behind Jin Daping and Li Yueniang, waved to the lamb and led it out the door.
Li Shiliang briefly told Yangzai about how the dog had caught two petty thieves that morning.
"...After questioning them for a long time and scaring them, I finally got the truth out of them."
Li Shiliang said to the lamb with a stern face, "...Where is the petty thief? What petty thief would bring a dagger to steal things?"
These two are not thieves!
They took the money to kill people!
If Old Black hadn't bitten one person beforehand, rendering that person unable to move, the other one probably would have run away long ago.
"Little lamb, how is Uncle Tian doing these days?"
The lamb looked puzzled. He didn't understand why Li Shiliang had brought up Li Wangtian again when they were talking about bad people.
However, he still honestly told Li Wangtian about the situation, and then asked, puzzled, "Third Brother, what's wrong?"
Could this villain be here to kill Uncle Wangtian?
Seeing the lamb's surprised expression, Li Shiliang nodded in agreement.
"Yes! They've come to kill Uncle Wangtian!"
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