Chapter 107 The Truth Comes to Light
Yan Nanan followed behind Huang Lili with eyes full of doting, and a group of officers and soldiers followed behind them to eat dog food.
Before the case was judged, County Magistrate Lin sent people to guard Yan Nan'an in shifts for twelve hours to prevent him from escaping again, but he did not directly imprison him.
Yan Nanan seemed to be possessed by the lively Huang Lili, and stayed by her side all day long, calling her "husband" and "wife" one after another, and seemed to have no intention of running away.
Huang Lili stood in front of Xu Chuchu and Xiao Yu, bowed and said, "You two are the heroes that Nan'an mentioned who saved the entire Wuchang Village, right? Lili heard about your deeds and would like to thank you!"
Xu Chuchu immediately developed a favorable impression of Huang Lili and said with a smile, "You're welcome, Lili. No need to thank me."
In Yan Nanan's description, Huang Lili is gentle, considerate, and understanding, and is a very caring little woman.
But today, I see that this woman is graceful and chivalrous in her every move. She is indeed an extraordinary woman who dares to go to the government to report Yan Nan'an for love.
Xiao Yu also said, "I wonder what Miss Huang meant by what she just said? Was it really the lilies that this old woman sent to Guzhu County?"
"That's right," Huang Lili said. "This story started more than two years ago."
Huang Lili told several people that she had been living in Wuchang Village since she was released from prison that year.
She concealed her origins as a brothel girl, but the fact that she had been in prison was still discovered, so she was always unpopular in the village.
Only Granny Wu - the old woman in black - had no children at home and lived alone, so she often took care of her and took her to do farm work to earn some money.
Two years ago, when Granny Wu was drawing water from the well in her backyard, she fished out an exquisitely crafted silver kettle.
She thought she had gotten a bargain, so she happily went to the market to sell it for a large sum of money. She then hired workers to renovate the old house.
Unexpectedly, two days later, when Granny Wu woke up, she found that the silver pot had returned by itself and was placed right beside her bed.
At first she thought that some naughty kids in the village were playing a trick on her again, so she hurriedly took the silver pot to find the buyer to return it, but she couldn't find it after searching for several days.
Later, she was possessed by a ghost and went to the market to sell the silver pot to a second family. A few days later, the silver pot appeared at her bedside again.
She simply decided to go all out and used the same method to make a lot of money without any problems.
The people who bought silver pots from her never asked her to settle the bill when they lost the pots.
But I always feel uneasy when spending the money I cheated.
The well from which we used to draw water every day gradually dried up, and soon not even a drop of water could be drawn.
Honest Grandma Wu felt that retribution had come and began to have frequent nightmares.
Day after day, Grandma Wu's mind began to become unclear. She often hid in the house and fiddled with the silver pot alone, and she didn't even see Huang Lili.
Later, more and more people in the village began to become mentally confused, and some even fell into a deep sleep. Doctors were called in, but they could not find out what was wrong.
Because Huang Lili was close to Granny Wu, she was one of the first few people whose soul was taken away by Granny Wu.
But just recently, they all woke up. When Grandma Wu woke up, she found that she was preparing a wedding dress and wedding plaque for Huang Lili. Huang Lili was also helping her. Both of them were scared.
Huang Lili, in particular, was very weak after waking up and could hardly move.
Huang Lili wanted Granny Wu to report the matter to the authorities and ask them to send someone to resolve the issue, but Granny Wu refused, fearing that her repeated attempts to make money by selling silver pots would be exposed and she would be arrested and thrown into prison.
Huang Lili thought about it and was worried that the government would not believe their words, so she asked Granny Wu to send lilies to Yan Nannan in prison, hoping that Yan Nannan could come to rescue her in time, which led to what happened later.
But before Yan Nanan appeared, both of them lost consciousness.
When asked about the monk, Huang Lili said she had never seen him.
"It seems our speculation was correct. Granny Wu isn't the monk's subordinate, she's just being used by him." After questioning Huang Lili, Xu Chuchu and Xiao Yu stood alone in a secluded place and sighed, "She still has a conscience, but she's a bit ignorant... I should have known not to call her an old witch for so long."
This also explains why she couldn't predict the direction of Yan Nannan's escape from prison when she was fortune-telling. Perhaps the entire Wuchang Village was protected by the monk's magic.
"It's okay, it was Yan Nanan who shouted first." Xiao Yu comforted her.
He took out the silver pot from his bag and looked at it carefully again.
In Huang Lili's narrative, this silver pot is the source of all misfortunes and an inescapable nightmare.
But in his hands these days, it was just an ordinary silver kettle. Very light, and never misbehaved.
This should all be thanks to Xu Chuchu.
Xiao Yu's fingers gently stroked the body of the pot, and suddenly he exclaimed "Huh", turning the pot over.
He discovered that there was a carved indentation on the bottom of the silver pot.
The indentations are different from the other patterns on the pot, and the quality is also different, as if they were specially carved there later.
And its shape is exactly that of a cicada with its wings folded.
Xiao Yu showed it to Xu Chuchu, and they both thought of another cicada of the same shape.
"This looks exactly like the jade cicada we found in the tomb of the previous prince, and the cicada we found on calligraphy and paintings in the home of Zhang, the prefect of Tailing County." Xu Chuchu frowned. "Could it be that the same organization is behind all these incidents we've encountered?"
"It's very likely." Xiao Yu lowered his eyes and asked again, "Where's your umbrella? Is it on it?"
Xu Chuchu quickly took off the floating umbrella on his back and searched around. Sure enough, he saw the same jade cicada mark in an inconspicuous place on the umbrella handle.
"It seems that Zhang, the prefect of Tailing, and the monk we met two days ago are all from the same faction," Xu Chuchu asserted. "Perhaps they are also the group of tomb robbers."
Xiao Yu's fingers gently traced the jade cicada mark. "Yes, and it seems they have a large organization that values faith. Otherwise, they wouldn't risk exposing their identities by printing this kind of mark on every valuable item."
But what is their purpose? Are they a sect of evil cultivators who specialize in devious practices?
"Chu Chu, last time you..." Xiao Yu said this, and suddenly changed the subject uncomfortably, "I mean, Xiangshi Xu, just now, your words slipped."
Xu Chuchu looked at the ground with a guilty look on her face after hearing this. "Uh, it's okay. Just call me 'Xu Chuchu'. I usually call you by your full name."
She remembered that when she was knocked down at the bottom of the well, Xiao Yu was right beside her, anxiously calling her "Chu Chu".
Apart from her master, Xiao Yu was the first person to call her so intimately.
But then he stopped shouting.
Xiao Yu paused, feeling a little happy, yet a little dissatisfied.
"Okay, Xu Chuchu," he called out, his voice almost off-key, and quickly got back to the point. "Last time when we broke into the Dragon King sacrifice case in Tailing County, didn't you also say that they sacrificed people to gather power and improve their cultivation?"
"That's right." Xu Chuchu nodded. "But the physiognomist who led the group at the time, Master Xiang, was only at the second level. He didn't seem like someone who had been improving his cultivation year after year. We couldn't figure out why at the time..."
At this point, she realized something: "You're saying that their organization might be spread all over the place, using all sorts of devious methods to gather power, but not for their own use, but to pass it on to their backers?"
Master Xiang, Prefect Zhang, and the monk from the day before all had the mark of the Jade Cicada on them, and they were all doing evil, but none of them had used the gathered spiritual power.
If this is true, they can gather a considerable force.
What’s more complicated is that this matter may also be inseparable from the power of the previous dynasty.
"It seems that this matter cannot be underestimated." Xiao Yu looked at the silver pot and put it back into the bag.
"Are you worried about the capital?" Xu Chuchu asked sharply.
"No." Xiao Yu answered without hesitation, "I've already asked Brother Shao to report this matter back to the capital. They should have made preparations long ago, so I don't need to worry about it."
"Really?" Xu Chuchu laughed, deliberately teasing him, "I was planning to suggest we go back to the capital, but it seems that's not necessary?"
Xiao Yu didn't take it to heart and said casually, "No need. Aren't you going straight north? It's not convenient to go back to the capital."
He smiled at Xu Chuchu and said, "Master's business comes first."
Xu Chuchu was a little happy and felt sweet in her heart.
But she had studied the map before. If she went north as the hexagram suggested, she would pass through Shenan County, Linchuan County and other places, and then reach the snow-capped mountains in the north.
If you take a detour via the capital, you will indeed make a small detour, but the general direction will remain unchanged, and you will pass through all the county towns. At most, it will take a little longer, which will not have any impact.
Moreover, the north mentioned in the hexagram does not necessarily refer to the snow-capped mountains in the north. It could be the entire northern side of the Great Xia Dynasty. Going to one more capital city may bring more hope.
"Master has read the divination again, and it seems your relatives might be in the capital." She said with a smile, "So, it's a good opportunity for us to go back to the capital together."
Of course this was a lie, the hexagram would not tell her such a precise location.
In fact, since she left Tailing County, she would tell fortunes every time she arrived at a place, wanting to know where her so-called relatives were.
But the hexagram just kept telling her, go north, go north.
Don't give her any more clues except to go north.
Xiao Yu was naturally not someone who would be easily fooled by such a simple lie.
He knew that Xu Chuchu said this to find a reason to make him accept it. He was very happy, but also felt a lot of pressure at the same time.
Xu Chuchu...why was she so nice to him? Why did she consider his feelings so much?
He is clearly nothing.
He is an abandoned child of the family who suffers from a strange disease and has no status. His dirty money is useless.
He started practicing from scratch and could never keep up with her. When she encountered danger again and again and went deep into dangerous situations, he could do nothing to help her and could only stand by like a carrot, sometimes even becoming a burden.
He was like a useless piece of scrap metal next to her, even worse than scrap metal. He also took away her cultivation and magic weapons that should have belonged to her.
For someone like him, being able to be with her is a blessing earned through several lifetimes. How could he deserve her kindness, accommodating him, and even changing her original plans for him?
He doesn't understand.
"Yeah." But he still nodded selfishly and shyly, "Then let's go to the capital first."
…
After this busy period, County Magistrate Lin came to find Xiao Yu and Xu Chuchu again and asked them how to deal with the fugitive Yan Nanan.
According to the laws of the Xia Dynasty, Yan Nannan's jailbreak was a serious crime and the sentence would start from five years.
But his situation this time was unique. First, his sentence was almost over, with only a little over a month left. Second, the Wu Changcun incident was so bizarre that Yan Nan'an's escape was a good deed and a meritorious service.
There were both merits and demerits, and County Magistrate Lin didn't know how to judge the case, so he came to ask Xiao Yu for advice.
Upon hearing this, Xu Chuchu was secretly sighing that County Magistrate Lin was a kind and humane official, but Xiao Yu saw through his little tricks at a glance.
Xiao Yu chuckled. "Is County Magistrate Lin worried about how to deal with Yan Nan'an? I think he's worried about how to deal with the inspection next month."
"Well, well..." County Magistrate Lin touched his head in shame after his thoughts were exposed.
Although the villagers of Wuchang Village were killed by criminals, County Magistrate Lin, as a superior official, did not find anything suspicious and did nothing for two whole years. If this was exposed, it would certainly be considered a serious dereliction of duty.
If he wanted to hide the truth from the inspector, he had to arrange all the related matters, including Yan Nanan's escape from prison.
Xiao Yu didn't bother to embarrass County Magistrate Lin. "Although Yan Nan'an is guilty of escaping prison, we successfully rescued the villagers this time, and he played a great role. In my opinion, his merits and demerits should be offset. Let him go. Let him return to prison to serve out the remaining month or so."
Upon hearing this, County Magistrate Lin was overjoyed: "Great, thank you for your advice, young master!"
He had this intention a long time ago and wanted to pretend that nothing had happened, but he did not dare to make a decision on his own, fearing that the punishment would not be to Xiao Yu's liking and that he would be dealt with by Xiao Yu before the inspector arrived.
Now that Xiao Yu and he have reached a consensus, he feels relieved.
Yan Nanan was naturally overjoyed when he heard the news.
He had originally planned to wait for his Lili to recover for a few days, and then find an excuse to take her away and become a pair of wild mandarin ducks on the run. Now he has the opportunity to spend more than a month to get rid of his fugitive status, so why not do it?
Huang Lili was even more delighted to cook herself and prepare a table of delicious farm dishes to thank Xiao Yu and Xu Chuchu.
She also earnestly requested that the two of them stay in the village for a while longer, wait for Yan Nanan to be released from prison, and attend her and Yan Nanan's wedding.
Xu Chuchu took a liking to the confident, bold and beautiful Huang Lili at first sight.
There was no sign of the inferiority complex that came from being a prostitute or a prisoner. On the contrary, she lived a very free and easy life, daring to love and hate. Even a carefree playboy like Yan Nanan was completely dominated by her.
However, Xu Chuchu declined Huang Lili's invitation. More than a month was too long, and neither she nor Xiao Yu wanted to spend so much time staying in the village.
Wuchang Village was almost settled. Except for Huang Lili who stayed in the village to recuperate, everyone else returned to Guzhu County.
Of course, Yan Nanan is still a prisoner.
But he didn't mind at all and was smiling with everyone along the way.
When he was almost at the government office, he saw Lin Xiancheng and Xiao Yu far behind, discussing something. Xu Chuchu was alone in the middle of the group, so he trotted over to her and said, "Girl, tell these officers and soldiers to stand further away. Uncle has something to tell you."
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