After lunch, the group went to the fishing village. When Prince Yu discovered their arrival, the villagers avoided them, and some even kept their doors tightly shut, showing no intention of opening them to them.
Seeing this situation, Prince Yu was somewhat troubled. The people were not saying a word, and in the end, the investigation would come to a standstill, causing them considerable trouble. Moreover, the task of verifying the fishermen's identities was assigned to Yinzhen, making him even more nervous.
Qingyan followed closely behind Yinzhen, observing the shops along the street. Most of them were already closed, and the families who originally owned pearls had also locked their doors one by one.
When they first arrived, these people were very welcoming and showed no sign of avoiding them. Now, the villagers are ignoring them. Outside the circle of guards, there are still some fishermen watching, just enjoying the spectacle.
These were no longer important issues. The group walked to the very center of the village and found a church. The priest there had been captured by Fuquan. After being questioned by the Dragon Guards, it was confirmed that the priest was a spy from the British Empire who had come here with a considerable number of people.
To conceal their identities, they even disguised some brainwashed people as villagers from the village, making the nearby residents even more afraid to speak out.
In the past, some families, full of a sense of justice, spoke to the authorities about these matters, which resulted in all seven members of the family being murdered in their home. Since then, no one has dared to interfere in church affairs.
Some older people also felt that the church pastor was a bit strange, not only preventing people from worshipping, but sometimes also openly preventing them from fishing.
The date of each voyage required the consent of these people, which directly caused the people to lose a lot of money. Some people resisted, but they suffered terrible consequences.
After yesterday's large-scale arrests, the fishermen have become wary of Fuquan and his group and are preparing to avoid them.
“These people must have been frightened by our firearms. Before, those priests also had some firearms, and several families were even wiped out in this village. As of now, the real culprit has not been found.” Fei Yanggu said to Fu Quan, seeing the fear in the eyes of the villagers.
In an instant, some bad thoughts popped into Fuquan's mind. If these pastors were being detained and investigated, would the common people also have to be investigated again?
“Old man, we overlooked the people. Before, we said we were going to investigate those outsiders, and it must be them who did these things. The fishermen of this village have lived here for generations, and they certainly wouldn’t destroy their home, which they depend on for survival. But after being replaced by those outsiders, these people don’t feel any remorse!” Fuquan suddenly realized why those people resisted when he arrested them yesterday.
As soon as he finished speaking, both Yinti and Yinzhen were shocked. If Fuquan was right, then yesterday's strange phenomenon could be explained.
The guards did not want to use firearms, but they were provoked by the fishermen, which caused a stampede. Therefore, the guards had no choice but to fire warning shots.
“That makes sense. We have to catch those outsiders. Look at this place, are there really any outsiders? Who can tell the difference?” Fei Yanggu couldn’t see any difference between the locals and outsiders here. There shouldn’t be any difference at all.
Fu Quan was stunned. He looked around and saw that the bolder ones had come out to watch them. He could see wariness in their eyes, but these people all looked and were all similar in height and had dark skin. It was really impossible to tell that they were outsiders.
The neighbors were not acquaintances at all, and some had not even greeted each other for years. Instantly, all sorts of questions came to mind.
"Fourth Prince, has there been any large-scale migrations here?" Fuquan quickly asked Yinzhen.
Previously, Yinti and Yinzhen had also investigated the people, but Fuquan said that the people would definitely not do such things, and told the two brothers not to interfere in the people's affairs.
Now that Fei Yanggu has pointed out his own problems, Fu Quan is losing face.
Yinzhen nodded and said, "Second Uncle, none of the previous investigations have been documented. All the secret reports have been sent to Father Emperor. Before, we followed your orders and understood how much shady stuff was involved, so we stopped the investigation."
Upon learning the truth of the previous investigation, Yinti and Yinzhen were emotionally devastated. The villagers were very xenophobic, so outsiders would disguise themselves as villagers. Some even stole villagers' clothes to survive. Now, no one could tell them apart.
The nearby villagers listened intently, exchanging glances. These people must have come specifically to avenge them.
Can they now cry foul?
"If only we could have a specific piece of evidence to investigate one by one!" Yinti sighed.
Upon hearing this, the villagers were engaged in a fierce internal struggle. This fishing village belonged to one family, and they had their own unique symbols. If they told these people, would it lead to sabotage?
Several elders were also in the crowd. They heard what Fuquan and the others said and were very excited. They immediately rolled up the sleeves of their left arms.
“The villagers here have totems on their bodies, but outsiders don’t!” Yinzhen’s eyes caught sight of the totem, and a flash of inspiration struck him.
Totem?!
Fuquan followed Yinzhen's gaze and noticed the totems on the villagers' arms, and a huge weight was lifted from his heart.
The guards surrounded the group, and Fuquan could see the totems on their arms through the gaps.
They were wary of these well-dressed people, who were probably there specifically to investigate the fishing village; it would be good if they could do their best.
Outside the village, the yamen runners who had been surrounding the village were gone, and the village's fishermen were too frightened by recent events to venture out.
"Fellow villager, is this totem the symbol of this fishing village?" Qingyan asked gently.
The old man smiled when he heard her gentle voice.
“Of course, this is a symbol passed down through generations here. We are born with this totem, which outsiders don’t have.” The old man’s words made Fuquan nervous.
Were the people they were detaining genuine fishermen? Some had passed the initial screening and had already returned to their villages. At this point, Fuquan regretted not having allowed Yinzhen to continue the investigation.
"Fourth brother, you and Xiao Guai go back immediately and check if those people have any totems on their hands!" Fu Quan felt a chill and quickly ordered the two of them to check. If they did, they should have them checked immediately. Those without totems should be investigated more thoroughly.
"Yes!" Yinzhen didn't want to waste time here either; the villagers clearly didn't want them to come.
Even if the yamen runners stopped causing trouble here, in the eyes of the people, they were still considered to be in cahoots.
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