Liu Zhuang's son died young. According to the imperial physician and Doctor Cheng, the body could only be kept in state for one day before being buried.
Liu Zhuang was determined not to let his son lie alone in this foreign land and insisted on taking the child back home. However, their home was facing a flood, and the couple began to worry.
In the morning, Qingyan slowly walked out of the tent, preparing to go see the young child. Liuzhuang and his wife squatted beside the small coffin, their eyes red as they watched the crowd of people paying their respects.
"Brother Liu, what's wrong with you and your wife?" Qingyan was very polite to the disaster victims, and many of them felt respected by the imperial entourage, so they worked even harder.
“Princess, the child is gone.” Liu Zhuang’s wife sobbed. “We didn’t want the child to stay in this foreign land, and our hometown has been hit by disaster.”
Qingyan looked at them. The Manchus used to practice cremation and sky burial, but the people in Jiangnan believed that burial was the way to peace.
“Sister-in-law, why don’t you cremate the child? When you go home, the four of you can go back together. My family’s ancestors were mostly cremated.” Qingyan looked at them, and the clarity in her eyes made the two hesitate.
The child couldn't be saved, so shouldn't he be allowed to rest in peace?
“Now that the weather is getting warmer, he probably won’t make it back to his hometown,” Doctor Cheng advised from the side. Besides, such a corpse could easily cause an epidemic. The doctors all believed that the Liu family should make their own decision and prepare for cremation.
The couple looked at the mahogany coffin that Qingyan had arranged. Inside, a little boy was dressed in fine silk and satin, holding six copper coins in one hand and a certain amount of silver in the other. This was the attire for a wealthy young master's burial. If it weren't for Qingyan's preparations, they wouldn't have been able to let their son leave so comfortably.
“Sister-in-law, he was cremated, so he can still be by your side. This is not good!” Qingyan said.
As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Zhuang remembered the buried fish carcass. Oh well, it would have been better if his son hadn't left their side.
"Husband, let's do as the princess says. If we can have the child with us, that would be great!" Liu Zhuang's wife reluctantly agreed. Asking them to give up their deeply ingrained beliefs and cremate their son was already putting them in a difficult position.
Looking at the two of them, Qingyan felt a pang of sadness. Yinze thought of Honghui; in her previous life, Qingyan was heartbroken after Honghui's death.
Their relationship grew increasingly cold, and he couldn't help but feel sad when he thought about the final investigation.
She sensed the change in Yin's mood and quickly went to his side, holding his small hand tightly.
"Let's go outside." Qingyan gave the rare space to the couple who needed to comfort each other in their grief.
At the edge of the camp, Fei Yanggu had already marked out the locations of the disaster relief shelters for everyone according to the instructions above. Qingyan watched as those people worked enthusiastically.
Some people were laying the foundation with their shirts off. When Mou Si saw this, he quickly blocked her view and forcibly led her away.
"Shall we go and take a look at a few villages?" Yin knew their inventory and couldn't help but think about how to quickly replenish the supplies of grain, fodder, and medicine.
Yin started to have a headache, feeling that he had very little control over things. Today, the two of them went out on patrol in disguise and noticed that the residents of the nearby villages were not at peace, as if they had discovered something terrible.
The villagers looked at Qingyan and the others and walked away one after another. Qingyan felt very strange. What was going on?
Yin shielded her behind him, watching the villagers warily.
"Aunt Liang, what's wrong?" Liang looked at Yin and Qingyan and couldn't help but sigh. They were not strangers.
"Come out, everyone! It's the Fourth Young Master and Miss!" Madam Liang welcomed the two into the village. Villagers came out of their homes, some with fear in their eyes.
Liang told everyone about some strange things that had recently happened in the village, suggesting that they should focus their suspicions on Qingyan and Yin.
Disaster raging?! Trouble is brewing?!
Qingyan frowned. Wasn't this just hindsight? The imperial court came here to provide disaster relief; how could there not be a disaster?
"How could anyone say that?" Qingyan was furious. Yin had worked hard to bring good opportunities to the people, but this person not only showed no gratitude, but instead framed her. How could she not be enraged?
How many benefits have they brought to them since they came here?
“Miss, this is what our village shaman said. We cannot sacrifice the children!” Every time they had to avert disaster, they had to sacrifice young boys and girls, which made the villagers feel unbearable.
Upon hearing this, Qingyan's hair stood on end. The sorcerer himself did possess some abilities, but most of the time he would show his face in order to obtain more money to avert disaster.
"Sacrifice the children?!" Qingyan shuddered in fear. Those children should have been staying safely at home, how could they be sacrificed?
Liang shook her head helplessly. The village chief of Liangjia Village walked out of the house. This old man, who was only seventy years old, had a more hunched back, as if he had been crushed by those heavy burdens.
"Village chief, what happened? Why aren't the children coming out?" Qingyan felt that something was wrong.
“For several days, the children went out to play during the day, but none of them came back; they disappeared without a trace. The shaman said that the disaster relief camp was too close to our village, which triggered the spirits in the mountains, causing this problem,” the village chief explained helplessly.
Qingyan felt a chill in her heart. It seemed that someone was deliberately targeting Liangjia Village. After they arrived, these honest villagers were using their own strength to help them overcome their difficulties.
She pursed her lips, exchanged a glance with Yin, and knew that this was their fault, so they had to find all the children.
“Village chief, don’t worry, we will find the children!” Yin assured them. “Tell us the details.”
In order to better perform his duties, Yin had no choice but to team up with Qingyan to become the prefectural governor and solve a case.
She nodded in agreement. The old man's story about children going missing usually happened after dinner, when the children went outside to cool off. It was getting late, and some of the playful ones would sneak home in the dark. Many people believed that they had encountered unclean spirits and were taken away.
A wronged spirit?
Qingyan sneered inwardly. If there really were vengeful spirits at work, wouldn't those corrupt officials have been cleaned up long ago?
On the way back, Yin stared coldly ahead, wondering who dared to obstruct his actions.
Qingyan obediently followed behind him. As the disaster relief efforts continued, his mood was like a rollercoaster, sometimes good and sometimes bad. She often felt a chill on her body; indeed, the nickname "Iceberg Sisi" was well-deserved.
"Little darling, what are your thoughts?" Yin believed in Buddhism and thought that the stories of wronged spirits told by the people were somewhat unreliable.
No!
She thought it was too unreliable. (To be continued. If you like this work, please vote for it on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)
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