Chapter 259: Kill but Not Humiliate
Flames shot up into the sky. The Feng family was at the very back of the village, and the nearest family was a mile or two away. In ancient times, people went to bed early.
Such a big scene, yet no one noticed it.
Su Ying and the other two watched the fire until it went out, but no one came.
I don’t know if he really didn’t notice it, or if he was too scared to go out after hearing Huahua’s roar.
Su Laoer seemed to have lost all his energy and spirit, and he was in a daze.
He watched his daughter die in the fire but was unable to do anything. His daughter resented him until her death and hated his cowardice.
This will be a lifelong pain for Su Laoer!
"Let's go, Second Uncle!" Su Ying patted Su Laoer.
"I haven't found Jiu Niang yet! I want to take Jiu Niang and He'er away!" Su Laoer staggered.
"Let's go back and report the case first and let the government intervene, otherwise we will get into trouble!" Su Ying advised.
"I'm a useless loser!" Su Laoer's back collapsed. He really was a useless loser.
Riding Xiao Hei and Hua Hua back to the transfer place, the three of them rode back on horses.
"What's going on?"
Cao Li, Niu Er, Wang Sanlang and others heard the noise and went to check, only to see that several people looked like they had been burned by smoke and fire. There was blood at the corner of Su Laoer's mouth, and he looked dazed.
"When we rushed there, a huge fire had already broken out at the Feng family's house. Feng Dazhuang, his mother, and a stranger were killed by wild beasts, and my cousin died in the fire." Su Ying avoided the main point.
"Dead in the fire? No one put out the fire?" everyone asked with concern.
"No, the nearest one was two miles away and turned a corner. The flames were shooting up into the sky, but no one saw it. When we arrived, the fire was already out of control." Su Ying sighed.
"Captain Niu, we're reporting this to the police. Please go to the scene and investigate. We want to take the bodies of my second uncle's ex-wife, Qin Jiuniang, and my cousin, Su He, away with us."
"Okay, tomorrow morning, I will arrange for someone to go back to the county government office and notify the county magistrate and the coroner to come for an investigation!" Niu Er agreed.
Seeing Su Lao Er's grief, he comforted him, "Er Lang Jun, accept my condolences!"
"Mercy!" Everyone had no choice but to do so. No one knew what had happened.
The Feng family had lived there for decades, so how could a wild animal enter their home? Mother and child were mauled by wild animals, and there was a fire! It was bizarre no matter how you looked at it!
At dawn the next day, Niu Er sent someone on horseback back to the city to report the case, while he and his group stayed in Heifeng Township to continue collecting grain.
Many villagers came yesterday and the scene was very crowded. Many villagers with ulterior motives tried to take advantage of the chaos.
After discussion last night, everyone took preventive measures and placed a desk in front of the township office to prevent villagers from crowding in.
There was a man guarding each counter, who not only looked after the girls but also lent a hand to help carry stamps and sacks.
The villagers came early with their tax grain and found that it was not as easy to make money as the legend said.
I could only watch and couldn't get close at all. There was a man standing next to me, looking at me with a fierce look in his eyes.
After paying the grain, they pushed the door open and the women didn't say a word. They just wrote furiously, used an abacus to report and keep accounts.
While they were busy, several villagers came running to report a case. They were from Nangou Village and said that Feng Dazhuang's house was burned down and someone was torn to death by a wild beast in the yard.
Everyone's face was filled with fear and their words were incoherent.
This report frightened the other villagers and made them panic, thinking that the wild beast had come out to hurt people again!
In the past, wild beasts lived in the mountains, and they were fine as long as they didn't go deep into the mountains. Wild beasts didn't go to places where people lived, and they lived their own lives, without interfering with each other.
Now the wild beasts come out one after another, biting and gnawing, as if to vent their anger. Who provoked these wild beasts?
Niu Er and several yamen runners maintained order and comforted the villagers. They only said that someone had reported the case, but did not immediately take anyone to the scene of the crime.
The villagers who had to pay taxes and grain crowded in, urging them to collect the grain quickly, and were in a hurry to go to Nangou Village.
I am afraid of wild beasts, but I also want to watch the fun.
Apart from festivals, villagers' lives are dull and boring, with nothing exciting to see, so how could they miss this?
At the exact time of Si, County Magistrate Hu arrived with the coroner and several police officers.
It was the busiest time for collecting taxes and grain. If Su Boyan had not shared the responsibility of handling official documents, County Magistrate Hu would have been unable to escape.
"What's going on?" Magistrate Hu didn't even bother to drink a sip of water.
"Sir, I am from Nangou Village and went to Feng Dazhuang's house to play early this morning.
But he never expected his house to be burned down, Feng Dazhuang, his mother, and the pigs were killed by wild beasts in the yard, and the girl disappeared without a trace.
The villagers who reported the case made no sense.
Su Ying found it strange that these villagers spontaneously went to Feng Dazhuang's house to play early in the morning. What was there to play about?
Shouldn't they be plowing the land for planting? These villagers are all old men in their forties or fifties.
"Sir, there is something wrong with these people. I'm afraid they are not just visiting! Please pay attention!" Su Ying whispered.
"Yes!" County Magistrate Hu nodded.
When the yamen runner returned in the morning, Su Yingran took a letter with him, which roughly described what happened last night.
He used the same rhetoric as Niu Er and others, mainly to tell County Magistrate Hu that he wanted to get back the bodies of Xiao Qinshi and Su He.
When County Magistrate Hu heard that a wild beast had injured someone, his heart skipped a beat. How was it related to Huanggou Village?
After listening to Su Ying's words and looking at these villagers, I found them indeed strange.
"Tell me, why did you go to Feng Dazhuang's house? Did you burn Feng's house?" County Magistrate Hu suddenly changed his face and spoke sternly.
The yamen runner beside him was like a furious King Kong, and with a "swish" he drew out his sword.
"Ah?" A group of old men were stunned. How did reporting the crime make them suspects?
They fell to their knees and said in unison: "My Lord, you are wronged! My Lord, please understand!"
"Tell me! Why did you go to Feng's house so early in the morning?" County Magistrate Hu shouted.
The old men looked at each other, and finally gritted their teeth and said.
"Feng Dazhuang opened the secret door. We paid the money in advance yesterday, and today we are worried, so we went to take a look."
"Hiss! There's a secret door in that place! How disrespectful of the elderly at such an age! What kind of people are there in Nangou Village?" The villagers were surprised.
How much money can a poor mountain village have? Is Feng Dazhuang's brain stuck in the door?
What’s even more amazing is that a bunch of old, dying guys still want to play with women!
These people were criminals who were exiled back then, and they still can't change their habit of eating shit even when they are old!
When County Magistrate Hu heard this, he roughly guessed who Feng Dazhuang had forced into prostitution through the secret door! The girl from the Su family!
The girl who ran to her own grocery store and pretended to be Su Ying, cheating and swindling people with a sharp tongue.
"Come on, take me to have a look!" Considering the reputation of the Su family, County Magistrate Hu did not continue the interrogation.
"Yes, sir!" In order to clear themselves of suspicion, these veterans took the initiative to lead the way.
Many villagers who had paid taxes and had been waiting to watch the fun followed behind and rushed towards Nangou Village in a mighty procession.
We met many villagers on the way, and word spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred, they all flocked to Nangou Village.
The people from Huanggou Village who were present did not go, so after hearing this, they all tried to guess what was going on.
I think Su He was buried in the fire because she must have been defiled and burned clean in a fire. She was a fierce woman! The women of the official family can be killed but not humiliated!
Su He is not popular in Huanggou Village and has a bad reputation.
But burning himself in the fire can be considered a sign of integrity, and it does not bring disgrace to the Su family or Huanggou Village.
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