Chapter 284 Auspicious Beginnings
Feng Xiaowan was both amused and exasperated.
“Aunt Cuihua, you’re so capable, who would bear to fire you! You’re not our servant, why do we make you work without paying you?”
Here you go. This is what Qingqing said: you and our family are relatives, but also business partners!
"Take this. We'll build a big house next year and bring Qiaoxiu back. Mother and daughter won't be separated."
Chen Cuihua took the three thin sheets of paper, her hands trembling as if they weighed a ton.
Three hundred taels.
She only ran for a little over two months.
"I've lived in vain... I've lived for over forty years in vain."
If she had started selling seasonings earlier, how many three hundred taels of silver would she have earned!
"Qingqing said that we should go and remove Qiaoxiu's status as a slave tomorrow."
At the time, fearing trouble from Lu Xingde, they didn't change anything after buying Qiaoxiu. Now everything should be fine; Lu Xingde was kicked out by his son and disappeared without a trace.
In this freezing weather, they would probably have frozen to death outside long ago.
When Chen Cuihua thought back to the past, it felt like something from a past life.
Only when a person completely lets go of the past do they realize how easy life can be.
What I once thought I couldn't let go of, I now see as nothing more than a lump of rotten flesh.
Chen Cuihua clasped her hands together and bowed her head for a long time.
Qingqing...
The next day, Lu Qingqing took Qiaoxiu's indenture to the yamen to cancel her status as a slave.
Although Chen Cuihua had left her family, she was not allowed to register as a female household, so Qiaoxiu ended up under Lu Xingwang's name and became Lu Qingqing's sister.
After she finished, Magistrate Xu sent someone to summon her to the back office to discuss matters.
"Miss Lu, Mo Lang has told you about Calabash Village, right?"
"Yes, I told you, those bandits were all from Hulu Village, and the villagers were pushed out to take the bullets."
But the mountain people are not innocent at all; they are also kind-hearted and harmed Lin Ye!
"They're not just taking bullets; they're after the treasure," Magistrate Xu said.
Treasure.
It seems that Magistrate Xu truly believed it.
But Mo Lang searched there until midnight, smashing every inch of the ground with stones, but there was no echo or hollow sound from underground. He even dived down to check the only well.
When she came back, her hair was wet and her lips were white, which made her so angry that she scolded her.
No one's body is made of iron; it's just that the body has been overdrawn.
"Sir, you should stop having such unrealistic ideas," Lu Qingqing advised bluntly.
“No, if it were before, I wouldn’t have dared to even think about it, but now I have you.” Magistrate Xu’s eyes shone like a dog seeing a bone.
Lu Qingqing: "..."
"With me, is life all miracles?"
"Yes! That's right! Miss Lu, you do have some luck on you."
Where you are, things flourish. Wind governs fortune, water governs wealth.
Therefore, I believe there must be treasure hidden here!
Lu Qingqing: Magistrate Xu has a bit of a sycophantic streak.
She's been described as some kind of mythical beast!
Magistrate Xu waved his hand and said, "Oh no! It's not a treasure. I have a bold guess: could it be... the silver their ancestors embezzled back then!"
Lu Qingqing was taken aback. She looked at Magistrate Xu, who seemed to be engrossed in his own conjecture, with a solemn expression. He then slowly nodded, as if he fully agreed with her idea.
She couldn't help but say, "It's starting to look like it."
What does it taste like?
"Detective Di Renjie".
"What 'Jay'?"
"Renjie, I'm praising you!"
"Oh, oh~" Magistrate Xu said modestly, "It's mainly because of Miss Lu that I guessed a bit too high."
However, I think it's very reliable. You don't know, every one of those mountain people is wearing silver jewelry. Some are wearing several bracelets, some are wearing silver necklaces. There are about a hundred people in the village, and the confiscated silver jewelry weighs over a hundred taels! There are also silver bowls, silver chopsticks, bronze mirrors... all good stuff!"
"You searched for so much stuff?"
It turns out that Mo Lang only cleaned up a bunch of junk! Magistrate Xu brought back all the good stuff!
"If I saw something good, I would have it taken back on the spot. I wanted to go up the mountain to get the rest, but I didn't expect that only the stone house was left."
"..."
You guys look more like bandits.
Lu Qingqing shook her head again: "I think it's unlikely. If they had some kind of treasure, they could just use it to buy an identity and live a respectable life."
“Miss Lu is absolutely right. However, although I did not go to the capital to investigate the case files of the embezzlement at that time, I did check the county annals of Ming’an County.”
Seventy years ago, the magistrate of Ming'an County was demoted here. Because of his uprightness and refusal to flatter, he was deliberately suppressed and stayed in Ming'an County for twenty years until his death!
He brought order to Ming'an County, where people no longer picked up lost items on the road and left their doors unlocked at night, and officials dared not accept bribes or break the law.
Therefore, those mountain people had no opportunity to change their identities.
Later, I guessed that he didn't want to go down the mountain.
Animals can be domesticated, and humans can also domesticate themselves; they've confined themselves to the mountains, no longer wanting to interact with outsiders.
Rigid thinking!
That makes sense!
Lu Qingqing was truly impressed by Magistrate Xu.
It turns out he really did have a basis for his claim; it wasn't just a wild guess.
Magistrate Xu continued, "Furthermore, the reason they came to Ming'an County must be that their embezzled silver was hidden in that mountain by their ancestors long ago!"
Lu Qingqing nodded thoughtfully: "Then did you interrogate him?"
Magistrate Xu suddenly went from speaking passionately to becoming listless and dejected, like a deflated balloon.
"They were interrogated, but no one confessed. Out of so many people, not a single one confessed!"
Even if I said that whoever spoke out could be spared the suffering of exile, no one would agree.
Lu Qingqing: "..."
This seems to contradict the previous theory.
However, she was intrigued by Magistrate Xu.
I couldn't help but start to think about the possibilities.
"Assuming this is true, the fact that everyone denies it only shows that they are united in their hearts."
There are no eternal friendships, only eternal interests.
They are protecting common interests, which means that everyone has a share in the silver!
Perhaps, from the very beginning, the silver was already split equally!
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Xu expressed his strong agreement and became even more convinced that his guess was correct.
But I just can't find it!
“Miss Lu, you said their illness is easy to cure? I think they take it quite seriously. Maybe if we cure them, they will tell us.”
"It can't be cured." Lu Qingqing shook her head. "I lied to them so they would regret it to death."
That disease was known as an incurable illness that couldn't kill people; it was very torturous.
Furthermore, their condition has worsened significantly, to a point where relief is impossible.
ah!
This approach won't work.
These mountain people were quite unlucky; they wouldn't have been discovered otherwise.
The problem was that the village chief saved the village head and villagers of Hulu Village who were being attacked by wild animals on the mountain.
The silver ornaments on his head and the fur coat he wore were enough to make anyone's eyes turn red.
After that, they befriended each other in various ways and finally lured the village chief to their home.
By slipping a hallucinogenic drug into the wine, the naive chieftain was made to reveal the truth.
Pang Da Kui had intended to find out the way into the village, but unexpectedly heard someone say, "Where can I find a good doctor? I have plenty of money, more money than I can spend!"
This makes my eyes even redder!
So Pang Da Kui told him, "A skilled female doctor has just appeared in Liuyun Village. If you kidnap her and take her to the mountain, you'll have a doctor! She'll definitely be able to cure your illnesses. She even knows the reason why you were born with deformities!"
After that, the chieftain actually did it.
This also allowed Pang Da Kui's conspiracy to succeed.
Magistrate Xu, unwilling to give up, said, "Doctor Lu, please come with us to the mountain again. With you here, things will definitely improve..."
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