Four Harmonies and Good Fortune

Chapter 215 Catching up
The county magistrate suddenly understood why a family like the Xie family was willing to form a marriage alliance with the Yang family.

So that's what it meant.

Yang Liu's death cannot be in vain. Yang Mingshan used this as an excuse to demand benefits from the Xie family, but the Xie family could not actually marry their daughter to the Yang family, so they came up with the idea of ​​a ghost marriage.

The two families are related by marriage, so it's impossible to suspect the Xie family about Yang Liu's death. The Xie family also gained a son-in-law who died in battle, so Yang Mingshan can rely on the Xie family for his work in the future.

It really kills two birds with one stone.

If Manager Xu hadn't told them, they would never have known the inside story.

Because Yang Mingshan would not admit to murder, and the Xie family would not admit to doing business with the Western Xia people in secret.

As for how they were able to kill someone silently, it was naturally by taking advantage of their connections within the military. The Xie family's business dealings with the Western Xia people were all thanks to officials like Prefect Liu.

It would be too easy for a military general to kill a junior officer in the army.

The county magistrate said, "Tell me in detail, who were the people who killed Yang Liu?"

Manager Xu said, "That time, Yang Mingshan and his son went on the trade trip together. The Xie family was accompanied by the Second Master and me. So when we returned to Daming Prefecture, the First Master instructed me to find the woman's body and arrange this ghost marriage."

"But I never expected that Xie... Xie Yuyan was still alive."

"Xie Yuyan was so fixated on the Xie family that the master made me take all the blame." Little did he know that once he was in prison, he would never be able to get out again.

The county magistrate looked at the clerk, who had already written down the confessions. He took a deep breath. Yang Liulang was truly sincere. When he met Yang Mingshan and his son at Jinming Village, he wanted to find out the truth, but unfortunately, he was killed.

But because of this, his injustice was finally exposed to the world.

I wonder if Madam Xie, who sent the steward to prison, could have foreseen all of this.

“Go on, what else?” the county magistrate said. “Tell me everything you know about the Xie family… including the actions of those merchants from the Yang family… in detail.”

As the county magistrate examined the case, he glanced at the clerk. There was so much to investigate; it wasn't easy to uncover it. Now, the question was whether he could present it to the public.

After receiving the confession, the county magistrate was even more eager for Inspector He to return to Daming Prefecture as soon as possible.

……

Strange noises could be heard in the mountains at night.

Chen Ping huddled beside Grandma Chen, watching the burning fire, trembling uncontrollably.

Grandma Chen picked up a piece of leather and wrapped it around Chen Ping: "It will be good if we get there tomorrow, at least we'll have a place to sleep."

"Do you have a clay stove?" Chen Ping murmured. "And do you also have lotus root charcoal?"

"Yes," Grandma Chen said in a low voice, "we put some in, not much, but enough for you children to keep warm."

As Chen Ping thought about the firelight emanating from the clay stove, he actually felt a little warmer.

"I wonder when Mother will be back." Actually, Chen Ping was more worried about his mother.

Grandma Chen reached out and stroked Chen Ping's head: "In a few days, your mother will definitely come looking for us."

Chen Ping nodded. He missed his mother. Every time he thought of her, he felt sad and wished she would come back soon. However, after hearing his grandmother say that what the villagers were doing might help Xie Da Niangzi, he felt a lot stronger and thought that he could still wait a few more days.

Chen Ping was dozing off inside the fur, and the other elderly people and children were also having a hard time, relying on a small fire to keep warm. They managed to generate a little warmth, but it would dissipate as soon as the wind blew it away.

They actually passed a cave, thinking they could go in and rest for the night, but the alert villagers smelled the stench of wild animal excrement in the cave.

Wild animals roam the mountains in winter, and if they are accidentally provoked, the elderly and children alone are no match for them. So they can only build a simple shelter under the trees. Two women came over and whispered to Granny Chen, "We must reach a place to stay tomorrow, or we won't have enough to eat." They can't go hungry in this cold weather, or they will definitely get sick.

They came to the mountains to escape disaster, and they want to bring everyone back safely.

“Okay,” said Granny Chen, “we’ll eat something when it’s light and then continue our journey.”

That night, the women took turns keeping watch, while several boys helped keep an eye on the surroundings. For them, getting through tomorrow meant they were safe for the time being.

The next day, as soon as it was light, the women woke everyone up. Fortunately, no one got sick after spending the night outside.

After quickly tidying up, I picked up the smallest doll and started walking forward again.

The guide walked at the front, not daring to stop for a moment. Fortunately, the children were exceptionally sensible; even though they were already too tired to walk, they still persevered.

Children who have suffered hardships are always able to withstand more suffering.

After walking for a whole day, the person in front of us finally said happily, "We're almost there, just ahead. We'll definitely be able to have a hot meal tonight."

With something to look forward to, everyone moved faster and, just as they had hoped, smoothly arrived at their place of refuge.

It was a cave, a small place, just big enough for one person to enter and exit. It had not been occupied by wild animals, and the things that had been buried beforehand were still there.

The villagers started fires to cook, the children lay down to rest for a while, and then laughter and cheerful voices began to fill the air again.

"The things we've hidden away are enough for a month if we use them sparingly," the women of Chenyao Village said with great joy.

After everyone finished eating, they felt that the hardships of the journey were nothing. However, once they relaxed like this, they became extremely tired and soon everyone fell asleep.

Even the woman on night duty dozed off for a while. When she woke up, she seemed to see the lights of New Year's Eve flickering in the darkness.

wrong.

The woman suddenly regained consciousness.

She's in the mountains, how could she possibly see lights? Especially since she's at a high point, she should be looking towards the foot of the mountain.

After calming herself down, she looked more closely and confirmed that it was a torch.

Even more frightening was that the torch was slowly moving up the mountain.

Someone is chasing us.

The woman gritted her teeth and looked down more carefully. Then she saw a second torch, and then a third... They were scattered, but all were moving into the mountains.

The woman stood up abruptly and hurriedly came down the hill. She wanted to shout but was afraid of disturbing the people below. It wasn't until she reached the cave where the villagers were resting that she reached out and shook the villagers awake.

"Quick, hurry, someone is chasing us."

It's impossible for someone to climb the mountain in the middle of the night; they could only have come for them. Their departure from Daming Prefecture has been discovered.

The villagers immediately packed their bags, took their children, and prepared to flee.

Although they discovered them in advance, those people were very close to them. The elderly and children could not run fast, and they did not know if they could escape.

"If all else fails, we'll fight them."

When they left Daming Prefecture, they were prepared for this: if they were discovered by those people, even if they knew they couldn't win, they would fight to the death.

Having witnessed the beastly behavior of those people, they harbored no illusions whatsoever.