Chapter 286: Cleaning Up

rts, accompanied by their surveying team, arrived here as quickly as possible. After initial exploration, it appears to be a cemetery complex, containing the remains of a high-profile figure. This has...The old woman, Ya Xing Sun, who had been standing quietly in the background the entire time, lowered her gaze and stood straight with not a word uttered.

The second elder brother of the Zhuang family was weaker than his older brother, and he died within fifteen minutes. The remaining members of the Zhuang family panicked even more, fearing that they would be next. They trembled and huddled together, as if pushing anyone out would result in their death.

Then ripples beckoned the old woman with a small wave of her hand. The old woman immediately took small steps to ripple's front, bowed respectfully, and said with a smile:

"Grandmother Sun has met the young lady!"

"Well, it was hard work for the old woman to run this errand. My father just passed away, and I wouldn't normally want to see blood. But these scoundrels thought they could take advantage of me being a lone woman, so I had no choice but to make an exception. I apologize if I caused any offense to the old woman."

"Miss, please rest assured. Now that the culprit has been dealt with, these servants naturally wouldn't dare to have second thoughts."

Grandmother Sun respectfully said.

The young girl before them was only twelve years old, yet she possessed an outstanding appearance and a mature mind. She handled herself decisively. If she were an ordinary girl of twelve, she would have been terrified beyond recognition by now. The fact that she could remain composed and speak to her without flinching spoke volumes. When she grew up, she would undoubtedly be a formidable figure.

"Taking Granny Sun's good advice, I will sell the rest of them to you. You can handle their dealings, but don't sell them all to the same place."

The ripples took out a stack of sale contracts from the box on the table, a total of fourteen, and directly handed them to Granny Sun.

"Yes."

The tooth-seller took the deed of sale, and with the guards' assistance, examined it carefully. Then she took out a silver note worth one hundred taels from her sleeve and handed it over with both hands.

Lo Sakura took in the mistress of the house and had the guards bring ropes, tying up all the remaining members of the village head's family like candied gourds.

Only then did the remaining members of the Zhuang household let out a sigh of relief. Being sold was better than being beaten or killed by their master; as long as they were alive, that was all that mattered.

Even ripples got tired and handed over the remaining tasks to Wu Zhong. She went for an afternoon nap.

Wu Zhong beat Zhuang Min again before the crowd dispersed. The whole village was unusually quiet that day. There were no children running around, nor men working in the fields. Everyone stayed huddled in their earthen houses, warned by their heads of household not to offend the young lady, as the consequences would be beyond their capacity to bear.

The best example is Zhuangtou Wu Liangjia. Although they deserved it, the neighbors resented this family dearly. But when they saw the adult men in their home beaten to death and the rest sold off, they couldn't help but feel a chill down their spines.

After the ripples had settled, and she'd finished a bowl of red jujube and lotus seed soup, Wu Zhong finally came in to report:

"Miss, I gave the two officers each two taels of silver. I paid for the carriage, and they left together with Grandma Sun and her people."

I saw that the two older maids at the Zhuang's house had hatred in their eyes, as if they were very dissatisfied with the young mistress. So I secretly sent them to a brothel through the matchmaker.

After hearing this, Lian Yi raised an eyebrow but didn't refute the other party. He just motioned for him to continue.

"The head of the household has found quite a lot when searching through everything, Luo Huai has already recorded it all. Miss, what do you want to do with it"

"Everything was divided equally, one share per person. Children under age counted as half a share. Since we beat them with a stick, we should give them some dates. These things were originally taken from the peasants."

"Miss is still so considerate, using both kindness and severity. That's how people will obediently listen."

After paying a compliment, Wu Zhong lowered his voice and said:

"Miss, after my master passes away for a month, I will go burn some paper money for him and take care of that matter at the same time."

"I understand. Don't leave a trace."

"Miss, please rest assured, I will take care of these things."

That evening, the twenty households on Zhuangzi were awakened by knocks on their doors, but they all had an unexpected harvest. The items were brought by Wu Guanjia along with Luo Huai, Wu An, and two guards.

"Miss, kind and compassionate, knowing that you have all suffered under Wu Liang's oppression these past years, I offer you these gifts as a token of my appreciation. I hope that you will all feel secure staying in the manor and working hard to make it thrive. Better days are yet to come."

The villagers immediately bowed towards the second courtyard, expressing their gratitude and assuring that they would work diligently.

The first boy who pointed out Wu Liang was brought to see Lianyi by Wu Zhong.

What's your name

"Chu Liangchen."

"It's a good name, who came up with it"

"Father! He studied at a private school for several years, but unfortunately, he fell ill and passed away early. Only Mother was left to raise us siblings, and as a result, my elder sister..."

Although Chu Liangchen was young, his eyes turned red, but he stubbornly refused to shed tears.

"Have your mother be responsible for the meals of the guards in the outer courtyard, and you should follow them to learn some martial arts moves, recognize some characters. Like Wu An, you can run errands for the steward and learn more things. It's always beneficial to learn more."

Ripples smiled softly.

"Thank you, Miss! Liang Chen will definitely study hard and repay your kindness in the future!"

As he spoke, he knelt down.

Ripple wasn't used to being knelt upon, so she gave Wu An a signal, and he pulled Chu Liangchen up.

In the following days, Lianyi basically stayed in the courtyard, starting to take care of her original body, exercising, and laying a foundation for improving her physical strength.

Seven days later, at the hottest time of midday, a fire broke out at the crematorium outside the city. Some unburied bodies that had gone unclaimed were burned, but fortunately, the damage was not significant. The fire was caused by dry weather conditions, and the old caretaker of the crematorium was reprimanded for his negligence. The matter was then dropped.

"Miss, those corpses were beyond recognition already, and after the fire, the old man at the funeral home just buried them without leaving any trace."

Treat this as if it never happened, and don't mention it again.

"Yes!"

Li's Family in Beijing

Li Jizu has been away from the capital for over a month now, with no word coming back. The head wife of Li's main family is starting to worry. Lately, she's been having nightmares where her son is either covered in blood or on fire, begging for help. A heavy feeling weighs on her heart, and she can only go to the head of the Li family to cry out her worries.

"Master, these two days my heart has been feeling uneasy. My ancestor has been gone for so long, yet there's still no news."

Li Renyu also frowned, stroked his beard, and said in a deep voice:

"My lady, please don't worry. I have already arranged for guards to go to Jiangnan and inquire about the Wu family."

If Wu Youcai were truly dead, that twelve-year-old girl certainly wouldn't be able to keep hold of those assets. She would end up relying on us then. It would be better to let Jizu take her as a concubine. That way, we would gain the wealth and Jizu could still marry a proper wife.

Li Qin had long made her plans.

"There's no rush. Let's see what kind of person she is first. We don't want her to cause trouble in the Li family once she's married, just because she has money."

Li Renyu (yu) is even more hypocritical, wanting both the substance and the face.

"Alright, I'll listen to my master! Now that she has to observe filial piety, it wouldn't be auspicious for her to return to the house. Besides, there are people from the second room watching us, we can't afford to be careless."was almost like a provocation towards their police force. The nature of this case was too vile. Two police officers had already been sacrificed. This was like rubbing their police department's face in...