Xi Qingyue’s thinking was simple: they had only run into those two because they kept stopping and starting. If she walked ahead of Lu Qianning, there was no way those two could catch up to them.
As for the people from Liushu Village, she guessed they might have taken a detour through the mountains and definitely wouldn’t head for Bozhou City ahead. They could have veered off somewhere else entirely—the chances of running into them were slim.
She swept a glance around the alley, sensed no one nearby, and took Xi Weilan back into the space.
The two went to check on their planted watermelons. A large stretch of the melon field was now ripe, and Xi Weilan ran over excitedly and picked one.
Holding the melon, she ran back to Xi Qingyue. “Sister, let’s eat watermelon later.”
Xi Qingyue smiled and patted her head. “Alright, you can eat it whenever you like.”
With a flick of her will, the two instantly returned to the living room.
This time, she cut the watermelon into thin slices and placed them in a large fruit platter. The two ate piece by piece.
While eating, she casually asked, “Lan’er, weren’t you afraid when you touched the silver today?”
Xi Weilan was happily munching on her watermelon and answered without looking up. “Not afraid. With you here, Sister, I wouldn’t be scared even if a corpse came back to life.”
Hearing that, Xi Qingyue choked suddenly, her face turning red as she coughed repeatedly.
Xi Weilan quickly put down her melon, went behind her, and patted her back. “Sister, don’t eat so fast. If it’s not enough, I’ll just go pick another one later.”
At this, Xi Qingyue rolled her eyes. Did she choke because she was wolfing down watermelon?
After her coughing subsided, she smiled at Xi Weilan and waved her hand. “Sister’s fine now. Keep eating your melon.”
On reflection, she realized she’d been overthinking. Lan’er had already killed a man—touching a body probably didn’t bother her at all.
With that thought, she stopped worrying. Her little sister was well-behaved and sensible. As long as she wasn’t led astray, that was what mattered.
While the two rested in the space, many people in the city couldn’t sleep that night.
Some townsfolk were burning paper money for their deceased children at home, alternating between laughing and crying, looking as if their vengeance had been served.
Others were setting out food and drink at home, celebrating the deaths of the county magistrate and his men at the yamen.
But a very small number were anxious. They worried that the deaths of the magistrate and his men might implicate the city’s residents, especially the wealthy households. These families had been heavily extorted for grain and money by the magistrate, and they feared that the next magistrate might be even more ruthless.
At the yamen, the chief clerk was woken again. After touring the yamen and listening to those around him, he nearly tore his hair out in frustration.
“Good heavens, who on earth did this?”
With the county recorder and others, he carried a torch and walked around the yamen. When he saw the empty treasury, he was stunned.
“Was there a convoy leaving the city today?” He looked at the others. Having woken latest, he knew the least.
The recorder had woken earlier and knew a bit more, but only a little. “Sir, we asked the city guards. No convoy left today. The few individual vehicles that did leave were strictly inspected. All were clean.”
The chief clerk sighed. He had known this day would come, but he hadn’t expected it to be so severe.
The magistrate had levied taxes arbitrarily in the city, reaping huge profits. His son, along with the county military officer and others, had run rampant and made countless enemies. It was only natural they’d be retaliated against—but having the entire group wiped out at once was quite sudden.
“Sir, the surviving servants in the yamen have all run off. They’ll probably try to leave the city by tomorrow. Should we have the gates intercept them? They might have some clues.”
The chief clerk shook his head at once. “No need. Haven’t you figured it out yet? Those who survived didn’t take part in the wrongdoing. Those who routinely joined in arrests or helped bully the common people are all dead. We didn’t survive because of luck—it’s because we didn’t commit great evils. The question is how the person behind this made the distinction.”
He felt grateful. Other than being a bit greedy for petty bribes, he had never done anything truly despicable.
But he was even more puzzled. When had the city produced such a formidable figure? Someone who could kill so many people so silently and clear out the treasury and other places—could there be a tunnel in the city?
The others shared a feeling of lingering fear. At most, they had taken a few copper coins when offered voluntarily; they had never committed murder or arson.
“Sir, what do we do now? With so many dead, if we report this to the governor, won’t he suspect us? After all, not many people in the yamen are still alive.”
“Exactly. What if they can’t find the real killer and pin it on us? We’d never be able to explain ourselves.”
Hearing the discussion, the chief clerk shared that worry. It did seem possible.
Higher-ups loved finding scapegoats. They were in that exact situation now. But whoever could stay alive would rather live than die.
“Here’s what we do. Send someone to Bozhou City tomorrow to report the news. Say we suspect this is connected to bandits in the nearby mountains. If the higher-ups have a mind to suppress the bandits, that’s a good thing. If they don’t or are too afraid to act, we can’t be blamed for it.”
Others nodded in agreement. It was the best plan for now.
They discussed further and then left the yamen separately. After they went, Lu Qianning and Luo Ling dropped down from the rooftop.
“Princess, why did we come here?” Luo Ling felt that those dead officials at the yamen deserved their fate.
Lu Qianning sighed. “I didn’t expect the officials of Great Jing to have become like this. If every city’s officials are the same, then Great Jing’s demise is not far off.”
“Princess, it’s not as bad as you think. The state of Jing is huge. These kinds of officials are a minority. We just happened to run into them by chance.”
At that, Lu Qianning shook her head. Just on this one road, she had seen so much. If she’d taken another path, would the result have been the same?
Suddenly, something seemed to occur to her.
She lit a torch to illuminate the area and instructed Luo Ling, “Search separately for a while. Find the body of the magistrate’s son they mentioned. I have a feeling the way he died sounds familiar.”
Luo Ling didn’t quite understand but took the torch and followed her toward the rear courtyard. The bodies had not been moved.
Following the yamen’s layout, they soon found the magistrate’s son’s courtyard. His body was easy to identify—just a bloody hole in his forehead.
Lu Qianning leaned down and examined it, then shook her head. “It wasn’t them. It looks like a stab wound from a sword.”
“Princess, you weren’t seriously thinking those two little girls killed these people, were you? It definitely couldn’t have been them.” Luo Ling spoke with certainty.
Now it was Lu Qianning’s turn to be puzzled. “Oh? Why do you say that?”
Luo Ling pointed at the bodies scattered on the ground and analyzed confidently, "Princess, neither of them killed anyone with any attempt to conceal it. Look at the bloody holes in the foreheads—if they had been the ones who did this, there would be traces of hidden weapons left inside those holes. But there's nothing, which means these wounds were clearly caused by a sword. And as for the other bodies, most of them seem to have been pierced through by some sharp object, probably a spear."
Lu Qianning listened, her expression complicated as she looked at her. Who on earth would kill royal officials so openly?
Still, she nodded and said, "Mm, it definitely wasn't them. Even if it was, they were just ridding the world of evil."
