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Chapter 48 Little Mute

Zhu Yu had to admit that Lu Qing had convinced her.

Putting aside the deep-rooted beliefs in his heart, considering their current situation and the situation in Qingshui County, Lu Qing's approach is undoubtedly the best choice.

"I understand." After figuring this out, she smiled and nodded to Lu Qing, "It's just like pitching a pot. It's not difficult to use more or less force, but finding the right balance is the most difficult.

If I were a citizen of Qingshui County, I would be extremely happy to know that Li Wencai's lackeys were beaten to death at the government gate."

Lu Qing also smiled, and returned to his usual relaxed demeanor. He said to the outside of the room, "Come in."

Fu Wen pushed the door open from outside, walked in, turned around to close the door, and greeted Zhu Yu again.

Zhu Yu now knew that Fu Wen had quietly returned late at night the previous day. However, in order not to disturb Zhu Yu's rest, Lu Qing asked him to go and rest first, and then come back to report his gains outside after Zhu Yu woke up in the morning.

Zhu Yu glanced at Lu Qing who was standing beside him with a calm face, and felt a little surprised.

I originally thought that he just needed my ability to perform autopsies, so he wanted to take advantage of it. Now it seems that I underestimated myself.

Fu Wen was still wearing the coarse cloth clothes he wore when he went out to investigate, and his hair was tied up in a bun with an old cloth. After running around for a few days, his face was untidy and he looked shy. At first glance, he looked like a simple and honest farmer, not at all as smart and capable as he was when he was with Lu Qing.

Zhu Yu thought silently that this might be the so-called "clothes make the man". Although some people do not look like a prince even when wearing a dragon robe, some people can change their entire aura with just a set of clothes.

"Sir, Chief Secretary, I have investigated everything." After confirming that Fu Lu was guarding outside, Fu Wen spoke to Lu Qing and Zhu Yu, "The two brothers who prayed for wealth and got it learned about the effectiveness of the ghost temple from a mute beggar.

They followed suit and made a fortune, but that was all they had. They prayed again but no 'ghost immortals appeared'."

"Where did the dumb beggar come from?" Lu Qing asked.

"Sir, the origins of this mute beggar are quite a long story, and it even involves the old owner of the restaurant," Fu Wen replied. "I've heard that the mute little beggar wasn't originally a beggar, but rather the child of a wealthy family in the village. His surname was Cao. He was born mute, and later his family fell into poverty, with almost all of them dying. Instead, this little mute boy managed to survive on his own."

Zhu Yu listened to the meaning of the rune and felt that there seemed to be something else going on in the little mute's family, so he asked, "Could it be that the destruction of the little mute's family wasn't a natural disaster, but a man-made one?"

"That's exactly what happened, Chief Secretary," Fu Wen replied quickly. "It's not just a man-made disaster, it's also related to the old restaurant owner who died in the tree hole."

"Tell me in detail!" Zhu Yu immediately sat up straight. She had been bored these past few days due to wasting time, and now she was finally energetic.

Lu Qing glanced at Zhu Yu, whose eyes were shining beside him, without leaving a trace. There was a bit more certainty in his eyes. He turned to look at Fu Wen, waiting for him to continue.

"I heard that the little mute's family had some land. Although they weren't wealthy, they had enough for the family. They had a sweet water well at home, and the water was exceptionally clear and sweet. With the secret recipe for brewing wine passed down from their ancestors, they would often use their own grain and water from their own well to brew some wine and sell it in the county town. The wine brewed by the little mute's family was clear in color and smooth in taste without being acrid. Although they didn't brew much, it sold very well. Even though the price was a few cents higher than other small breweries, every time they brought it to the county town, it would sell out quickly. There were even restaurants and hotels that paid to reserve their wine and sell it exclusively to them.

At that time, many large wineries were willing to pay a large sum of money to buy the secret wine-making recipe passed down from the little mute's family, but they were all rejected by the little mute's grandfather.

During this period, many neighbors were jealous. When Lu Ji started to act tyrannically in Qingshui County, someone told the secret recipe to the deceased old shopkeeper, who then told the head of Lu Ji.

When Lu Ji brought people to the house to bribe the little mute but failed, he instigated a ruffian in the village to steal from the little mute's house. The little mute's grandfather discovered them and they fought. The little mute's grandfather was pushed to the ground and his head hit a stone, making a big hole and he died on the spot.

Afterwards, the father and brother of the little mute reported the scoundrel to the government office. Magistrate Li of Qingshui County Government did not punish the scoundrel. He just gave him a few whippings and released him.

Not long after, one day, the little mute and his sister went up the mountain to collect firewood. When they came back in the evening, they found that their house had been flooded. None of their parents and uncles had escaped. They were all burned to death. Suddenly, only the two of them were left to depend on each other.

Not long after, someone from the neighboring village took a fancy to the little mute's sister and wanted to take her home to be a concubine. The little mute wanted to stop him and was beaten half to death. His sister was a strong-willed person. Seeing that her brother was almost beaten to death and there was no one to protect her, she jumped into the well and died in shame.

After that, people died at the Sweet Water Well, and no one dared to care about it anymore. The little mute was lucky enough to survive and became a beggar. This family was completely wiped out.

Fu Wen is not usually the type to show his thoughts on his face, but when he told his master what he had heard, he still couldn't hide his sigh.

"Let me guess." Zhu Yu recalled the corpses in the cave. "The one who reported the news to the old shopkeeper, the one who went to the mute's house to steal the secret recipe but accidentally killed the mute's grandfather, and the one who tried to force the mute's sister to marry him and forced her to death, are they all dead?"

Fu Wen nodded quickly, "That's right! The deceased you personally examined behind the statue in the dilapidated temple that day was the wealthy man from the neighboring village who wanted to forcefully marry the mute little sister!"

Zhu Yu understood everything. That night in the inn, he couldn't sleep because of all the doubts. He tossed and turned and figured out the most reasonable reason. Now the information found by Fu Wen completely confirmed it.

The old shopkeeper received the news and informed Lu Ji, which was an act of abetting the evil, and was naturally a bad deed.

But no matter how evil he was, the old shopkeeper's hands were not directly stained with the blood of the little mute's family.

So he cannot escape death either. He can appear in a tree hole and scare everyone in the most bizarre way, but at the same time avoid the fate of being exposed in the wilderness.

Compared to those other villains who killed the little mute's family with their own hands, this is already considered good.

But how could a little mute, who couldn't speak, was young, and not very strong according to the runes, lure the culprits who destroyed his family to the ghost temple, kill them, and abandon their bodies in such a remote cave where even a light-footed person would be exhausted after walking there?

(End of this chapter)