Others are fleeing famine, but I am a salted fish

The village chief and his entourage, as well as Fubao's mother, were stunned. Fubao couldn't even catch his breath, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

The reversal came so quickly that everyone was stunned.

Fu Bao's mother was so frightened that she almost wet her pants. She couldn't believe that she had hit a wall and was trying to blackmail the village chief?

It’s simply... fatal!

After some investigation and interrogation, and with the testimony of villagers, the county magistrate found that Fubao was indeed suspected of theft, and the owner of Le'an was just protecting his property, so he had no choice but to take appropriate counterattacks.

Considering Lin Xiaoyue's identity, Fubao's wrong behavior, and the fact that the Le'an Township Lord did not suffer any substantial loss, the county magistrate ordered Fubao to apologize to Lin Xiaoyue and others, and Lin Xiaoyue should also reflect on whether it was appropriate to carry a crossbow at all times.

As for Fu Bao Niang's behavior, it constitutes malicious blackmail.

According to the laws of the Dayuan Dynasty, fraud and theft are on par with each other, and both crimes are acts of obtaining other people's property by illegal means.

Moreover, the person whom Fu Baoniang had falsely accused was a township lord of the second rank, who was personally appointed by the emperor. He should have been sentenced to death with a stick and thrown into the streets. However, considering that it was her first offense and the township lord had no intention of pursuing the matter, she was given a light punishment and sentenced to pay a fine of 100 taels of silver within one day to serve as a warning to others.

Fu Bao Niang is a living example of what it means to lose the rice while trying to steal the chicken.

After the verdict was announced, Fu Bao's mother felt like a dehydrated fish or shrimp. She collapsed to the ground with powerlessness all over her body, gasping for breath.

Almost, almost, she thought she was dead.

The dryness and hoarseness of her chest and the overflowing wailing all turned into a bitter taste in her mouth. No one knew that when she heard about the beating and public execution, her three souls were scared away. Either being beaten to death or being executed in a busy city, the cruelty was second only to lingchi.

She didn't dare to think about how painful it would be if she really died in two ways. Fortunately, she didn't have to die. Although she had to pay a fine of 100 taels of silver today, it made her feel very distressed, but compared to her life, the money was worth it, too worth it.

Well, I have to say, it is worthy of the word "official".

This verdict not only pleased the Le'an township chief, but also made the offender willingly accept the fine.

As for Lin Xiaoyue's discovery that more than one carriage showed signs of being shot by crossbows, she guessed that there were at least two people who committed the crime last night. One, Fubao, was caught red-handed, and the other was not injured and did not appear at the scene. So it is not difficult to guess who the suspect is.

After all, everything from debugging to installing the mechanism was done by Lin Xiaoyue alone. She also adjusted the angle of the crossbow shooting based on the height of an adult. If someone climbed onto the car and the crossbow did not hit the person, it could only be said that the person's stature was much smaller than the trajectory Lin Xiaoyue had set.

Therefore, the guess for the other suspect can be narrowed down to someone under ten years old.

Lin Xiaoyue and her group arrived at the village to stay overnight in the evening. Putting aside the situation known by other villagers, the biggest suspect is the seven or eight-year-old boy from the Zhao family - Chuanzong.

Lin Xiaoyue glanced indifferently at Fu Bao's mother, who was lying on the ground like a dead dog, and was glad to have survived the disaster. She felt that one day she would regret having such children.

Lin Xiaoyue and others did not wait for Fu Bao Niang to bring the compensation money for the fine. They said hello to the county magistrate and turned to leave the county government office.

The village chief and the young men who came with him were left with worried and annoyed expressions. Who would have thought that the other party was the head of Le'an Township? Although I don't know his exact rank, judging by the respectful and polite manner of the county magistrate, he must be older than the county magistrate.

If they had known earlier, they should not have sympathized with the Zhao mother and daughter, and simply caused the noble man to dislike them.

They were really overthinking it. Lin Xiaoyue was in a hurry to buy a horse and return to Wanbao Town. She had no time to argue with them.

Fortunately, this town is not small. Although there is no horse market, there are still horse carriage shops.

Lin Xiaoyue and his group suddenly walked into the carriage shop and picked out five horses at once. Including the original horse, they now had six horses.

Now, with the monthly share of wine and beverages from the imperial city, Lin Xiaoyue is no longer short of money and can spend money freely.

The men and women were still separated into different carriages, and the third carriage was still used to carry supplies. Each carriage was pulled by two horses, so the horses could have an easier time.

After choosing the horses, they also changed to three spacious and comfortable carriages. Although there were no shock absorbers installed, it was better than the ones that were chopped to pieces by the thieves and the ones that had leaks in one or two places.

After purchasing a new carriage, the group did not stay in the town. After buying some supplies, they hurried away.

As the sun sets, several horse-drawn carriages clatter forward on the road.

Because the road was slippery and the wheels were not very slip-resistant, no one dared to drive the carriage too fast. As a result, they stayed in the carriage for a longer time, and everyone had backaches.

The wheels rolled and the ride was bumpy. In addition, they encountered two ambushes and passing bandits later on, but everyone managed to resolve the situation without any danger.

Even by chance, they discovered a secret base where some unknown powerful person kept private soldiers.

Imprisoned there were many young and middle-aged men who had been forcibly abducted, as well as some children of merchants. These hostages became hostages for certain powerful people to exploit their families and to provide them with a steady supply of money and property every month.

Lin Xiaoyue and the others played a trick of going deep into the tiger's den, successfully broke into the interior, rescued the imprisoned people, and took down this secret base in the process.

The officials in charge of the area thanked them respectfully and said they would report their achievements to the higher authorities. The people were so grateful that they lined the streets to see them off. Although they experienced several dangers, they finally got through them safely.

Not until they entered Wanbao Town did everyone breathe a sigh of relief, and they couldn't help but think in their hearts that the Marquis of Pingyang, who had sent people to assassinate them one after another in the imperial city, was probably doomed to fail.

Standing in front of the gate of Zhuangzi Courtyard, it was already early March, and the extreme cold that had lasted for more than a month was quietly coming to an end on the road.

At this time, spring is back to the earth, and everywhere is full of green, just like everyone's mood, full of longing and hope.

But when the group returned to the farm exhausted, all the joy came to an abrupt end at that moment.

It was Grandpa Lin who opened the door again. When he saw Lin Xiaoyue and her group returned safely, the expression on his face was one of genuine joy.

As Grandpa Lin shouted with joy, everyone in the village learned that Lin Xiaoyue and the others had returned, and they all came to reunite.

The joy of reunion after a long separation made everyone cry with joy. Even the Lin sisters hugged Lin Xiaoyue warmly. The fourth and fifth children even stayed in the arms of the third sister and cried like tearful babies.

The reunion of relatives is a joyful thing, but Lin Xiaoyue smelled a hint of bitterness in it.

This feeling reached its peak when she saw the awkward and helpless smile on Miao's face.