After the cannon fodder father and daughter married into the family, the whole family regretted it

Judging from how Widow Cao treated her three children, she was undoubtedly a loving mother, but she also took the initiative to sacrifice a sick child, causing him to lose his life.

Fang Nanzhi vaguely understood something in his heart, but still felt uncomfortable.

She had many confusions. After thinking about it, she asked Anmei to prepare pen and ink. She wanted to write it down and ask her teacher, her brother, and Shi Junyan.

They are always smarter and may be able to solve the problem.

The next day, Dr. Chen and his colleagues were leaving.

Fang Nanzhi looked at the rolling mountains and wanted to go deeper.

Cao Xiaoya said that there are many villages behind the mountain. Some villages are deep in the mountains and people only leave the village once a year.

Fang Nanzhi wanted to see how the mountain people lived, but she restrained herself.

She was not stupid and knew that there were only three of them and that going into the mountains would present all kinds of threats.

Ferocious beasts are one kind of thing, but what is even more terrifying is the human heart.

Mr. Zheng talked about some strange things in history.

In some mountain villages, the custom is cannibalism. In some places, in order to give birth to a boy, people abandon or kill their reincarnated daughters. In some places, people cannot find wives, so they share wives.

Mr. Zheng believes that this is the reason why the people are stupid and education has not been widely implemented.

Fang Nanzhi didn't want to put herself in danger. She was traveling for study, but she was not a real knight who could travel the world without restraint.

Finally, she sighed and left with Dr. Chen.

Along the way, she was thinking, if she used Mr. Zheng's method to educate the people, would it be possible to prevent the mountain people here from using living people for sacrifice?

How should we educate people, and to what extent can we educate people so that they can see the essence of things?

Fang Nanzhi's brows furrowed more and more, and she even wondered if some of those people who wanted to sacrifice human lives really believed in this method?

Or is it just to vent violence?

After returning to Puliu Town, Fang Nanzhi wanted Anmei to report to the authorities to see if the local officials knew about the human sacrifice.

Anmei was helpless and said that there was no need to do so.

"Miss, the first thing an official does when he takes office is to understand the local forces. How could he not know that the locals believe in mountain gods? If you report it to the authorities, I'm afraid it will be considered a provocation."

"You want to know their attitude. I have another way."

The next day, some people invited Fang Nanzhi to attend a flower viewing party or something.

Fang Nanzhi picked through a pile of invitations and found the one from the Luo family.

Puliu Town belongs to Chen County, and the county magistrate of Chen County is surnamed Luo.

Fang Nanzhi's status as a descendant of the imperial physician's family is enough for Miss Luo to invite him.

That’s right, in the eyes of true nobles, imperial physicians are craftsmen and inferior people, but in the eyes of local officials, imperial physicians are still worthy of respect.

Although they cannot directly participate in politics, they have one advantage, that is, they are close ministers to the emperor.

Fang Nanzhi went to attend a flower viewing party.

A group of little girls played games such as throwing pots, blind tag, and flying kites, which was also lively and interesting.

Fang Nanzhi is outgoing and has been naughty since childhood. She has superb playing skills, is cute, and has a sweet mouth. She quickly became friends with many little girls.

Among them was the second daughter of the Luo family, the legitimate daughter of County Magistrate Luo.

Fang Nanzhi mentioned the mountain god parade that she saw when she came here, which was very solemn. Miss Luo Er also followed the topic and mentioned the legend of the mountain god.

There was an old hunter named Lu. When he was hunting in the mountains, he encountered a tiger. Hunter Lu was very skilled in fighting with the tigress for dozens of moves and actually subdued it. However, he found that the tigress was pregnant, so he wanted to let her go first.

But the tigress was ungrateful and attacked the hunter Lu afterwards. The mountain god appeared and saved the old hunter.

Fang Nanzhi was stunned. What kind of person could capture and kill a tiger alone?

She felt the story had too many loopholes, so she asked, "Did Hunter Lu see the mountain god?"

"Of course not! Hunter Lu fell into a coma inexplicably, and when he woke up, the tigress was gone. It must be the mountain god who appeared and saved him, otherwise he would have been eaten long ago." Miss Luo vowed.

Fang Nanzhi was even more speechless. This story was too fake.

Fortunately, the mountain god is so famous that there are other legends about him.

The mountain god used to be a ferocious beast in the mountains. After being injured, he was rescued by humans.

Then it ate a piece of heavenly grass and became a mountain god. It felt good about humans and provided them with all kinds of protection.

Fang Nanzhi: ...

But there are still some girls who disagree with this statement. They say that mountain gods have existed since ancient times and that they have been worshipped by local people for generations, which may be traced back to the beliefs of their ancestors.

Perhaps the mountain god is a kind of totem.

The more they talked, the more Fang Nanzhi scratched her head. She was very curious. Did they all believe in mountain gods?

A group of young girls are very honest.

Some believed it, some thought Confucius did not speak of strange things, and some thought they had never seen it, and although they were skeptical, they still had to remain respectful.

Some people regard worshiping mountain gods as a custom and think it is normal.

Fang Nanzhi breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that everyone was still normal.

In fact, the main reason why these girls say this is that most of them have some status, have received enlightenment, do not live in the mountains, and are young.

If Fang Nanzhi went to ask those mountain people and questioned their beliefs, they would probably think it was a provocation.

Of course, she knew this herself, and she was not stupid.

Afterwards, Fang Nanzhi naturally mentioned the worship of the mountain god, and hinted at the matter of using people for sacrifice.

"How is that possible? We are not a barbarian land and we don't use human sacrifices."

"The mountain gods are all gods, so why would they eat humans?"

Fang Nanzhi scratched his head, not expecting that they didn't know.

That's right, a group of well-protected little girls, naturally no adults would let them see those cruel things,

"Miss Luo, if someone really uses children for sacrifice, will the county government intervene?"

Fang Nanzhi asked further.

Miss Luo Er thought about it and she didn’t know.

She felt a little sorry: "I'm just a girl, I don't know much about my father's county government affairs."

This is the truth. In families like theirs, daughters are raised by their mothers and learn music, chess, calligraphy and painting.

"However, although human sacrifice is cruel, if the mountain people are willing, the officials should not investigate unless they report it."

An older girl spoke up.

"It's like if someone sells their own child, should the government be held accountable?"

This seems to be a matter of course.

Fang Nanzhi understood many things in an instant. This dynasty emphasizes filial piety, and it seems that how parents treat their children is what they should do.

Just like Old Man Fang, he used his father's power to exploit her father and second uncle for more than 20 years. The villagers couldn't stand it, but they didn't think it was unreasonable.

Similarly, if parents voluntarily sacrifice their child to the mountain god, is that a family matter? Would the county government be willing to intervene in this matter?