I will lead the whole village to occupy the land and become the king.

Thinking of the supplies in the ancestral hall, Village Chief Li broke out in a cold sweat. He forced a smile and bowed to the leading officer, "Don't be angry, officer. We are all honest ordinary people. How can we not pay taxes?"

He pointed to the fields visible outside the village and said, "But look, sir, our village didn't have any autumn harvest this year. Not a single grain of food has grown in the fields. Even if we wanted to pay, we can't!"

"As for your comment about us not fleeing the famine, it's because we're all reluctant to leave our roots!" Village Chief Li turned and pointed at Yunshan. "Look, we've almost plucked Yunshan bare. We don't have any food. All we eat are grass roots and tree bark!"

There happened to be several houses at the entrance of the village drying some wild vegetables and edible leaves they had brought back from the mountains a few days ago. Village Chief Li pointed at them and burst into tears, "Sir, look, what I said is all true!"

The leading officer actually walked several steps forward and even took a careful look at what was being dried in the sun.

It turned out to be grass roots, leaves and the like, and his face immediately turned unhappy.

That’s not right. The county magistrate clearly said that Dingshui Village had hidden a large amount of food. Why would they eat grass roots and leaves when they already have food to eat?

It was obvious that this person had never suffered any hardship since childhood. Although Dingshui Village had a batch of grain, there were more than 300 people in the village, and the daily consumption was not a small amount.

Plus, God is merciless, who knows when the land will produce again? So they have to save some food while they can find it. Are they really waiting to starve?

"Captain Wang," another officer wearing a sunshade hat came up to the leading officer and whispered, "The county magistrate said if they don't hand it over, we'll search the village!"

The leading officer took a look at the man and curled his lips unconsciously. He was definitely not a good person if he was hiding his head and showing his tail.

But this man was allowed to come with the county magistrate, so he had no choice but to listen to him.

After looking at the dried wild vegetables and leaves, Captain Wang turned to Village Chief Li and asked, "Does your village really not pay taxes?"

"Officers, it's not that we don't want to hand it over, but we really don't have it!" Village chief Li was extremely nervous and afraid that these officers would really search the village.

But even if they searched, they couldn't possibly find the ancestral hall, right? That's where the ancestral tablets are placed.

Captain Wang suddenly smiled grimly, waved his hand at the officers, and shouted, "Search every household! Check every household for cellars. Anyone with large amounts of food, take everything away!"

The people in Dingshui Village turned pale, and many aunts, old ladies and old ladies rushed over crying and shouting.

"No! That's all the food we have left. If you take it away, our whole family will starve to death!"

Seeing this, Jiang Qinyu quickly whispered to Village Chief Li, "Don't worry, Uncle Village Chief. They won't find anything."

After saying that, she hurried home.

Shufan and Pan'er are still at home, so don't scare the children with these people.

Village chief Li was stunned and didn't understand what she meant, but when he thought of her extraordinary abilities, he decided to believe her.

"Village chief, please say something! Are we just going to watch them search the village?" Liu Erlang was extremely anxious, but he didn't dare to rush up and argue with the knife-wielding officers alone.

"Yes, village chief, how can we let them search the village?" Jiang Dacheng was also very anxious.

The food in the ancestral hall was something they had spent a fortune getting from the capital. If it was taken away, what would they do this winter? What would they do next year when there was a shortage? Would they really take all the villagers and move to the mountains?

"Let them search. They won't give up even if we don't." Village chief Li clenched his fists, his heart in turmoil.

What did the eldest niece mean by that? Was she sure the officials wouldn't search the ancestral hall?

"Ah? Let them search? Well... no, I have to go and watch!" Liu Erleng didn't expect Village Chief Li to say that. He couldn't help it and ran to catch up with the group of officials who were searching the village.

Village Chief Li also said to the others, "Everyone, follow us. Although we are good citizens, we cannot allow others to bully us. If they go too far when searching the village, we will fight them!"

"Right! If they mess around, the worst that can happen is we'll just fight them!"

When everyone heard this, they finally felt relieved.

Even if the officials searched the ancestral hall for grain, wouldn't they be able to stop them from taking the grain away? Even if it cost them their lives, they would protect the village's grain!

Captain Wang did not search in person, but instead looked around for the situation.

He found that Dingshui Village was indeed peculiar compared to other villages. The people here were more lively than those in other places, and they were the kind of people who had not lost hope in life.

Furthermore, the villagers' desperate resistance he had anticipated during the search hadn't materialized. Could it be that they were truly out of food? Was the county magistrate's information wrong?

Jiang Qinyu was not worried. After all, most of the villagers now only had enough food for their family for two months, and it was a very streamlined amount, so the total amount was not much.

Not to mention her home, she only left three days' worth of food outside, and the rest was stored in the space.

As soon as Jiang Qinyu returned home, the two children threw themselves into her arms.

"Aunt, I'm scared." Pan'er hugged her waist tightly.

Shu Fan's little hands tightly grasped Jiang Qinyu's skirt. He looked at the gate with panic and fear on his face. "Auntie, they're coming!"

Two policemen rushed into Jiang Qinyu's home with expressionless faces, ignoring her and her two children.

After searching the entire house and even checking the cellar in Jiang Qinyu's house, the two officers left empty-handed.

"Aunt, who are they? Why are they rummaging through our house?" Shu Fan looked up at Jiang Qinyu and asked.

This was the first time he saw the police officer. In Jiang Shufan's little heart, what happened today had a great impact on him.

Jiang Qinyu touched his head and said, "They are officials from the county government, here to collect this year's taxes."

"Officials? Are they the ones who catch bad guys in the stories my grandparents told us?" Pan'er asked with his head tilted.

Jiang Qinyu nodded, "Yes."

"Then why do they treat us like this? We are not bad people!" Shu Fan looked at her in confusion.

Jiang Qinyu thought for a moment and said, "Shufan, Pan'er, you must remember that not all officials in this world are there to catch bad guys."

The two nodded in understanding.

Jiang Qinyu took them by the hand and walked out quickly.

As soon as I came out, I heard all the officers reporting to Captain Wang.

"Boss, we've checked, and it's just like they said. Every household only has a little food left. There's really no new food harvested."

Captain Wang looked towards the ancestral hall and asked, "Have you searched that place?"

"No," the man who answered shook his head and said immediately, "I'll let the brothers go..."