A husband found in the village? I bought a regent for a penny!

The person who opened the door was Gu Xixi herself.

She gave a graceful bow and said, "This humble woman greets all the officers."

"Hello, Uncle Village Chief."

Old Qian introduced the two parties and said with a smile, "The police are just here to ask a few questions, you don't need to be too nervous."

Gu Xixi nodded slightly and took two steps back to invite them inside.

"It's already very hot this morning. You must all be tired from your journey. Why don't you sit down, take a break, and have a bowl of cranberry soup?"

The five constables were dressed in their official uniforms and all had serious expressions.

One of them, who was probably the leader, was surnamed Ma and was known as Master Ma. Just as he was about to refuse, Aunt Zhang brought over two white porcelain bowls.

She greeted us with a big smile, "This sour plum drink is a recipe made by my daughter. All the ingredients are picked from the back mountain: dried wild hawthorns from last year, fresh wild berries, rock sugar, and dried osmanthus flowers. It's boiled before dawn and hung in this well."

"Sweet and sour, and refreshingly cool, oh my, just talking about it makes my mouth water!"

The two constables in front of her, upon hearing her words, instinctively took the porcelain bowl from her.

The other three couldn't help but swallow hard.

The sun was already high in the sky, and they were quite thirsty after coming from the county town.

The appearance of two bowls of cranberry soup was a fatal blow to reason.

The constable A, holding the bowl, said, "It's very refreshing."

The constable tried hard to suppress his drool. "The soup is a bright red color and smells of flowers and fruits. I have never seen such a drink before."

Old Qian nodded in admiration, "My niece is truly skillful."

Aunt Zhang had already quickly brought over several bowls and stuffed them into the hands of each guest.

"Everyone, don't be shy, drink up!"

Under the expectant gazes of his men, Master Ma hesitated for a moment before finally agreeing, "It's just borrowing a bowl of water to quench my thirst, it's not a violation of discipline, drink it."

Everyone had been eagerly anticipating this, and immediately picked up their bowls and drank heartily.

Mmm!!! It tastes delicious!

"It's indescribably delicious!"

"The iced bean drink sold at that shop in the county town is nowhere near as good as this!"

Sweet treats are rare enough, so no one would want to gulp down such a refreshing drink in one go.

Old Qian then asked Aunt Zhang to bring over a few small stools. They sat down, held their bowls, and slowly drank the wine, sip by sip.

Master Ma didn't forget his business either. While drinking, he said to Gu Xixi, "Old Qian has already told me about those bandits who came to your house to take advantage of your misfortune yesterday."

"When we leave, we will take the criminal away ourselves. Since we caught him in the act, we have witnesses. After the trial, you, a young lady, don't need to be there."

Gu Xixi cupped her hands in thanks, "Thank you for your consideration, Master Ma."

Master Ma nodded, glanced at Old Qian, and began to speak casually, "The yamen register says you once bought a husband, but where is he today?"

Gu Xixi's heart skipped a beat.

No matter how much you try to delay, the problems you don't want to face will still come.

Master Ma took another sip of cranberry soup, but his gaze seemed to be fixed on Gu Xixi's face.

Gu Xixi raised her head and smiled without any hesitation, "You mean Chen Fang? Because I'm still in mourning, I haven't married him yet, so we're not considered husband and wife."

Master Ma nodded. "Whether you're married or not, he's your man now. Why don't you call him out to greet the guests? Or... is he feeling unwell today and unable to get up?"

As he spoke, he looked up at Gu Xixi, and the other four constables also put down their bowls and looked over.

Gu Xixi naturally sensed the danger and immediately stood up, saying, "How could that be?"

“He stayed up late last night tending to some wild tea trees with me.”

Old Qian also subtly winked, "What time is it? Wake him up, don't let him sleep."

Seeing Gu Xixi turn and walk towards the west room, Lao Qian secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

He was, after all, somewhat knowledgeable; the government dispatching so many yamen runners at once was probably not just for "verifying the population."

As the village chief, he certainly didn't want any problems to arise in his village.

So on the way to Gu Xixi's house just now, he did a lot of good things about her.

For example, "She had no criminal record for at least five generations," "Although her father was a landlord, he was an honest and kind man," "Her father was not old when he passed away, and it must have been very difficult for the young girl to be alone"...

When Gu Xixi turned her back to everyone, there was no smile on her face.

The government office was indeed there to find someone.

Regardless of their mission or whether they were searching for Mu Nanzhao.

If it were discovered that Mu Nanzhao was seriously injured and unconscious, it would be a huge disaster.

What should we do? What can we do now?

If Mu Nanzhao wakes up, there might still be a chance to fool him...

Just as Gu Xixi was in a state of utter confusion, the door to the west room suddenly opened.

Hearing the door open, everyone in the yard looked over there.

The man was neatly dressed, but his sleepy-eyed appearance indicated that he had just gotten up.

He yawned. "So early, who's here?"

Gu Xixi felt as if she had been granted a pardon, and stepped forward with a smile, saying, "Several constables from the county government have arrived."

"It's so rude of you to be sleeping until this late."

Fearing that Mu Nanzhao might be unsteady after waking up, she deliberately acted affectionately and took his arm with both hands.

Mu Nanzhao glanced back at Gu Xixi meaningfully, pulled his arm away, and strode into the courtyard.

"I was unaware of your visit and was only getting up at this hour. Please forgive me."

Old Qian was very happy, "I really did oversleep."

Master Ma stared at Mu Nanzhao, seemingly looking at something.

After a moment, he finished the remaining cranberry soup and handed the empty bowl to Mu Nanzhao.

"I'm still a little thirsty, could you please get me another half bowl of water?"

Mu Nanzhao reached out to take it, but Master Ma held onto the bowl tightly.

After a brief standoff, Master Ma released his grip and laughed, "You're in good shape, quite energetic."

Mu Nanzhao said calmly, "If you're a peasant and don't have some strength, you'll probably be looked down upon by your master."

Gu Xixi recalled that when Mu Nanzhao was first brought here, he was clearly not in good health.

Following his words, she added, "When Chen Fanggang arrived, he had a cough. I was worried that I would be at a disadvantage if I bought a sickly person."

"As a result, I recovered after taking herbal medicine for a few days. I guess I was lucky."

The scrutinizing look in Master Ma's eyes faded, and he smiled, "You two are both very humorous, which shows it's a good match."

He stood up and waved, "We still have to visit other homes, so we won't drink any more water."

Aunt Zhang warmly saw her guests off, and when she turned back after closing the gate, there was no one left in the yard.

Inside the west room, Gu Xixi helped Mu Nanzhao sit down on the bedside and noticed the cold sweat on the back of his neck.

"Does it hurt a lot? Could the wound have reopened?"

Mu Nanzhao remained expressionless. "The wound was treated well. Those little movements weren't enough to warrant such treatment."

He had been holding back all along, and his every move had not revealed anything.

Gu Xixi looked him over and noticed something was wrong. "When did you wake up?"

Mu Nanzhao made no attempt to hide it, saying, "It was just dawn."

Gu Xixi's expression turned cold. "You woke up so early, why didn't you tell me?"