Rebirth: Making a Fortune in Ancient Times

"Miss, how do you know that woman is with the bandits?" Da Niu asked Xia Yu, not quite understanding.

"Didn't you see she was still wearing a silver hairpin in her hair? If her home had really been taken over by thieves, why would they be so kind as to leave her a silver hairpin in her hair? I also smelled the scent of scented soap on her."

"Furthermore, when I held her hand just now, I noticed that her palms and fingertips didn't have the calluses that a typical woman would have from working. Instead, she had hard calluses on the web of her right hand. I wondered if that woman might be in cahoots with those thieves?"

Xia Yu wiped the dried bloodstains from her hands with a damp cloth.

"But if you're in cahoots, why did you tell us about the cave?"

"I don't know. Maybe the people left in the cave are all unimportant? Or maybe there's no one left in the tunnel? Anyway, even if she doesn't say anything, our people can find her. Besides, she'll have to say something to convince us. This kind of mix of truth and falsehood is the easiest to believe." He threw the handkerchief in his hand into the basin, then took a clean one and continued wiping.

"So that's how it is. I was wondering why you gave that woman medicine when she was brought back?" Da Niu nodded in response.

“There are some things that are hard to say there, and I’m afraid she might suddenly hurt someone, so I’d rather just give her the medicine and she’ll behave herself.”

"Oh..." Da Niu responded, then took out a clean piece of clothing from her bundle and said to Xia Yu.

"Miss, there's nowhere to bathe right now. Why don't you change out of your blood-stained clothes?"

"Yes, it needs to be changed. These clothes are stained with blood and are stiff now, making them uncomfortable to wear. Tomorrow, you can take them and burn them. You stay here and watch over the carriage, making sure no one else gets near it. I'm going inside to rest for a while."

"Yes, Miss, don't worry, I promise to keep a close watch on the carriage and not let a single fly in," Da Niu assured her.

Once inside the carriage, Xia Yu extinguished the oil lamp and then entered her spatial dimension. She filled a basin with water and quickly rinsed herself in the space. After putting on the clean clothes Da Niu had found for her, she emerged from the dimension. It was nearly dawn, and she checked on her parents before returning to the carriage for a short rest.

The next day, just as dawn was breaking, Zhang Youtie sent someone with his letter to the government office to report the case. Magistrate Jia of Qi'an County, who was still in bed with his concubine, was so frightened by the news that someone from the Zhongzhou Baron's family had come to report the case that he almost fell off the bed.

"What did you say? Say it again? There are robbers trying to rob the Baron?"

"Yes, sir. The servant who came to report the case had a letter from the Baron of Zhongzhou, and that's what he said," a servant from the county office replied from outside the door.

"Where is Master He? Quickly go and invite him here." The magistrate asked his concubine to put on his boots while hurriedly putting on his official robe.

"The clerk has already gone over and is currently talking to the servant who came to report the case."

"Okay, okay, go tell the clerk I'll be right there."

"My lord, what kind of baron is he? It's just an empty title. Is it really worth getting so worked up about?" The concubine muttered as she helped the magistrate tie his hair.

"What do you know? This Baron of Zhongzhou and his daughter, Lady Wenfu, may not wield much real power, but they have the power to reach the Emperor directly. If they were to say even a single thing to the Emperor, my career might be over. Besides, these bandits are in my jurisdiction. If anything happens to the Baron and Lady Wenfu, the Emperor will be furious and could probably rip my head off. Hurry up, stop dawdling. If something happens to me, your good days are over too."

Upon hearing the magistrate's words, the concubine realized the gravity of the situation and quickly sped up her work.

When the county magistrate arrived at Huojia Village with his government officials, Deputy General Zhao had already obtained the confessions of all the thieves.

More than twenty people emerged from the burrows in the woods that night; they were all family members of the bandits. As for the 123 people of Huo Family Village, they had all been slaughtered on the very first day the bandits occupied the village. Their bodies were hidden in the burrows they had dug. The young woman Xia Yu rescued was the bandit leader's own daughter. The bandit leader and the woman's husband were among the second wave of men in black, and unfortunately, they were both killed by Xia Yu and Nineteen.

The woman, not seeing the planned firelight in the village, knew her plan had failed. She initially intended to hide in the tunnel and escape under cover of darkness, but the hatred of losing her father and husband led her to consider self-harm. She planned to pretend to be a victim, be rescued, and then seek revenge. Unfortunately, the silver hairpin in her hair and the scent of perfumed soap on her body gave her away; under Xia Yu's twisted intimidation, she confessed everything.

Looking at the rows of corpses, the rotting ones were villagers', the fresh ones were those of bandits who had died just the night before. The magistrate was so terrified he almost wet himself. How could he not know that such a band of bandits existed under his jurisdiction? And that they had slaughtered an entire village right under his nose! His legs went weak, and he almost knelt down. If his clerk and the constables hadn't supported his arms, he would have collapsed to the ground.

"Lord Jia, is there any peace in your Qi'an County? The entire Huo Family Village was massacred, and you, as the magistrate, are completely oblivious. You allow those bandits to rob and injure people on the road. If it weren't for General Zhao discovering the truth and eradicating this bandit den, I think you, the magistrate, might have had your head chopped off in your sleep at any moment." Zhang Youtie sat upright in his chair, with armored soldiers standing behind him, exuding an indescribable aura of authority.

"Yes, yes, Your Excellency is right. It was my oversight that led to such a terrible incident. I will definitely submit a memorial to the Emperor detailing the matter. The credit for eliminating the bandits belongs to Your Excellency and General Zhao. I will certainly report the truth to the court." Magistrate Jia, enduring the nauseating stench, bowed and scraped before Zhang Youtie, answering cautiously.

"The credit goes to General Zhao; I merely sent someone to report the case," Zhang Youtie said to Magistrate Jia, looking at the villagers from other villages who were surrounded by soldiers and weeping.

"We have other official business to attend to, so we'll be leaving now. We'll leave the funeral arrangements for those villagers to you, our magistrate. As for the sentencing of the surviving bandits, that's up to you, Lord Jia."

"Yes, yes, yes, this humble official will certainly handle these matters properly," Magistrate Jia replied cautiously, wiping the sweat from his brow.

After speaking, Zhang Youtie didn't linger. The grain convoy had already set off, and he and Deputy General Zhao needed to catch up quickly. He would naturally report what had happened here to the imperial court. Whether Magistrate Jia was demoted or punished was none of his concern; the court would decide.