The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

No one in the village slept tonight, including the elderly and children.

The Ling family now wields influence in the village. They funded the clan school and bought the clan land. They can simply refuse to see the village's only scholar.

Everyone was anxious and willing to wait to be questioned.

When Du Mingxian returned, the constables were questioning people in several groups, and it was almost over. She approached Ling Dalang and asked, "Brother, did you get anything out of them?"

"No, no one has seen Shiro."

“A living person can’t just disappear for no reason. The questioning must be going in the wrong direction.” Du Mingxian pondered, but did not interrupt the yamen runner’s questioning.

When it was fully light, everyone in the village had been questioned, but nothing had been found, and everyone looked dejected.

Du Mingxian had Ling Sanlang move a table and place it at the entrance of the ancestral hall. She lightly jumped onto it, glanced at the dense crowd below, and said in a deep voice, "Thank you all for staying up all night. Once my husband is found, our family will reward you handsomely."

This is a promise to everyone, and also a kind of enticement; with a generous reward, everyone will think of more.

The crowd quieted down. "Now I'd like to ask everyone to recall if anything strange happened in the village yesterday, such as whether you saw anyone in the village behaving differently than usual."

"Or a stranger."

The yamen runner had already asked the stranger, but Du Mingxian still wanted to ask again.

Upon hearing this, the crowd below buzzed with discussion, but no one came to find Du Mingxian.

Du Mingxian was really anxious. Half a day and a night had already passed, and in another half day it would be a whole day and night. His body couldn't take it.

"Third Brother, could you please go and call the workshop's accountant over here?"

"it is good."

The accountant finally rushed over after a long wait.

"Bookkeeping."

"Yes."

Everything was ready. Du Mingxian raised her hand to the crowd and pressed down, but the crowd continued to chatter. At this moment, Ling Dalang stepped forward and said, "Everyone, please be quiet."

Ling Dalang was a man, and he shouted directly, so the crowd gradually quieted down.

"Fourth sister-in-law, you speak."

"Listen up, everyone. Whoever can provide different information that is helpful in finding the person will be rewarded with one tael of silver."

A commotion erupted below.

Du Mingxian raised her hand and pressed down again, this time her voice quickly disappeared, "We will write down all the information you all provide. As long as it is useful, the Ling family will reward you with money afterwards."

"Is that how it is? What if you try to renege on your debt later?" someone shouted from the crowd.

Father Ling said in a deep voice, "Whatever my fourth son's wife says goes. She can represent the Ling family. Don't worry, as long as the information is useful, we will definitely not cut off your money."

"Okay, I believe you." Someone shouted and immediately tried to step forward to speak, but Du Mingxian stopped him again.

“We’re all from the same village and share the same surname. I believe everyone is eager to find my husband. So please think carefully before you speak. There must be something unusual about you.”

She doesn't have the time, and she can't afford to waste it.

Those who had been rushing forward to swindle money stopped, and few people stepped forward. But with a tael of silver as bait, people kept moving forward.

A man stepped forward and said, “I saw Ling Zheng rushing around yesterday. He was sweating profusely at noon, but his face was very pale and his eyes were unfocused. He’s never like this before.”

As soon as someone raised the issue, someone immediately questioned, "It's so hot, especially at midday, it's normal to be sweating profusely."

“What do you mean normal? Have you ever seen someone sweating profusely but with a face as white as a ghost? Something’s obviously wrong. I even asked him where he was, and he told me to mind my own business.”

Du Mingxian wasn't very familiar with the villagers. She turned to look at Ling's father, who had been standing next to her, and asked, "Father, is Ling Zheng?"

"Your fifth uncle's third grandson."

"Is he not here?" Almost everyone in the village has come.

Ling Dalang stood on the table, looked around, and jumped down. "It's not here."

Does anyone know where Ling Zheng went?

When Ling Erlang heard everyone mentioning Ling Zheng, he ran into the crowd, found Ling Zheng's family, and pulled them in front of Du Mingxian. It was Ling Zheng's mother who came.

"Auntie, where's your Ling Zheng?" Ling Dalang asked.

Ling Zheng's mother rolled her eyes. "My Ling Zheng went to sell goods."

Du Mingxian looked puzzled. Little Zhou was standing next to her at some point. "Ling Zheng is a peddler. He's rarely home. He's always out and about with his goods."

"The Ling family are all peddlers, but they are responsible for different areas. Before our family became successful, the Ling family was considered one of the best in our village."

After explaining, Xiao Zhou was still puzzled, "Auntie, your family usually leaves in the morning. We saw people in the village around noon. Why did you leave in the afternoon?"

Most people don't leave home unless they have an emergency.

But for a business like a peddler's, people usually go out in the morning and stay out until the afternoon to sell their goods. They only go out when it's almost dark.

Ling Zhengniang was also quite puzzled. Yesterday, that boy came back in a hurry and left in a hurry. She didn't get any information out of him. But... why should she tell Ling Silang's family?

“Our Ling can leave whenever she wants, it’s none of your business.”

Du Mingxian didn't ask any more questions. Other villagers came up to speak, but none of the clues they provided were as strange as Ling Zheng's.

"Where is Ling Zheng going to sell his goods this time? I'll go find him." Ling Dalang was unwilling to give up.

Ling Zhengniang shook her head, "I don't know. How would we women know where our men go to sell goods?" After saying that, she swayed her hips and walked away.

We didn't get any information from them. Everyone had stayed up all night, and we couldn't just leave one or two people here and then disperse.

The yamen runners who came had also stayed up all night and followed the Ling family back to the Ling family home.

Fortunately, it was summer, so they could just put a mat in the room and sleep there. After the yamen runners finished their meal, they all went to sleep first.

Du Mingxian couldn't sleep. Thinking about what the villagers had said, she went out for a walk around her home again, but didn't find anything.

"Second sister-in-law, let's go to Ling Zheng's house." There's only this one strange place; we won't give up until we see it.

"Okay." Little Zhou was also sleepy, but she was anxious because Ling Silang hadn't returned.

The two walked towards Ling Zheng's house, with Xiao Zhou explaining things to him along the way.

“Recently, Ling Zheng’s mother gets extremely angry whenever she mentions our family. If it weren’t for our family’s rise to prominence, Ling Zheng’s mother would be fawned over wherever she goes.”

"Her husband is a peddler, her eldest son and second son are also peddlers, and her third son and youngest daughter stay at home. The family is living a pretty good life."

As the two slowly approached Ling Zheng's house, a boy came out carrying a hoe.

"Hey, Ling Yuan, are you going to the fields?"

"Yes, did your sister-in-law come to my house for something?"

Du Mingxian froze. This child looked...very much like the man she had met in the county that day who was walking with her.