After being wrongly married, I stabbed my husband to death and became famous throughout the world.

After packing up, everyone started heading back home.

They made some preparations in advance, first covering the faces of these people, then stuffing them into sacks and dragging them down the mountain. There were handcarts prepared at the bottom of the mountain. As long as they could get through this rugged road, the rest would not be difficult.

With money dangling in front of them, no one complained about the hard work.

By the time they returned to town, it was already quite late, and there were hardly any people in the town.

Even the lights at the town's inn were much dimmer.

Chang Fa, Chen Feiqing, and others led their warhorses home first, while Li Shu, Duan Changdong, and the remaining half of the group carried the corpses directly along the main road to Yicheng.

After all that trouble, they didn't reach the city gate until dawn.

The wanted posters were plastered everywhere, both old and new. Before entering the city, Li Shu even went outside the city walls to look for them and tore off two to take with him.

Although the sack covered the corpse, the blackened blood seeping out and the strong, stench made people want to avoid it.

Duan Changdong was the oldest, and as soon as he arrived at the county government office, he started beating the drum, which attracted a lot of people.

When the officials came out, they didn't rush inside, but instead shook the body out from the outside.

The bandits dressed quite uniformly. Because of the cold in the mountains, their clothes were thicker and more durable than others'. When they went out to plunder, they often wore bone ornaments, making them stand out from ordinary people. This was also to create a sense of oppression and effectively deter people from robbing them.

So when the bodies were exposed, even without seeing their faces, the officials could tell that these people were bandits.

However, the quantity is rather large.

Duan Changdong was in charge of the negotiations, while Li Shu looked on with anticipation, chattering away to the onlookers outside.

"This is our leader, Wu! He led us to capture these bandits!"

"My brother accidentally discovered that someone was following me, and that the bandits wanted to kidnap me. In order to prevent any unexpected accidents from happening to me in the future, he decided to take the initiative with a group of friends! When the bandits made their move, everyone fired a barrage of arrows..."

"We've heard bandits are worth a lot of money; we're here to exchange them for silver!"

"..."

Li Shu was very excited and told everyone about Duan Changdong's heroic deeds.

Duan Changdong blushed upon hearing this and looked towards Chen Ying for help, asking her to stop it for him.

But Chen Ying was even happier to hear this, and nodded in agreement, while Duan Changdong's eyes were fixed on the blind man.

The government also sent people to examine the body.

The bandit leader was on the list, and his appearance matched the description.

The other corpses, those with distinct features, were half matched with deserters or missing persons from the government. Most of these bandits were locals, and the government would send village chiefs and ward heads from various towns to identify the bodies.

Sixteen heads, one for one hundred taels, three for twenty taels, and the rest are not much.

But for those whose identities were clearly established, the minimum payment was ten taels of silver.

Other people are worthless anyway.

The yamen was constantly harassed by bandits, so it encouraged the people to "hand over" the bandits. Friends and relatives could even report them and receive rewards. So when they brought the corpses over, the yamen didn't renege on its promise. Soon, Duan Changdong received 220 taels of silver.

The county magistrate looked at Duan Changdong with great admiration.

Unfortunately, he was a military household member and would be going to the army in the future; otherwise, the county magistrate would have immediately appointed him as the guard of Yicheng.

“The magistrate just asked me about the whereabouts of the warhorses, and I told him what you said. But… Ah Li, are you sure your friend will buy the warhorses? We can’t keep these horses for too long; the officials will definitely be watching.” Duan Changdong added.

“If he doesn’t want it, we can give it to the magistrate later.” Li Shu said, handing over the ring again: “Brother Duan, please go and give this to the magistrate. Just say that it was found on a bandit and is quite valuable, so we kept it. We don’t know which wealthy family left behind this treasure. We dare not take it. Let him decide.”

"This...this thing must be very expensive, right?" Chen Ying asked anxiously, lowering her voice. "If we give it to the county magistrate, we'll suffer a huge loss."

“They’ve looted all the bodies. They know what’s going on. We might have to deal with the magistrate again in the future, so it’s wise to pay our respects first,” Li Shu added. “Besides, you also said that this ring looks valuable, and it’s not appropriate for us to sell it.”

They were all a little reluctant to part, but after listening to Li Shu's words, they also felt that they made sense.

We've already earned enough; we can't be too greedy.

Duan Changdong immediately did as instructed, and the county magistrate, having received the gifts, naturally praised the man profusely.

The group could also sense the difference from before.

Paying respects to the local leaders was indeed the right thing to do.

"Ah Li, why didn't we take out the ring sooner?" Chen Ying asked as everyone relaxed on the way back.

“If it is handed over along with the corpses, the magistrate will take it for granted. After a while, it will be a pleasant surprise. Moreover, if it is handed over to the magistrate privately, he will get more benefits, so of course he will be happy,” Li Shu explained.

It's certainly possible not to hand this over, but things might not go so smoothly next time.

None of them refuted Li Shu's words.

Before returning, Li Shu went to the money exchange and exchanged the silver notes for smaller denominations, as well as some cash.

Chen Feiqing has already taken all those weapons home, and everyone will be able to use them in the future.

At this moment, the elders of Wuzhuang were shocked to the point of madness.

A few children went out for a day and came back with more than a dozen warhorses?!

When asked about its origin, it was even more astonishing—it had actually been stolen from bandits!

Many people came to Old Yu and said that he was really good at martial arts, how come he never showed his skills before?

Old Yu was completely dumbfounded.

He was really just teaching a few kids martial arts! He didn't do anything else!

Although he wasn't close to everyone before, he had taught some children, and nothing like this had ever happened before. Besides... he really didn't know anything about it! But no matter what he said, no one believed him.

Seeing those warhorses, he fell into deep thought.

What exactly did he teach wrong?

Is killing so many bandits at once a blessing or a curse? The bandits of Lingshan always come in waves; will this invite even more retaliation?

But seeing how happy the children were, Old Yu didn't want to dampen their spirits at this moment.

When Li Shu returned, he wasn't as overjoyed as the others.

Behind closed doors, we first settled the accounts before considering the next step.

Killing bandits can be a quick way to make money, but it's also very dangerous. One wrong move and the entire town of Ganhe could be targeted by bandits.

However, these bandits are only interested in profit, and there aren't many wealthy people in Ganhe Town, so this possibility isn't particularly high.

Although she didn't care about the lives of others, if the entire Ganhe Town was targeted, she wouldn't fare well either, so she still had to think of ways to deter the bandits.

The government troops aren't very good.

When the Qian family was targeted by bandits, the government sent people who were not very motivated and were not very capable.

Even if it's just a case of borrowing power, the only option left is the border troops.