Confiscating property? A stunningly beautiful substitute bride empties the national treasury and is

As soon as Lu Yunqi left, Xuan Yuanxue never expected that she would be looked down upon by a child.

Zhan'er stood before her, hands on hips, leading Big Yellow, and spoke arrogantly:

"Weren't you brought back by your second uncle? How come you let a wicked woman bully you? As a member of the Lu family, you're utterly pathetic!"

"You should be like your third aunt, fighting back against anyone who dares to disobey you, and hitting back if anyone bullies you. You're a grown adult, why do you still need your second uncle to stand up for you!"

Uh…

Xuan Yuanxue's lips twitched, and she retorted, "Can I really fight back? Won't that cause you trouble?"

"of course not!"

Zhan'er patted her little chest confidently and said, "The Lu family will never suffer a loss! Even if you can't beat them, you still have your second uncle to back you up!"

Zhan'er felt that she was right. Every time her third aunt was in trouble, her third uncle would support her. If her second aunt was in trouble, her second uncle would definitely support her as well.

Xuan Yuanxue feigned confusion, raising an eyebrow and asking, "What if your second uncle can't beat him either?"

"If Second Uncle can't beat them, there's Third Uncle and Third Aunt. They're really powerful! If that still doesn't work, I can back you up. None of the men in the Lu family are cowards!"

Xuan Yuanxue was amused by his mature demeanor and patted his little shoulder, assuring him:

"Oh, I see. I'll remember that. If anyone bullies me again, I'll fight back!"

"That's pretty much it!"

Watching Zhan'er leave with Da Huang, Xuan Yuanxue suddenly recalled a scene from her childhood: her older brother, hands on his hips, pointing at her torn dress and scolding her:

"Xuanyuan Xue, you are a princess, yet you are bullied by the daughter of a minister. You have truly disgraced the Xuanyuan family..."

Later, the minister's legitimate daughter became the emperor's concubine. She was arrogant and domineering throughout the harem, but her good fortune did not last long. She died in childbirth, taking her unborn child with her!

Her mother told her that one shouldn't be too arrogant, otherwise, in the cannibalistic harem, one wouldn't even know how they died...

Xuan Yuanxue was no pushover, but how could she not restrain her sharpness while living under someone else's roof? It was best not to cause trouble or provoke conflict.

The group had just finished lunch and were resting when they saw someone clutching their stomach and howling in pain, while others were even rolling around on the ground in agony…

"what happened?"

Song Qingqian lifted the carriage curtain and asked, "Xiao Yu'er caught a chill last night and isn't feeling well. She barely got off the carriage at noon."

"It looks like it's been poisoned!"

Lu Jingchuan replied in a low voice.

At this moment, Huo Chong rushed over in a panic and pleaded:

"Young Madam, we were fine after eating vulture meat yesterday, but after eating it again, our whole family is in trouble, especially my mother, who is vomiting blood. Please go and see her!"

Huo Chong was followed closely by Wang Beimu, it seemed that his family had not been spared either!

Hu Guo checked on the group of people, then, carrying his medicine box, approached the carriage and spoke urgently:

"Young Lady Lu, Lord Sun has also been poisoned and is in critical condition, but I am truly lacking in medical skills and cannot concoct an antidote."

"This exile group has lost more than half of its members; they definitely won't be able to leave without an antidote!"

Everyone looked at each other, then turned to Song Qingqian.

After a moment of contemplation, Song Qingqian pressed on, "Are they all the same illness?"

Hu Guo nodded: "It's one, but some people have it more severely, and some have it less severely!"

"I'll go take a look!"

After Song Qingqian went to the carriage, she took the medicine box, which Lu Jingchuan took directly from her and whispered:

"I'll go with you to take a look!"

Instead of going to find Sun Wuyin first, the two of them went to look at the nearest Huo and Wang families one after the other.

After examining the injuries of the group, Song Qingqian used a silver needle to test the vulture meat.

"The meat was indeed poisoned!"

Lu Jingchuan frowned in confusion: "But the Gao family didn't eat vulture meat, so how did they get poisoned too?"

Song Qingqian went over to take a look, and just as Lu Jingchuan had said, it was the same kind of poison.

"If we rule out vulture meat, then the water must be poisonous. Where does the water you use for cooking come from?"

Wang Beimu suddenly realized what was going on and pointed to a very narrow river not far away, saying:

“We washed the vulture meat here, cooked our meals with this water, and even filled our water jugs!”

Song Qingqian took some water and tested it with a silver needle. It was indeed poisonous, but the toxicity was very weak and had mostly flowed downstream.

Lu Jingchuan suddenly grabbed Song Qingqian's sleeve, his expression one of shock:

"I know who poisoned it. It was that eccentric old woman from earlier."

"Let's go take a look! If she poisoned it, she must have an antidote!"

"it is good!"

Lu Jingchuan nodded, and Song Qingqian beckoned Da Hu over, who then led several soldiers into the village in a hurry.

"Is anyone home? Open the door!"

Song Qingqian stepped forward and knocked on the courtyard gate, but no matter how she looked, no one was willing to come out. She frowned deeply and asked:

"What's going on?"

Lu Jingchuan tugged at her sleeve and pointed to the crack in the door. Song Qingqian leaned closer and saw a woman huddled in a corner, holding two children, looking terrified as if she had seen some ferocious demon.

"Big sister, I won't hurt you, don't be afraid! We won't bother you anymore!"

Song Qingqian dragged Lu Jingchuan away, and the same thing happened at several other houses. Just when they were at a loss, Song Qingqian saw a boy hiding in a haystack.

Lu Jingchuan reached out and pulled him out. The boy was so frightened that he trembled and kicked wildly.

"Let me go! The mountain god has come to claim your lives! You have offended the gods and will surely be punished by heaven!"

Song Qingqian rubbed his forehead with her fingers and scolded him:

"Stop playing tricks! Where did this mountain god come from? It's just your village people making a fuss!"

"Kid, where does that old woman live? If you take me to her, I'll give you anything you want."

"What...anything is fine?"

The boy asked hesitantly, "Then I need a lot of silver, will you give it to me too?"

Here, how much do you want?

Song Qingqian smiled gently. "It's good to negotiate terms."

The boy hesitated for a moment before speaking, "Ten...ten taels of silver! Give me the silver and I'll talk."

"make a deal!"

Song Qingqian took out ten taels of silver from her bosom and placed it in her palm.

The boy's eyes widened at the sight of so much silver for the first time. His parents worked hard all year round and could not even earn five taels of silver. This woman was so generous. If he had known this would happen, would he have asked for more?

He reached out to take it, but Song Qingqian held it in her hand.

"You can have it. Just answer my questions, and once you've answered them all, the silver is yours!"

Why are all these villagers avoiding us?

"Because...because you ate the flesh of the mountain god!"

Song Qingqian asked in confusion, "Is that vulture your mountain god?"

The boy nodded: "A few days ago, Uncle Wang died, and I saw with my own eyes that the mountain god accepted him."

Song Qingqian quickly grasped the key phrase and pressed on, "Who is Uncle Wang?"

"It's the old man you're looking for, Granny Wang. Her house is the first one you come into at the east end of the village, and she lives alone now."

The boy continued, "But Granny Wang is confused, and my mother won't let us talk to her."