It's really hard to just farm peacefully.

Chapter 355

At dawn the next day, when Jiang Yan dragged his aching lower limbs to the yard to wash up, Tian Jiu was already sitting in the yard slurping his breakfast.

Outside the courtyard, neighbors who usually stayed at home at this time of day gathered together after a long absence and talked loudly about a tragedy that had happened this morning.

When Jiang Yan heard the words "eating human flesh", he immediately perked up, took his bowl and chopsticks and strode out of the yard, found an empty place and listened to the latest news.

Tian Jiu went to the government office last night to lead the way. Although he probably has first-hand information, it’s okay to listen to it later.

Such a terrible thing had not happened in Rongcheng County for a long time. The old man who had to go out of the city early in the morning happened to catch up with the escort scene but returned home directly because the incident was too shocking. He vividly recounted what he had heard. The listeners were shocked and angry, but also expressed their own luck.

"Fortunately, we live in the county. If we lived in such a remote place like the people in that village, no one would know when we were slaughtered."

"Those man-eating scourges will be beheaded, right?"

"Can those who were rescued still survive?"

……

Everyone was talking at once, but the old man just listened for a short while and had no way of knowing the finer details.

By noon, the news of this tragedy had spread throughout Rongcheng County. For the first time, the people bravely walked past the government gate from time to time, hoping to see or hear some latest developments.

Tian Jiu actually didn't know much more than his neighbor. Apart from the fact that he had caught six murderers and rescued thirteen seriously injured young women, who were being treated by county doctors, there was nothing else.

In the backyard of the county government office, County Magistrate Huang faced two gentlemen sitting on either side. He bent down and asked respectfully, "The people in the city are extremely concerned about this case. Do you want me to hold a public hearing?"

"can."

The news that the county government would publicly try the cannibal at 3 p.m. spread quickly. Except for the villages and counties far away from the county seat, even the idle people in the suburbs came in groups to broaden their horizons.

It was also because of the Fuji family's almost hands-off approach in Rongcheng County that, although the people's lives did not become richer, they no longer had to worry about entering the city.

Jiang Yan pushed the debts he had owed in the past two days aside, grabbed Chunying and hurried to the county government office.

"I just heard that the old woman from the Lu family who has been staying at home and doesn't want to go out is urging us to go out. If we don't hurry up, we won't have anywhere to stay outside the county government office."

Jiang Yan was running out of breath and felt that his heart was about to burst out of his chest. However, before he reached the street in front of the main gate of the county government office, he saw a crowd of people in front of him.

Oh my god, I’m still late.

Jiang Yan looked around. She could see that there was no way around it except climbing the county government wall, where she might be able to see or hear something. And she certainly didn't think she'd be so bold as to climb the county government wall in public.

"Well, why don't we find a place to sit nearby and ask the people in the front row after it's over." It was impossible to go back. She couldn't concentrate on her work at this time.

Chunying sighed and said, "No, we have somewhere to go."

A quarter of an hour later, led by Tian Jiu, the three of them twisted and turned, squeezed through the crowd, and knocked on the side door of the county government.

The door opened, and Tian Jiu said to the people inside, "We are here to testify about the Wuming Village tragedy."

Jiang Yan: How could you forget this method?

During the court session, Jiang Yan felt someone's gaze scanning her direction from time to time. She looked around but saw no one, so she simply focused on the interrogation at hand.

The captured criminal was not mentally resolute, so County Magistrate Huang ordered him to be dragged outside the hall and beaten with 20 sticks. After only a few strokes, he cried out and confessed everything.

Among the six murderers, four of them were relatives with the surname Fan. They fled from Xiding Prefecture due to the drought two years ago and took advantage of the chaos to settle in Rongcheng County.

During their escape, the four people were unable to grab food due to their lack of ability. They were so hungry that they secretly dug out fresh corpses in the middle of the night and shared one or two of them.

Although this incident happened quite often, it was shocking enough that they needed to conceal their actions. Therefore, they lagged behind when they robbed Rongcheng County so that they could escape as soon as the situation changed without being caught by the Fu family guards. They could then come out and act in a low-key manner after the storm had passed.

Due to the lack of food, the few of them had a very hard time. During this period, they met two other like-minded locals, Jia Shan and Sun Xiao, and became brothers with them.

During the Spring Festival last year, the murderer Jia Shan went to visit relatives in Wuming Village. He was caught on the spot because of his dirty hands and feet, and had a conflict with the villagers of Wuming Village. After returning home, he was scolded by his elders. After this, he became malicious and suggested to the other people to teach them a lesson.

It happened that another criminal from Xiding Prefecture was very greedy for meat, so the two of them decided to drug everyone in Wuming Village under the pretext of apologizing.

According to Jia Shan's confession, he just wanted to kidnap the people from Wuming Village, find the silver and money, move away the food, and then move to another place to live happily.

But the four brothers of the Fan family killed one of them directly in front of him and his grandson, and then they were tempted to eat something they shouldn't have. They were so frightened that they had no intention of running away.

Later, I felt fortunate that Wuming Village was remote and few people came here. It wouldn't be too late to move to another place after I finished my work here.

……

Even after County Magistrate Huang was beheaded three days later, the anger of the people outside the hall continued.

Jiang Yan returned to her residence and lay on the table, her head filled with the situation at that time, and she couldn't concentrate on her work at all.

Chunying knocked on the door and said, "Hurry up and write down Zhao Niu's situation. Today is the last day."

The note was already three days late when it was delivered, and since I've been out for the past few days, I don't know if it will be delivered on time.

Jiang Yan flattened the narrow strip of paper that had been accidentally folded by his chin, and the charcoal pencil in his hand was suspended in the air, unable to fall.

"Can I use a bigger piece of paper? It doesn't seem big enough."

The piece of paper Chunying gave to Jiang Yan was only two fingers wide and as long as her index finger. Although the charcoal pencil would not seep ink, she was required to write on only one side.

Jiang Yan estimated that with the current size of commonly used characters, her ability was only enough to squeeze in about 70 characters.

And seventy words trying to explain Zhao Niu's origin can only be summed up in one word - suspense.

After she and Chunying searched for one day and traveled for two days, they indeed found a Zhao Niu who roughly matched the description in a village on the outskirts of Rongcheng County.

However, Zhao Niu collapsed and died due to the heat while fleeing, and was hastily buried with the help of her relatives and friends.

So was it that Zhao Niuniu was lucky enough to be rescued, or was there someone else using her identity to do something secret?

Jiang Yan herself preferred to impersonate someone else. After all, in this era, unless her ancestors were well-off, it was difficult for the pampered officials to approach an ordinary peasant girl.

Even the people of Dongshan Village, where there was a high probability that smoke would rise from their ancestral graves, reluctantly stick to the habit of keeping their mouths and bodies clean because they believe it is beneficial to their longevity.