Chapter 227: Chapter 226: A Stable Core

After writing down all the explanations and the criminal records, it was already late at night. With a screen separating the two families, each family took half the floor as a bed and lay down to rest.

It took a long time for the Da Lang Brothers and Sisters to fall asleep. Experiencing such an exciting event on the first day of departure made them very excited.

Qin Yao initially thought the children would be scared, but to her surprise, they were incredibly bold. They even dared to run out the door to see the nine bandits tied up outside, commenting and pointing at their appearances.

Later, listening to her recount the testimonies of the nine, they listened intently, as if hearing a strange story.

But on second thought, wasn’t this more exciting than an unusual story?

By the time the children fell asleep, it was already midnight.

Liu Ji still hadn’t slept; next door, Da Zhuang’s snores thundered, making it impossible for him to fall asleep.

“Pfft, pfft!”

In the darkness, came a strange sound from not far beside him.

Qin Yao frowned slightly, thinking of ignoring it, when a shadow crept over stealthily.

Qin Yao instantly sat up, her hand accurately grabbing the intruder’s neck, followed by a “ugh” in the dark, and then a muffled voice: “Darling… it’s me…”

The grip on the neck loosened, and Liu Ji quickly took a deep breath, gently removed her hand, lay down on the empty bed beside her, and chuckled.

Qin Yao was just about to scold him for being out of his mind when a palm dropped into her hand, and a few hard pieces fell out.

Silver!

Qin Yao’s eyes lit up in the night, weighing it, and it seemed like four or five taels.

“Is this all of it?” Qin Yao asked softly.

Liu Ji replied very honestly, “Yes, this is all I could find. I didn’t hide even a cent.”

With that, feeling her happiness, he rested his arm behind his head, turned towards her, and cautiously asked, “Happy?”

“Just so.”

An unexpected answer.

Liu Ji’s heart skipped a beat. Before she moved, he quickly reached into his arms, feigned surprise, and said, “Oh, I forgot. There’s another piece here.”

Another small silver block weighing over two taels; together, it amounted to exactly seven taels.

Only then did Qin Yao smirk and say, “Smart move.”

Liu Ji stared at the pitch-black ceiling, feeling inwardly sorrowful. He had no choice but to be sensible. Looking at those nine bandits still unconscious at the door, he dared not imagine what Qin Yao had done to them.

“Go to sleep.” Qin Yao put away the silver, lay back down, with less than a half-arm’s distance between them, she could hear him tossing and turning.

Liu Ji obviously didn’t plan to move tonight; he was going to sleep right there.

Because… he was scared!

During dinner, Qin Yao said nothing, but after the meal, she revealed where the posthouse manager had buried the body.

As soon as Liu Ji thought of the freshly dead person buried in the bamboo grove behind the house, and that he had just cooked in the kitchen facing the corpse, he couldn’t help but get the chills.

In this deep mountain forest, even a shadow of a branch on the window could scare him half to death.

Therefore, lying between the wall panel and Qin Yao made him feel safer.

Given that she had just received the silver, Qin Yao let him be, as long as he didn’t touch her.

However, sleeping seemed to have a mind of its own, as he always wanted to roll towards her.

So, when Da Lang Brothers and Sisters woke up the next morning, they saw Mother with one foot on Father’s back, pressing him against the wall panel. Father slept soundly with his face against the wall, a strange sight.

When both adults woke up, Sanlang followed Father into the kitchen, watching him light a fire to heat the water, curiously glancing at his waist, and asked:

“Father, does your back hurt?”

Liu Ji gave a faint smile, stubbornly saying, “It’s okay.”

Sanlang responded with an “oh,” then ran to the stables, where Mother was hitching up the carriage, and asked behind her:

“Mother, are your legs sore?”

Qin Yao smiled gently at him, “Not sore.” It was just a good stretch.

Sanlang responded with another “oh,” scratched his head, and walked back to the main hall, seeing his older brothers busy packing, he asked in confusion:

“Big brother, Second brother, why don’t Father and Mother have sore backs or legs when they slept together last night?”

Da Lang shook his head, “Don’t know.” He wasn’t interested in the question.

Second Lang shrugged, “Maybe Father and Mother are in good health.”

After speaking, he found Sanlang standing around in the way and told him to go outside and play with Si Niang so they wouldn’t hinder the packing.

Feeling rejected by his brothers, Sanlang pursed his lips, turned around, and jogged outside to find his sister.

He found Si Niang holding a book, standing in the bamboo grove, reading aloud in the morning.

The nine bandits, now awake but with their mouths tightly sealed, leaned against the posthouse gate with a look of despair.

Only then did Sanlang remember that he had homework, and he cheerfully joined Si Niang in the morning reading.

Da Zhuang came out of the main hall carrying luggage. Seeing Liu Li arranging the book box by the carriage, he whispered mysteriously in his ear:

“Last night, Miss Qin and Liu Ji slept together. I didn’t expect their relationship to be quite good. Also, their bodies must be fine, no sore backs or legs…”

Liu Li’s eyes widened, thinking what kind of nonsense is this!

Giving Liu Li a look that said, ’Don’t tell anyone it was me,’ Da Zhuang opened the carriage door, loaded the luggage, and turned back to the posthouse to continue working.

Qin Yao assigned him a task to put up a warning sign by the roadside to prevent uninformed people from entering the posthouse.

This was an easy task: find a wooden sign, have their second young master write the warning, and place it by the official road.

Ordinary folks wouldn’t come here; literate court officials and examination candidates would understand immediately that a murder had occurred here and should avoid it.

The two families ate a bit of the dry food they brought with them at the posthouse and then departed.

Before leaving, they erected a warning sign indicating the location of the posthouse manager’s corpse.

The tools used in the crime were placed in a drawer under the posthouse counter to prevent bad people from using them for evil.

An explanatory document was placed on the table, held down with a candlestick, and the nine bandits were gagged and tied up inside the posthouse. After checking everything one last time, Qin Yao closed the posthouse door and fed the official’s horse in the stable some hay before setting off.

After traveling thirty miles, they passed a local county town. Liu Ji spent ten cents to have someone deliver a report to the government.

By the time the government learned of the situation, they had already traveled far, reaching the next town.

They ran out of dry food, took a short rest here, found a small restaurant for lunch, and bought a lot of durable pancakes to use as dry food, before continuing on their journey.

In the morning, the sun was high and bright, and at noon the sky was blue. But shortly after leaving the town, dark clouds suddenly covered the sun, and it began to rain.

The rain came quickly and heavily, but fortunately, there was a pavilion outside the town for travelers to rest, providing some shelter from the rain, so they didn’t get drenched.

After tying up the horse, Liu Ji rushed into the pavilion, pointed to the dark sky, and cursed his father.

At that moment, a lightning strike came down, scaring Liu Li and Da Zhuang into saying it was due to Liu Ji’s disrespect and that heaven was punishing him.

The two of them held their ground, arguing with each other. Liu Ji didn’t believe in heavenly punishment. He thought if anyone should be punished, it should be those evil bandits. Why don’t they meet a bad end?

After the argument, having won, he turned triumphantly to see his wife and children behind him.

Unexpectedly, despite the bad weather, Qin Yao stood in the pavilion, looking at the misty village and fields beyond the rain curtain, and laughed.

Her calmness had an effect on Da Lang Brothers and Sisters, who didn’t get anxious because of the sudden rain. Instead, they chattered about which poem would best describe this scene.

This stable core left Liu Ji, who had been in a panic, dumbfounded — he looked quite silly!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep