Marry a powerful minister and remain a widow?I’m done with the book-wearing female role!

Xie Zhao stood up and walked around the small Buddhist hall with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Yuzhu, although this place is no longer under the jurisdiction of the capital, I passed by here when my husband traveled from the south of the Yangtze River in the early years."

Xie Zhao has a photographic memory, and he does not remember that there is a village here.

Xiahe Village is not in his memory.

If the refugees have migrated in recent years, then why are most of the houses in Xiahe Village thatched houses, shabby on the outside but not so shabby on the inside?

"Yuzhu, the altar table in the small Buddhist hall is made of fine rosewood, and the Buddha statue is plated with gold powder."

The cakes in the temple had been left for a few days and were stained with incense ashes. Looking carefully, there were small red letters underneath the cakes, saying they were from a century-old brand.

"This piece of hawthorn cake costs ten cents, which is enough for ordinary people to buy two kilograms of rice. No matter how pious you are, you will not go beyond your ability."

The woman who delivered the message was wearing a patched linen dress. When she fell down, the corner of her inner garment exposed was made of fine silk.

"Rich people gather in Xiahe Village, why do they pretend to be poor?"

Keeping a low profile is for outsiders to see. When things go wrong, there must be monsters. The people in Xiahe Village have ulterior secrets.

Everyone in the village died, and the woman cried until she fainted, but Xie Zhao only heard joy in her cry, not any sadness.

"Can you hear this?"

Jiang Yuzhu was suspicious. Following Xie Zhao's instructions, she lightly crushed the Buddha's body with her hands. Her fingertips were immediately covered with golden powder. It was indeed gold powder!

Xie Zhao did not continue, but pointed at the Buddha statue and said: "If nothing else happens, the Buddha statue will surprise you and me."

After finishing speaking, Xie Zhao walked around to the back of the Buddha statue and untied the red cloak hanging above it.

Behind the cloak, a huge hole was revealed.

The hole was blocked by an iron sheet, so Xie Zhao used a dagger to pry it open, then made chopsticks from tree branches and reached into the Buddha statue to grope for it.

There were many things inside, and Xie Zhao easily put on a gold bead necklace.

Beneath the necklace hangs an emerald statue of Guanyin, which is valuable.

Jiang Yuzhu watched with helpless eyes, then took the necklace in her hand and looked at it carefully, and finally confirmed: "Yuanhe, it's real!"

Gold is precious, and this gold necklace is enough to feed the whole village!

Hiding gold in the Buddha statue, combined with the hidden wealth of the villagers, the more Jiang Yuzhu thought about it, the more complicated it became.

It was dark outside the window, and a bright lamp was burning in the Buddhist hall.

After waiting for a while, footsteps were heard outside the door.

The subordinate came in with a little girl of eight or nine years old and reported back: "Master, Madam, this little girl was found in the cellar of a house."

When she found it, the little girl looked dull and was neither noisy nor fussy.

Judging from the chapped lips, she must have been without water for a few days.

"We gave her a glass of water."

No matter what the men asked, the little girl didn't answer.

"The strange thing is that as the only survivor in the village, the little girl ran away after seeing the woman, sobbing and shouting without knowing what she was saying."

Xie Zhao looked around and ordered: "Tell that woman, we will send someone to report to the official before dawn tomorrow, and take the little girl to stay overnight in the Buddhist hall tonight."

After his men left, Jiang Yuzhu immediately asked: "Yuanhe, do you suspect that the woman did this deliberately and that she is one of the murderers?"

After all, the massacre of an entire village is not a trivial matter. After reporting it to the government and looking for a witness, the government hopes that the matter will be reduced to a minor matter.

Otherwise, once a quarrel breaks out, the performance of the local parents' officials will be greatly affected.

Jiang Fulu was in the Ministry of Personnel, so Jiang Yuzhu knew something about official evaluation.

If a shocking case occurs in the area under the jurisdiction of the parents' official, most people would like to suppress it and not spread it, unless it is impossible to suppress it.

"I'm not sure, so I might as well lure the snake out of its hole."

Xie Zhao leaned against the wall, and Jiang Yuzhu found a comfortable position and leaned against Xie Zhao.

Seeing so many corpses, Jiang Yuzhu lost her appetite, and after half an hour, she was already drowsy.

The little girl didn't say anything and hid under the altar table, shivering.

The wick of the ever-burning lamp is about to burn out, and the flame flickers on and off.

I don't know how long it took, but the little girl poked her head out from below, looked at Xie Zhao with her suddenly clear eyes, and spoke quickly: "If we want to survive, we must escape from Xiahe Village, otherwise we will be in danger!"

Xie Zhao nodded slightly and said nothing.

This time, the little girl became even more anxious: "What I said is true. If you don't care about your own life, don't you care about your wife's life?"

Xie Zhao glanced at the little girl in surprise. She was a smart girl. He asked nonchalantly: "Then why didn't you answer just now?"

"I'm afraid, I'm afraid that you and Aunt Zhang are in the same group."

The little girl got out from under the altar table, knelt in front of Xie Zhao, and spoke clearly, "Aunt Zhang's man is the murderer of my parents. I hid in the cellar and saw them all!"

The little girl's maiden name is Ningxiang, and she is not a local.

Two years ago, my parents came here to work from their hometown and stayed in Xiahe Village.

"There is not one murderer here, there may be more people. I can't explain it in a few sentences. If I am saved, I will repay you!"

Ningxiang mustered up her courage and tried to make a deal with Xie Zhao using her weak strength.

The noise woke Jiang Yuzhu, and she leaned against Xie Zhao to calm down, thoughtfully.

Before Xie Zhao could express his position, Ningxiang ran to Jiang Yuzhu and knelt down: "Madam, please take Ningxiang away from here!"

Aunt Zhang's man will definitely come back and silence him.

After confirming that the person in front of her had nothing to do with Aunt Zhang, Ningxiang became bolder.

Usually women make the decision, but Ningxiang is more willing to ask Jiang Yuzhu for help and decisively abandons Xie Zhao.

Jiang Yuzhu sobered up for a moment and said lazily: "My wife always likes reciprocal exchange. As long as you are valuable, this business can be done."

Jiang Yuzhu likes the little girl named Ningxiang very much, she is a bit clever.

"There is a big secret in Xiahe Village. Aunt Zhang's man is too greedy and wants to kill people. Apart from the murderers, I am the only one left in the village."

Ningxiang's implication was that only she knew the secret.

If she didn't say it now, she might die on the spot.

People only look at the superficial interests in front of them, and Ningxiang doesn't think that anyone is kind-hearted in the face of interests.

For the present plan, stay alive first, and the rest will be taken care of slowly.

"The murderer was not one person, but a group of people. I heard them all."

Ningxiang was worried about Xie Zhao's manpower. After all, there were only a few people who came to search the village.

Leaving overnight first is the top priority.

Ningxiang didn't know how to drive a carriage and had no tools, especially since she hadn't eaten for several days. She couldn't run very far with her legs when she was hungry.

Ningxiang's logic was clear, Jiang Yuzhu nodded frequently and said with a smile: "Smart girl, I like her!"

Since I decided to wait in the Buddhist hall, I naturally had a few brushes.

Thousands of soldiers were ambushing outside the village, but Jiang Yuzhu was as stable as Mount Tai.

Xiahe Village has many secrets and a lot of money. If it was all ill-gotten wealth, it would be better to confiscate it and transport it to the south of the Yangtze River in exchange for grain, grass and cloth to supply military supplies to the northern warriors.

Stay, make more money, and make the wasted time more valuable!

In the second half of the night, the village was quiet except for a few dogs that had not been killed gathered together and howled sadly.

There were heavy footsteps in front of the small Buddhist hall.

Someone lowered their voice and said: "Since we have been exposed, why not send them to the West together!"