The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 255 - 244: Confession

Chapter 255: Chapter 244: Confession

The person collapsed on the ground was ice-cold. Daji squatted down, met his eyes, and said, "Moreover, you can endure, but do you think the two people locked up on either side of you can keep from talking?"

Ms. Liu turned and said, "Let’s go, we’ll head to the other side."

"You..." His voice was hoarse, nearly inaudible, but Ms. Liu still heard him. She stopped and turned her head slightly to look at him.

He swallowed, easing his parched throat slightly, "If you kill me, can you afford the consequences?"

Ms. Liu sat back down in her chair and said, "Not killing you, that’s the cost I can’t afford. Letting you go, so you can bring more people to slaughter my whole family?"

The man didn’t speak.

Ms. Liu asked, "What is your name?"

He didn’t answer.

Ms. Liu didn’t press him further but simply said, "If you want me not to kill you, you’ll need to offer something valuable enough."

"Your question..."

"Answering my question only lets you choose how you die, whether it’s more painless and dignified, or more painful." Ms. Liu said, "What are you afraid of? Anyway, you’ve already gone missing -- to your master, you’re almost as good as dead. I won’t let you go back; and if I spread word that you said something, guess whether they will harm your family."

The man’s eyes widened, filled with both resentment and fear as he looked at Ms. Liu.

Ms. Liu said, "I’m not a bad person, but for the sake of my grandson, for the sake of the only family members I have left, I’m willing to become a demon, so don’t push me."

Bullshit, it was you who’ve been pushing me all along!

But he couldn’t curse her out loud, because he didn’t dare to provoke Ms. Liu. It would do him no good.

Ms. Liu was very patient, sitting with him in silence.

After a long, long time, he finally said in a hoarse voice, "I would like a drink of water."

Ms. Liu nodded slightly at Daji, who then picked up a water flask from the ground and gave him a drink.

He drank greedily for a few mouthfuls, taking several deep breaths on the ground before saying, "My master is Lord Yan, the Governor of Yizhou."

Ms. Liu narrowed her eyes. "Not the Prince of Yizhou?"

He scoffed, "If it was the Prince of Yizhou’s men, none of you would be alive."

Upon those words, all three people in the room fell silent.

Ms. Liu stepped back and sat down on the chair, quietly watching him.

Having started speaking, there wasn’t much difficulty in continuing.

"The Prince of Yizhou’s men went to Longzhou and, knowing you had moved to Mianzhou, sent us three to scout out first. In fact, they are still looking for the identity of that couple from six years ago."

Ms. Liu asked dryly, "Why didn’t you look for them at the time?"

With this question, the other party realized that Ms. Liu had always known about the existence of a certain couple, which meant there indeed had been some that slipped through the net.

The related item might have already been in Ms. Liu’s hands.

He let out a bitter laugh, "Back then, our people also suffered heavy casualties. The young man from the couple knew some martial arts. One pursuing him died, and another was gravely injured. The one who survived could barely drag his comrade’s corpse back; naturally, he wouldn’t have had time to investigate their identities on the spot." He continued, "More of our people came the next day, but by then the bodies had disappeared, the scene was chaotic, it had just rained, many traces were gone, and we could only go to the villages at the foot of the mountain to inquire."

Since he was here to determine the identity of that couple from the past, he naturally had investigated all the details of that year, so Ms. Liu might be ignorant about other matters, but regarding the couple, aside from those there at the time, he probably knew the most.

"Actually, we didn’t suspect Qili Village much, because the village was too poor," he said. "That couple back then didn’t have even a hint of wealth on them, but the quality of their clothes was decent. The man had calluses on his palms, but it was clear his wife hadn’t done much labor; their family background seems to have been quite good."

"If that couple really were from a nearby village, the most likely places are Dali Village or the town of White Horse Pass."

Therefore, they focused most of their efforts on Dali Village and the town of White Horse Pass.

Especially the town of White Horse Pass – a larger town with more traffic. In Qili Village, their men had only been there once, leaving upon finding nothing.

It was only after learning that the Bai Family had moved to Qili Village that suspicion towards the village started to grow.

This time visiting, their objective was not only to find the identity of that couple but also to watch the Bai Family. If they were truly suspicious, he believed that the several lords above wouldn’t mind having a few extra wronged spirits in Jiannan Road.

After all, too many people had already died, hadn’t they?

Seeing so much life and death, he started to value human life less, but when it came to his own life, he felt the terror.

He wanted to live!

Ms. Liu asked, "You said they didn’t have a hint of wealth on them; did the lady not have any jewelry either?"

"No."

Ms. Liu didn’t inquire further and got up to leave.

Daji followed her out, and soon, a servant brought in some food and water for the man.

Ms. Liu went to the room next door and, using the same method, obtained almost identical confessions before leaving the courtyard.

Daji followed behind her. "Old Madam?"

Ms. Liu stopped and said, "This is different from what Erji said."

"When Erji mentioned that couple at the time, he said they obviously came from affluence, with the lady wearing a vermillion hairpin and jade bracelets on her wrists. How could there be no valuables?"

"So was the sole survivor lying?"

Ms. Liu nodded but then, thinking it over, shook her head. "Not necessarily, what if they hid the items themselves?"

But then, Ms. Liu felt something wasn’t right again, shaking her head, "That’s not right either. If they knew they couldn’t escape, what use would hiding the items be? It’s one thing to hide incriminating evidence, but why hide their valuables as well?"

"Once the young master is at school, I will take people up the mountain to search."

Ms. Liu nodded, thinking it was very likely they would find nothing, but it was worth a try.

Lord Wei and his group were now staying in Luojiang County. Since Qili Village was not in too severe a condition, County Magistrate Fu certainly wouldn’t take Lord Wei there; instead, he took him to the most affected areas within Luojiang County.

After seeing the situation, Lord Wei sighed slightly and then said, "I am now aware of this matter. When I return to the capital, I will definitely propose to the emperor that Mianzhou and its surrounding areas be included in the tax-relief zone."

The local gentry and wealthy men who had followed him were full of gratitude, praising the benevolent and caring nature of the sage emperor and Lord Wei.

However, the Governor of Mianzhou detected another implication, "Does that mean Lord Wei will be returning to the capital?"

Lord Wei nodded, "The disaster relief is complete. The purpose of this trip was to survey the conditions of the disasters, and having done so, it is naturally time to return to the capital."