During famine years, I had a divination slip in hand, and my whole family ate chicken, duck, fish, a

"Thump..."

Ye Dazhuang grabbed Ye Cuncai by the collar and pushed him to the village head's feet.

"Father, Father, save me!"

Ye Cuncai, his hands bound, fell face-first into the dirt, struggled to his knees, and looked up at the village head with a terrified expression.

"They caught me and are going to report me to the authorities! If they do, I'm finished, Dad! We can't let them report me!"

The village head felt a sudden "boom" in his head, as if his entire being had been hollowed out.

The youngest son was disheveled, bruised, and had a black eye; he looked like he had been severely beaten, and even his cotton-padded coat was showing through the lint.

"Shut up!"

The village head's heart began to tremble uncontrollably. What on earth was going on?

Wasn't it well hidden? Even if his own mule cart arrived first, he's not stupid. How could he not only lose control of his own cart but also get caught red-handed?

Ye Qingqing raised her chin. "Uncle Village Head, your son Ye Cuncai tried to kill me by shooting my horse with a hidden weapon, but I caught him red-handed."

Luckily, I'm alive. Now that I've been caught red-handed, what do you think we should do?

The village head's lips twitched, and he gritted his teeth as he spoke.

"Second Girl, you must be mistaken. My son knows how to use hidden weapons; he could shoot your horse..."

"The hidden weapon is right here; my brother Dazhuang pulled it out of him."

Ye Qingqing turned the bamboo tube upside down and placed it in front of the village head, raising an eyebrow and saying, "The aunties and grandmas saw it with their own eyes; they are witnesses. If you don't believe me, call them over and ask them."

"No need to call, we're all here."

Aunt Shuanzi led the way in, pointed at Ye Cuncai kneeling on the ground and said, "Your Excellencies, seven or eight of us saw with our own eyes this good-for-nothing take this bamboo tube and shoot at the carriage that Er Yatou made."

The bamboo tube contained fine needles, like cow's hair. When they hit the horse's rump, the horse went berserk and reared up, throwing Er Yatou and Da Zhuang off, nearly causing them to fall headlong to their deaths!

Although she was also afraid to speak with the officials, this was to seek justice for Er Ya Tou, so she had to testify even if she was scared.

The aunties and older women behind her shared the same thought, encouraging each other as they came in to act as witnesses for Ye Qingqing, chattering away.

"Yes, we saw it with our own eyes!"

"Sir, this kid was caught by Da Zhuang and confessed on the spot. He even begged Er Ya not to report it to the authorities!"

"He almost got Er Ya and her brother killed. He should be thrown in jail!"

……

Ye Cuncai lay on the ground, trembling with guilt.

"It wasn't me, it really wasn't me... I... I didn't have time..."

Ye Qingqing said with a sneer, "Sir, village head, you both heard that, didn't you?"

The village head was stunned and slammed his hand hard on the table.

"What on earth is going on?!"

Zhang Hu and Zhao Long exchanged a glance.

"Ye Qingqing, what are your plans for this? Are you really going to report it to the authorities?"

Ye Qingqing crossed her arms.

"Yes, I'm going to report him to the authorities! He almost killed me, I can't swallow this anger if I don't report him to the authorities!"

"It just so happens that both officials are here..."

"Wait!"

Before he could finish speaking, the village head suddenly shouted, forcing a smile onto his ashen face.

"Second daughter, we're all from the same village. I watched you grow up since you were little. We can talk things over..."

With all the witnesses and physical evidence, there's nothing we can do if he doesn't want to admit it.

Once Ye Qingqing reports it to the authorities, the second son will definitely have to go to jail. Based on his knowledge of the two officials' character, once the second son is in jail, his whole family will be skinned alive.

After considering the matter thoroughly, the village head still felt that admitting defeat was the most appropriate course of action.

Even if it means paying Ye Qingqing some money, it's better than having the second son locked up in jail!

"Discuss? Uncle Village Head, what's there to discuss?"

A chilling smirk appeared on Ye Qingqing's lips.

The village head took a deep breath, barely suppressing the urge to strangle the brat, and leaned closer with a fawning smile, saying...

"Second Girl, there are too many people here, let's go inside and talk..."

Before long, the village head came out of the inner room with a long face, glared at Aunt Shuanzi and the others, and started cursing.

"What are you all doing here? Haven't you embarrassed me enough already? Get out of here! I have something to discuss with these two officials!"

"Who would want to be here, complaining about their dirty feet!"

Aunt Shuanzi glared at him, spat fiercely, and led everyone out.

The village head's face turned green with anger. He forced a smile that looked more like a grimace, then approached Zhang Hu and Zhao Long, secretly pulling a stack of silver notes from his sleeve and slipping them into their hands.

"Sir, I've already spoken with Er Yatou, so we won't trouble you two with the matter of saving money."

This is the tax that Er Ya asked me to give to you two... let's just leave it at that.

"And here's a little something else: some wine for you two gentlemen. Please don't find it offensive, out of respect for my family's wealth."

"Hmm, all done?"

Zhang Hu lowered his eyelids, glanced at the silver notes in his hand—two one-hundred-tael notes and one fifty-tael note—and immediately raised his eyebrows.

"Brother Cunfu is our best friend. Since you've spoken up, Uncle, we can't really say anything."

"Just make sure you've reached an agreement with Ye Qingqing, and don't come back and cause trouble. We won't be able to explain this to our superiors."

"It's all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!"

The village headman nodded and bowed repeatedly, "Look, she's paid her taxes. Let's not let you two officials make a wasted trip. Let's just leave it at that!"

Zhang Hu put the silver note into his sleeve and nodded.

"Alright! If the people don't report it, the officials won't investigate. Since nothing's wrong, let's go back and report."

As soon as the two officials left, the village head's legs went weak. If he hadn't grabbed the table for support, he would have almost fainted and fallen to the ground.

"Master!"

The village head's wife cried out in surprise and rushed over to help him.

"Everyone, let's go...aren't you leaving?"

The village head waved his hand, laboriously moved to a chair, his face darker than the bottom of a pot.

"Thank you, Uncle Village Head."

Ye Qingqing came out of the inner room, a mocking sneer on her face.

"Two hundred taels of tax, you just gave it to me like that, how generous!"

Even though I'm so rich, I still feel bad about wasting money, tsk tsk...

"If you need anything in the future, just tell me directly. Using underhanded tactics will only make you look bad."

The village head's face trembled, and he seemed to have lost all his strength, weakly waving his hand.

"Let's go."

The room fell into a deathly silence.

The village head sat stiffly in his chair like a statue, watching his good-for-nothing youngest son cling to his mother and cry, watching the few people left the courtyard, his heart feeling like it was being twisted by a hand...

He took out 250 taels of silver in one go, which finally filled the hole that Ye Qingqing had extorted 100 taels per person from!

He's a complete idiot now!

He spent the whole night plotting to destroy her family, but he never expected that all his scheming would end up emptying his own family's coffers!

The village head felt like he was being stabbed in the heart. After everyone had left the room, his vision suddenly went black, and he coughed up a mouthful of blood.