In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

Shen An, who had already ridden away from Heishan Village, had a dark expression.

Ma Tianming had clearly begun to suspect that he was collecting dead people's hair for other purposes, but he did not continue to ask questions, which shows that he had already arranged for spies to investigate secretly.

If that informant isn't exposed, their every move will be monitored. Not only will they be unable to supply Jiang Caijun, but the secret of the blood-stained charcoal might even reach Ma Tianming's ears.

He had intended to visit the other four mass graves, but since Ma Tianming was to gradually hand them over the next day, there was no need to go.

It was already dark when we returned to Qingtian Village.

The fact that Old Zhao didn't show up means that they haven't found their informant yet.

Since that person is Ma Tianming's man, he might come to his house to investigate.

Shen An decided to lure the snake out of its hole.

He first summoned the corpse carriers to the village entrance and instructed them that he had important matters to attend to at home for the next few days and that no one was allowed to approach them.

Most of the corpse carriers were puzzled, but dared not ask too many questions and nodded in agreement.

After sending the people away, he instructed Shen Xiaoqi to guard the only road leading out of the village and to write down the names of anyone who sneaked out.

He hid in a haystack fifty paces from his home, waiting for the informant to show himself.

He waited all night, but the person never showed up, and Shen Xiaoqi also didn't get anything.

Old Liu, on the other hand, is trustworthy.

Just as dawn was breaking, he personally escorted three thousand catties of hair to Shen An's door.

Shen An had no choice but to go around in circles, climb over the wall, and pretend to have just woken up to meet Hei Lao Liu.

They made quite a commotion, and many of the corpse carriers craned their necks to look in their direction.

Dugu Meng immediately wrote down the names of everyone who showed up.

Shen An then took inventory and handed over the items to Hei Lao Liu.

According to the previously agreed price, three thousand catties totaled fifteen taels. Five taels had already been paid yesterday, and Shen An settled the remaining ten taels.

Old Liu grinned from ear to ear. Ten taels of silver—he might not earn that much in half a year, let alone in one night.

Shen An is practically his lucky charm!

"Brother Shen An, I can actually get some more dead people's hair. Are you still willing to buy it?" Black Six asked.

"Yes, of course we'll accept it."

Although the eyeliner hasn't been found yet, dead people's hair is a source of income, so the more the better.

"I'll deliver them in batches tonight and tomorrow night, but after that it's uncertain. The Western Barbarians are attacking the northern border of Yangnan Prefecture, and we've been transferred to logistics. We don't know when we'll be back." Blackie Liu's face showed worry, which showed that he was really afraid of the Western Barbarians.

After saying that, he leaned closer to Shen An and lowered his voice: "Brother, I specifically inquired last night. The Western Barbarians have sent 100,000 troops to attack our Great Liang this time, and 30,000 of them are heading straight for Yangnan Prefecture."

Although the military governor was fighting with all his might, no one could say for sure whether he could withstand the attack.

I advise you to take advantage of the money you still have and quickly bribe your superiors to get a travel permit so you can leave Yangnan Prefecture, this dangerous place.

Shen An felt little emotional.

Yangnan Prefecture is located on the southwestern border. Li Huaiyi has 150,000 troops. Although he is not a good person, his soldiers, who have been honed by years of fighting with warlords, are not much worse than the Western Barbarians.

It would be almost impossible for 30,000 men to take over Yangnan Prefecture.

With the enemy attacking and the price of hemostatic drugs skyrocketing, it's a great opportunity for him to make money. Why would he leave?

However, Hei Lao Liu meant well, and Shen An sincerely thanked him: "Brother Hei, thank you for your guidance. I will consider it carefully."

"That's good, see you tonight." Blackie Liu got the money and left excitedly with his men.

After they had gone far away, Shen An was about to ask Dugu Meng which people she had remembered, but when he turned around, he saw that her face was extremely ugly.

"Dugu Yue, what's wrong?" Shen An asked.

"Shen An, have the Western Barbarians really attacked?" Dugu Meng asked in a low voice.

"Yes, yesterday Ma Tianming said that the Western Barbarian army would arrive at the northern border of Yangnan Prefecture in five days, and asked Hei Laoliu and the others to do the logistics."

"However, the enemy only sent 30,000 men; Li Huaiyi should be able to hold them off," Shen An replied truthfully.

Dugu Meng didn't speak, only let out a long sigh.

Even if Li Huaiyi can hold out, countless more people of Daliang will die in this battle.

She gritted her teeth inwardly, determined that the day she returned to the capital and seized real power, she would make the Western Barbarians regret their invasion.

Afraid of being noticed, she pulled herself together and said, "Shen An, I've noted down everything you saw when you peeked out, but almost everyone looked this way, so I couldn't tell who was suspicious."

Shen An frowned slightly and called Dugu Meng back into the room to sit down: "How do you think you can remove the eyeliner?"

Dugu thought for a moment and said, "You kept watch all night last night, and the other party did not come, which means he is cautious."

But what Ma Tianming is really interested in is what you do with dead people's hair.

If you take the hair out tonight, the other person will think you're definitely using a dead person's hair for something else, which would be a good opportunity for them to find out, and they might even take the risk of following you.

"That's a good analysis. Then, tonight, you'll act out a play with me."

"it is good."

Around noon, Ma Tianming arrived at Qingtian Village again, followed by a bald man named Ma Qiang.

It was the joint shift leaders from the other four mass graves who came to hand over the duties to Shen An's office.

Shen An understood immediately upon hearing the name.

His surname is Ma, so he's probably a relative of Ma Tianming.

Ma Tianming handed over management so quickly, clearly intending to make him Ma Qiang's scapegoat.

When Ma Qiang looked at Shen An, his nose was in the air and his eyes were full of mockery. He clearly knew that Shen An was going to be his scapegoat and looked down on him.

Ma Tianming then said earnestly, "Shen An, for the sake of easier management, the other four mass graves will be cancelled in five days, and all corpses will be brought to Qingtian Village."

At that time, you will also be in charge of the corpse carriers in the other mass graves.

This is a crucial task. Keep these people in check for the magistrate's sake, and don't let my efforts and hard work in securing this opportunity for you go to waste.

Shen An knew in his heart that although he was being made to take the blame, this arrangement was indeed beneficial to him.

Not only can it collect more hair, but it can also attract more people.

He immediately feigned gratitude, saying, "Thank you so much, Officer Ma, for your kind words! I... I certainly won't let you down!"

"Haha, good!" Ma Tianming and Ma Qiang exchanged a smile, their eyes full of mockery, as if they were looking at a fool.

Ma Tianming didn't mention the dead man's hair again today, seemingly no longer concerned about it.

The more this was the case, the more certain Shen An became that he had already arranged for spies to investigate the matter.

So tonight, we must dig that person out no matter what.

As night fell, Blackie Liu arrived on time, bringing with him another three thousand catties of hair.

After they had gone some distance, Shen An lit a torch.

The firelight was particularly conspicuous in the night, and sure enough, many corpse carriers were secretly peeking in this direction.

Shen An pretended not to see anything, and only pushed the flatbed cart loaded with two hundred pounds of hair. Together with Dugu Meng, they quietly walked out of the village.

Everything went more smoothly than expected.

Shen An had served as a special forces soldier, and his nighttime alertness was far superior to that of ordinary people.

After leaving the village, he walked along the valley for about fifteen minutes when he heard a crisp sound of a dry branch snapping behind him.

coming.

He didn't turn around immediately. It was too dark to see the other person's face clearly, and the distance was too far to catch up. He had to close the distance first.

He continued forward and arrived at the cave where he had planned the ambush. After he and Dugu Meng carried the hair inside, they waited together for the person to approach.

Not long after, a dark figure indeed crept towards the cave.

The man was extremely cautious, hiding behind a pile of stones every now and then to look around before moving forward a few more steps.

When they were only about twenty steps away from the cave, the other party suddenly stopped and refused to go any further.

Seemingly feeling that moving forward was not safe, it turned its head and prepared to hide.

This distance is enough.

Shen An suddenly rushed out.

The shadowy figure saw him come out and ran away.