Chapter 199

Then followed the condemnation.

Zhubu rebuked angrily, “I heard what you two said personally. Hu Ming killed his biological dad, and you two worked together in the daytime, trying to kill Xu Ran and his spouse, so that you could occupy their money. Besides, I learned from your words that you two have killed other people in the village before. You two daredevils have committed the most heinous crimes!”

Since Zhubu said that he had heard them personally, these two didn’t know how to argue back even if they wanted. After all, they had said those words themselves. They could only blame it on their own carelessness and negligence.

Hu Ming and Hu Jin could only regret that they had been talking too rashly because they had believed that nobody was around in the middle of the night.

Now Zhubu intended to call them to account. He asked the villagers, “Does any of you have family members pass away all of a sudden? Step out and let me have a look. You may take your revenge today. I have made this decision for you.”

As soon as Zhubu said this, many people stepped out and began to vent their grievances.

People were telling how many people had died in their families, or how they had died. Those people had died in various ways, but most of them had been drowned.

Of course, some of the crimes might not have been committed by Hu Ming and Hu Jin, but no one cared about that now. They were to blame for everything, whether they had done it or not.

There were so many victims. Xu Ran thought to himself. Maybe what Hu Jin had told him was real. The only thing was that those people had all been killed by them. As for whether those people had come from other places, there was no way of knowing.

Xu Ran held Liu Tong’s hand and listened quietly to the villagers talking about how their families had died and how their bodies had been discovered.

The tellers were heartbroken, while the listeners hated Hu Jin and Hu Ming to the core after they had been listening so many stories of their sin.

Xu Ran was even wondering why someone like Hu Ming would have been able to pass the imperial examination and become a Xiucai?

Zhubu also got furious after hearing them, “You are heartless indeed. Is there anything else you two want to say?”

Although he was asking, Zhubu had already made up his mind. He believed these villagers, and this was simply a formality. Whether these two talked or not didn’t make any difference.

As a result, before they could speak, Zhubu asked people to catch them directly. Just as the two wanted to argue, their mouths were covered by Yamen runners.

Whether it was an unjust case or not, they would all wind up on these two people.

Xu Ran felt as if he was witnessing a joke. What a dramatic reversal.

If he hadn’t experienced the feeling of death in person this afternoon, he would have believed that what had happened was a dream.

Xu Ran watched Zhubu leave with those people. Before leaving, he told Xu Ran that the case was settled, and that they could leave this village tomorrow. Also, Mr. Hu’s body would be interred.

Xu Ran looked at Liu Tong and asked him, “Tongtong, do you feel like dreaming?”

Liu Tong nodded, “Ran, I feel so, too.”

The villagers started to disassemble and go back to their own homes. They reacted very flatly to this, as if they thought what had happened tonight was supposed to happen.

Only the three of them were left in the yard. The village head walked towards them, but his eyes fixed on Liu Tong all the time.

The words “King Yan” suddenly popped up in Xu Ran’s mind. He stepped forward immediately and stood in front of Liu Tong, “Village head, the case is settled. What do you want to say?”

“Second…”

The village head was interrupted by Xu Ran just as he said one word.

“Village head, it’s quite late at night, and it’s freezing. Let’s talk about it tomorrow if you have anything to say!”

After that, Xu Ran pulled Liu Tong into the room. When he left, Liu Tong glanced back at the village head. He found it weird that the village head was still staring at him.

Liu Tong asked Xu Ran, “Ran, why is the village head staring at me? Is there anything on my face?”

Xu Ran looked at Liu Tong’s face seriously and then shook his head, “No. Don’t be bothered with him. Let’s have a good sleep today. We can go back tomorrow.”

“Okay, you are the boss.” Liu Tong said with a smile.

Only Xu Ran knew that he was destined to lose sleep tonight. The moment the village head said “Second”, he was certain that the village head should be King Yan’s man.

They really were everywhere! And this position was very well arranged. He had probably been the village head for many years!

Xu Ran had been tossing and turning and thinking about strategies the whole night, but most importantly, Liu Tong must be kept out of it. Thus, Xu Ran felt it necessary for him to have a nice talk with the village head. After all, Gao Quan had said before that King Yan’s people would not disturb them for the time being.

Xu Ran had thought about taking Liu Tong to meet King Yan to see if they were real brothers, but not now, at least not until their children grew up.

Xu Ran, who hadn’t slept all night, got up early the next morning. He found the village head, who also got up very early, and pulled him into the yard.

Xu Ran didn’t beat around the bush and came straight to the point, “You’re King Yan’s man?”

The village head was stunned for a moment. He did not expect that Xu Ran would know that, “How did you know King Yan? How did you know I’m King Yan’s man?”

Undoubtedly, he admitted that he was King Yan’s subordinate by saying that.

Xu Ran said, “It has nothing to do with you as to how I found that out. But I have to tell you, someone promised that King Yan’s people wouldn’t appear in front of us in the short term. It was just a coincidence that we came to this village, and I didn’t know that you were King Yan’s man at first. If I had known that, I wouldn’t have come, no matter what. Tongtong still has no idea about his own identity. I don’t plan to let him know about it either for the time being, so please don’t tell him about it.”

Xu Ran knew that he had nothing to threaten the village head, so he chose the words he used very carefully.

When the village head heard Xu Ran’s words, he was also sure that Xu Ran knew Liu Tong’s identity for real. The village head had indeed received the message, but after all, King Yan had been looking for him for so many years and suddenly he was found, so the village head couldn’t help telling Liu Tong his real identity.

Seeing that the village head didn’t say anything, Xu Ran continued, “I will take Tongtong to King Yan, but it’s not time yet. You might tell King Yan that we are doing very well now. Please don’t disturb us for the time being. Also, could you tell me since when Tongtong and I were targeted? How did you prepare everything in such a short time?”

The topic changed a little too abruptly and the village head didn’t react for a moment. When he reacted, he could only remember Xu Ran’s last question.

He said, “The night before yesterday, Hu Jin and Hu Ming knew that you were coming to the village. I also got the message, but I didn’t do anything. I just set up the house.”

Xu Ran asked, “Your words are full of loopholes. Why do you pretend to be poor? Also, since you knew that Hu Jin would kill me and Tongtong, why didn’t you warn us? Besides, haven’t you really found that Mr. Hu was dead? How did you know that Hu Jin and Hu Ming would come to steal our horse last night, and set Yamen runners to lie in ambush nearby?”

Xu Ran threw out a series of questions, which baffled the village head.

Baffled, the village head didn’t want to answer Xu Ran. He waved his hand, “You don’t have to ask anymore. Why would you want to know everything? You just need to know that the problem is solved and nothing else.”

‘But I’m curious!’

Xu Ran felt that he was on pins and needles. However, the man in front of him had “I don’t want to talk about it” written all over his face.

Xu Ran repeated the questions several times to the village head, but he still didn’t get the answers. Xu Ran realized that the village head really didn’t want him to know them.

Xu Ran thought about it and felt that it was too unfair to him. After all, he was the victim. Even though the murderers were caught, and they might be beheaded, Xu Ran didn’t know why they had wanted to kill him. He felt restless.

Xu Ran’s mind wandered for a while, and then he stared at the village head, his eyes widening.

Seeing Xu Ran like that, the village head knew that trouble was brewing in his mind. The village head said, “Tell me! What’s your problem? I won’t tell you the truth anyway.”

Xu Ran said, “Well then, village head, you knew why I came to the village. Since you don’t want to tell me the truth, help me buy some fruit trees!” After that, Xu Ran looked eagerly at the village head, just like a kid asking his dad to buy something for him.

The village head thought about it. After all, he was Second Young Master’s husband. Helping him was equal to helping Second Young Master, so the village head nodded in agreement.

Xu Ran was very happy to see him nod. ‘Well, problems will be solved very quickly if someone offers help. More importantly, he is the village head. Since people in the village respect him, it will be much easier for me to buy fruit trees.’

Xu Ran added, “Village head, since you’ve agreed, I’ll leave it to you. I’m probably going to stay in this village for a few more days, and I’ll just stay at your house. After all, I paid. In addition, about the fruit trees, you couldn’t let the villagers rip me off. I’m relying on this money to support my spouse and children.”

The village head rolled his eyes at Xu Ran before turning to leave.

So he should have agreed! Xu Ran looked at his back and thought.

It suddenly occurred to Xu Ran that the village head had always been looking at him with disdain, but he seldom looked at Liu Tong. Xu Ran should have noticed it much earlier.

“Alas!” Sure enough, Xu Ran was not careful enough. Well, but it might have something to do with his IQ. Although Xu Ran had always found it suspicious, he couldn’t tell exactly.

“What’s wrong? Why are you sighing early in the morning?”

Hearing the voice behind him, Xu Ran turned around at once and saw Liu Tong smiling at him.

Xu Ran shook his head, “Nothing. Why are you up so early?”

Liu Tong said, “The sun is about to rise. It’s not early! Besides, aren’t you up earlier than me?”

Xu Ran rubbed his nose gently and said affectionately, “Why does it sound like I can’t get up early?”

Liu Tong couldn’t help laughing, “In the past, you’ve always got up later than me. Suddenly, you get up earlier than me, so I’m not used to it.”

Xu Ran thought to himself. Indeed. Liu Tong had got up earlier than him before he was pregnant. Of course, the only exception at that time was when Liu Tong had had a backache and couldn’t get up.

Xu Ran said, “Ain’t that good? In the past, you were the one who took care of me, but now it’s my turn to take care of you.”

Liu Tong nodded, his eyes full of tenderness, “Good. My Ran is always good, no matter what.”

The village head was nowhere to be found, and there was no one else in the yard. The two of them were sweet talking, not feeling shy at all.

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