"That’s right, have Jin Shui’s wife hurry up and take the child away after this. Don’t ask anything or say anything. Let the child get some rest." The village elder continued.
"Ah, thank you, Uncle Land Officer, thank you, Fourth Uncle."
Yang Chuxia quickly prepared the IOU, then let the Land Officer and village elders review it before instructing Yang Jinshui to affix his fingerprint. Land Officer Yang and the village elders also added their fingerprints, then Jin Shui and his wife took Yang Jinxiu home.
Now that the issue with Yang Jinxiu was resolved, Land Officer Yang wanted to ask Yang Chuxia about the matter of purchasing servants, but he held back since the village elders were still present. He then went home with the village elders.
Once everyone had left, Ms. Wang began to cook dinner. After eating, Yang Dachuan went to Old Gen’s house, concerned about the matter of opening up the storehouses that Yang Chuxia had mentioned.
Early the next morning, Yang Dachuan set off for the town with Old Gen and several others.
Ye Zi’an also went, while Yang Chuxia had breakfast first and then went to look for Jinxiu. Because Jinxiu’s emotions were so volatile the day before, Chuxia hadn’t had a chance to ask her anything.
She wanted to ask if Jinxiu remembered anything unusual about the place she was detained or if there were any landmarks nearby, to try to find some clues that she could provide to Constable Hong to help him capture the ritualist.
There was one thing Chuxia hadn’t mentioned to anyone yet: she was concerned that the ritualist might come seeking revenge. The fact that he managed to escape early showed that he had received advance warning, which suggested that he had some backing. It wasn’t impossible for him to figure out that it was her who caught the coachman. If he found out, the ensuing trouble would be disastrous, which is why she was so eager to find the ritualist.
Unfortunately, Jinxiu couldn’t provide any useful information. Because she was either blindfolded or drugged the entire time she was confined, she had no idea of her surroundings. She had the impression she was moved between many places, only to find out she was still in the town when the outside world was revealed to her once again.
Since Jinxiu couldn’t provide any clues, Yang Chuxia had no choice but to leave disappointed, reminding herself to tell her family to be cautious, especially her siblings.
On her way home, she remembered she had not arranged for a place for the new servants to live, so she detoured to their old home. However, upon seeing their empty house and thinking of Yang Dongzhi’s situation, she hesitated.
She then went to Land Officer Yang’s house, recalling that there were vacant houses in the village that she could buy.
However, when speaking with Land Officer Yang, she thought of Ms. Hua Junior and her son. After what had happened, they could no longer stay in the village. If that was the case, their occupied land and houses should be returned to Brother An.
If she could return the house to Brother An, she could borrow it for the time being and wouldn’t need to buy one right away. She could build more houses near her home next spring.
Chuxia then said, "Great Uncle, the village has experienced such a huge incident, Ms. Hua Junior and her son cannot stay here anymore, right?"
"What are you trying to say?" Land Officer Yang glanced at Yang Chuxia and thought to himself that she was a cunning little fox, always having some deeper meaning behind her words.
"Hehe, I just think that Ms. Hua Junior and her son can’t stay in the village anymore. If they do, no one in the village will agree. If they are going to be driven out, their houses and land should be returned to Brother An, right? Those things never belonged to them in the first place. How can we let them occupy them any longer?"