No longer disturbed by nightmares and no longer wary of the family, Chu Nanzhi tightened the door bolt and slept soundly that night.
Early the next morning, she woke up comfortably, changed her clothes and left the house, feeling the gentle breeze coming from the mountains and feeling at ease.
"If you save enough money, build a big yard in the mountains, and hire a few handsome servants to open a few acres of thin fields in the mountains and raise some livestock, then your life will be perfect."
"It's this traffic that has become a big problem."
Chu Nanzhi frowned slightly when she thought of this, and then she saw Li Ce walking over in big strides.
"Sister-in-law, should we go back to Luyan Port and recruit more manpower before going to Haikang County?"
Seeing Chu Nanzhi, Li Ce asked worriedly.
"Call help?"
Chu Nanzhi looked at him in confusion.
Li Ce replied naively: "Yes, we can ask Magistrate Hu, even if we only bring my group of wandering brothers with me, we can embolden my sister-in-law."
"This is not only a cross-county, but also a cross-county. Without the emperor's will, how can County Magistrate Hu manage the affairs of Haikang County?"
Chu Nanzhi smiled angrily: "We are not going to fight, why are we bringing so many people?"
Li Ce frowned: "But I'm still worried that I can't protect my sister-in-law alone."
"Don't worry, even if there is something fishy behind this case, the people behind the scenes don't dare to do anything to us blatantly, just be careful and vigilant."
Chu Nanzhi said and smiled to herself: "I am just going as a lawyer of the Sun family to plead for the guilty. In handling cases in this county government, I have only heard of relying on words and reasoning to convince people, but I have never heard of it.
If you argue too much, you will be killed and silenced."
"Sister Zhi is right."
Listening to the conversation in Diba, Ma Laifu also hurriedly joined in, looked at Chu Nan Zhi with a simple and clean face, and said affectionately: "Sister Zhi, I made beef porridge and rolled a lot of beef patties.
You should hurry up and wash up, let’s eat together, and then we can go on our way.”
"OK."
I didn't expect this boy to be so diligent and prepare the meal so early in the morning.
I hurriedly went to the kitchen to fetch water to wash my face and mouth, and then enjoyed the breakfast cooked by Malai Fu with the Ma family. I thought that I would have to walk a long mountain road today, and the food cooked by Malai Fu tasted really good, so I couldn’t help but drink more.
A bowl of porridge and half a piece of cake.
Before leaving, Malaifu deliberately packed a lot of beef patties to eat on the road.
Haikang County is backed by the rolling peaks of Duanlong Mountain and the turbulent Lanjiang River, and faces Songhai. Only the south can lead to the outside world.
The transportation is inconvenient and the land is poor. Although it is only separated by a mountain, it is very different from the prosperous Luyan Port.
Chu Nanzhi and his party, led by Ma Laifu, crossed through the middle of Duanlong Mountain, and then went down the mountain along a path full of thorns.
Everyone was careful and vigilant along the way, but what was curious was that not even the shadow of a beast was seen along the way.
In the end, Li Ce and Ma Laifu had to attribute all this to Chu Nanzhi for bringing good luck to everyone.
The group of people hurried slowly and hurriedly, waiting until it was close to evening when they could see people in the place, and then everyone finally relaxed their vigilance.
Walking on the road, Chu Nanzhi looked around at the withered people's livelihood. Not to mention tile-roofed houses, there were not even a few thatched houses.
Ma Laifu watched her looking around since she came down from the mountain. She had never been to such a barren land before. He patiently explained to her: "Most of the people here live on boats. If you can go ashore and build a thatched house, you have to fight."
There is plenty of fish, but as for the wealthy locals who live in tile-roofed houses in the county, most of them get their dirty money from exploiting fishermen and salt merchants."
When reading a book before, Chu Nanzhi had seen descriptions of ancient fishing villages in the book. Before coming here, she had roughly imagined the possible poverty here, but she did not expect it to be so barren and withered.
Ma Laifu patiently explained to her, then glanced at Sun Liu and her daughter with erratic eyes, and his expression suddenly became more angry:
"There are a lot of people who know how to make money in Haikang County, ranging from the big and small officials in the county government to the scoundrels in the market. However, my uncle is a real person. He has led the villagers from dozens of miles around to fish all his life.
, I didn’t get half of the money, but I got one of my own people in. Sister Zhi, don’t you think it’s ridiculous?”
Listening to his mockery that didn't sound like ridicule, and his praise that didn't sound like praise, Chu Nanzhi felt a little bit dumbfounded.
After a moment of silence, she secretly glanced sideways at the depressed expressions of the Sun family's mother and daughter, and then enlightened Ma Laifu: "Laifu, you can't say that about your uncle. Although he comes from a humble background, he can think of making plans for the people."
Welfare, such a quality is also commendable."
"that is."
Mrs. Sun Liu curled her lips angrily and glared at Ma Laifu angrily: "If it weren't for your uncle and the neighbors in the village, you would have been beaten to pieces in Haikang County."
Ma Laifu snorted unconvinced and saw a group of villagers in the distance surrounding him one after another.
Seeing this group of people, someone from afar called out loudly: "Sister-in-law Liu, why are you and Yan Fang back? Didn't we ask you to hide in the mountains for a while?"
When Mrs. Sun Liu saw the villagers, she first glanced at Chu Nanzhi, and excitedly rushed towards the group of people with small steps. The group of people exchanged greetings for a while and gathered in front of Chu Nanzhi.
Mrs. Sun Liu cordially took Chu Nanzhi and introduced her to everyone: "This is Mrs. Chu, the superb detective in Luyan Port. This time she came to our county specially to redress the injustice of this stupid man."
When they heard this name, those who had heard of it were surprised and began to whisper, while those who had never heard of it still maintained an indifferent attitude.
But at this time, there were still people who wanted to avenge Sun Wuji. After some quiet discussion, they couldn't help but look at Chu Nanzhi in awe.
The leader was a skinny old man in a short shirt. He bowed his hands respectfully, hunched over his waist and said with a kind face: "I am the Li Zhenghe patriarch of our Sunjia Village. I am grateful to you all for Mrs. Chu's coming to file Wu Ji's case."
If not, just follow the old man to the village."
"good."
Chu Nanzhi responded softly and was rushed to the village surrounded by everyone.
When they arrived at Sun Wuji's house, Mrs. Sun Liu unlocked the door and invited everyone to sit down in the hall.
When I was in the mountains, I heard that Sun Wuji was a famous fisherman in Haikang County. I thought that the conditions of his family should be at least as good as those of the Chu family. But after looking around, I found that except for the four or five shabby thatched houses surrounding the middle of the fish pond,
, and could no longer see any other scenery, I realized faintly in my heart: The famous fishermen they said turned out to be just famous.
As soon as Chu Nanzhi sat down, she saw the neighbors coming in with things in their hands. They looked at her carefully and walked into the kitchen. As they walked, they shouted: "Sister-in-law Liu, everyone has nothing."
The tea is ready, we gathered some eggs together, and he secretly hid two of the fish that Rokuro had just dried yesterday, so we can use these to entertain the guests in the evening."
Hearing this, Sun Lizheng said with a bitter look on his face, "I have no choice but to offend Mrs. Chu and drink some boiled water first."
"Well, I prefer drinking boiled water."
Chu Nanzhi had a smile on her face. Thinking of what the villagers had just said, she couldn't help but wonder: "Why do you have to hide the fish you catch secretly?"
"Ahem, Mrs. Chu doesn't know something."
Sun Lizheng said with a bitter face: "Since Wu Ji was imprisoned, several fishing villages near us have been placed under the control of the Kang family. In recent years, the fishing tax has been heavy, and the young fish in the fish pond have been unable to catch the trip. In order to pay the fishing tax,
Tax, everyone went out to fish desperately. The fish in the shallows were all caught, but the fish in the deep water were difficult to catch.
Wuji was able to deal with the county for all of us in the old days, but now it's better. The Kang family not only has to collect the monthly fishing tax for the county, but also has to pay back the rent owed for the past two years. Without a way to survive, everyone will naturally
You have to think about saving your life.”
"I see."
Chu Nanzhi silently concealed the indignation that was gradually rising in her heart, and thought to herself: Isn't this the so-called government forcing the people to rebel?