Xie Shaoshan stayed in Chen Family Village for an entire day, hoping to gather so news. Now that Xie Liangchen had finally brought up the matter, his heart was naturally filled with joy.
Xie Liangchen was still young, too impatient, and these words ultimately ca out of her mouth.
Xie Shaoshan held his breath, nearly pressing his ear against the door.
Inside the room, there was a mont of silence, then Chen Yongsheng said, "I’ll go find soone overnight and make sure it’s handled properly."
Old Mrs. Chen seed a little nervous: "Miss Chen, don’t be afraid. Your second uncle and I are here."
Xie Liangchen’s voice trembled slightly: "Grandmother doesn’t know, I’m really worried, afraid... if things go wrong, it might beco a disaster, implicating many people."
Xie Shaoshan’s mind conjured up the image of Song Xian. He knew well who Song Xian was, and Xie Liangchen feared offending Song Xian, implicating this Chen Family Village.
Xie Shaoshan inwardly sneered, this little hoof acted so composed in front of him today, but in truth was already panicking. Seeking wealth and glory isn’t easy? Soon he would make her reap what she sowed.
Not just Xie Liangchen, but the entire Chen Family Village would not have a good outco.
Chen Yongsheng also comforted Xie Liangchen: "Just endure these couple of days, and everyone will have better days in the future."
Xie Liangchen replied, "Second Uncle, be careful when you go outside."
"Don’t worry," Chen Yongsheng said, "I’ve found reliable people, and once we sell the dicinal materials, we’ll go pay respects to our benefactor together."
The benefactor Chen Yongsheng ntioned was, of course, Song Xian. Xie Shaoshan knew he couldn’t listen any longer. Once they finished speaking, Chen Yongsheng could co out at any ti, so he tiptoed away from the door.
Indeed, after a mont, footsteps ca from the courtyard. It was Old Mrs. Chen and Xie Liangchen seeing Chen Yongsheng off.
A little while later, Chen Zigeng returned ho with several children.
Xie Shaoshan was afraid Old Mrs. Chen would beco suspicious, so he deliberately waited a while before coming out of the woodshed.
Standing in the yard, Xie Shaoshan said to Old Mrs. Chen: "Dear madam, I’ll head back now and co back early tomorrow to help."
Old Mrs. Chen didn’t respond at first; after a while, she stretched her neck out from the kitchen: "Zigeng, was that a dog barking? Chase it away so it doesn’t co steal food."
There was no dog; she was clearly insulting him.
Xie Shaoshan scoffed secretly and turned to leave.
The mule cart was left in Chen Family Village, and Xie Shaoshan, with the shopkeeper and staff, walked back to the city. Without bothering to change clothes at ho, Xie Shaoshan went straight to the Dong Family.
Mr. Dong hurriedly welcod Xie Shaoshan into the main room upon hearing he had arrived.
Xie Shaoshan wiped the sweat from his forehead, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and then said: "It was Mr. Song who instructed the Chen Family Village to do it."
Mr. Dong’s eyes lit up imdiately: "Really?"
Xie Shaoshan nodded: "I heard it clearly; my niece knows nothing about dicinal materials or paper-making formulas. Soone must have instructed her to say this."
Mr. Dong was too excited to interrupt Xie Shaoshan and urged him to continue.
Xie Shaoshan said: "Today, they slipped up. My niece can’t even recognize Huang Shu Kui; how could she lead the villagers to gather herbs in the mountains?"
Saying this, Xie Shaoshan recounted exactly what he had heard to Mr. Dong.
"The village chief of Chen Family Village even went to the neighboring village to ask the injured soldiers to join him," Xie Shaoshan said. "You can send soone to verify if it’s true. Now is the perfect ti to gather evidence."
Mr. Dong pondered for a mont, once again exchanging glances with Xie Shaoshan: "If things really escalate, would you be willing to confront the people of Chen Family Village?"
Xie Shaoshan thought of Song Xian and couldn’t help but feel a bit apprehensive.
Mr. Dong noticed his concern: "Don’t worry, the Third Young Master will stand by you, and there’s also Li You, sent by the court. As long as you speak the truth, no one will trouble you."
Sweat poured from Xie Shaoshan’s forehead again. At this point, he had no retreat: "I... dare not deceive the court and will report everything truthfully."
"Good," Mr. Dong stood up, "I’ll congratulate the Second Master in advance. When it’s ti for rewards, the Second Master will surely be credited the most."
Xie Shaoshan quickly returned the gesture and, after finishing speaking, was about to take his leave when he suddenly thought of sothing: "I find the village chief of Chen Family Village to be quite resourceful, and Old Mrs. Chen isn’t easy to deal with. But my niece is timid. If the governnt office wants to interrogate soone, it’s best to start with her."
On the way, Xie Shaoshan had already thought it through: Xie Liangchen was the one who offered the formula, but she knew nothing about dicinal materials, which was the most suspicious part.
Mr. Dong, without needing Xie Shaoshan’s reminder, also knew the key area.
After Xie Shaoshan left the Dong Family, Mr. Dong imdiately went to report to Song Min.
...
Chen Family Village.
Xie Liangchen and Chen Zigeng sat on the heated brick bed.
Xie Liangchen smiled at her younger brother: "How about it? Did you finally understand it today?"
Chen Zigeng’s face flushed slightly. He understood at first, but later, thanks to Chen Yongyi’s help.
Xie Liangchen opened a bundle, took out a few books and a set of calculation rods.
Xie Liangchen said: "You should start reading and learning calculations now, little brother."
Seeing the books, Chen Zigeng was both surprised and delighted. He wanted to reach for them but noticed his palms were sweaty. He quickly wiped them on his clothes before taking the books.
Xie Liangchen said: "I’ll teach you first, little brother. Once we find a suitable teacher, you can study together with them. In the future, if there’s sothing I don’t know, you can teach , how about that?"
Chen Zigeng had just opened a book, and upon hearing this, looked up: "Sister, you know these things?"
Xie Liangchen didn’t answer his question: "I don’t know either, why don’t you test ?"
Old Mrs. Chen couldn’t figure out what the siblings were up to, but she saw Xie Liangchen’s smiling face, with no trace of worry.
Miss Chen had told her that Xie Shaoshan’s visit to Chen Family Village this ti was ill-intentioned and that they must be careful. Hearing this, she and Chen Yongsheng naturally beca vigilant. But after advising them, Miss Chen acted as if nothing was amiss herself, as if all considerations were like als to her.
Old Mrs. Chen pondered, still unsure what was going on in Miss Chen’s head.
As evening ca, Old Mrs. Chen, reluctant to waste lamp oil, instructed the siblings to go to bed early.
Worried about rain at night, Xie Liangchen moved the hanging frogs and dicinal materials into the house.
Chen Zigeng couldn’t sleep, thinking about the frogs, and then he heard Xie Liangchen say: "Brother, let tell you a story! Once, a group of lovable little frogs played in the woods. As the weather grew colder, they wanted to fill their bellies in preparation for hibernation..."
At this, Chen Zigeng suddenly spoke up: "Sister, do you really think frogs are lovable?"
Xie Liangchen said: "Yes, I do."
Chen Zigeng no longer wanted to hear the story, realizing that to his sister, lovable things were ant to be caught and eaten.
"Sister, don’t find lovable."
Listening to the even breathing of Old Mrs. Chen and Chen Zigeng next to her, Xie Liangchen carefully climbed out of bed, took her paper, pen, and oil lamp, and quietly headed to the woodshed.
Turning up the oil lamp, Xie Liangchen began to draw, needing to create more pictures of dicinal materials, to ride the wave of Xie Shaoshan’s actions and present them to Li You.
As morning was about to break, Xie Liangchen crawled back into bed to rest, only to hear Old Mrs. Chen’s voice: "Today, I’ll surely catch those mice and beat them to death for constantly stealing my lamp oil."
Xie Liangchen turned over, continuing to sleep, telling herself she just needed a bit more ti, just another cup of tea’s worth of sleep.
...
Song Family.
Song Min crossed his legs, took a sip of tea, and looked at the three people standing before him.
"Keep an eye on Miss Xie," Song Min said, "and bring her over when the ti cos."
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