Xie Zhaoan had no expression on his face. He took a sip of cold wine, as if what he was talking about had nothing to do with him.
"Indeed, he was from the Moon Shadow Guard, so I tied him up and used a knife to scrape off his flesh bit by bit until he bled to death."
Shen Xining shuddered involuntarily. Xie Zhaoan looked at her expressionlessly, without any regard for her emotions.
"There are no traitors in the Moon Shadow Guard. Traitors are like idiots and are taboos for the Moon Shadow Guard."
"Ms. Shen, have you made up your mind to make a deal with me?"
Shen Xining glanced at Xie Zhaoan, pursed her lips and smiled, took a sip of cold wine, and sighed in her heart, if the Shen family had not been in trouble now, she would have enjoyed this good wine on the first day she came here, why would she wait until now
"No need for that. Dealing with the Fourth Prince is not that easy. I have seen it before. I have my own ideas on this matter."
Although it was called an idea, Shen Xining actually had no idea at all. That thing was very difficult to obtain. It was already very rare to accidentally know that the trumpet creeper was on the cliff that day, but it turned out to be like that in the end.
Shen Xining and Xie Zhaoan didn't say anything else, and the two of them were quiet for a while, which was rare.
The next day.
Shen Xining did not go to the court to listen, but ordered the people from the county government to bring the list. Since so many people had disappeared, she would first find out who was missing and where they had gone.
However, when the man from the county office brought the list, there was only half a thin book, and it was obvious that the number was wrong. However, the man from the county office showed no guilt at all and raised his eyebrows and spoke.
"Miss Shen, I'm sorry. During the flood, all the books in the county government office were washed away. These are the only ones left. Please take a look."
Shen Xining nodded, but after the bailiff left, she threw her pen in anger. There was clearly something fishy going on. Their methods were obviously so low-level, so why couldn't she find out what was going on?
Shen Xining just didn't believe it, so she changed into some simple clothes and went door to door.
However, after their doors were finally opened, they hurriedly closed the doors when they heard that she was a government official. Only one family had government officials who were arresting people and wanted to take their daughter away. Shen Xining rushed forward.
"Why did you arrest them?"
"Who are you? What does this have to do with you?"
"I am a government official, Shen Xining, don't you know?"
Someone from the government
The men looked at each other, obviously seeing disbelief and panic in each other's eyes, but no one said anything and turned away.
The people in the room wanted to kneel down to Shen Xining, but Shen Xining quickly stopped them.
"Grandpa, grandma, you don't have to be like this. I'm from Kyoto and I want to know what happened here and why it has become so miserable. This is obviously the place farthest from the flood and the most prosperous place in the past. Why is it that now that the flood has not affected this place, everyone is staying indoors?"
The old man sighed and asked his granddaughter to hide inside the house.
"For some reason, the government always claims that there was an epidemic here after the flood, and then all the young men and women here were arrested. Although no one openly says this, don't we know whether people are sick or not? The only thing they have in common is that after being arrested, no one has ever returned."
There was another knock on the door. The expressions of the old grandfather and grandmother in the house became ugly, and the granddaughter rushed out of the house.
"Always letting them knock on the door like this is not a solution. Grandpa and grandma, I'm fine. Your granddaughter is not afraid. It's just this life. At worst, let them take it. We can't let them harass you like this all the time!"
As she said this, the woman was about to rush out. Shen Xining remembered the woman she met on the way to Jingnan that day. She failed to save that woman that day. This time, she would definitely not let the woman fall into such a situation again.
"Wait, why don't you let me go instead of you? I just want to see what kind of medicine is being sold outside."
Shen Xining looked at the woman and nodded at her.
"Don't worry, I'm from the government. Even if I really get out, nothing will happen. Don't worry about me."
The woman agreed, and Shen Xining, wearing the woman's coarse linen dress, followed the officers and soldiers outside. These people were not from the county government, and they did not recognize who Shen Xining was.
Shen Xining was pushed forward by this group of people. After walking for an unknown amount of time, Shen Xining was pushed into a carriage. The carriage was full of young women. There was another carriage in front of it, which was full of young men. They could be said to be young and middle-aged laborers.
The carriage was bumpy all the way, and all it took were small roads that were covered by leaves all around, making everything very clear. There were also people who followed behind the carriage to clean up the traces of the carriage. It can be said that no one could remember this road for the second time.
It was unknown how long the carriage had been running. Shen Xining's eyes were blindfolded, and she could only feel the basic conditions of the road through the traces left by the surrounding leaves on her body. Then the carriage stopped and a group of people were driven off.
The young man was driven to another road, which was a mine. He was locked up there and forced to work like a slave. When Shen Xining wanted to take a closer look, someone hit him hard on the head.
"Still looking over there, don't you want your head anymore!?"
Then, a eunuch-like figure picked up the faces of each young woman and looked at them for a long time. Those who nodded were thrown into the carriage, and those who did not nod were taken to the mine to continue working. As for whether they did the same work as the men, there was no conclusion.
Shen Xining, who was a good-looking man, got on a carriage with some women, not knowing where the road ahead was.
Along the way, all the women in the carriage were crying, but Shen Xining showed no reaction. The person who was transporting her was a kind-hearted person. Seeing that Shen Xining didn't cry, he started chatting with her.
"All these people are crying, why aren't you crying? You are a courageous person, and you are worthy of admiration!"
Shen Xining glanced at him.
"Isn't it because I'm sick? There are only my grandparents at home, and they are old. It's a good thing that I got sick and was sent away."