Since there is space, it is naturally the best to buy it for 0 yuan

Chapter 651 Start hunting

The rain lasted for more than four days before it cleared up, and a colorful rainbow was seen hanging in the sky.

The frogs on the lotus leaves in the pond croaked incessantly.

The ducks raised by the villagers waddled and flew towards the river in flocks.

I guess they were really bored these past few days, so now that they're finally free, they're definitely going to go out and have some fun.

The shrouded fog slowly unveiled its mystery under the sunlight.

Everything became clear: the old farmer was leading his ox up the mountain.

Children also ran out to play and frolic.

Shen Ruyi and Yi Ren, along with a few others, went up the back mountain with the small baskets they had bought from the old farmer.

I plan to pick some mushrooms and various fungi to make soup, and also hunt some wild game and pick some wild vegetables to eat.

The ground was somewhat soft and muddy, and the air after the rain was exceptionally fresh and pleasant, with a faint scent of grass.

Yi Ren plucked a few handfuls of thriving wild scallions and put them into her basket. "Let's make some dumplings today. Wild scallion filling will definitely be delicious."

"Sure, pick some more shepherd's purse, shepherd's purse filling is delicious too."

"Okay, we've got plenty of wild vegetables here anyway, so let's pick some more. If there's any left, we can use it for hot pot."

"Sure, sure. The wild vegetable hot pot last time was especially delicious. Let's have another one."

Yi Ren hit two rabbits with pebbles. "Make them into spicy rabbit cubes. Ying Wu, you can stew those pheasants in your hand into soup. They make the best soup."

"Okay, but we didn't see any big ones. Let's go up a bit more and see if we can hunt some wild goats or something."

The group chatted and picked things as they walked deeper into the area.

"It's rare to have such a leisurely moment."

"Who says it isn't?"

The group ventured deeper into the mountains, trying to stay away from the elderly farmers who were picking things up in the mountains, so as not to burden them.

This trip was specially arranged by Shen Ruyi and her friends for fishing.

On their second night there, they discovered they were being followed and watched.

However, everyone pretended not to see it and began to monitor them instead.

We've been waiting for those people to make a move, but nothing has happened even after the weather cleared up.

I guess it's because they killed too many assassins before, so the remaining people are extra cautious and don't act rashly.

Therefore, Shen Ruyi gave them a chance.

"Wow, the pheasants and rabbits on this mountain are so easy to hunt! I caught two more. I can have a good meal tonight!" Yi Ren exclaimed.

"The more the better, we don't mind having too many."

"There's a stream up ahead. Shall we watch over and deal with the rabbits while we're at it? Let's take care of it all here at once, otherwise it'll be too much of a hassle," Shadow Five asked.

"Okay."

Everyone immediately understood; the hunt was about to begin.

Caught completely off guard, some people gathered wild vegetables, others skinned rabbits, some washed meat, and still others climbed trees to pick wild fruits.

Just in case, he secretly put an antidote in his mouth.

Everyone was on edge, their ears constantly listening for any sounds around them.

Two minutes passed idly like this when suddenly an arrow pierced the sky and shot towards Shen Ruyi and Yiren.

coming.

Upon hearing the sound, Shen Ruyi immediately rolled to the side, dodging the first arrow that flew towards her.

He pulled a soft whip from his pocket and lashed out at the remaining arrows.

He whipped himself so hard that no arrow could get close.

The woman used the rabbit in her hand to deflect the arrow.

Then she took her sword and went to meet them. She couldn't wait any longer until they made their move.

Others had already taken action upon hearing the news.

Shadow Five led a few men to flank the source of the arrows from both sides, hoping to wipe out the remaining enemies this time.

Soon everyone was facing off, swords flashing and blades clashing, each strike landing its mark, the fight fierce and evenly matched.

Wherever it passed, tree branches fell to the ground, and birds and beasts flew in disarray.

Shen Ruyi was too lazy to play with the newcomers, and her hand speed increased, each strike a killing blow, stabbing her opponent again and again.

Unfortunately, the opponent was also quick enough to avoid the vital point.

After exchanging more than a dozen blows, he finally found an opening and slashed his opponent's neck.

The other person made two gurgling sounds and then collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

Before she could deliver a finishing blow, a sword slashed out from the side, and Shen Ruyi met it head-on with her own sword.

He used all his strength to shake the other person's hand and body, causing them to stagger back several steps.

Taking advantage of the opponent's hesitation, he flicked a whip with his other hand, which wrapped around the opponent's neck.

With a forceful pull, the backward momentum combined with the force of her pull and yank resulted in the neck being snapped.

He fell to the ground and kicked his legs, dying instantly. Fearing it wasn't safe, Shen Ruyi used her sword to slash the carotid artery in his neck.

Blood gushed out, dripping onto the nearby grass and then soaking the earth.

Shen Ruyi stepped back to avoid getting blood splattered on herself.

Then he headed toward the other people fighting nearby.

After a fierce battle, all of them were killed without exception.

Shadow Five and the others quickly surrounded Shen Ruyi, asking, "Master, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, don't worry."

Yi Ren knew Shen Ruyi's strength, so she wasn't worried about that.

You should know that their skills are now among the best in the martial arts world, so dealing with these so-called ordinary assassins is no problem for them.

He said, "You know, these people are really persistent. Even though their master was imprisoned and executed, they still obeyed orders to die. There's no one else like them."

Shen Ruyi echoed, "This is either the last order issued by Governor Dou."

Either someone in Governor Dou's family had children who escaped, and they weren't thinking clearly, only remembering revenge, so they issued this order.

Otherwise, a normal person would never do that; it's really not very smart.

Instead of secretly running away, they actually came to assassinate us.

Of course, another possibility is that they underestimated our strength and were careless.

But anyway, at least these people are dead; that makes me feel much more at ease.

“That makes sense. In this situation, we should definitely run away first, preserve our strength, and then look for an opportunity to take revenge.”

On our side, only one person had their arm slashed and another had their leg crippled by a kick; the others were fine.

"Hurry up and apply some medicine to yourselves. Do you carry your medicine with you?"

"Yes, Your Majesty, I have brought it."

"Ah."

The number of people in Yi County is "a total of 15, but I don't know if this is all of them, or if there are some who slipped through the net?"

"Nobody knows for sure, so let's be extra careful in the days to come."

"Ah."

Shadow Sixteen found a bottomless hole nearby, and the group carried the corpses in and threw them in, thus resolving the matter completely.

After washing their hands, everyone continued their previous work as if nothing had happened, skinning and cleaning all the dozen or so rabbits they had hunted, and stringing them together with straw ropes.

They leisurely carried their things down the mountain, unaware that a fight had taken place there.

As soon as they came down the mountain, they saw a place in the village opposite that was full of people, and they wondered what big thing had happened.

Ying Shijiu clasped his hands and said, "Master, shall I go and scout the situation on the other side?"

“Go ahead,” Shen Ruyi said, also curious.

Let alone Ying Shijiu, even Yiren wants to go.

If it weren't for the uncertainty about whether there were still assassins lurking in the shadows, and the need to stay and protect Ruyi, she would have loved to join in the fun.

As soon as they reached the entrance of the villa, they found that the young masters had all gathered together, chattering away about something.

Upon seeing Shen Ruyi and her group return, they immediately sent two representatives over to discuss the matter, only to discover that the commotion on the other side was related to their own people.

The clan chief across the street actually arranged a ghost marriage for his grandson who died young.

“If it were a dead person being paired with another dead person, we would accept it, but they actually paired a living person with another dead person, and they even want to bury Daya alive.”

That was outrageous! We stopped them and ruined it, and we also rescued Daya. Later, our people had a fight with those stubborn old men.

It's infuriating! If the village head hadn't stopped them, I would have beaten those old bastards to death.

And then there's Da Ya's second uncle's family. Ever since Da Ya's parents died, they've seized all of Da Ya's family's property.

Now they're even going to hand Da Ya over to the clan chief to be buried alive. It's outrageous that my second uncle's family and the clan chief's family are in cahoots!

Shen Ruyi was no stranger to the idea of ​​taking advantage of someone's family's wealth.

This has been the case since ancient times; it has never changed, and it remains a common occurrence even in later generations.

Those who can afford to eat the food of the extinct family line are usually relatives or friends; outsiders have no chance of getting it.

She had even seen families with sons suffer such devastation that the family line was wiped out, let alone a single orphaned girl.

In this situation, isn't it perfectly normal for someone to be completely wiped out of their family fortune?

When a person loses power, the people who will ruthlessly trample on them are often their own relatives.

As for arranging marriages between living people and ghosts, Shen Ruyi thought it was worthwhile to bring it up with the authorities to see if it could be included in the criminal law.

When she wrote to the emperor last time, she had a somewhat immature idea: to see if she could increase the punishment for adultery and harming others within marriage.

And incorporate it into legal provisions.

Since she was not in the capital, it was not officially implemented.

The reason why people easily make mistakes is simply because the cost of making mistakes is too low. If it becomes an unforgivable crime, people will naturally make fewer mistakes.

"Alright, I understand. Go investigate. If it's true, deal with it according to the law. While you're at it, also remove the village head from his post."

"Yes, master."

The final punishment was that the clan chief's family and Da Ya's second uncle's family were all flogged twenty times and then exiled.

New clan chiefs and village heads took office.

After receiving Shen Ruyi's letter, the emperor immediately sent people to verify the matter.

He also wanted to see if it was true.

If this is true, it is extremely heinous. How could he dare to let such vicious people become officials?

If he were only greedy for money, he could tolerate it and still be used. But he could even humiliate his wife, who had helped him through thick and thin, in such a way.

The emperor certainly wouldn't dare employ someone so ruthless and heartless.

After some investigation, it was discovered that this was indeed true.

Not only is it true, but Li Xiangzhang also got involved with Zhaoyun not long after arriving in the capital.

In order to marry Princess Zhaoyun, Li Xiangzhang tricked her into losing her virginity and getting her pregnant.

They weren't chosen as sons-in-law through the imperial examinations; they had already secretly pledged their lives to each other long ago.

From the moment they first got together, Li Xiangzhang had already planned and carried out his plan to kill his father-in-law.

He dared not bully Ni Minghui unless he killed his father-in-law, let alone demote her to a concubine.

After all, his mentor had taught him many students, and he was afraid of being discovered and retaliated against.

So he sent someone to use a little trick to kill his father-in-law, who was completely unsuspecting, by taking advantage of the incompatibility of spices.

As for his mother-in-law, she died even earlier, but it was his own doing, simply because his mother-in-law had mentioned that she felt her father-in-law's other apprentice was more suitable to be her son-in-law.

Fearing that his marriage might be affected, he killed his mother-in-law, which can only be described as ruthless.

Finally, following the clues, they even uncovered a cheating case, discovering that the exam questions from that year had been taken out and sold for money by someone with ulterior motives.

Princess Zhaoyun's father was one of the participants.

Of course, they also uncovered other cases of buying and selling official positions, as well as the fact that their son forcibly abducted a woman and beat her parents and relatives to death.

In addition, he was also involved in a murder-for-hire case. With multiple crimes combined, he will inevitably face the death penalty.

And that's not all; the investigation is ongoing to see if there are any other cases that have been overlooked.

The officials immediately imprisoned these people in the imperial jail to await their fate.

This behavior was so egregious that it infuriated the officials.

The matter that Shen Ruyi proposed—sending Princess Zhaoyun to the military camp to work as a prostitute—cannot be accomplished.

Because she was involved in the murder of Ni Minghui's biological father, she was to be beheaded.

Of course, this case immediately ignited the entire Dali Dynasty.

It's because this matter involves the terms "third-place scholar," "academy," and "wife who shared hardship."

This has inadvertently blocked the upward mobility of many down-on-their-luck students.

After this incident, who would dare to casually pick up and help poor students on the street? Who would dare to invest in poor students?

Who would dare to use their entire family's resources to support their son-in-law's education? Who would dare to casually take on apprentices? Would they be courting death?

This matter had a huge impact, even affecting the way senior teachers in all the academies accepted students.

The number of closed-door disciples was already extremely limited, and after this incident, everyone unanimously closed the door to accepting disciples.

He told others that he was too old to take on apprentices.

The motivation and enthusiasm I had before, when I encountered a promising student, would light up and I would do my best to nurture them, but that has now faded.

It's easy to draw a person's bones but hard to draw their skin; you can't see into someone's heart.

Who knows if they've taken in a human or a ghost? They're afraid too.

Shen Ruyi and her group stayed here for more than twenty days.

During those days, they went down into the river to catch fish, took bird eggs from the trees, went up the mountain to collect herbs, and even witnessed the local mother-in-law and daughter-in-law battles.

I've had a proper rest and recuperation period.

Ni Minghui obtained the divorce papers, which were unrelated to her previous marriages, as she had hoped.

Of course, Li Xiangzhang and his new father-in-law's family were all imprisoned.

Because the authorities discovered other problems and cases during their investigation.

What's most hateful is that Li Xiangzhang was responsible for the deaths of Ni Minghui's biological parents.

Li Xiangzhang was that wolf in sheep's clothing, proving once again that supporting someone else to rise to power is risky, and a big one at that.

Ni Minghui fainted on the spot when she received the verdict.