A few days later, the villagers never saw Zhang Da Shan and his sons again. The village suddenly felt much less lively. Some nosy individuals secretly crept to his house and found it too quiet. Peeking through the door cracks, they were so terrified that they nearly lost their souls, let down with a scream and fled. Their commotion naturally alerted the villagers, who quickly stopped them and demanded to know what had happened.
"Zhang Da Shan, Zhang Da Shan and his whole family are dead." Although he felt he was the first to discover them and it was hard to explain, he still recounted what he knew.
"All dead?" While it might be normal for one person to die, for an entire family, young and old, to perish clearly indicated murder. They had lived there for so many years and had never encountered such a thing. A jolt went through them, and they quickly asked for details.
"I-I don't know. I was just walking by their house and thought it was too quiet inside. So I peeked through the door crack. There were several corpses lying in the yard. I don't know if anyone in the family survived."
Upon hearing this, someone rushed to find the village chief. The chief gathered a group of people and forcefully opened Zhang Da Shan's door. The scene inside made them all want to vomit. These people had been dead for several days. Due to the hot weather, the bodies had begun to stink, and they could even see white things wriggling within. They dared not think further.
Bracing themselves, they searched the house and found that not a single member of the Zhang family had escaped. This silk incident truly harmed people. It was heard that they rarely interacted with others. The only ones who had any dealings, or even hatred, with them were Xiao Cao's family.
Unconsciously, they turned their suspicious gazes towards them. Yuan Zu had already made thorough preparations. The village chief led his men to their door. They quickly wept, "My son was beaten by them last time and is still lying in bed. The doctor said his leg might be permanently crippled, and he'll be a cripple for the rest of his life. What will he do for the rest of his life? We all depend on him. He can't even get out of bed, so how could he possibly harm them? Besides, the men in their family are all burly, while my son is thin and weak and no match for them at all."
Some people had discussed their family's possibility before arriving. In fact, they had anticipated such a scenario. As Wu Cai Wei had said, their family members did not have the means to harm them. If He Sheng were standing in front of them now, they would think the murderer was him. However, he was lying in bed, unable to even get up, let alone go out and harm them. As for the remaining two women, they were frail and quite honest. It wasn't impossible that they sought revenge, but one couldn't push people too far. Moreover, they were outsiders with little connection to the villagers, and no one backed them. The matter would likely go unresolved.
He Sheng, lying in bed, listened to the villagers discussing Zhang Da Shan and his two sons, the tragic state of their family, and the signs of their poisoning. He cast a suspicious glance at his mother, who was tirelessly working. If he wasn't mistaken, it must have been her who acted.
He knew his wife. Although her heart was hard, she was also very kind. If she had done this, she would have shown some unusual behavior, not acted as if nothing had happened, occasionally glancing at her mother.
The original host knew what they were thinking. If her son had asked her directly, she wouldn't have denied it. But her son and daughter-in-law, though suspicious, pretended nothing had happened. It was a good thing for them anyway.
Thus, under the gaze of veiled suspicion, they lived relatively peaceful days. Unfortunately, the original host was a kind person, and harming that family weighed on her conscience. She had nightmares every night, and within two years, she passed away due to self-reproach. On her deathbed, she thought about it and finally confessed what she had done to her son.
As expected, her son nodded as she had thought, indicating that he had already guessed. Seeing that her son showed no unusual expression, she finally smiled.
When she died, Jin Wang had already ascended the throne. Although in the years leading up to that position, he had strived to develop the economy of the Northwest, the natural environment there was a limitation. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't advance further. After Jin Wang became emperor, he naturally relaxed his control over the region, allowing corrupt officials to operate in secret. The people's lives grew increasingly difficult.
Since He Sheng was injured, he could not manage the arduous farm work. He and Xia He struggled to raise their two children, living in poverty their entire lives.
The reason she came here was because the original host felt indebted to her son. If she hadn't insisted on keeping Zhang Da Shan back then, and her son had left them all far away, perhaps her son's life wouldn't have been so hard. Of course, after she arrived, she also made another request: to ensure her son lived a prosperous and happy life, and to ensure Zhang Da Shan's family met a terrible end.
This was not difficult for Wu Cai Wei, but she didn't know where Zhang Da Shan's family was now. Moreover, she had been here for so long and hadn't seen them at all. She wondered where they were hiding. In this chaotic period, judging from her observations these past few times, their physical condition or situation probably wasn't good. She worried they were suffering.
In just one night, the atmosphere in the city changed. Wealthy families quickly packed their belongings and fled north. It was then that Wu Cai Wei realized that the rebel army had already breached the prefectural city the previous night, and the area she was in, adjacent to the prefectural city, was undoubtedly their next target. No wonder the wealthy people were fleeing. Even Yang Han Ye sent someone to inform Wu Cai Wei to pack her things and prepare to leave with him.
Wu Cai Wei was unsure if this place had been occupied in her previous life, as the battlefield was constantly changing. Perhaps even if it was occupied, the emperor would send troops to reclaim it soon. As a part of this chaotic world, she felt powerless to do much. When conditions allowed, she would do her best to improve the lives of the common people.
Although this time was also an escape, they traveled in the Yang Wang Fu's carriage. Due to Yang Wang's high status among the refugees, people made way for their carriage, allowing them to travel very smoothly. In just six days, they arrived in the capital.
The capital lived up to its name. Unaffected by the war, everyone wore joyful expressions. Peddlers and hawkers shouted loudly, and larger shops were doing booming business. If she hadn't fled from her hometown, she wouldn't have realized that even under the same sky, there could be such a vast disparity. Some suffered greatly from disaster, struggling on the brink of death, while others indulged in extravagance and wasted their wealth.