As soon as Li Dadan spoke these words, the villagers of Xiaoshitou Village erupted into an uproar.
"Really a hundred taels of silver! Heavens! Could what Jiang Dani said be true?"
"Of course it's true! Otherwise, where did Li Dadan get the hundred-tael silver notes? You know how poor his family is!"
"If this is true, then the girls who died before…"
These words struck the crowd like a thunderbolt. The clamor abruptly ceased, and everyone's faces turned deathly pale.
The air seemed to freeze solid, leaving only the mournful howl of wind through the treetops, sounding eerily like the weeping of those wrongfully dead girls.
Wei Laogen snatched the silver notes from Li Dadan's hand, examining them carefully by moonlight.
The paper quality of the silver notes was exquisite, the seals on them clearly distinguishable. They were indeed issued by Da Feng's largest banking house, definitely not counterfeits.
His hands trembled violently, the silver notes feeling as heavy as a thousand pounds in his palm.
"Liu Dequan!" Wei Laogen suddenly turned, his bloodshot eyes fixed fiercely on Liu Lizheng, his voice hoarse as if scraped by sandpaper,
"My daughter… my daughter who just turned fifteen—was she also killed by your filthy methods?!"
Five years ago, his daughter had been similarly "chosen by the River God." Though he had resisted, one pair of fists couldn't fight off many hands. All the Liu family men came to tie up his daughter. He fought desperately alone but couldn't prevail.
Moreover, the villagers were all intimidated by the fear of "flooding the village" and Zhang Witch's sweet talk. In the end, no one came to their aid, and he watched helplessly as his daughter was pushed into the river.
Now thinking back, how unjustly his daughter had died!
Liu Lizheng, frightened by Wei Laogen's murderous gaze, retreated repeatedly, blustering with false bravery:
"Wei Laogen, have you gone mad?! What evidence do you have that I killed your daughter? Just based on these silver notes? Those notes don't have my name on them! Just because Li Dadan says they're mine, they're mine? Ridiculous!"
The fury in Wei Laogen's chest nearly burned through his throat. He stepped forward and grabbed Liu Lizheng by the collar, "You didn't give them? Then tell us where these silver notes came from!"
"How should I know? They're definitely not from me!"
Liu Lizheng knew he must never admit to this matter, no matter what, or he would be doomed.
"Since Uncle Liu won't admit it, let's just search. Every year the River God's marriage requires generous dowries! The dowry silver was collected from every household! Uncle Liu's family hasn't purchased any major items—surely this silver couldn't have been spent! Everyone can search and we'll learn the truth!"
Jiang Liuli's voice was clear and sharp, like an ice-quenched dagger, precisely piercing through Liu Lizheng's hypocritical excuses.
Immediately, unrest stirred among the crowd. Several men who had lost their beloved daughters years ago suddenly looked up, the blood vessels in their eyes nearly bursting.
"Yes! Search! Our daughters didn't die for nothing!"
Other villagers also shouted about searching the Lizheng's house for silver, because this silver had all been donated by them. To show sincerity, every household had contributed their utmost, fearing the River God would find their sincerity insufficient and punish their families.
Now they knew there was no such thing as the River God taking a bride—it was entirely a scheme between Liu Lizheng and Zhang Witch to obtain wealth and commit murder for money!
That silver in Liu Lizheng's house was what they had saved through years of scrimping and saving! They had to get it back…
Everyone present went mad, charging toward Liu Lizheng's house.
"How dare you! Are you rebels trying to overthrow the authorities? I'm the village chief! Appointed by the imperial court! Anyone who lays a finger on me is defying the court!"
He waved his arms with a fierce but hollow threat, only to be kicked behind the knee by Wei Laogen.
With a "thud," Liu Lizheng fell to the ground, the back of his head hitting the bluestone slab hard. The pain made his vision go dark.
"If the court knew you've taken so many lives under the guise of the River God, they'd be the first to chop off your dog's head!"
Wei Laogen's boot pressed down on his back, the chill in his voice cold enough to freeze bones.
"Wei Laogen, what are you doing? How dare you attack my father? I'll beat you to death!"
Liu Lizheng's eldest son, seeing his father kicked down, rushed forward, ready to fight Wei Laogen to the death.
The younger son, being cleverer, took one look at the situation and tried to run home to send word. But a villager blocked his path. "Liu Xiaoshan, what's this? Trying to go hide the silver?"
With that, he kicked Liu Xiaoshan in the abdomen. Immediately, two villagers pinned him down, and along with Liu Lizheng and Liu Dashan, they were forced toward the Liu family home.
Seeing the situation turning sour, Zhang Witch tried to slip away unnoticed. Just as her foot stepped out of the crowd, the collar of her robe was seized by an icy hand.
Jiang Liuli had somehow circled behind her. Her fingers dug into the loose skin of the witch's neck, her voice colder than the moonlight. "Granny Zhang, where are you off to? The River God hasn't received this year's 'thanks offering' yet. How can the matchmaker who arranged it all leave first?"
Zhang Witch froze solid. Turning her head, she met the icy glare in Jiang Liuli's eyes and suddenly remembered the mute girl pushed into the river three years ago—that girl had stared at her just as fixedly before being thrown into the water, the resentment in her eyes like waterlogged cotton, suffocating.
She violently shook off Jiang Liuli's hand. "Let go, you little wretch! This old woman needs to burn incense for the River God. If I'm late, the whole village will suffer retribution!"
"Hah! Then I'd like to see who gets their retribution first—us, or you!"
As she spoke, Jiang Liuli grabbed Zhang Witch with one hand, instructed her family to stay home and guard her father and eldest sister-in-law, then followed the crowd toward the Liu family home.
Zhao Shi and her second daughter-in-law, Liu Shi, carried Jiang Yinbao into their own thatched hut, then stood guard at the door with a kitchen knife, ready to fight to the death if anyone dared bully the second branch again.
Their fierce stance actually intimidated the other two branches of the family, and for the moment, no one dared cause trouble for the second branch.
Jiang Laotou raged for a while about the second branch's unfilialness, then directed his children to carry the unconscious Jiang Qianshi into the house, waiting for the doctor to arrive…
Meanwhile, the villagers, like dry kindling set ablaze, instantly surged into a torrent.
Holding oil lamps and torches, they marched imposingly toward the Liu family at the west end of the village.
Liu Lizheng's wife, hearing the commotion in the yard, had just planted her hands on her hips to start cursing when two women with fire in their eyes pinned her to the ground.
When she saw Liu Lizheng and their two sons being escorted over, she knew the scheme had been exposed. Her face turned as pale as paper, her lips trembling, unable to utter a single word.
"Search! Search every corner carefully!" At Wei Laogen's command, the villagers flooded into every part of the Liu house like a tidal wave.
The sounds of rummaging through chests and cabinets, shattering objects, women's screams, and men's roars mingled together, turning the once respectable Liu family courtyard into a chaotic mess like a trampled chicken coop.
The first discovery was made by a young man. He found a hidden compartment in the wardrobe of Liu Lizheng's bedroom. Upon opening it, he saw it was filled to the brim with broken silver and copper coins…
"There's silver here! So much silver!"