The Song family members whom Wang Yanli claimed wanted to beat Wang Zhaoming to death arrived right after they finished their meal.
Wang Chengye had initially thought the children were speaking nonsense, but now he began to panic.
In an instant, several escape routes flashed through his mind as he started mentally taking stock of the household’s belongings.
The heads of several Song family households in the village had come, and even after bringing out every chair in the house that could be sat on, some people were still left without a stool.
With so many people, their family yard instantly felt even more crowded.
“Village Chief, what is all this…?”
Every member of the Wang family was present. Seeing such a large turnout from the Song clan and noticing the way their eyes fell upon Wang Zhaoming, they silently shielded her behind their backs.
In their hearts, they wondered just how much trouble their daughter/little sister had caused this time.
Song Xingjian was unaware of what the Wang family was thinking. Unable to see Wang Zhaoming, he spoke up on behalf of everyone present: “We have come this time to thank your daughter, Zhao’zhao. This is a token of our sincerity.”
As he spoke, Song Xingjian pulled silver from his coat, and the others quickly followed suit with their own offerings.
Some brought eggs, some brought meat, and others brought rare foodstuffs that were seldom seen or tasted—all of which were quite precious items.
*What did you do again?* Wen Caimei questioned Wang Zhaoming with her eyes.
Wang Zhaoming blinked, her expression utterly innocent.
*Guess.*
Wang Chengye pushed the items back. “Oh my goodness, you’ve brought so many things—we wouldn’t dare accept them. Take them back quickly, take them back!”
“The child is young and ignorant; sometimes she acts without thinking. If she managed to help you, that is naturally for the best, but if she offended you in any way, I hope you won’t hold it against our Zhao’zhao. You all know her situation.”
“Chengye, you’ve misunderstood. Your Zhao’zhao did nothing wrong. On the contrary, she helped us immensely! This time, it was all thanks to your Zhao’zhao; otherwise, not a single one of us would have made it back.”
Recalling the bitterness of their narrow escape along the way, as well as the humiliation, disappointment, and lingering fear when reporting to the government yielded no news, Song Xingjian could not help but clench his fists tightly.
Even now, they still could not figure out which faction of people they had offended to be hunted down and wiped out so ruthlessly, nor why the government was actually covering up for those people, refusing to seek justice on their behalf.
After they reported the crime, the government officials over there simply dismissed them with a single line about bandit turmoil.
Not only had they been beaten up, but the silver they brought along was also robbed.
Fortunately, they still had some silver left on their persons, which they pooled together to cover their travel expenses. Realizing they could get no justice, they barely tended to their injuries, and once they confirmed that traveling would not worsen their condition or affect their journey, they all rushed back.
Upon returning, Song Xingjian had originally wanted to wait until his wounds healed a bit before coming over to apologize to Wang Zhaoming and find out from her how on earth she knew what they were going to encounter.
All along the journey back, he had been filled with regret—regretting that he hadn’t listened to Wang Zhaoming from the very beginning and gone straight to keep watch at that house.
If he had listened to her, they wouldn’t have lost their money, nor would anyone have been injured.
After much thought, they ultimately decided to come knocking on her door even with their unhealed wounds.
For one thing, it showed their sincerity, allowing Wang Zhaoming to take pity on their injuries and tell them as much of the story behind this matter as possible.
For another, they also wanted to know whether the three young men could still participate in the civil service examinations.
Seeing them like this, Wang Zhaoming knew that they had not taken her words to heart, acting on their own authority and ultimately bringing suffering upon themselves.
“We won’t do anything to Zhao’zhao. Please let her step out and have a chat with me.”
Wang Zhaoming stepped forward on her own initiative. “Then let’s chat worth one tael of silver.”
Song Xingjian did not beat around the bush and came straight to the point: “Why did you know what we were going to encounter? Who are the people trying to harm my son? What does it have to do with them?”
In truth, everyone still harbored doubts regarding Wang Zhaoming’s abilities.
Deep down, they leaned toward believing that Wang Zhaoming might have accidentally stumbled upon someone else’s plot against the three juniors, and used it to play the ghost and spirit.
All the Song family members stared intently at Wang Zhaoming, wanting to get an answer from her mouth.
The Wang family also looked at Wang Zhaoming, their eyes filled with worry.
Gazed at by so many pairs of eyes, Wang Zhaoming calmly took a sip of the dandelion tea brewed by Wen Caimei.
For a moment, the yard fell so silent that only the sound of everyone’s breathing could be heard.
“Are you sure you want to listen right now?”
“I’m afraid you won’t have the time.”
Those who heard this froze.
How could they not have time? They had specifically come to Wang Zhaoming to learn the entire story from start to finish, so naturally they had cleared their time.
“Stop playing the ghost and spirit. Tell us directly who wants to harm our Song family, and where did you see it?”
“For the sake of saving our lives, we won’t hold your plotting against us.”
“I really don’t know whether you’re genuinely foolish or just pretending to be.”
Song Fagui muttered under his breath, his gaze full of suspicion as he looked at the Wang family.
Wang Zhaoming raised her right hand in front of everyone, slowly folding her fingers down one by one. After her thumb finally fell, a rapid knocking sounded at the gate.
“Is anyone there? Please open the door! We are subordinates of the Lord County Magistrate. Lord County Magistrate has met with an accident in the mountains! Please help us go up the mountain together to search for him!”
The Wang family was not the only household where the door was knocked on; knocking sounds echoed from several neighboring houses around them as well.
Almost at the exact same moment, everyone turned their heads to look at Wang Zhaoming in utter shock.
“I told you—you don’t have the time.”
Wang Zhaoming curved her lips into a smile.
“Why is the Lord County Magistrate in our village?”
“What did he go up the mountain for?”
“Village Chief, what do we do now?”
Song Xingjian took a deep, meaningful look at Wang Zhaoming.
“Does that even need asking?!”
“Sound the gongs! Rally all the men in the village to go up the mountain and search for him, and tell Old Chen to prepare to save lives!”
That was the chief official of the entire county.
If they ignored it and let something happen to him on the domain of Chen Family Village, the entire village could end up suffering for it.
At this moment, no one could spare any thought for Wang Zhaoming. After thinking it over, Wang Chengye also took his two sons along to help.
The torches raised by the villagers flickered in and out of view up on the mountain.
Those left behind had no heart for sleep, peeking outside from time to time.
Wen Caimei, on the other hand, shut the gate and ignored the assessing looks from outside, gathering Wang Zhaoming, her two daughters-in-law, and her four grandchildren close around her.
“Zhao’zhao, tell your mother what on earth is going on with the Song family. Is there anything we need to help with?”
“If you need us to cooperate with you, you have to tell us early. Your mother can’t guess what’s on your mind right now.”
“Grandma, I know! Let me tell you!”
Eager to perform, Wang Yanli tugged and shook Wen Caimei’s hand to draw her attention.
Wang Zhaoming curled her lips into a mischievous smile, cutting in before Wang Yanli could speak: “Mother, I saw a vision of Song Song and the other two being harmed to death in the future.”
“I saw it the very first moment I laid eyes on Song Song.”
Zhao Guizhi instantly recalled the time the village chief invited them over for dinner, when Wang Zhaoming had looked at Song Song and said, “Your family owes a huge favor.”
Back then, they all assumed Wang Zhaoming was referring to Qi Chunchun’s matter, never linking it to Song Song.
“Was it that time we had dinner at the village chief’s house?”
“Why didn’t you tell the village chief back then?”
If she had said so earlier, the Song family could have avoided the disaster in advance, rather than having everyone return covered in injuries.
Not only that, but a large sum of silver wouldn’t have been robbed either.
“Second Sister-in-law, why do common folk consider the appearance of a crow to be an omen of bad luck?”