After breakfast, the three siblings, along with Xiaoyu and Tieniu, went up the mountain together again.
Liu Qingyan brought a sharp wood-chopping knife today and headed deeper into the mountain.
Along the way, she spotted several patches of fresh, tender mushrooms and casually picked them, putting them into her basket.
As they walked, she suddenly heard a rustling “flap-flap” sound nearby. She stopped, pricked up her ears, and carefully listened, turning toward the source of the noise.
A wild chicken suddenly burst out from the dense bushes. Its colorful feathers shimmered like metal under the sunlight filtering through the leaves.
Startled, the wild chicken let out short, sharp cries while desperately flapping its wings, flying diagonally up along the hillside.
In the blink of an eye, Liu Qingyan reacted faster than her brain. Almost instinctively, she hurled the wood-chopping knife.
With a “thud,” the wild chicken fell to the ground. She quickly ran over.
The chicken had been struck in the head by the knife and died on the spot.
She picked up the chicken and then retrieved the knife. She was overjoyed—this meant meat for dinner! Wild chicken stewed with mushrooms would definitely be unbelievably fragrant.
In this era, hunting wild chickens was illegal, but here in ancient times, she could freely enjoy such delicacies.
Feeling cheerful, her steps on the way home became much lighter. She was not greedy—she was satisfied with what she had gotten and headed back.
The children played and laughed along the way, their joyful voices filling the air, and before they knew it, they had reached near home.
Xiaoyu and Tieniu waved goodbye and went back to their own homes.
But as soon as the three siblings stepped into their courtyard, Liu Qingyan immediately sensed something was wrong—the door to the house was wide open.
Her expression tightened. She quickly set down her basket, picked up the wood-chopping knife again, and cautiously entered the house.
Inside was a complete mess—bedding and clothes had been rummaged through and scattered everywhere.
Liu Qingyan silently felt relieved that she had stored the money in her spatial storage beforehand. She went into the kitchen and found that the rice sack was gone, along with all the coarse rice and flour.
Qingyi said anxiously, his voice trembling, “Sister, we’ve been robbed. All the grain is gone. What are we going to do?”
Qingyou’s eyes reddened, tears swirling in her sockets as she cried, “Sister, we’re already so poor, why would someone still steal from us? Without food, what will we eat?”
Liu Qingyan frowned and thought for a moment before saying, “Let’s go find the village head and ask him to help catch the thief.”
She crouched down and carefully examined the footprints on the ground.
Besides their own footprints, there were two other sets. Judging from the size, they seemed to belong to women. She already had a vague suspicion of who it might be.
At the village chief’s house, when he heard such a blatant theft had occurred in the village, his expression turned serious immediately—he realized the gravity of the situation.
At this time, most villagers were at home. The village chief quickly picked up a bronze gong and struck it hard.
The urgent sound of the gong echoed through the village, and soon men, women, and children from every household gathered under the big banyan tree.
Standing beneath it, the village chief said solemnly, “Today, the home of Liu Qingyan and her two younger siblings was robbed. All their grain is gone.”
“Our village may be poor, but this is the first time something like this has happened.”
“We must find the thief. As the saying goes, even rabbits don’t eat the grass near their own nest—stealing from villagers is absolutely despicable and must be punished!”
“Everyone think carefully—did you notice anything suspicious or anyone suspicious? If we don’t catch the thief, they may steal from others again!”
The villagers immediately burst into discussion.
“This thief is shameless—we must catch them or the village won’t have peace!”
“Exactly, we can’t let this go!”
Suddenly, Old Madam Chen slapped her thigh and said, “This morning I saw Madam Zhao from the Liu family’s eldest son’s household heading toward Qingyan’s house. Not long after, I saw Qingyan and her siblings go up the mountain with Xiaoyu and Tieniu from the Wang family.”
“Later, I saw Madam Zhao rush back home. I didn’t think much of it at the time.”
Liu Qingyan quietly observed Madam Zhao’s expression. Her eyes flickered and she looked panicked, while Old Madam Liu beside her remained unusually calm, as if it had nothing to do with her.
The village chief turned to Wang Dafu’s wife, Zhao Lanzhi, and asked, “Since your house is next to Qingyan’s, did you hear or see anything this morning?”
Zhao Lanzhi quickly shook her head. “After Xiaoyu and Qingyan left, I stayed home doing needlework the whole time. I didn’t go out and heard nothing.”
Then the village chief looked at Madam Zhao and asked, “Madam Zhao, what were you doing at Qingyan’s house so early in the morning?”
Madam Zhao’s eyes flickered as she hurriedly defended herself, “I didn’t go to her house. My chicken was missing in the morning—I was looking for it.”
A neighbor immediately questioned her, “I didn’t hear that your chicken was missing this morning! Your house is so far from Qingyan’s—why would you go all the way there to look for a chicken?”
Madam Zhao became furious and snapped back, “Why do you care where I look for my chicken? This village isn’t yours—mind your own business!”
Another neighbor, Granny Feng, also spoke up: “You only keep two chickens, and I saw them in the coop this morning. They weren’t missing at all.”
Exposed by both neighbors, Madam Zhao and Old Madam Liu became furious and embarrassed, but had no way to argue back. It was clear they had offended too many people in the village.
The village chief fixed his sharp gaze on Madam Zhao and asked sternly, “Madam Zhao, you’d better tell the truth. What exactly did you go to Qingyan’s house for? Did you steal the grain?”
Madam Zhao still refused to admit it. “I didn’t go to her house! Can’t I go out for a walk after breakfast? Who says I can’t pass by her place?”
“Just because the grain is missing, you blame me? I won’t accept this! I, Zhao Lan’er, am not easy to bully!”
Old Madam Liu also chimed in, “Exactly! The gate of Liu Daya’s house isn’t off-limits. Why are you accusing my eldest daughter-in-law?”
But Liu Qingyan had already determined in her heart that these two were most likely the thieves. Calmly, she said, “Village chief, if no one admits it, why don’t we report this to the authorities? Once the officials investigate, the truth will naturally come out.”
“Also, one tael of silver and a land deed hidden in my old clothes were stolen too. This is a serious crime. If the officials catch them, it could mean several years in prison.”
Upon hearing this, the village chief nodded in agreement. “There was silver and a land deed too? Then this is serious. We must report it!”
As soon as Madam Zhao heard the word “report to the authorities,” she panicked instantly. Pointing at Liu Qingyan, she shouted, “You wretched girl! There was no silver in your clothes at all—none! And no land deed either!”
As soon as she said it, she realized she had slipped up. Her face turned pale.
Old Madam Liu glared at her fiercely, inwardly cursing her stupidity.
The village chief pressed further step by step, “If you didn’t go to Qingyan’s house, how do you know there was no silver or land deed? Still refusing to admit it? Then we’ll report it for sure—you can just wait for jail time!”