She gave him the paper money. Ma Sanye initially wanted to refuse it but after a moment of silence, he accepted it in the end. He looked at Qi Qingyao's stern expression and urged, "You need to be careful from here on."

Pretending to be relaxed, Qi Qingyao said, "Thank you, Sanye."

"..."

Qi Qingyao smiled as she bid Ma Sanye farewell then got into the carriage. The carriage drove quickly toward Xingli Village. The carriage driver was from the Qi Residence and was also someone who used to work for Lu Yan. He was a very tight-lipped and dedicated person.

As the carriage was on its way to Xingli Village, Qi Qingyao gave the driver a few taels of silver and instructed him to bring the horses to go eat some concentrated feed!

The driver nodded and said he understood.

That morning, news spread that the entire family of Sun Shuli of Xingli Village had been murdered. The matter caused an uproar and the village head was managing the after matters with the side branch of the Sun family and the old Qi family.

Since so many people had died, the villagers were curious but also shocked and were gathered at the gates of Sun Shuli's home, gossiping.

After Qi Qingyao entered the village, she traveled in the direction of her sister's husband's family based on her memory. Xingli Village was not very big with only around a hundred families living in groups along a stream by the Jiuli River.

From a glance, she saw that there were many people gathered at the gates of one of the houses.

Qi Qingyao brought Si Jin along as they went closer. The villagers were shocked.

Which family was this little lady from? She was really good-looking. There was even a youth beside her and he looked like a celestial being… What a clean-looking child!

Looking in the direction they were heading, could they be relatives of the Sun family?

However, the Sun family did not seem to have any well-off relatives.

The villagers were all a little curious…

Qi Qingyao did not bother with these villagers' curious gazes. She just brought Si Jin as they entered the messy courtyard that was full of bloodstains.

Qi Boli was just speaking with people from the Sun family, consoling some of the uncles.

When he spotted Qi Yuanye's suddenly dumbfounded expression, Qi Boli looked back impatiently and muttered, "Who else came now?"

As a result, after turning his head...

His eyes widened instantly.

Qi Qingyao walked to his side calmly and looked at Qi Boli. "Old man, it's me," she said slowly.

"You…" Qi Boli was so nervous he did not know what to say. He dragged Qi Qingyao to one side and asked in a lowered voice, "Why did you come?!"

Still not to be outdone, Qi Yuanye straightened his neck and said, "Who, who asked you to come here? You jinx."

Qi Qingyao did not bother with Qi Yuanye calling her names. She automatically asked, "Have they already cleaned the body?"

Qi Boli had a bunch of things he wanted to say but he did not know where to start. He knew she should not be here, but thinking about how Qingzhu was already dead, he also did not want to denounce her.

In the end, filled with sadness, he spun out a sentence, "We've got someone to build a coffin. The body is still covered over there."

He pointed in the direction of the backyard.

Qi Qingyao took a deep breath and said, "I'm going to take a look."

Qi Boli nodded.

The Sun family was rather unfamiliar with Qi Qingyao.

That was because the person she was now was of a different temperament from the person she used to be.

It was hard to tell from her appearance that she was the Qi Qingyao who used to be a fool…

Qi Yuanye instead pulled at Qi Boli dumbly and asked, "Father, why didn't you chase her away?"

Qi Boli narrowed his eyes on his young son. "Qingzhu is already dead. Don't tell me that you still want to chase her away until the bitter end?"

Qi Yuanye, "..."

It was not that he wanted to chase her away, he was just...saying.

Qi Boli patted Qi Yuanye's head and thought about how he could not tell his son that his anxious heart had completely eased the moment Qingyao appeared. It was as if his mind was at peace.

He must not tell the truth.

He just said to Qi Yuanye simply, "Besides, it takes a lot of money to clean up so many bodies. Coffins also require money. Does our family have that much money?"

Qi Yuanye said, "Father, you're right. We should ask her to fork out money. She's rich anyway."

Qi Boli did not want to explain things either.

Qi Yuanye went to the backyard, saw Qi Qingyao who was looking at the bodies and said very acridly, "Qi Qingyao, since you're here and are rich now, why don't you pay for this funeral?"

"Okay."

Qi Qingyao nodded indifferently.

Then she checked each corpse carefully with Si Jin.

The Sun family wanted to stop her at first but seeing this little lady looking at the corpse so seriously... Wait, what did Qi Yuanye call her just now, was she Qi Qingyao? That fool of a third child?

Although they had heard the news from town that Qi Qingyao was no longer a fool, they never would have thought that she had become so bright and generous!

The Sun family was also filled with grief right now and did not question anything.

Qi Yuanye looked at Qi Qingyao, shocked.

"??" She actually agreed so easily? This, this was nothing like how she usually was!

How could that sarcastic and stingy Qi Qingyao who had severed all ties with their old Qi family agree so easily to fork out her money? Truly...has the sun risen from the west?

Qi Qingyao thought for a bit before she went to look for Qi Boli. She lowered her voice and said to him, "Old man, I need to have a careful look in this house."

"What are you looking for?" Qi Boli asked.

"Money." Qi Qingyao narrowed her eyes and said indifferently, "I gave her some paper money the last time. It should be in this house. Look for it. Regardless of whether or not you find it, let me know."

"..." Qi Boli was silent before he agreed. Then he went in alone and began looking through all the boxes and cabinets.

Qi Qingyao went along under the walls, around the courtyard, and inside the hall twice but did not seem to have found anything.

Qi Yuanye did not know what to say when he noticed her serious attitude.

He went up to her somewhat embarrassedly.

Then he called out lightly.

"Sis…"

Qi Qingyao did not say anything as she continued checking the bloodstains on the ground.

Qi Yuanye asked, "What are you looking at?"

"I'm studying the cause of death." Qi Qingyao did not look up.

Qi Yuanye scratched his head. "Weren't they killed by a group of bandits who rushed in?"

"..."

Qi Qingyao finally looked up and glanced at Qi Yuanye…

Although this guy was already married, at the end of the day... if he were to be put in the modern age, he was still young enough to have just become an adult!

Qi Qingyao got up and said to him, "There were sword marks all over the corpse. The wounds are very deep and very thin. You can tell that the sword wielder's attacks were really fast. They should be a killer who is proficient in assassinations."

Qi Yuanye heard this and his heart instantly dropped.

Si Jin had gone two rounds and returned. His small face was a little gloomy as he said, "There are footprints by the walls; the attackers had been forceful and there were at least eight of them. That's why their foul smell is still here. They likely vaulted over the wall and immediately dashed into the house. They ought to have simply cut down people by the heat stove but the killers were meticulous enough to have dragged everyone away from the stove. As for the few that escaped the first onslaught, they fled to the courtyard and the hall before they were killed with a swift blade. That's why the bodies are a mess all over the house."

The tips of Qi Qingyao's eyebrows hooked upward.

Qi Yuanye, "..."

Si Jin continued, "The killers were at least about rank-six. That's more than enough against ordinary people."

Qi Qingyao asked Qi Yuanye, "Did you hear all of that?"

"He, he, he, he knows all of this too?" Back then, this youth was merely a person who butchered a pig… These thoughts crossed Qi Yuanye's mind.

Qi Qingyao looked at Qi Yuanye as if she were looking at an idiot and said, "His skills are pretty good, that is why he has good judgment." Regarding exactly how good his skills were, however, Qi Qingyao did not know either.

In this second, Qi Yuanye inexplicably began admiring Si Jin.

Then he asked seriously, "Sis, what do we do now?"

Qi Qingyao said, "Let's bury Qingzhu first once the coffins are done."

People once dead could never come back.

The only thing she could do now was to find the f*cker behind this attack, and then…

Thinking of what comes after, Qi Qingyao paused unexpectedly.

What would she do next?

She did not know.

If it really was the State Preceptor who was behind this, what could she do? Qi Qingyao leaned against the wall, her expression gloomy.

She was not some powerhouse and Si Jin was just a rank nine.

Li Ruoxuan was also a rank-nine.

Even the Head Grand Secretariat could not do anything to this person. Naturally, Si Jin would also not be able to face him.

So what then, poison him?

He was a rank-nine powerhouse. He was extremely meticulous, how was it possible for him to die from poison... Besides, if he really did do this, it was likely that it would be difficult for her to even get close to him in the future, let alone poison him.

She could not befriend him with just a smile on her face either. The other person would definitely think that she had something up their sleeve!

Qi Qingyao cradled her forehead.

She suddenly felt that she was frighteningly weak.

She rubbed her temples, her eyebrows rising as she felt inexplicably irritable.

Qi Yuanye came over, thinking that she was sad because of Qingzhu's death and that she was also feeling grief in her heart. Leaning against her, he muttered, "Big brother's dead and now, Second Sister is also dead. The family is only left with you, Fourth Brother, me... our old Qi family has suddenly thinned out."

Qi Qingyao felt a sudden tightness in her chest.

She said silently to herself that, if not counting the fact that she was not their actual birth child, the old Qi family was really only left with Qi Yuanxiu and Qi Yuanye.

Qi Qingyao looked up all of a sudden and saw Qi Boli's silhouette. Her nose was acting up.

She clenched her fists tightly.

She would definitely avenge this enmity!

She would get revenge no matter what!

...

Qingzhou City, Qi Residence.

The children were in the study as they alternated between playing for a bit and learning how to read. They then rushed to the side hall and found Lu Yan sitting there alone, drinking tea in silence.

The little kids stepped forward.

Erniu asked in an especially well-behaved manner, "Uncle Lu, why hasn't Mommy come home? What is she doing?"

"She…" Lu Yan picked Erniu up and let her sit on his lap. He looked at the little child who looked like a milk dumpling and subconsciously wanted to lie to them. When the words reached his mouth, however, he still ended up telling the truth. "Someone killed your aunt and her entire family. Your mommy went over to deal with the funeral matters. I'm afraid it'll be a few days before she comes back." If she did not plan on staying long, the soonest she could return would still be the next day.

If it were other children, they would not understand what death meant. The three children, however, understood it.

That was because they had almost died after having been thrown out by their grandfather…

That was why Erniu was dumbfounded on the spot. "Auntie...and her family...are, are dead?"

Lu Yan caressed Erniu's head. "Yes, that's why you lot have to be good these few days."

Sitting at the side, Dabao also looked at Lu Yan dumbfounded.

Xiaobao was still calm. He tilted his head and asked in a childlike voice, "Uncle Lu, will anything happen to Mommy?"

Before Lu Yan answered, Dabao was already pulling at Lu Yan's sleeve as he said, "Uncle, you have to help mommy~~~"

Xiaobao added, "Isn't Mommy helping Uncle treat his illness? Uncle has to help Mommy."

At the three children's pleading, Lu Yan smiled very softly and said, "There, there, Uncle will definitely help."

Then, he motioned for the three kids to continue playing in the study.

The kids left.

Lu Yan pondered for a moment before instructing, "Dong Jing, send some people out to…"

"Master?" Send some people out to do what?

Lu Yan paused for a bit then said, "Send someone out to invite the State Preceptor over for a visit."

Dong Jing's pupils suddenly shrank.

Invite who????

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