Yang Dazhi was knocked to the ground, flailing his hands, trying to get up, even to escape.
How could Cui Hongyu give him such an opportunity? She struck his hands and legs, then hit him twice on the head. Yang Dazhi was completely stunned and lay still on the ground.
Seeing that he was no longer moving, Cui Hongyu turned around, picked up Chen Qiaoer, and quickly rushed into the courtyard, shouting loudly, "Brother Dachun, help!"
"Help."
It was only the second watch, and Chen Dachun was groggy, but not completely asleep. Cui Hongyu's shout alarmed his entire family.
Chen Dachun grabbed his clothes and put them on haphazardly, then rushed into the courtyard.
From over the wall, he shouted, "Sister Hongyu, what's wrong?"
Cui Hongyu pointed into the room, "A scoundrel broke in, and I knocked him down."
Upon hearing this, Chen Dachun grabbed the wall and sprang over.
Hearing the commotion in the courtyard, the mountain bandits waiting outside the door knew that the matter had been exposed.
This fellow was quite cunning. He judged the direction and bolted towards the village outskirts.
Outside the village, he made a turn and bumped headfirst into Chen Xiaobei, who was returning with a pheasant.
Chen Xiaobei grumbled, "Who is it at this hour, walking without looking."
The bandit, without a word, continued to flee towards Qingniu Mountain.
Watching him disappear, Chen Xiaobei scratched his head in frustration. This person didn't seem to be from their village.
Then he heard Cui Hongyu's cries.
Upon hearing Cui Hongyu's shout, Chen Xiaobei's heart tightened, and he ran home as fast as he could.
By the time he arrived, Chen Dachun had already dragged Yang Dazhi out of the room and was tying him up on the ground.
The shouts also woke Chen Qiaoer. Startled, she was sobbing softly in Cui Hongyu's arms.
Chen Xiaobei entered, threw down the pheasant, and went to support Cui Hongyu's shoulders. "Hongyu, don't be afraid, I'm back."
Upon seeing him, Chen Qiaoer burst into tears.
Chen Xiaobei took Chen Qiaoer from Cui Hongyu's arms, then put his other arm around Cui Hongyu. Holding the mother and daughter, Chen Xiaobei looked filled with guilt. "I'm sorry, I'm late."
Cui Hongyu shook her head, broke free from his embrace again, then took Chen Qiaoer back, and pointed to Dachun.
Chen Xiaobei understood, walked over, and squatted down to watch Dachun tying a tight knot.
"Dachun, thank you, if it weren't for you..." Before he could finish, Chen Dachun waved his hand. "It's nothing, I've already tied this fellow up."
Just then, there were hurried footsteps, and the flickering of firelight, and the village guard arrived. After all, in the quiet night, Cui Hongyu's shouts could carry a long way.
Chen Ping, the leader, shouted as soon as he entered the courtyard, "What's wrong? What's wrong!"
Chen Xiaobei pointed to Yang Dazhi on the ground. "A thief broke into our house and was knocked out by Hongyu."
Chen Ping held up his torch and illuminated Yang Dazhi, who was covered in blood.
"Hmph, breaking into a home at night, it's either for malice or theft. Take him away and hand him over to the county yamen tomorrow."
Several people came forward to lift Yang Dazhi and walk him out. After only a few steps, Chen Daqiang, a member of the village guard, felt something was amiss. He ran forward to examine him closely, then pulled Chen Ping aside.
"Captain, I've seen this person before. During the day, he said he was visiting Chen Yutian's house and was his nephew."
Upon hearing this, Chen Ping frowned. "Are you sure it's this person?"
Chen Daqiang nodded. "No mistake. How many strangers come to Hetou Village in a year? I wouldn't forget him."
Chen Ping nodded and looked at the still unconscious Yang Dazhi. "Wake him up and ask him clearly."
Soon, Yang Dazhi was woken by a ladle of water. He looked at the people present and thought to himself, "This is bad, it's over."
"Hey, I'm asking you, are you Chen Yutian's relative?" Chen Ping asked loudly.
Yang Dazhi shook his head but remained silent.
"Why did you come to Xiaobei's house? Were you trying to steal something?"
But Yang Dazhi said nothing.
"I see, you were coveting Cui Hongyu's beauty and intended to do something indecent."
Yang Dazhi kept his eyes closed, silent.
"I see, you weren't trying to steal, you intended to kill, weren't you?"
Chen Ping made all sorts of guesses, but Yang Dazhi remained silent.
Meanwhile, Chen Xiaobei's mind flashed back to the moment he had bumped into someone earlier.
That person was not from their village. Could he be this person's accomplice, now heading towards Qingniu Mountain?
If it was a group crime, the most important thing was to prevent this person from being rescued by his accomplices.
Thinking of this, he stepped forward and said to Chen Ping, "Brother Chen Ping, delaying further might lead to trouble. I think it would be best to hand him over to the county tonight. The county magistrate will surely get to the bottom of it."
Chen Ping hesitated. "It's twenty li to the county yamen, and it's late at night."
Xiaobei pointed to his donkey in the corner. "Hitch up my donkey cart, and I'll take you. You can sleep in the cart."
"Oh, and we'll have meat buns in the county town after dawn."
"But you must leave two people behind, in case the thief has accomplices."
A meal of meat buns was a great temptation to the villagers at that time. Sudan Novel Network
Chen Ping nodded. Since he was going to eat meat buns, he naturally agreed to Chen Xiaobei's terms.
He assigned two team members to escort Yang Dazhi to the county yamen and had Chen Daqiang lead the rest to stay behind.
They were not to leave this courtyard before dawn. Of course, Chen Xiaobei also promised to bring them back meat buns.
Chen Xiaobei went to the side and called Cui Hongyu and Qiaoer over. He instructed them to go with Dachun to the neighbor's house to rest, leaving the courtyard to Chen Daqiang and the others.
At this moment, Chen Ping had no idea that he was personally destroying his own grandfather.
Meanwhile, Chen Anbang at home was completely unaware.
This was not surprising, given the poor communication of the era. The village guards had either gone to the county town or were at Chen Xiaobei's house.
Even the villagers who heard the shouts did not take it seriously.
After all, the village guard had not beaten the gong, which meant there was no major incident.
However, what Chen Xiaobei did not anticipate was that when he reached the county town, it was not yet the fourth watch, and the city gates were not open.
Chen Ping called out for a long time, but the soldiers on the ramparts only responded with two words: "No, we must wait until after the fifth watch to open the gates."
At that moment, the sound of hurried hoofbeats echoed from afar. Two dark figures rushed towards them and shouted loudly at the gate, "Open up quickly, I need to enter the city, I am from the Liu family."
The soldiers on the city wall immediately put on a smile and said loudly, "You are from the Liu family, but do you have any proof?"
The person on horseback took out a token from his懷 and shouted, "I have the Liu family's waist token, lower the basket and I'll show you."
Soon, a bamboo basket slowly descended from the ramparts.
The person crossed the moat, placed the token in the basket, and jumped back.