Chapter 45: Sent to the County Overnight

Yang Dazhi was knocked to the ground, his hands flailing around as he tried to sit up or even get to his feet to run away.

But Cui Hongyu wouldn't give him that chance. She grabbed his hands, kicked his legs, and struck his head two more times. Yang Dazhi was completely knocked out, lying motionless on the ground.

Seeing he was no longer moving, Cui Hongyu quickly grabbed Chen Qiao'er and rushed out into the yard, shouting loudly, "Da Chun Ge, help!"

"Help!"

It was only about the second watch of the night, and Chen Da Chun was still half asleep but not fully out. Cui Hongyu's shout woke up his whole family.

Chen Da Chun grabbed his clothes haphazardly and ran out into the yard.

From the other side of the wall, he shouted, "Hongyu Mei, what happened?"

Cui Hongyu pointed inside the house. "There were intruders. I knocked them out."

Upon hearing this, Chen Da Chun steadied himself against the wall and jumped over with one swift move.

Hearing the shouting from the yard, the bandits waiting outside knew the situation was exposed.

This guy was quite clever. He quickly assessed the situation and started running out of the village.

As he turned the corner outside the village, he ran straight into Chen Xiaobei, who was carrying a mountain chicken.

Chen Xiaobei was knocked back by the collision and couldn't help but mumble, "Who's this, running around without looking?"

The bandit said nothing and continued running towards Qingniu Mountain.

Seeing him disappear into the distance, Chen Xiaobei scratched his head helplessly. He thought the guy didn't seem like he was from the village.

Just then, he heard Cui Hongyu's voice.

Hearing her shout, Chen Xiaobei's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately ran toward home.

By the time he arrived, Chen Da Chun had already dragged Yang Dazhi out of the house and was holding him down while tying him up on the ground.

Naturally, the commotion had woken Chen Qiao'er. Startled, she was crying softly in Cui Hongyu's arms.

Chen Xiaobei entered, tossed the wild chicken aside, and moved forward to support Cui Hongyu's shoulder. "Hongyu, don't be afraid. I'm back."

As soon as she saw him, Chen Qiao'er burst into tears.

Chen Xiaobei reached out, took Chen Qiao'er into his arms, and with his other arm around Cui Hongyu, holding them both, he said with a guilty expression, "I'm sorry, I'm late."

Cui Hongyu shook her head, breaking free from his embrace and taking Chen Qiao'er from him again. She pointed to Da Chun.

Chen Xiaobei understood and approached, squatting down to watch as Da Chun was tying up Yang Dazhi.

"Da Chun, thank you. If it weren't for you…" Before he could finish, Chen Da Chun waved his hand, "It's nothing, nothing. I've already tied up this guy."

At this moment, hurried footsteps and flickering light appeared as the village guards arrived. After all, in such a quiet, dark night, Cui Hongyu's loud shout would carry a long way.

The one leading them was Chen Ping. As soon as he entered the yard, he shouted loudly, "What happened? What happened?"

Chen Xiaobei pointed to Yang Dazhi, lying on the ground, "A thief came into our house, and Hongyu knocked him out."

Chen Ping raised his torch and stepped forward to shine the light on Yang Dazhi, who had blood all over his head.

"Hmph, entering a civilian's home at night, either a thief or a rapist. Take him away, and we'll hand him over to the county office tomorrow."

A few of the guards stepped forward to carry Yang Dazhi and were about to leave. After walking a few steps, however, Chen Da Qiang, one of the village guards, felt something was off. He ran up to take a closer look and then pulled Chen Ping aside.

"Captain, I've seen this man before. He said he was visiting Chen Yutian's house, claiming to be his nephew."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ping furrowed his brows, "Are you sure? Is it really him?"

Chen Da Qiang nodded, "I'm sure. We don't see many strangers in He Tou Village in a year. I won't mistake him."

Chen Ping nodded and looked at the still unconscious Yang Dazhi. "Wake him up, and let's ask him properly."

Soon, Yang Dazhi was splashed with a scoop of water. He looked around at the crowd and silently thought to himself, "It's over now."

"Hey, I'll ask you, are you a relative of Chen Yutian's family?" Chen Ping asked loudly.

Yang Dazhi shook his head but didn't speak.

"Why did you come to Xiaobei's house? Were you stealing something?"

But Yang Dazhi remained silent.

"I see, you were coveting Cui Hongyu's beauty and planned something bad, didn't you?"

Yang Dazhi kept his eyes closed and said nothing.

"I know! You weren't stealing; you were planning to kill, right?"

Chen Ping was making all sorts of guesses, but Yang Dazhi stayed silent.

At this moment, Chen Xiaobei couldn't help but remember the scene earlier when someone ran straight into him.

That person wasn't from the village. Could they be his accomplice, now heading towards Qingniu Mountain?

If it was a group operation, the most important thing now was to prevent this person from being rescued by his partners.

Thinking this, he stepped forward and said to Chen Ping, "Chen Ping, it's getting late, and the night is long. I think it would be better to send him to the county tonight. The county magistrate will naturally ask him properly."

Chen Ping hesitated for a moment. "It's twenty miles to the county office, and it's so late."

Xiao Bei pointed to his donkey cart in the corner. "Harness my donkey, and I'll pull you there. You can sleep on the cart."

"By the way, after the sun comes up, we'll eat some meat buns in the county before heading back."

"But you'll need to leave two people behind, just in case there are more thieves."

A meal of meat buns was a huge temptation for the villagers at the time.

Chen Ping nodded. Since they were going to eat meat buns, it was only natural to agree to Xiao Bei's conditions.

He assigned two team members to escort Yang Dazhi to the county office, leaving Chen Da Qiang to lead the rest of the group behind. They were instructed not to leave the yard until dawn. Of course, Xiao Bei promised to bring back the meat buns.

Xiao Bei walked aside and called over Cui Hongyu and Qiao'er, giving them instructions to rest next door with Da Chun. He left the yard in the hands of Chen Da Qiang and the others.

At this moment, Chen Ping had no idea that he was unknowingly bringing about the destruction of his own grandfather.

Meanwhile, Chen Anbang was completely unaware at home.

It wasn't surprising though. In this era, communication was poor. The village guards were either in the county or at Xiao Bei's house. Even the villagers who had heard the shouting didn't think much of it.

After all, this time, the village guards hadn't sounded the gong, and without the gong, it meant there was no big trouble.

What Xiao Bei didn't expect was that when he arrived at the county, it wasn't even past the fourth watch, and the gates were still closed.

Chen Ping called out for a long time, but the soldiers on the city wall only responded with two words: "No, the gates open after the fifth watch."

At that moment, the sound of urgent horse hooves came from afar. Two shadows quickly approached the gate, and one of them shouted loudly, "Open the gate quickly! I need to get in. I'm from the Liu family!"

The soldiers on the city wall immediately changed their expressions, smiling and calling out loudly, "You're from the Liu family. Do you have any proof?"

The person on the horse took out a token from his chest and shouted up, "I have the Liu family's waist token. Lower the basket, and I'll show it to you."

Soon, a bamboo basket slowly lowered from the city wall.

The person crossed the moat, placed the token in the basket, and jumped back.