Baichuan Market, Lai Fu Inn.
Goatee man brought people to block Li Yao's way in the daytime, and knocked on the door of Room No.1 in a flurry.
"Counselor He?"
The door opened, and Counselor He, the treacherous military advisor of Prefect Hu, looked furious. This useless guy often caused more harm than good. He had sent Goatee man to deal with Li Yao in the daytime, but the matter was botched.
"What's the matter so late?"
"Counselor He, I've come to redeem myself!" Goatee man hurriedly smiled apologetically, "I've just got some very important news."
Counselor He suppressed his anger and let Goatee man in.
"Speak, what news?"
"It's like this. This afternoon, the county magistrate let people post notices everywhere, saying that he would hold a ritual in three days to pray for rain, and also invite all the people in the county to watch the show..."
After hearing the news, Counselor He's face became even more solemn.
It was quite odd that an official appointed by the imperial court would hold a ritual to pray for rain.
As a counselor, he was very shrewd. He soon realized the key point.
"He wants to firmly establish the credit of ending the drought on Li Yao!"
"Ah?" Goatee man was surprised, "He...he dares to confront the Prefect like this? He is tired of living!"
"Humph!" Counselor He sneered coldly, "Relying on his status as a gentleman from the capital city and his connections, he has never taken the Prefect seriously. He has held this position for so long without giving the Prefect a penny!"
"What should we do then?"
"No need to panic. Now that I know about it, his tricks are nothing to worry about." Counselor He lowered his voice and said, "Tonight, bring more men, pretend to be bandits..."
As he spoke, he slapped his own neck viciously: "Leave none alive!"
Goatee man was shocked. This was about killing the whole family!
"Don't worry, I will certainly reward you well." Seeing his hesitation, Counselor He immediately took out a bill of 100 taels of silver, "After it's done, I'll give you 200 more taels. And all the money in that house will be yours."
Wine reddens the face, and money moves the heart.
This was 300 taels in total!
Who knows how much more he could get from Li Yao's house!
With so much money, let alone killing a whole family, he would even dare to massacre a village!
After taking the bill, Goatee man said coldly, "I'll go now and get it done for sure."
After Goatee man left, Counselor He immediately took out pen and ink, wanting to report the matter to Prefect Hu right away. If he sent an express messenger, the letter could arrive before dawn, and the Prefect would certainly be able to come up with countermeasures.
Knock knock knock--
Just as the letter was finished, there was a knock at the door.
"Who is it?"
"Guesthouse, I've come to bring you hot water."
"Wait a moment."
Counselor He sealed the letter before getting up to open the door.
Unexpectedly, instead of a waiter with hot water, it was a person with a black cloth covering his face. Shocked, Counselor He staggered back, wanting to yell for help.
Li Yao would certainly not give him a chance. With a rope coiled around his neck, she strangled him directly into unconsciousness.
For someone who wanted to kill her whole family, she would naturally show no mercy. After throwing the rope over the beam, she hanged Counselor He. He kicked his legs desperately for a few times before going straight to hell.
Li Yao moved a stool under his feet, making it look like a suicide by hanging. Then she opened the letter on the table.
After reading it, she kept the letter carefully. This was important evidence that might come in handy in the future. Then she picked up the writing brush and mimicked Counselor He's handwriting to write a "letter of repentance" in his voice.
The gist was that he came to Baichuan on the orders of Prefect Hu to kill and silence people, but he was an upright person and did not want to associate with Prefect Hu's evil ways. However, if he disobeyed, his whole family would be persecuted by the Prefect, so he had no choice but to prove his integrity through death, and so on.
To make him look very righteous and innocent, Li Yao took out all the bills and coins he had, adding up to more than 200 taels.
She took 200 taels in bills and 20 taels in coins, leaving some loose change and a few dozen copper coins.
After all, an upright man could not be too wealthy.
Having done all this, Li Yao silently left the crime scene.
...
Goatee man led five men to the woods near He Wan village.
"Listen up," Goatee man warned everyone again before taking action, "We are bandits, here to rob and loot."
"Got it, boss."
"Also, don't call out names, in case you reveal your identities!"
"Boss," someone asked, "Apart from robbing and looting, can we also..."
"Can we what?"
"Hehe..." someone laughed, "I heard the eldest daughter-in-law of that house is very pretty. And that Li lady also looks good."
"All you think about is fooling with women. One day you'll die by a woman's hands."
"So boss, you agree?"
"As long as you don't alert others, do as you wish."
"Thank you boss! It's getting late, let's get to work!"
"Let's go!"
The group of villains immediately took out their knives and quickly crept towards He Wan village.
Li Yao, who had been following them all along, also took out her slender needles and silently followed them.
It was the first day of the lunar month today, with no moon in the sky, only faint starlight. The woods were pitch dark, with almost no visibility. But for Li Yao, such an environment was ideal.
She was like a patient leopard, eyes fixed closely on the six men ahead.
"Boss, you guys go first, I need to take a leak."
"Hurry up and catch up!"
One man in black immediately pulled down his pants in front of a big tree, not expecting that death was already behind him.
Covering his mouth and nose, Li Yao stabbed a needle into his temple. After twitching for a bit, the first villain silently went to the Yellow Springs.
The reason for using needles was to leave as little blood as possible.
Continuing to follow them, with little effort, Li Yao silently took out two more men.
Goatee man walked at the front, but felt more and more uneasy. The footsteps behind seemed to be decreasing.
"Brother Five, Brother Six? Brother Three?"
After shouting several times with no response, Goatee man frowned.
Just then he saw a black shadow rushing towards them at great speed.
"Who's that?" Goatee man held his knife tightly and shouted loudly, "Show yourself!"
What answered him was a fatal needle piercing his body.
Even in the darkness of a frontal confrontation, the three men were no match for Li Yao at all. They died without even knowing where Li Yao was.
After taking all their money as usual, Li Yao spent most of the night dragging the corpses deep into the mountains. In less than two days, nearby wolves and wild dogs would discover the lavish feast fallen from heaven.
Even if their skeletons were discovered in the future, they would be considered bandits hiding in the mountains, since no normal person would wander around in black clothes carrying knives.
Having finished all this, the eastern sky was turning pale.
After a short rest, Li Yao headed towards the deeper mountains.
This time when she went out, taking care of Counselor He and his men was secondary. She had a more important thing to do - continuing to explore that valley, as a little vacation for herself.
