Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 225 - 224: Quietly, Don’t Make a Fuss

After Qin Yao dealt with the nine people, she turned around and saw Liu Ji even going through their smelly shoes, furrowing her brows deeply.

Liu Ji, oblivious, picked up a steel knife and presented it to Qin Yao like a treasure, "Miss, look, this knife is really nice, it suits you perfectly!"

"Suits your head!" Qin Yao retorted disdainfully, "Put it down, don’t mess with these things."

However, she gave a hinting glance that taking the silver and such was acceptable, just quietly, without making a fuss.

Liu Ji raised his eyebrows, understanding.

Still, leaving behind everything except the silver felt a bit painful.

The sky had completely darkened, Da Lang lit two spare lanterns, hanging one on the carriage and bringing the other to illuminate for Mother and Father.

One unfortunate bandit had his thigh cut by his own knife, creating a somewhat gory scene that startled Da Lang.

He forced himself to take another look, and after feeling nothing, handed the lantern to Father and retreated back to the carriage.

Sanlang and Si Niang, curious, tried to peek, but he pushed their heads back with one hand each.

"Kids shouldn’t be too curious," Da Lang solemnly instructed his younger siblings.

Si Niang bumped her head against her brother’s hand but couldn’t push through, sighing in defeat.

Turning around, Sanlang’s bewildered big eyes inquired, "Big brother, did Mother drive the bad guys away?"

Da Lang recalled the scene he just witnessed, and it was more than just driving them away; she almost beat them to death.

But maintaining the innocence of his brother’s heart was important, so he smiled, nodded, and said, "Don’t worry, Mother has already driven the bad guys away."

"Then why hasn’t Mother come back yet?" Sanlang looked at the light shining through the gap in the carriage door; it was too dark outside, and he was scared.

Da Lang casually replied, "They are dealing with the aftermath; let’s have some cakes and wait for them."

He was hungry.

Sanlang nodded, "Mm, mm."

So, Da Lang took out a baked cake, broke it into four pieces, and shared it with his three siblings, eating while waiting.

Outside the carriage, the adults looked at the ground full of bandits, feeling quite troubled.

Liu Li suggested reporting to the officials.

Liu Ji proposed simply throwing them into the bamboo forest to feed the wolves and then patting the dust off their hands to return to town to find an inn for the night.

Da Zhuang didn’t express any opinion, only looking at Qin Yao with admiration, as if ready to follow her lead at any moment.

At that moment, his reverence for Qin Yao was like the endless flow of the river.

Qin Yao even suspected that if she told him to eat shit, he might actually do it.

Of course, she wasn’t that malicious.

Qin Yao said, "The post station isn’t far from here, I suggest we go back and rest there."

"Let’s tie these nine people up first, and I’ll interrogate them later, find out the details, write it all down on paper, and leave a explanatory letter for when we reach the next town, and then find someone to report to the officials."

Seeing Liu Li’s hesitation, Qin Yao added, "If we report now, the government will definitely ask us to cooperate with their investigation, which will surely delay our journey."

"Moreover, there’s little point in returning to town now; resting at the post station is more convenient, and everyone is tired and hungry; it’s getting late. We need to hurry and rest, so as not to delay tomorrow’s journey."

Originally, she didn’t plan to get entangled with these bandits; the death of the posthouse manager was the government’s problem, and everyone should wisely avoid it.

Unfortunately, these nine people delivered themselves to their deaths, so they couldn’t blame her for being ruthless!

Liu Ji raised his hand, "I’ll listen to the lady."

Da Zhuang also raised his hand, "I’ll follow Miss Qin."

Liu Li no longer insisted on reporting to the officials, nodded, and everyone reached an agreement, each returning to the carriage to find something to tie people up.

After searching through the luggage, Liu Li and his servant finally found a spare piece of rope for horse reins but were wide-eyed seeing Qin Yao pull out a large bundle of hemp rope from under the carriage.

"Miss Qin, you’re really well-prepared," Liu Li praised.

Qin Yao raised an eyebrow at him, "After all, I’m a professional."

He understood she was alluding to his lack of trust before they set off, and Liu Li shamefully saluted Qin Yao, indicating he was now quite impressed and trusted her abilities.

Knowing he wasn’t professional, Liu Ji held the lantern to illuminate for Qin Yao, watching her professionally and efficiently tie up all nine people.

The posture was a bit strange; the bandits were face down like a reverse-bending shrimp, their hands and feet interconnected, tied behind them.

Once the people were tied up, Qin Yao motioned for Liu Ji and Liu Li to take the children back to the post station first, as she would handle transporting the nine bandits herself.

Liu Ji guessed it might be a violent scene unsuitable for children, so he agreed wisely.

However, before leaving, recalling the eerie post station in the bamboo forest, he felt a bit uneasy.

"Miss, why don’t you transport them to the post station first, and we’ll come along after?" Liu Ji suggested, "What if there are more bandits in the post station?"

"Impossible!" Qin Yao replied confidently.

Even if there were, by now they would’ve been scared away by all the noise here.

Seeing no room for negotiation, Liu Ji swallowed nervously and shamelessly called Da Lang out to accompany him as he drove the carriage toward the post station.

When the two carriages drove away, Qin Yao tugged on the rope in her hand, and the nine ’shrimp’ strung together awoke with screams of agony.

Single-handedly, she held a rope that could pull nine men heavier than herself.

It was as if she was dragging nine beast carcasses, not avoiding the sharp stones or potholes, allowing those nine foolish bandits to cry out in pain from time to time.

Even the hidden beasts in the bamboo forest were wary upon hearing their wails.

"Shut up!" Annoyed by the noise, Qin Yao couldn’t help but scold.

Then, the wailing ceased, replaced by pleas for mercy.

Qin Yao sneered, "I left a way out for you, and you didn’t take it. Instead, you threw yourselves onto this path to death, delaying my matters, and now you have the nerve to beg for mercy?"

"Let me ask you, where is the posthouse manager?!"

She abruptly tightened the rope, and the nine men suddenly felt their waists nearly being snapped by the sudden tightening force.

They were outlaws, not noble heroes, and under intense pain, Qin Yao used only a bit of her skill before they confessed everything.

"We killed the posthouse manager; the body is buried outside the back door of the post station."

Then they claimed that they had no choice but to become bandits, blaming poor harvests and hunger for their decision to raid the official post station, pleading for Qin Yao’s pity.

Listening to these words, Qin Yao’s cold gaze remained unchanged as she continued interrogating whether they had any other accomplices.

All nine denied, stating they hailed from the same village and didn’t trust others, so it had always been just the nine of them.

In this month, they had killed eighteen people: nine women and children, five men, finally turning their attention to government members when they found ordinary people had nothing of value.

The remaining four deaths were the posthouse manager and soldiers.

Still whimpering for mercy, Qin Yao had extracted all the information she needed and no longer wished to hear their whining. With a punch each, she knocked them all unconscious!