Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 226 - 225: Growing Stealthily

As she dragged the nine people to the front gate of the inn, the lights here had already been lit by Liu Ji, and the children were seated in the bright hall.

The carriage had been unloaded, and the luggage was stacked in the common sleeping area behind the inn screen.

The horses were locked in the stable, already fed with fodder.

Qin Yao threw the nine fierce bandits and their tools of crime outside the gate. Liu Ji, who was waiting at the entrance, glanced at the nine people, and issued a "hiss." Their current appearance could only be described as too tragic to bear.

Seeing Qin Yao walk in with an unchanged expression, Liu Ji instinctively retreated a step.

Qin Yao looked up at him, "Is that retreating step serious?"

Liu Ji asked with a flattering smile, "Madam, there seems to be a stove in the backyard. We brought flour ourselves; how about noodles for tonight?"

Qin Yao rubbed her almost empty stomach and asked how long it would take to make noodles.

"About half an hour," estimated Liu Ji.

Qin Yao shook her head, "Too long. Look around the posthouse for other food."

Those nine people killed for the food in the inn, so there must be something to eat here.

Liu Ji nodded, called Liu Li who was arranging luggage in the hall, planning to check the kitchen outside the back door together.

Reluctantly joining him, Liu Li also called Da Zhuang.

Qin Yao was about to sit down for a rest when she saw the three of them about to open the back door. Suddenly remembering something, she quickly yelled, "Wait, I’ll go!"

The people looked at her, confused.

Qin Yao accepted the gourd handed over by Da Lang and took a large gulp to quench her thirst, then got up and walked to the back door without explaining anything, personally opening the door and signaling them to wait, checking alone outside.

Outside the back door was a simple straw shed, with locked cabinets and two stoves inside, a chopping board on the stove, a knife, and a small basket of vegetables.

The sky was dim, and Liu Ji curiously stuck his head out to see, without any noticeable anomalies.

However, Qin Yao saw the bloodstains on the stove, the vegetables, and the chopping board already stained.

If it were in complete darkness, one wouldn’t see clearly, and might cook directly... Qin Yao shook her head quickly, throwing out the nauseating thought from her mind.

She walked into the kitchen and threw all the dirty items into the bamboo grove. Then, she broke the lock on the cabinet, opened it, and found bowls, chopsticks, and a bit of hard smoked meat on the upper layer; two small earthen jars with rice and wheat on the lower.

"Let’s make porridge tonight," Qin Yao naturally instructed Liu Ji at the back door.

Liu Ji responded, slightly anxious, "Can we come out now?"

"Wait a bit," she intended to find the body of the posthouse manager.

Actually, it was easy to find, just outside the bamboo grove, where the soil showed obvious signs of being disturbed.

Qin Yao approached the burial site, and with her foot nudged away some dirt, the burial was quite careless, and the victim’s clothing immediately became exposed—a dark red posthouse manager uniform, likely the manager’s body.

Qin Yao stood still, contemplating for three seconds whether to dig out the body.

But glancing back at Liu Ji, who was cowardly inside the doorway, fearing he couldn’t prepare the meal properly, she abandoned the idea.

Calmly returning from the bamboo grove, Qin Yao said seriously, "I checked, there should be no more bandits around, you can cook now, I’ll go check on the children in the hall."

After speaking, she washed her hands in a bucket by the kitchen and walked past the three of them back to the hall.

Liu Ji looked at Da Zhuang, then at Liu Li, "Can you cook?"

The two shook their heads; at home, it was always the women who cooked, they seldom entered the kitchen.

Liu Ji rolled his eyes at the two, speechless, "Then come and help me."

Da Zhuang nodded, no objection, but Liu Li refused, "As they say, a gentleman stays away from the kitchen..."

Before he could finish, Liu Ji impatiently interrupted with a wave, "What gentleman, nonsense! Come and start the fire!"

"You can start a fire, can’t you?" Seeing Liu Li’s shocked face, Liu Ji disdainfully asked.

Liu Li: Even I, a noble gentleman, let Liu Laosan, this rogue, look down on me?

Without a second word, he rolled up his sleeves and rushed into the kitchen to start a fire.

Knowing the level of his young master, Da Zhuang saw Liu Li stuffing firewood directly into the stove hole and hesitated repeatedly before deciding to intervene himself.

Moving Liu Li aside, Da Zhuang removed all the firewood from the stove hole, then placed thin wooden kindling strips inside, lighting it with a flint before adding more firewood.

Liu Ji poured out the rice from the jar, rinsed it, and cooked porridge. In the dim light, when scooping water, he felt some stickiness on the wooden ladle handle. He suspiciously held it up to his eyes and noticed a not-so-pleasant smell, with some brown substance on his fingers.

"What is this stuff?" Liu Ji muttered, rescooping water to wash his hands before continuing to rinse rice and cook.

He chopped all the smoked meat from the cabinet and threw it into the porridge, which smelled delightful~

Unfortunately, those few vegetables just now were tossed away by his vicious wife; otherwise, a bit of greens would have made it even more delicious.

The pot of porridge, cooked, wasn’t quite enough for two families to eat, so everyone took out their own dry food to eat alongside the porridge.

After dinner, Liu Ji wandered around the hall, looking here and there. Normally, the inn should have drinks and such, but couldn’t find any.

Later pondering, likely moved away by those nine fainting bandits at the gate.

In this darkness, it’s hard to find where they hid things, so Liu Ji gave up unhappily.

With their stomachs full, everyone finally had time to inquire about what exactly happened in the inn.

Liu Li took out writing materials, Da Zhuang helped grind ink, recording the events, which could serve as evidence when reporting to authorities.

The wind blew through the mountains, feeling a bit chilly, Qin Yao signaled Liu Ji to close the main door. Only then did both families gather around the table, listening to Qin Yao recount the sequence of events.

Liu Li’s record was systematic; being well-read in law and having seen prisoner’s written confessions, he summarized and reorganized Qin Yao’s information before writing.

Qin Yao had already interrogated the nine people’s names and nicknames; every word spoken was specially noted by Liu Li, appearing very neat.

The victim’s physical characteristics, where they were harmed, and how they were killed were all documented.

Finished writing, he first handed it to Qin Yao for review. 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦

Looking at this criminal record document and their families’ description of the inn’s situation, Qin Yao genuinely appreciated the high cultural literacy of contemporary scholars for the first time.

Without comparison, there’s no harm; turning to see Liu Ji playing clapping games with Third Brother and Fourth Sister beside him, Qin Yao wished to send him back for rebirth.

"Liu Ji, come here," Qin Yao raised her chin toward him, "Look at how beautifully and clearly Liu Li wrote this explanation. Learn from it!"

Facing Qin Yao, Liu Ji responded obediently.

The corner of his eye caught Liu Li’s ’pretend modest’ expression, instantly snapping disdainfully at him.

It’s just writing a few words, what’s so remarkable!

Reluctant to admit it internally, his body was honest, quietly noting the format of the explanation note, developing stealthily.