Jiang Fang gave the coachman some money and asked him to wait outside. He and Jiang Xiaobai went in first. Jiang Fang felt strange along the way.
There were not many people on the road. Almost all of them had gone to the fields at this time. The only people on the road were old people and children who were unable to work.
But I don’t know why, but it always seems like I am not very familiar with my village. For example, as soon as Jiang Fang entered, he saw a child sitting at the door crying.
Another child blocked the door and said loudly: "This is my home, I won't let you in!"
But the child cried and said: "This is obviously my house, and the door of my house faces the mountain. You are lying! You are a bad boy!"
At this time, a woman came, holding the crying child and saying, "Silly boy, have you taken the wrong direction again? This is our home."
Jiang Fang took advantage of the situation and asked: "Sister, we are friends of He Xiaoxiao. We would like to ask where her home is and give her something by the way."
The eldest sister looked at Jiang Fang and asked, "Is that the dead He Xiaoxiao? It's really pitiful. I haven't seen this child a few times, so why is it gone?"
When Jiang Fang heard this, he felt something was wrong. Wasn't He Xiaoxiao sent to Xu Kaizhi's mansion as a maid in recent years? She should have been in the village some time ago?
The man pointed to the house in front and said: "Right in front, there is the little daughter of Lao He's family. I have never heard of him talking about it before. Later I found out that he also has a little daughter who is working as a maid in the provincial capital. It's really
What a pity for that little girl."
Jiang Fang asked: "Don't you even know that he has a daughter?"
The eldest sister said: "We are from the same village, but Lao He's family hardly goes out. They all stay in their own yard as a family.
They have a capable son who never asks for help. The family also has a strange temper and doesn't talk much. Just a few days ago, he saw a girl come back, saying that her little daughter was back in the city.
I stayed for a day and then left, saying that I was pressed hard, and if I didn’t go back, I wouldn’t get the monthly money, but the same goes for this family, such a charming girl, married to such a bad old man.”
Jiang Fang knew that she was talking about Xu Kaizhi, so he asked: "Do you all know that He Xiaoxiao was married as a concubine in the thirteenth room?"
"I know, the old man brought it back that day, and the whole village knew about it, but the girl seemed unwilling. She was heard crying in the house several times."
Jiang Fang thanked him quickly, then took Xiaobai and walked to the He family's house. The courtyard door of the He family was open, Jiang Fang knocked on the door, and a woman came out, who should be He Xiaoxiao's mother.
The woman had never seen Jiang Fang. Jiang Fang said quickly: "Xiaoxiao and I worked together as maids in the Xu family. My name is Lianxiang. Something was left here for Xiaoxiao when she was alive. I sent it here specially.
.”
After hearing this, the woman quickly called Jiang Fang in and poured him a cup of tea, but Jiang Fang did not dare to drink it. She said regretfully: "Xiaoxiao is so good, it's a pity."
The woman also said: "If I had known this would happen, I shouldn't have sent her to the Xu family's house in the first place. It's our fault for not taking good care of that girl."
It looked like the woman was about to cry, but Jiang Fang didn't seem to see sadness in her eyes. She was not He Xiaoxiao's mother.
Jiang Fang took out a bracelet from his arms and said, "This was given to Xiaoxiao by the Xu family. She has always kept it here with me. Now that she is gone, I thought I could leave you some thoughts."
The woman took the bracelet and burst into tears: "This child is still not blessed. He was supposed to be a master and enjoy the blessings, but he happened to encounter something like this..."
Jiang Fang comforted her and left with Jiang Xiaobai. When leaving, she took a special look at the house and then returned to the carriage.
But Jiang Fang did not return the same way, but asked the coachman to continue forward.
Jiang Xiaobai asked in confusion: "Sister Ah Fang, where are we?"
"Of course it's Niutou Village, the real Niutou Village."
The coachman pulled Jiang Fang forward. Sure enough, half an hour later, he saw another stone tablet with the inscription Niutou Village. However, the road ahead was inaccessible to the carriage and the waterway had to be changed.
Jiang Fang got out of the car and saw the village across the mountains and rivers from a distance, with smoke rising from the cooking pots.
Jiang Xiaobai seemed to understand, and she asked: "Sister Ah Fang, didn't we go to Niutou Village just now? Why is there another one here? Isn't that Niutou Village just now?"
Jiang Fang nodded: "It is a village, but it is not a real village. It should be just a cover. Some people in the village are indeed villagers, but some are not.
If I remember correctly, there is indeed a group of spies trained by the royal family hidden among the people. They hang around in the village and are no different from the villagers on weekdays.
But once there is a mission from above, they will pick up the knife and carry out the mission. The Niutou Village we just went to should be that kind of village.
Although there were farm tools and the like in the He family's yard, I saw a very big place. In the village, there are not many places like that.
That's a martial arts training ground. The He family doesn't like to communicate more with the village for fear that their identity will be discovered. That village should be a newly moved place.
However, most of the people in the village have their own ulterior secrets. Such relocation is probably a common occurrence. Buying off the entire Niutou Village is not practical and can easily expose the secret.
But it is much easier to fake a Niutou Village. No wonder they can fool Yu Peide's officials. They may not even know that they are in a fake village.
The bracelet I gave her just now was a fake one. It was different at all. She didn't notice it. Lian Xiang said that He Xiaoxiao loves to show off, especially her bracelet. It's impossible for her parents not to recognize it.
This is really a generous move. In order to frame me, they even fabricated a village. But why was there no movement at all after Empress Dowager Jiang protected me?
How could it be possible to give up so easily after so much effort?"
The more Jiang Fang thought about it, the more she felt something was wrong. She always felt that she must have missed something, but she couldn't remember anything.
Jiang Xiaobai asked: "But if this village is half spies and half normal villagers, how could they agree to move?"
Jiang Fang patted Jiang Xiaobai's head and said, "What I mean is, those spies can actually get married and start a business, but they just have other identities.
It would be really strange if there were no children or old people in a village, but other than themselves, their families don’t know their identities.”
Jiang Xiaobai was even more confused: "But if you get married and have children, wouldn't that mean you have more weaknesses?"
Jiang Fang sighed: "Yes, this is the most cruel thing. They did not voluntarily get married and have children. In fact, they did it to train the next generation of spies. They are all pitiful people."