Chapter 15: At Most Half an Hour

"Liubingbing, shut your mouth!" Qin Youtian's brows were knit tightly together, a surge of anger making him want to wring her neck.

She sneered, "Evidence? Do you still need evidence? Everyone here is a witness." Ignoring Qin Youtian, Liubingbing turned to address the crowd: "Ask them—who among you hasn't been swindled out of silver by your father? Pick anyone at random, and you’ll find that more or less, everyone’s been deceived by him. The only difference is, your father did it in your name. People are only too afraid to speak up."

"In my name?" Hua Qinci was baffled. She could believe it if her father was the one tricking people out of money, but in her name? That was hard to accept.

The original owner of this body was just a child, and from what she knew, exceedingly gentle and kind. Though she rarely left home, it was impossible she possessed the kind of skill needed to borrow money in her own right.

Hua Qinci looked at the crowd, seeing their eyes begin to dart away.

"Could this really be true?"

The crowd nodded and shook their heads all at once.

Constable Zhao, catching the drift, realized the matter was far from simple. Still, if there was an official complaint and he ignored it, that would be his failure as an officer. "Take them all in," he ordered. "Let the county magistrate decide."

Hua Qinci’s heart, which had been hanging by a thread, sank instantly.

She watched as the officers grabbed her as if she were a helpless chick.

Liubingbing followed behind, a look of triumph on her face.

---

"Qinci, your wound!" Qin Youtian noticed the bloodstains on her clothes, not yet dried, and was deeply worried.

Earlier, after Liubingbing went to fetch the constable, Hua Qinci had woken up. She’d asked him to carry her home, called for Doctor Li, and he’d helped remove the ironwood dart from her body, then applied a heavy dose of numbing powder at her request.

They hadn’t even finished bandaging her when the officers arrived. It was she who had asked him to carry her out the back door—she said she didn’t want to make a scene.

Remembering the way she’d sweated in pain yet refused to make a sound, Qin Youtian’s heart ached for her.

But he was never good at handling these affairs, so all he could do was follow her wishes.

"I’m fine. Don’t worry, I’ll handle it." Hua Qinci’s lips were turning pale; the painkiller’s effect seemed to be wearing off, and she knew she was running out of time.

"Officer, I have a few words to say to you," she called.

Constable Zhao, seeing her wan face, felt sympathy, and followed her to the side.

Hua Qinci spoke bluntly, "If we want to settle this privately, how much silver will it take?"

"Would twenty taels do?" When Constable Zhao didn’t answer, she added, "Look at everyone here. You’d be lucky to scrape together twenty taels among them."

He studied her frail appearance, his eyes calculating. "You think you can get them to hand over everything they have?"

---

He glanced incredulously at the crowd. "You should know, for these people, risking their lives would be easier than handing over their savings."

"That’s not your concern. I only need to know if twenty taels will be enough. Or, to put it another way—can you make this go away?"

He gave a short laugh. "In this remote mountain village? Most people don’t even come here. Frankly, even if someone were killed, as long as you paid up, it could be swept under the rug as an unsolved case. No money, no fuss—the county magistrate has no interest and can’t be bothered. Of course, we still have to put on a show—arrest someone, throw them in a cell for a while, then quietly let them out. Otherwise, it wouldn’t look good to the higher-ups."

Suddenly realizing he’d said too much, Constable Zhao narrowed his eyes into a smile and fell silent.

Hua Qinci understood at once. "Then I’ll trouble you to wait a moment, Constable Zhao."

"Of course." With a wave, he led the other two officers to the big tree at the village entrance, where they sat and waited.

"Qinci, what are you…" Qin Youtian couldn’t fathom what she had discussed with the constable.

"Don’t worry. I’ll handle it. Give me half an hour at most."