"Shui Jing!"
Indeed, not long after she ran out, Song Chaoyu heard her joyous voice; "Dad, Mom, are you all well?!"
The family embraced and wept outside. The others who had been imprisoned here for so long seemed to sense something and walked towards the outside, searching for their family members.
The people of Pingjiang also stepped forward, escorting them out, preventing them from crowding and causing further accidents.
In just a moment, only those who were truly homeless, unable to walk, or unable to move, along with Lion Boss and Mu Changxi, remained in the schoolhouse.
Lion Boss's bleeding arm was tightly bound with rope by Pingjiang. He couldn't die yet; wouldn't dying like this be too easy for him?
Song Chaoyu patted her head, suddenly remembering something, and quickly instructed Qiu Qing, "Right, Zhou Ya is still in the back! Hurry and bring her here. How can we miss such a good show today without letting Zhou Ya see it?"
Qiu Qing also seemed to recall, "That's right, I almost forgot, there's still Zhou Ya!"
Seeing Song Chaoyu like this, Mu Changxi smiled at her, "Then I'll go handle things first. You can do whatever you want. A'yu, these women... I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you."
He didn't need to say this; Song Chaoyu would help anyway.
Mu Changxi went to deal with Lion Boss's men, the first step being to separate them.
The government officials were government officials, and Lion Boss's men were Lion Boss's men.
On Song Chaoyu's side, she had to record the situation of these women one by one.
Especially the number of these women, whether they were alive or dead, and where they came from.
Even after only half a day here, the condition of the women was already frightening.
Zhou Ya also never imagined that in just half a day, the entire schoolhouse would be so different!
At this moment, Zhou Ya had been hidden in the haystack for half a day, unable to do anything. A foul odor had begun to emanate from her body; it seemed she could no longer hold it in.
Even Qiu Qing, when removing the cloth gag from Zhou Ya's mouth, glared at her with a look of disgust.
Zhou Ya looked at Song Chaoyu, who stood in the center of the schoolhouse, exuding an extraordinary aura even in her simple attire, and seemed to understand something, "You... you did this on purpose?! You deliberately entered here and then spread the situation outside, didn't you?! Your goal was here, which is why you weren't afraid of me or these people at all, right?!"
Zhou Ya could see what was happening here from the haystack, but she couldn't hear what they were saying.
So she stared intently at Song Chaoyu and asked, "Who exactly are you people? Are you from the government? My uncle is also from the government! You can't treat me like this!"
Very good.
Before she had even asked anything, this Zhou Ya had revealed it herself?
Song Chaoyu sneered, "Who is your uncle?"
Zhou Ya treated this as her last lifeline and blurted out, "My uncle works as a silver treasurer in the Haizhou City yamen! Even the Prefect shows him courtesy! If you treat me like this, I will definitely tell my uncle. He'll have you all killed!"
"Pfft—"
Song Chaoyu scoffed, "I never knew that a mere silver treasurer in our court's yamen had so much power that he could sentence people to death!"
"Wang Fei, the headcount is complete."
One of Pingjiang's subordinates walked over and said to Song Chaoyu, "The women here range from twelve years old to forty-four years old. Including the one in front of you, there are forty-seven in total. Most of the rest are elderly people and children, a hundred in total. According to Prince Zhou and his companions, twenty-three people have died during this period, but we are still investigating. Please do not worry, Wang Fei."
"Wang... Wang Fei?!"
Upon hearing how others addressed Song Chaoyu, Zhou Ya's eyes widened as she looked at Song Chaoyu, "You... you are Wang Fei?"
"Insolent!"
Qiu Qing stepped forward again, kicking the back of Zhou Ya's knee from behind, forcing her to kneel before Song Chaoyu. Qiu Qing was not polite to Zhou Ya, "This is Wang Fei of Prince Chang. I don't know how capable your uncle is, that he can sentence Wang Fei of Prince Chang to death?"
"No... this is impossible!"
Zhou Ya was incredulous and disbelieving, "How could Wang Fei of Prince Chang appear in our place?! How is this possible? This is impossible!"
Song Chaoyu looked at the flustered Zhou Ya with a cold smile, "What's impossible about it? Do you think no one will ever come to manage these people in Ping'an County, ever again?"
Zhou Ya suddenly didn't know what to say.
Song Chaoyu stared at Zhou Ya, "I told you, I want to let you see what your fate is, and what the fate of these people is. I don't care who you are, or who your uncle is. Zhou Ya, you may never know where you went wrong, but you will have to pay the price for your mistakes."
Zhou Ya opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately knew she couldn't say anything.
"Ah—Sister! No!"
Just as the schoolhouse was being processed in an orderly manner, Shui Jing's cry suddenly came from outside.
Song Chaoyu's heart leaped, and she hurried out.
Pingjiang's men held back the others, allowing Song Chaoyu and Mu Changxi to rush to the outside of the schoolhouse in time.
However, it was already too late for everything!
What they saw was Li Shuiyue, her head covered in blood, having already struck a pillar and died!
She lay in her parents' arms, with her younger brother Shui Jing tightly holding her hand, crying heartbrokenly, "Sister! Don't die, you can't die! We finally met, why did you give up so easily!"
But Li Shuiyue, with her head covered in blood, had long since breathed her last.
This scene deeply shocked Song Chaoyu: What kind of courage could make Li Shuiyue commit suicide by striking a pillar?! If she hadn't made up her mind and used all her strength, how could she have died with just one impact?
Li Shuiyue truly didn't want to live anymore!
She should have thought of it earlier; perhaps Li Shuiyue's last wish was simply to see her family again.
With her parents and Shui Jing safe, her heart could finally relax.
The days past were a pain she couldn't bear to recall.
She had no courage to live in this world any longer, so she resolutely chose this path.
Song Chaoyu should have realized it sooner!
She closed her eyes, her body even swaying.
Tiaohong supported her from behind, and she finally stood steady.