He started by killing his abusive father, and from then on, he embarked on the road to wealth.

Chapter 183 'Unrest in People's Hearts Is Inevitable'

After emerging from the pit, Meng Fuqing patted his palms, which were covered in dirt. "There's a celestial stone here. The strange phenomena here are probably caused by this celestial stone. I've put it away."

Xie Jin only knew that the Imperial Observatory could predict celestial phenomena and fortune through meteors, but he did not know that meteors could be so malevolent.

He also discovered some things that Meng Fuqing had mentioned learning from the book, some of which he had never heard of before and only thought were due to the space.

"Could it be detrimental to you?"

Meng Fuqing shook his head. "No. Let's search the area again; we might have missed something."

Afterwards, the two found several more pieces of broken stone, which Meng Fuqing put into his spatial storage.

The two met up with Yan He and, together with two government officials, hurried towards the city gate.

Yan He was completely unaware of what Meng Fuqing and Xie Jin had done, and was only informed that everything was normal in Hanhua Village, so there was no further explanation.

But that didn't stop her from fooling the officials.

"...As soon as I arrived here, I sensed dark clouds looming overhead, and a chilling aura permeated the air..."

"Incense money? I am not that kind of swindler. With just a peach wood sword passed down from my sect, all evil can be driven away. I am also going to settle down in Hanhua Village. Why would I deceive you?"

"You flatter me, you flatter me. If you encounter any strange things, considering our acquaintance, I will only accept half of your silver..."

The two officials had been fooled all the way and now completely believed Yan He.

There's no other reason than that if Yan He hadn't solved the strange situation in Hanhua Village, she herself would have been affected as well. Why bother?

Upon arriving at the city gate, when Manager Qiao inquired, the two immediately spilled everything they knew. Manager Qiao couldn't help but wonder which school of Taoism Yan He had studied under, given his formidable abilities.

Unfortunately, the truth of this matter cannot be verified in a short time. The claims of evil spirits and yin energy are only Yan He's side of the story and need further consideration.

What Manager Qiao thought of, Meng Fuqing also thought of.

She knew full well that human nature could not withstand the test, yet she insisted on testing it, using the incident in Hanhua Village to filter out some people.

Having learned her lesson, she didn't want to encounter the same troubles that befell her when she first arrived in Mengjia Village.

After the situation in Hanhua Village was explained in detail, as expected, some people hesitated.

The officials were unaware of Yan He's background, but those who had followed the caravan knew more or less about him.

Given Yan He's reputation as a fraudster, some people do not believe that he has such abilities.

A few quick-thinking individuals had already begun considering other things, such as—"Miss Meng, you've been running around so much so that we can live in the same village, and we're getting quite anxious watching you. But really, as long as we keep in touch regularly, it doesn't matter if we don't live in the same village..."

The person who spoke was Niu Erbo, a relative of the Niu family. Niu Er immediately became anxious, "Second Uncle, why didn't you say that before? My eldest brother had already arranged everything..."

"Wasn't it because Miss Meng left in a hurry?" Uncle Niu said matter-of-factly. "We didn't know about the situation in Hanhua Village before!"

As if realizing his words were inappropriate, he added, "It's not that I don't trust Miss Yan, but everyone has their own arrangements. Surely I'm not the only one who thinks this way?"

Upon hearing this, some people avoided eye contact, afraid of meeting Meng Fuqing's gaze.

Meng Fuqing looked at everyone and slowly began to speak, “Indeed, we didn’t ask everyone door-to-door before. You can’t force a cow to drink water if it doesn’t want to. Now that we have two paths in front of us, we might as well choose for ourselves.”

After saying that, she looked at Meng Bochang and said, "Grandpa Village Chief, you can arrange this."

After handing the matter over to Meng Bochang, Meng Fuqing was about to go find Manager Qiao when Niu Er followed closely behind.

He had a long face. "Eldest brother, our family and Daji and Dali are determined to follow you. Second uncle has his own opinions and won't listen to others. I don't care about him."

“It’s alright, your second uncle is right. When we were fleeing, there were many of us, and working together was beneficial for everyone. Now that things have settled down, it’s inevitable that people’s hearts are restless. It’s up to them to decide what to do.”

Niu Er paused for a moment, then flattered, "Boss, you truly are the boss. Your words are so succinct they feel like a kettle being poured over your head."

Meng Fuqing: ...

"That's called a sudden enlightenment, not something like..."

Too lazy to explain to an illiterate person, Meng Fuqing simply shut up.

Niu Er chuckled twice, "When Scholar Shen teaches people to read in the future, I'll learn to read a few characters too!"

Only six or seven households did not settle in Hanhua Village together. After discussing it, they decided to choose a place to live.

It's best not to go too far from Hanhua Village. There are many capable people there, and you never know if you might be able to help them out in the future.

What? The separation caused a rift between them?

They were all related by blood, so there was no lasting grudge. Even if there were disagreements, with the exemption of the registration fee and the grain and money they received, they could still live quite well.

Because the officials were nearby, they held back and didn't dare to mention the matter of distributing grain and money.

Most people are still quite clear-headed. What has Meng Fuqing failed to accomplish along the way? They wouldn't risk ruining their lives just when they're about to settle down.

Most importantly, Meng Fuqing was intolerant of any wrongdoing.

When Meng Fuqing approached Manager Qiao about this matter, Manager Qiao was not surprised. He simply asked, "Does Miss Meng want these people who were separated to have an easy time or an unpleasant one?"

"We can't see any results from the epidemic prevention and control efforts right now, and I can't just get something for nothing, can I? Wasn't it because we solved the strange incident in Hanhua Village that Manager Qiao waived our residency fee?"

The strange occurrences in Hanhua Village show no immediate results, but since they are the inhabitants, their word is law.

Manager Qiao gave Meng Fuqing an approving look. "Since Miss Meng says so, those who do not live in Hanhua Village will naturally not benefit from this. Let's just keep the previous rate of one hundred taels of silver per household."

They only found out about this when the six or seven households went to the government office to register their household registration. In a panic, they went out to find Meng Bochang, Du Zhong and others who had come with them. They learned that there were many people registering their household registration in Hanhua Village and it would take a while to complete the process.

So they decided to wait outside, but the officials inside the government office were coming and going, and their presence was in the way. Before long, someone came and chased them away, forcing them to leave the government office.

I waited outside the government office for quite a while, but no one came out even as it was getting dark.

They went in with a sullen face to ask the officials, only to find out that the people of Hanhua Village had already been taken away by Manager Qiao's men. When they tried to ask more questions, the officials started driving them away again.

Remind them not to register their household registration today, but to wait until tomorrow when they receive instructions from Manager Qiao.

The group was dumbfounded.

That Manager Qiao always seeks out Meng Fuqing; how could they possibly have the ability to speak with such an important figure?

Only now did they understand what it meant to lose protection; they were nothing at all.

Finally, someone said in a hoarse voice, "Why aren't you chasing after them yet!"

A reminder snapped the crowd out of their daze, and they rushed toward the city gate as if their pants were on fire.

Meanwhile, Meng Fuqing and his group had already embarked on their journey to Hanhua Village.