Just as Song Chuyi was about to return to the cabin, she was stopped by Li San and his wife, who were already scared out of their wits. The two knelt on the deck, kowtowing to her desperately with loud thudding sounds, so frightened that tears and snot flowed together as they repeatedly begged her to spare their lives.

Qing Ying found them disgusting to look at. Although it was thanks to them that they had managed to keep the river bandits stable and prevent any premature trouble, these same two people had been disloyal servants who accepted others’ silver to harm their masters and flee far away. Such master-betraying people—she wished she could stomp them into pulp one by one. How could she possibly find them pitiful? She couldn’t help but laugh coldly in mockery: “Now you know to be afraid? When you were accepting people’s silver to do such unconscionable things, why didn’t you think about the consequences?”

Li San’s wife went even weaker, her head banging against the deck with tremendous thuds as she cried and began slapping her own face: “I was blinded by greed, I’m not even human to do such a thing—betraying my master and forgetting their kindness. Sixth Miss is magnanimous, please spare us! We’ve at least earned some merit to offset our crimes…”

Song Yan had finished handling matters below deck, admonishing the escort guards and the slippery old servants, and had instructed Qin Chuan to carefully cross-check the roster once more to ensure all names matched with people. Just as he was about to come up to find Song Chuyi, he came face to face with the scene of Li San and his wife kowtowing to beg for mercy. He pressed his lips together, a glimmer of disgust showing in his eyes. If Song Chuyi hadn’t received advance warning about the river bandits, if sister and he hadn’t made thorough preparations, at this moment neither he nor his sister would even have the chance to beg for mercy. That gang of river bandits were fierce demons who committed every evil—he simply dared not imagine what fate would have befallen his sister and the cousins if they had truly fallen into these bandits’ hands, not to mention they also had Lianyi and An’an with them…

He had already learned to put away his kind heart, because there would always be people in this world who harbored the greatest malice toward you. If you played the fool who showed mercy to wolves, you would inevitably meet the fate of being devoured.

Li San and his wife couldn’t be sent to the authorities—if they were sent to the authorities, the plan they had discussed with Huang Yiping for them to claim credit would be exposed. But such people were truly unsuitable to keep by their side, and even less suitable to let go.

Song Chuyi stood thoughtfully for a while, then suddenly looked at Li San and his wife: “Our family temple still lacks a gatekeeper. Why don’t the two of you husband and wife go manage the family temple from now on?”

Li San’s wife had originally been hoping to be released—she was no longer registered as a slave. But the moment her gaze met Song Chuyi’s, she couldn’t say half a word of objection. She could see that Sixth Miss was already being merciful. If she didn’t know what was good for her, her fate would probably be even worse than that river bandit who had been hung from the boat for two days and nights.

She dared not take that risk. She turned her head to look at her husband Li San. Li San’s mind was even clearer than hers. He knew that having committed such an error, the Song family wasn’t sending them to the authorities because they had concerns, but if they were foolish enough to think they could leave the Song family, that was pure fantasy. Staying at the family temple would certainly be harsh, but it was also the best way to preserve their lives—if the Song family didn’t keep them under their noses, they would stuff them into coffins and bury them to be completely at ease.

Therefore, he unhesitatingly pulled Li San’s wife to kowtow several more times to the ground.

Song Chuyi was satisfied with his perceptiveness. She stood up meaningfully, gazing at the boundless river surface, her words as chilling as the wind on the river: “The family temple is indeed a hard place, but listening to more Buddhist teachings and accumulating merit for yourselves—the days won’t be too difficult. The truly difficult days, you probably haven’t witnessed yet. It’s not easy for me to show mercy once, so you’d better not waste this kindness of mine.”

Li San listened until his entire body shivered. He immediately swore a vicious oath to heaven that he would never dare harbor disloyal thoughts again. But Song Chuyi didn’t want to hear anymore. She waved her hand lightly to cut off his words, and Ma Changjiang and Ma Wangkun grimly hauled both of them away.

Only then did Song Yan step forward, his face carrying a hint of suppressed anger: “The Chen family is going too far. Sister, should we…”

Although the trap they had designed for the Chen family was also gradually ensnaring Third Master Chen, and soon it would trap the entire Chen family along with him, nearly being framed by the Chen family again was truly infuriating.

The charcoal brazier in the cabin was burning vigorously, just enough to sweep away all the cold from their bodies. Song Chuyi watched as Song Yan drank the scalding ginger soup that Yu Shi had just had someone bring up, then gently shook her head: “Don’t let small gains cause great losses or alert them prematurely—that would be bad. We didn’t die, which is already enough to make the person behind this worried sick for a while. As for the rest, let’s wait until elder brother sends word.”

Actually, if one calculated it, it wouldn’t be long now. In just over a month, it would be the spring imperial examinations. This matter would soon ferment and blow up. Everything was already prepared and ready. They couldn’t have any mishaps at this crucial juncture.

But while they had no mishaps, Old Madam Chen was truly as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. She had never imagined that the river bandits’ attack would have complications—or rather, not exactly complications, but at most they simply hadn’t succeeded before being wiped out in one fell swoop by Huang Yiping and Zhou the garrison commander…

The timing was also truly too coincidental. That blockhead Huang Yiping—why didn’t he suppress bandits at any other time, but had to choose this moment, catching and eliminating the river bandits in one swoop before the Song and Cui family boat fleets passed through? This hidden danger that hadn’t been resolved for so many years—these two had quietly solved it. Speaking of it, they were probably forced by the court until they had no choice. She had heard that even Zhou the garrison commander’s hereditary grace and titles had been revoked. Wouldn’t he have to fight the river bandits desperately? If anyone was to blame, it could only be that the Song and Cui families had too much good fortune.

Chen Mingyu hadn’t expected that this matter would fail again. Hugging Old Madam Chen’s arm, she stared blankly into space. Could Song Chuyi’s fortune really be this good? No wonder Master Yuanhui said she was a solitary star of calamity—it seemed he really hadn’t spoken wrongly. What ordinary person would have such a hard life?

She had originally thought that this time they would absolutely be able to remove Song Chuyi, this great threat weighing on her heart. She hadn’t expected that in the end they would still fall just short of success. Immediately her entire person became dispirited and unable to muster any energy. Leaning against Old Madam Chen, she still remembered to clean up loose ends: “Grandmother, didn’t you have clan uncle handle this matter? The river bandits won’t implicate him, will they?”

If that gang of river bandits implicated Chen Bin, the connections behind it would be significant. Chen Bin was surnamed Chen, after all… Those with intentions could always taste the flavor behind it and point their spears at their Chen family.