Chapter 218: Ancestral Hall Accusation

At this moment, Jiang Xiaoxiao watched the bickering Guihua Shen and Wang Laifu, a faint unease stirring in her heart.

Especially Wang Laifu—he gave her an extremely wrong feeling.

So Jiang Xiaoxiao stepped forward, approaching Guihua Shen, who was covering her mouth and crying, and asked in a soft, childlike voice: "Auntie Guihua, when did Er Niu disappear? Where were you and Uncle Laifu on the day she vanished? What were you doing?"

"Ah, Xiaoxiao, it's all my fault. A few days ago, Er Niu argued with her father and ran off. I didn't go look for her, and after that, she never came back... sob sob sob, it's all my fault—if only I'd chased after her that day..." Guihua Shen wiped her tears, and as she spoke, she couldn't help crying again.

Hearing this, Jiang Xiaoxiao and her mother exchanged a silent glance.

Clearly, Er Niu had run off in a sulk after arguing with her father—otherwise, she wouldn't have gone missing.

Jiang Wei turned to Wang Laifu: "If that's the case, why didn't you report Er Niu's disappearance to the village head the next day? If you'd reported it promptly, the village head might have gathered the villagers to help search."

"I, I…" Wang Laifu, pinned by Jiang Wei's piercing gaze, was momentarily speechless, but quickly regained his composure and said: "I thought the girl had just run off to her maternal home after a few quarrels—this isn't the first time it's happened."

Jiang Wei then turned to Guihua Shen.

Guihua Shen nodded: "In the past, when Er Niu was upset, she'd always go to my parents' place, stay two or three days, then come back—so when she vanished then, I didn't pay much attention…"

After speaking, Guihua Shen's face was filled with guilt as she lowered her head and wiped her tears.

But there's no medicine for regret in this world.

"Judging by the time Er Niu vanished, Zhou Shu's niece and Xiaoya were only missing two days later." Jiang Xiaoxiao mused.

"The person who abducted Er Niu realized our village didn't care about these girls going missing, so he grew bolder and abducted others…"

"This is too vile!" the village head roared. "If I find out which Pahua Zi committed such an inhuman act, I'll never forgive him!"

"Exactly! Too vile!" The villagers chorused in agreement. "If we catch someone like this, we don't even need to take him to the magistrate—just beat him to death with sticks!"

Listening to the crowd's denunciations, Li Shoude and Yun Ying, standing among the people, turned pale, barely perceptibly.

"Village Head," Jiang Wei spoke then, "I think someone in the village is secretly involved in these children's disappearances."

No sooner had Jiang Wei spoken than Wang Laifu blurted out: "Jiang Shi, what are you implying! Are you saying there's a traitor in our village? That can't be—everyone here is known to each other; who'd do something so inhuman?"

Jiang Wei lightly curled her lips: "Why not? Haven't we had cases in this village of selling girls to Human Traffickers? For money, what wouldn't someone do?"

Hearing this, Gao Daniu beside them lowered his head in shame.

"But the missing girls are only seven or eight years old—even if sold to those kind of… uh, places—it's unlikely." A woman voiced her doubt.

"Hmm…" Jiang Xiaoxiao deliberately paused, her gaze drifting toward the Li family standing among the crowd. "Perhaps some people… simply prefer very young girls?"

The moment she spoke, Li Shoude and Yun Ying's expressions changed instantly.

But Li Shoude had extremely strong composure—he almost immediately regained his calm and laughed: "Haha, Er Ya, you're joking! You're so young—where would you have ever seen someone like that?"

"Where I've seen someone like that—you know best," Jiang Xiaoxiao replied with a smile.

Her gaze drifted slowly toward Yun Ying.

Yun Ying lacked Li Shoude's formidable mental resilience—after Jiang Xiaoxiao's words, she was nervously darting her eyes around, guilt-ridden.

That one glance was enough for Jiang Xiaoxiao to be certain: the children's disappearances were absolutely tied to Yun Ying and Li Shoude!

"Oh, by the way, Mama, do you remember the marriage arrangement between the Huang family and the Li family?" Jiang Xiaoxiao deliberately raised her voice. "I even saw him in Town a few days ago—that Huang Young Master is over thirty, old enough to be Feng'er's father. I don't understand why your Li family still wants to marry her off to him…"

"That's right," Jiang Wei deliberately agreed. "Thank goodness it wasn't you who was married off—if it had been, I'd have been heartbroken."

"W-what's going on?" The villagers caught Jiang Wei's implication and began asking in confusion. "How is this marriage connected to Xiaoxiao?"

Jiang Wei nodded: "Do you all remember when the Li family kidnapped Xiaoxiao while I was away? The village head and Qiulian Niang can both testify to that."

Qiulian Niang immediately stepped forward: "Are you saying… that time they kidnapped Xiaoxiao was for…"

"Exactly," Jiang Wei nodded, her gaze fixed on the Li family, whose faces had all turned ashen. "That time, they kidnapped Xiaoxiao to marry her off to that Huang Young Master! He's a Pervert who likes young girls—and he promised twenty taels of silver if they gave him Xiaoxiao."

"What!!"

Hearing this secret for the first time, the villagers were stunned, and began condemning the Li family.

"Lao Li, how could your family do something so inhuman! That Huang Young Master is over thirty, and Xiaoxiao is only five—she's barely old enough to be his granddaughter! How could you marry her off to him!?"

"You say Li Shoude is a Scholar—how will he ever take the imperial exams if this gets out!?"

Hearing the villagers bring up Li Shoude's scholarly prospects, Old Man Li grew furious: "What nonsense! This has nothing to do with my son! It was all Sun Shi's doing—my son knew nothing!"

To protect Li Shoude's official career, he instinctively blamed everything on Sun Shi.

Today, Sun Shi was locked at home doing chores by Old Matriarch and hadn't come to the Ancestral Hall—he wasn't afraid his lie would be exposed.

But the villagers weren't fooled—they merely sneered: "Hmph, twenty taels of silver—I knew your family suddenly had so much money to send Li Shoude to State to study… Wait, could these missing girls be connected to your family too?"

The crowd slowly realized the implication.

"A few days ago, Old Man Li went door to door borrowing money—he couldn't get any… could he have traded our village girls to the Huang Young Master for cash!?"

"H-how could that be!" Old Man Li immediately denied it. "Even if I, Li Yongqiang, were the worst man alive, I'd never do something so inhuman!"

His entire face flushed crimson, veins bulging on his forehead—he looked utterly sincere.