Shen Ershen was very unwilling to interact too much with the villagers, fearing they would pester her for help.
Upon hearing this, she excused herself to Tao Lengshuang and went to the main entrance, breathing heavily.
Seeing it was her neighbor, she frowned and put on a distant smile, "Why are you here? Is there something you need?"
She desperately hoped it wasn't a request for rice or flour; her family had none to spare.
The neighbor glanced towards the main hall, hunched her body, and lowered her voice, "Are you still following the Mo family?"
Shen Ershen didn't understand her meaning, "What do you mean? Speak plainly, don't beat around the bush."
The neighbor acted as if she had the best interests of Shen Ershen's family at heart, "Shen Ershen, aren't you foolish?"
"Now that you owe the Mo family such a great debt, how will you repay it in the future? Moreover, it's clear the Mo family is using you. Once they're done with you, they'll abandon you. What will you do then?"
Shen Ershen finally understood. She threw out a "None of your business" and closed the main door, returning to the hall.
But as soon as she sat down, someone else came to find her, saying similar things.
Afterward, someone went to find Shen Ershu. The neighbor's family, Wang Sanshen's family, and two other families besides the children were all sought out by the villagers, and they all said similar things.
When Tao Lengshuang learned of this from Shen Ershen and the others, she knew it was the work of the mastermind: "Didn't I tell you before, Shen Ershen? Someone wants to harm Mo Lingxi. This is their tactic of sowing discord."
If she said it was a scheme against her, Shen Ershen and the others might not believe it. But saying it was a scheme against Mo Lingxi was different.
Everyone in the village could see that Mo Lingxi was no ordinary person.
Shen Ershen and the others assured Tao Lengshuang to rest easy, stating they weren't brainless fools to be swayed by a few words. Besides, their current lives were so good.
"Mo family, you need to be wary. Who knows what other tricks that malicious person might play."
"Yes, yes. That person used the villagers to scheme against you, they must have other plans."
Tao Lengshuang thanked them and began to ponder how to teach the mastermind a lesson.
Originally, she had planned to use those few neighbors to stir up trouble in the village, but it seemed that wouldn't work now.
The mastermind was very generous with rice, flour, and silver.
"Mo family, aren't many people in the village from outside the village sent to build the imperial villa? You can ask your man to think of a way to send some villagers there. See who dares to cause trouble then."
Shen Ershen's suggestion made Tao Lengshuang sit up straight, her eyes narrowing. This was a good idea.
Therefore, that very day, five or six constables arrived in the village and apprehended Tao Lengshuang's two neighboring families and three families who had been the most troublesome. They were openly marched out of the village, attracting the attention of many villagers.
"You people, you have peaceful lives but you're always causing trouble."
A constable pointed at the onlookers, "Sowing discord, scheming for trivial gains."
"See? All sent to build the imperial villa. With this outcome, do you dare to keep causing trouble every day?"
The villagers shivered in fear, repeatedly saying they wouldn't dare.
After the constables escorted those people away from Shili Slope Village, the villagers erupted.
"Do you think this matter has something to do with the Mo family? I heard her husband is not simple. Just as we tried to sow discord between her and the Shen and Wang families, this happened."
"I'm sure of it. I won't dare to do anything to the Mo family anymore. I wouldn't do it even for more rice and flour. Who knows if they can even survive returning from building the imperial villa."
"Fortunately, my family has never offended the Mo family. I advised you before, is the Mo family someone you can easily provoke? Just the medicinal powder she has is enough for us to suffer."
"Yes, and her medical skills are so good. She doesn't ask for much silver. It's good to find her for treatment when you have a headache or something goes wrong, isn't it? Why cause such trouble."
Many villagers regretted it. At the time, they thought it was a worthwhile deal to get several catties of rice and flour for just a few words, not considering the consequences.
Meanwhile, Tao Lengshuang learned about the village from her secret guards and knew that for some time to come, the villagers would not dare to bother her.
Without the villagers causing trouble, she would have enough energy to investigate the mastermind.
However, Tao Lengshuang did not expect that at night, her secret guards would capture more than ten people.
According to these ten or so people, they were bandits who had taken money from someone to deal with Tao Lengshuang. However, these bandits refused to reveal who had hired them, claiming they adhered to the code of the martial world.
"Since you adhere to the code of the martial world, don't blame me for being ruthless."
Tao Lengshuang raised her hand and threw out a handful of Laughing Powder, "This is my specially made Laughing Powder. It will make you laugh for three days and three nights."
"When you are willing to talk, I will give you the antidote."
Suddenly, the bandits burst into laughter.
"Hahaha~~ I can't stop laughing, someone help me?"
"I don't want to laugh, but I can't stop. This woman is truly terrifying."
Tao Lengshuang was not in a hurry. She sat on a stool in the hall, warming herself by the fire and waiting, her ears filled with the bandits' heart-wrenching laughter.
In the silence of the night, it was particularly piercing and terrifying, making the surrounding neighbors tremble under their quilts, once again firming their resolve to stay far away from Tao Lengshuang's family and not to offend them.
Tao Lengshuang listened calmly, even thinking of roasting a sweet potato, but unfortunately, there were no sweet potatoes.
Thinking of sweet potatoes, she touched her chin and asked the secret guard, "Are sweet potato seeds easy to obtain?"
Sweet potatoes were good things, but it seemed no one here planted them.
The secret guard did not know about this and said they would investigate and report back to Tao Lengshuang.
Tao Lengshuang was not in a hurry. If there were sweet potatoes, they could be planted on a large scale, and there would be no need to worry about starvation.
She sat there idly, waiting for the bandits to confess.
About two quarters of an hour later, two bandits couldn't take it anymore and repeatedly said they wanted to confess.
Tao Lengshuang gave the two bandits the antidote, "Speak, who hired you to deal with me?"
Not having to laugh anymore felt wonderful. The two bandits lay in the snow, disregarding the cold.
"It was a dark and thin middle-aged man. Although he was well-dressed, you could tell at a glance that he was a farmer. That stingy demeanor couldn't be hidden."
Tao Lengshuang had a guess. She took a stick and drew a picture on the ground, "Is it this person?"
The two bandits quickly said it was this person, and added that this person had haggled with them, acting very superior.
Tao Laoda!
Tao Lengshuang sneered. She knew this matter was related to the Tao family. The Tao family was too eager for her to die.
She asked her secret guards to help deal with these bandits, while she sat in the hall, contemplating how to punish the Tao family.
If the Tao family dared to hire assassins to kill her this time, who knew what more malicious things they would do next time.
But she needed to follow the Tao family to investigate the mastermind, so she had to devise a foolproof plan.