Some received the death penalty, some life imprisonment, but in all, they were met with the punishment they deserved. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ Nove1Fire.net The case of the An Family was filed separately and continued to be investigated. This counted as the most sensational news in the Imperial Capital during the month of April. The newspapers also extensively covered it. For traitors, everyone applauded with joy. And because of such severe punishment, the law and order in the Imperial Capital improved, and the sky in April seemed much clearer. Gu Qiaoqiao naturally found out immediately. She calculated in her mind that Lin Fanpeng and his gang had all been caught, and the Lin Family had moved out of the Imperial Capital back to their hometown. It’s a very remote place. It’s believed they won’t be coming back anytime soon. During this time, Gu Qiaoqiao made a call to Dongfang Yu, rejecting Dongfang Yu’s terms, and bluntly stated that the Gu Family and Dongfang Yu had not reached a point of reconciliation to do business together. If he wanted gemstones, he could find someone else. The Gu Family’s gemstones were not for sale to him. The Gu Family doesn’t hold a grudge that much; with such enmity before, how could they quickly turn to do business with Dongfang Yu? Dongfang Yu’s attitude was strange; he didn’t get angry and calmly accepted... Although the matter with Dongfang Yu was unresolved, Zhang Miao brought someone to Gu Qiaoqiao. This person was Sect Leader Nie, one of the South Five Sects. Through a conversation with Sect Leader Nie, Gu Qiaoqiao finally understood why Dongfang Yu was so compliant. It turned out Dongfang Yu was warned. The warning came from Sect Leader Nie, the representative sent by the Five Sects. Getting along well with these people was naturally something the Gu Family was pleased about, and Sect Leader Nie responded favorably. Sect Leader Nie and the Old Patriarch also had a delightful conversation. After all, the Old Patriarch’s age was there, different from Gu Qiaoqiao; the Old Patriarch had vivid memories of past events. No matter who it is, in old age, they love to reminisce about the past... The Old Patriarch and Sect Leader Nie were no exceptions. Thus, the Gu Family gained another honorary elder in Sect Leader Nie. Sect Leader Nie preferred everyone to call him Elder Nie. When things had settled down, Gu Qiaoqiao wanted to visit a certain place. That place was her nightmare across two lifetimes. It was a village in the Southwestern Great Mountain. Previously a bandit hideout, after the founding of the New Nation, the bloodthirsty bandits were executed. The place was then renamed Cliff Village. Unfortunately, its infamous reputation was too entrenched; the remaining few dozen households, though not owing blood debts, still had a bad reputation. So no girl was willing to marry there. The village chief was elected by the villagers, all people bound by kinship despite broken bones, making it not only backward but also difficult to educate, truly unruly people. Because of the proximity to the mountains, the villagers were relatively wealthy. So when they couldn’t get brides, they bought them, and if they behaved, they were to bear children for them; if not, they’d be beaten senseless. And practically all the wives in the village were purchased. This, an old Public Security officer once told her in a past life. By the time Gu Qiaoqiao learned of these things, the women in the village had mostly been rescued. But that was seven years later. Gu Qiaoqiao could never forget that mountain village. She was sold there, and although her chastity was intact, she lost her ability to speak. The silvery laughter and melodious songs of the past only lingered in the dreams of midnight. Therefore, when she gained some ability and could finally catch her breath, the place she most wanted to visit was that village.