Transformed into the control group, relying on the spiritual spring space to feed four children

The three members of the Wan family sat in the front middle seat.

"Son, this is what I spent five hundred taels of silver to buy. You must do your best." Mrs. Wan handed the painting to Wan Liangzhe, patted his shoulder and said, "Go quickly."

Xu Xiaorou on the side gritted her teeth. It was obvious that she paid half of the money, but the old lady didn't mention a word.

Wan Liangzhe nodded, "Don't worry, mother, I will definitely get promoted this time!"

Ma Wenzheng had been the county magistrate for six years, and Wan Liangzhe had been the Dianshi for three years, and the acting chief clerk for two years. Officially becoming a chief clerk and acting chief clerk were not the same thing at all. Wan Liangzhe was now trying to grasp the official position of the chief clerk. When Ma Wenzheng became the county magistrate, he could become the eighth-rank county magistrate if he worked hard.

Wan Liangzhe's eyes were full of ambition. He took the best scroll and strode to the county magistrate: "Sir, I wish you a long and prosperous life!"

He opened the red box and showed the scroll: "This is "A Thousand Mountains and Valleys", dedicated to you!"

"'A Thousand Mountains and Valleys'?! But is it the one known as 'the mountains and rivers are thick and solid, and the vegetation is luxuriant'?" Perhaps because he was too excited, the old magistrate coughed and hurried over to check.

The painting depicts mountains in layers. Although the painting is not large, the artistic conception is very grand. With the seal on the upper left corner, it is indeed "A Thousand Mountains and Valleys"! Ma Huo had wanted this painting for a long time. His face flushed and he coughed. Just as he was about to praise it, he was interrupted by someone behind him.

"Wait a minute!" A man in fancy clothes in the birthday celebration team said loudly, "Your painting is "A Thousand Mountains and Valleys", so what is mine?"

It is said that the man in fancy clothes came from the capital, passing by here to handle a case. When he heard about the county magistrate's birthday, he came to celebrate.

Ma Huo said respectfully, "My Lord, what do you mean?"

Wang Jiu glanced at the guard beside him, and the guard unfolded the scroll in his hand, which was exactly the same as the one in Wan Liangzhe's hand.

"It's really exactly the same!"

"Then there must be one true and one false. It's impossible for both to be true!"

Wan Liangzhe's back was already wet with sweat at this time. He suddenly had a bad feeling and glanced towards the table where his mother and wife were.

Mrs. Wan twisted the back of Xu Xiaorou's hand fiercely under the table and glared at her: "You are dead."

Xu Xiaorou herself came from a good family and was quite knowledgeable about calligraphy and painting, so she was asked to go out and choose a painting. She had also seen the painting at that time, and it should be authentic... But she was so angry with Wen Yan at that time that she did not check it carefully. Could there be a mistake?

Xu Xiaorou couldn't help feeling flustered.

"The two paintings do look exactly the same." Maho put the two paintings together and examined them carefully. Someone came over to look at them together.

"Look here, the handwriting of the signature seems to be a little different." Someone in the crowd pointed to the few lines of words in the upper left corner.

Ma Huo looked over quickly, "It's true, one of the strokes is a little softer."

Wang Jiu put a piece of meat into his mouth and used his free chopsticks to touch Wan Liangzhe's painting. "Master Chen's paintings are always known for their sharp brushstrokes, but his inscriptions are always soft. He believes that everything is in harmony with yin and yang, and so are his paintings."

Everyone remained silent as they looked at Wan Liangzhe's painting, which was already stained with oil.

Wang Jiu didn't care. "This kind of crudely made fake should be destroyed directly. What's the point of keeping it?"

When Wan Liangzhe thought about how he had spent five hundred taels on this painting and it was destroyed so easily, his face twisted and he cursed, "What are you doing!"

Ma Huo quickly tried to smooth things over, and glared at Wan Liangzhe, "What are you talking about? The noble man has to say what he says, why are you butting in?"

This look made Wan Liangzhe shut up, but his eyes were full of unwillingness.

"I'm sorry to have embarrassed you." Ma Huo quickly apologized to the nobleman.

"Don't laugh, don't laugh."

Just as Magistrate Ma breathed a sigh of relief, he heard him continue, "How do you plan to deal with someone who dares to send you a fake painting on your sixtieth birthday?"

This means that there is no intention to make a big deal out of a small matter.

County Magistrate Ma was also somewhat resentful towards Wan Liangzhe. He was said to be a noble man, but his attitude was still like this. He was just thinking that if it was really a Qianshantu, it would be fine to let him be the county magistrate.

"Wan Liangzhe, what do you say?"

"Say...what? Sir, I didn't mean it. The shop owner told me that this painting was real! I spent five hundred taels of silver to buy it."

"Oh?" Wang Jiu sneered, "It seems that the job of the chief clerk of Xiahe Town is quite easy. He was deceived so easily. How can he manage this land well?"

Wan Liangzhe really wanted to say that he was just an archive organizer and had nothing to do with governance, but the identity of the person in front of him was a mystery, so he didn't dare to talk to him.

Old Mrs. Wan could no longer sit still. She stood up and glanced at Xu Xiaorou with a stern face.

The latter suddenly had a bad feeling in his heart.

Before she could react, Old Lady Wan slapped Xu Xiaorou in the face. The clear sound spread throughout the room, attracting everyone's attention.

"You bitch!" Old Lady Wan grabbed Xu Xiaorou's ears and threw her in front of County Magistrate Ma. "I asked you to help choose a gift for the County Magistrate because I thought you came from a scholarly family. I didn't expect you to dare to give me a fake one!"

Xu Xiaorou's belly was unusually big, and when she was thrown like that, everyone present turned their faces away.

Ma Zhengwen couldn't help but say, "It's okay to talk, but she's still pregnant."

"So what if she's pregnant? If she doesn't tell me anything today, I'll let the county magistrate and the nobleman handle it for her."

Xu Xiaorou felt cold all over and her stomach ached. Was he planning to abandon her to save Wan Liangzhe?

She looked at her husband, but he turned his face away and didn't want to look at her.

Xu Xiaorou felt chilled. She thought she was happier than Wen Yan, and she thought Wan Liangzhe would protect her for life. This was not a matter of life or death, at most he would lose his position, but he refused.

"Madam Wan Er, what do you say?" County Magistrate Ma could see that this was a way to push someone out to ward off disaster. He really learned something new today about the Wan family's style.

"Your Excellency is wise!" Xu Xiaorou slowly opened her eyes, and a plan suddenly came to her mind. "Actually, this painting is not my first choice. My first choice is "Spring Moon Mountain Scenery"."

"My painting?" Ma Wen was wondering, "This is a gift I gave to my father. How does it have anything to do with you?"

Xu Xiaorou looked up pitifully, "That day I went to buy calligraphy and paintings, and my sister-in-law followed me. What I wanted at the beginning was this "Spring Moon Mountain Scenery", and the shop owner said that the painting was a fake, but I realized that this painting was authentic, so I bought it directly. Unexpectedly, my sister-in-law also liked it and insisted on taking it away to see it, and said...she also said that she would return it to me immediately."

"I didn't expect that when I went to ask for it, she actually said that she had returned the painting to its original owner! I asked her who she gave it to but she wouldn't tell me. I couldn't be angry with my sister-in-law. Her husband died and she was kicked out of the house because of her dirty deeds. It was already pitiful enough."

"So I hastily chose another painting, but I didn't expect it to be a fake!"

Xu Xiaorou's tears flowed down her face. She was pregnant, which made her even more pitiful. "I didn't expect my sister-in-law to be such a person. I usually use my dowry to support her, thinking that it must be easy for her to take care of the child. I didn't expect... that she would actually harm me..."

"If the county magistrate wants to punish me for this, I will have no complaints!"