After traveling through time, she still led the villagers to make money as a county magistrate

……

Return to the Yamen

Gu Niannian picked up her pen and wrote a relationship diagram of the characters in Wang Sheng's family. She originally suspected that Wang Sheng had some suspicion with her mother, or that she had killed her mother and built her into the wall because she didn't want to raise her anymore, and then falsely reported her missing.

But after listening to Wang Sheng's story today, the emotions he expressed didn't seem fake. "Could it be that the wall is really for soundproofing?"

"I always feel that there is something strange about Liu." Wu Bo suddenly spoke

Gu Niannian, "What's so strange about that?"

"Although Liu is beautiful, she is really old. Wang Sheng is only twenty years old. If Liu were older, she could be his mother. Which man would be willing to marry such an old woman and provide for her like that?"

"But it's not easy for someone to marry Wang Sheng, given his appearance. Maybe I'm overthinking it." Wu Bo scratched his head and said

An idea suddenly struck Gu Niannian. "Perhaps you haven't thought too much about it. Go check on this Liu family and report anything unusual."

Wu Bo, "Yes"

Gu Niannian, "Your wife is about to give birth!"

"The doctor said the baby's due at the end of next month, and I'll have to ask for a half-month holiday." Wu Bo's lips curled up unconsciously as he thought of his wife.

Gu Niannian, "This is natural. Women are the weakest after giving birth, and their husbands should stay by their side."

"Wu Bo thanks you first." Wu Bo said with a bow.

Gu Niannian waved her hand. "No problem. How long have Mr. Wang and Mrs. Liu been married?"

Li Jing, "according to records, they registered their marriage with the government three months ago."

Gu Niannian asked, "Is there anything strange about the death of Wang Chun, the Queen Mother's husband? Are you sure he drowned?"

Li Jing, "That's not true. The man got drunk, fell, and drowned. The last people who found him were a group of farmers on their way to their fields. They had no vested interest in Wang Sheng's family."

"I always feel that the case is not that simple, but I don't have any ideas at the moment." Gu Niannian bit her fingernails, feeling a little embarrassed.

"You can't just go and smash other people's houses for no reason."

"The adults said they were married only three months ago?" Wu Bo suddenly spoke up.

Li Jing, "Well, what do you think of?"

"Look, Mrs. Liu's belly looks like it's the size of a six-month-old belly. My wife's belly was this big when she was six months old."

"Well, maybe they got married because of pregnancy," Wu Bo said disapprovingly.

Gu Niannian suddenly raised her head, "Li Jing, go check on Liu. She is so old, see if she has been married before, or... had a lover."

"Zhang Dahui..."

"Here..." Before Gu Niannian could finish her words, Zhang Da's voice came from the door.

Li Jing poured a cup of tea and handed it to Zhang Da, who drank it in one breath and put down the teacup. "Wang Sheng's family is indeed suspicious, your Excellency is really smart. He Si said that Wang Sheng's wall was not thickened from the beginning, but was thickened later. He Si didn't know the specific time of the thickening. He Si wanted to divide the family recently and build a house for himself, so he thought of this property. But he found that Wang Sheng occupied the land of one wall of his family, so he reported the case."

Gu Niannian, "Then how does he know that this land was not thickened when the house was built."

Zhang Da, "The house built by Wang Sheng's family was built by He Si's uncle, who was hired by Wang Sheng's father Wang Chun. Uncle He Si is a famous bricklayer in the local area. Basically, whoever builds a house will hire him. How could he not know him?"

"So, the thickened part at the back was made by He Si himself?"

Zhang Da nodded and said, "It's very likely."

Gu Niannian, "Let's go to Mr. Wang's house again tomorrow."

The next day, the group returned to Wang Sheng's house. Gu Niannian carefully observed the thickened wall and found some slight scratches on it, as if something had been removed.

"Mr. Wang, why does this wall need to be thickened?" Gu Niannian turned around and asked.

Wang Sheng's eyes flickered as he stammered, "Yes...it's to keep warm."

Gu Niannian pinched some dirt between her index finger and thumb and put it to the tip of her nose and sniffed, "Last time you said it was for soundproofing, but this is for warmth?"

Wang Sheng, "It's both soundproof and warm, isn't it?"

Gu Niannian was suspicious and walked up to Liu and asked bluntly, "Liu, whose child is this in your belly?"

"Of course it was born to my husband, the king." Liu said righteously

Gu Niannian, "I think it belongs to Wang Sheng's father, Wang Chun!"

"Your Excellency is talking nonsense here and is going to ruin my reputation. How can I face people in the future?" Liu sat down on the ground and rolled around in a rage.

Wang Sheng hurried forward to help, "Be careful, child. No matter what they say, your husband believes in you."

Gu Niannian was shocked at first. What he said was found out by Li Jing. It was true that he had a lover. That lover was none other than Wang Chun, Wang's mother's husband. Logically, Wang Sheng should have had some doubts about Liu, but there was no suspicion on his face.

"There are only two points that can explain this. The first is that Wang Sheng had known about this for a long time and he was willing. The second is that Wang Sheng loved Liu so much that he no longer cared whose child was in her belly."

"That's not right! Seeing how Wang Sheng cares about the child, it's really not the way he treats other people's children. If it's someone else's child, it's the gift he got when he married Liu, so shouldn't he throw it away? It shouldn't be difficult for him to have a child at such a young age!"

"Could it really be Wang Sheng's own child?" Gu Niannian thought.

Wang Sheng helped Liu up and sat her on a chair. He then bowed to Gu Niannian and said, "Sir, if you want to tear down that wall, go ahead! If there's nothing you're looking for, please don't bother us anymore. We're just ordinary people and can't stand your harassment..."

The earthen walls in the countryside were easy to demolish, just a matter of a few hammers, and Wang Sheng actually agreed. Li Jing was about to wave his hand to signal the yamen runners to demolish the wall, but Gu Niannian grabbed Li Jing's arm in time and shook his head, "No."

He turned to Wang Sheng and said, "Wang Sheng, we won't tear down the wall. If we do, you won't know where to stay tonight. Can you tell me how you and your wife met, got to know each other, and fell in love?"

"How could a country person say such things? Liu has no parents, and the matchmaker introduced her and thought she was a good match... so it all came together naturally..."

"What about this child?"

"Well, young people are full of vigor and passion. You are not young anymore, so you should have some experience in sex!" Liu adjusted the hairpin on her head and said with a smile

Gu Niannian coughed twice and asked, "Are you also in contact with Wang Chun?"

Liu Shi didn't shy away from saying, "I'm almost thirty now. It's not against the law to see a few more men, right?"

Gu Niannian, "How did you end up falling for Wang Sheng?"

"Since you are so handsome, I will tell you the truth."

"Of all the men I've seen, he's the youngest and has the best physical strength... You've heard that thirty is like a wolf, forty is like a tiger, right?" After saying this, Liu laughed so hard that her whole body shook.

"That's all I'm going to ask you today, Li Jing, let's go."

When they were halfway there, Gu Niannian approached Li Jing and said, "Send someone to keep an eye on Wang Sheng and Liu. I have a feeling their marriage isn't as simple as they say."

"Liu is so unscrupulous, but her husband Wang Sheng doesn't show any emotion at all and still cares about her so much. It's really abnormal."

Li Jing: "Wang Sheng doesn't seem to care about Liu, but more about the baby in Liu's belly."

Gu Niannian, "Your words reminded me. I always felt something was wrong..."