So he stepped forward and pulled the two apart. When they were face up, he could see clearly that one of them had fainted with color in his face, and the other had an old face that was gray with gray lips.

When the villagers who followed saw this, they all exclaimed in surprise, "What is the clan elder doing here?"

The officials looked extremely grim. They had come all this way in such cold weather, only to find the family they were supposed to search was not there. Instead, they found someone from their own clan, even sharing a bed with them.

With years of experience in handling cases, I naturally understand what's going on.

The head constable slapped the villager across the face, saying, "You dare mess with me? Go back."

The officers left the house cursing and swearing, mounted their horses, and rode away.

The villagers looked at each other, all on the verge of tears, having lost both their wives and their troops.

Xiao Nan only found out about it later through Longlong.

The members of the Ji clan pooled their money and offered tribute to the head constable at the yamen, which is why they were able to summon the officials.

Although the body wasn't found at the Xiao family's residence, the officials' trip wasn't a complete loss, since the money had already been given and wouldn't be refunded; it was just a wasted trip.

They didn't have the guts to openly help the Ji clan frame Xiao Nan's family, mainly because they didn't have enough silver to offer as tribute.

The Ji family lost one tael of silver and also lost credibility with the government, making a wasted trip.

The Zhang family suffered the most because it was Qian's bad idea that caused this, and she also contributed the most money. Now, she has become the enemy of the entire village.

Afterwards, when the villagers realized what had happened, they all flocked to the Zhang family's house.

The Zhang family's gate was tightly shut, and Qian Shi hid inside, too afraid to come out. However, the villagers still managed to break down the gate and rush in.

Zhang Dashan angrily slapped Qian Shi several times, opened the door, and bowed to the villagers.

"Gentlemen, calm down and listen to what I have to say. If I'm wrong, what are you going to do about it?"

"Bah! If it weren't for your wife reviving us, would our Ji clan elders have been humiliated like this after their deaths?"

Zhang Dashan snorted: "My wife shouldn't have stirred things up between you, but you knew it was wrong, so why did you listen to her? Isn't it because you're after the Wang family's wealth?"

The villagers were taken aback, and their anger subsided somewhat, but they were not willing to accept losing money and failing to accomplish anything.

"If it weren't for her, would we have done that?"

"How about we go to the yamen together and have a good talk with the officials? It's okay, my wife will take responsibility for her mistake, even if it means going to jail. But you, you'll become accomplices, and you'll go to jail too. Alright, go back now."

Zhang Dashan looked at them coldly. He had already lost money, and he had no intention of compensating the villagers again, even if it meant losing the Qian family.

The village chief stepped forward. Although he had not participated in the matter, he was the head of the Ji clan and had to intervene.

"Alright, let's go to the government and argue about it. We don't mind spending a few days in jail, but if your wife goes to jail, I'm afraid Zhang Lao Er's chances of taking the imperial examination will be gone. With a mother in jail, he won't even be qualified to enter the examination hall, don't you think?"

Zhang Dashan clenched his fists tightly, trying hard to control himself. Last night, when Qian heard the commotion, she went out to see what was going on despite the cold. She never expected that she would cause such a mess.

He really didn't want to lose money, so he gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at the Ji clan members.

"Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, are you sure you want to go this far?"

The villagers didn't care; they only saw that their money had gone down the drain, and their dream of dividing up Wang Po's property had vanished. They were only thinking about the money they had lost.

So they all shouted in unison, "Give us our money back! Give us our money back! Otherwise, we'll take you to the authorities!"

"Are you sure?"

"Hmph, so what if Zhang Lao Er passed the imperial examination? We don't even know if he can become an official. Even if he does, he won't help us. You don't even respect us. Pay back the money. If you don't, we'll go to the yamen and sue your wife right now."

Zhang Dashan closed his eyes. If it weren't for his second son, he would never have given in.

"Okay, I hope you won't regret it."

He turned and went back into the house, without even glancing at Qian Shi, and immediately took out a wooden box from the corner and a cloth bag from inside.

Qian became anxious and tried to grab the cloth bag, but Zhang Dashan kicked her in the stomach.

Qian screamed and fell to the ground. Zhang Dashan had nowhere to vent his anger, so he went up and kicked her a few more times, and Qian fainted.

Zhang Dashan looked at her with venom, spat at her, and left the house with his cloth bag.

He painfully distributed the money he had lost to each villager, and after he finished, he roared at them:

"Get out, all of you get out! From now on, my Zhang family will have nothing to do with you anymore, and we will never see each other again."

The villagers left with sullen faces. The village chief opened his mouth, sighed, and seemed to age several years in an instant. He then put his hands in his pockets and left as well.

Zhang Dashan collapsed to the ground. Twenty taels of silver were gone just like that. His heart ached as if it were being cut by a knife. He turned around and closed the door. Regardless of whether Qian Shi on the ground was dead or not, he began to beat Zhang Shi fiercely.

In the room next door, Zhao Shi trembled as she hugged her two children tightly. She had never seen her father-in-law so fierce before.

This is terrifying. If Qian is beaten to death, I'm afraid I'll have to do all the housework from now on. Suddenly I don't want to be Zhang's daughter-in-law anymore.

But in terms of looks and family background, no one could find anyone better than Zhang Lao Er.

She wanted to remarry, but she was afraid that if Zhang Lao Er became successful, she wouldn't be able to benefit from his wealth. After all, she had given birth to a son and a daughter for him, and even if he couldn't give her a formal title in the future, he would still have wealth. She was torn between the two options.

At this moment, Longlong was blinking his empty big eyes, watching Zhang Dashan beat up Qian Shi, and felt extremely happy.

Kill him, kill him, kill him quickly! If you leave him with a breath left, you're not your own mother's child.

Disappointed, Zhang Dashan hit him a few times, then sat down on the ground and burst into tears.

What he was heartbroken about wasn't the Qian family, but the money, his son's career, and his reputation.

Qian didn't die, and Zhang Dashan didn't find her a doctor. It's true what they say, evil people live for a thousand years. Qian actually survived.

The baby was lively and energetic in just a few days. These days, Zhao Shi is afraid of doing housework, so she took the baby back to her parents' home.

Left with no other choice, Zhang Dashan cooked for himself, but he always burned the food. Frustrated, he took an oxcart to town and bought steamed buns, bread, meat, and wine. He stopped being frugal and spent his days drinking alone.

After receiving the silver, the villagers dared not say anything more; they kept the matter to themselves.

The villager who slept with the clan elder was like someone suffering from a nightmare, as was his wife. The two of them talked nonsense every day, and the clan elder was hastily buried.

The incident caused chaos throughout the village. Although no fires were reported, everyone felt guilty.

Sometimes when Grandma and Xiao Nan came out, their eyes would dart away.

If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. I wonder if they hear singing in the middle of the night when they're sleeping.

Afterwards, the old woman only found out from Jiang Shi, and she was so angry that she almost had a stroke. If Xiao Nan hadn't given her medicine in time, she would have fainted.

The old woman knew they were bad, but she never dreamed that the Ji clan would go to such lengths for their own money.

Yunpeng did indeed leave three days later. As he left, he took a deep look at Meng Fei and Xiao Nan.

"Brother, sister-in-law, I'm leaving now. If you grow anything new in the future, please think of me first. I may not be very talented, but I do have some talent in making things."

"Get lost! Didn't that prescription have you in mind first?"

I'm talking about things in the ground.

Xiao Nan smiled and said, "As long as you can eat it, it's all yours."

"Alright, I'll remember what you said, sister-in-law. I'll come to visit again."

"Go, go, go!"

Meng Fei waved to him, and Yun Peng pouted as he got into the carriage, making a face at the three of them through the window.

As soon as the car started and the curtains were drawn, his expression immediately turned serious.

No need for this trip, no need for this trip at all! This sister-in-law is no ordinary person. If you, brother, really promote what she grows, it will benefit people all over the world.

I must cling to this powerful figure, especially my sister-in-law. I feel that her abilities go far beyond what I've shown, and there will be even bigger surprises to come.

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