After transmigrating, he supported his family by working at a garbage dump.

Officer Hu knew Xu Wenjie because of the corpse from last time, but he agreed to come with him today.

Naturally, it was because he had some connection with his brother-in-law. Although his brother-in-law was honest, he was indeed very good at judging people.

In addition, when he went home from his shift, he would often run into his sister, who would also mention this family, especially Madam Xu, whom she praised endlessly. So whenever Xu Wenjie went to the yamen to find him, he would come along.

Even so, he could not openly show favoritism in public.

Then he turned to Xu Wenjie and said, "Master Xu, do you have anything to say?"

When Xu Wenjie returned, he immediately recognized Granny Wang and Cao Gu in the crowd. Granny Wang looked much better after not seeing her for half a month, and she was wearing silk and a silver hairpin.

Cao Gu was still as thin and bony as ever.

He glanced into the crowd but didn't see the cold-hearted, arrogant scholar's son. He had indeed underestimated that scholar's son...

Xu Wenjie smiled slightly, but instead of continuing on the same page as Wang Laotai, he changed the subject and directly questioned her.

"Grandma, it's been half a month since I last saw you. You seem to be doing quite well. Did you run into some unlucky benefactor who you tricked into going there?"

His eyes were deep, as if he could see right through Old Lady Wang's thoughts.

If it hadn't been brought up, everything would have been fine. But once it was mentioned, the usually composed but assertive Old Lady Wang suddenly exploded like a lit firecracker, unleashing a torrent of arguments.

"What fraud? Don't just spout nonsense! Let me tell you! I am the wet nurse of the future son-in-law of the second young lady of the Zhou family in the north of the city. If you slander me, you are slandering the Zhou family!"

Grandma Wang readily introduced herself.

"Grandma, I usually don't leave the house, but I had some free time today and came out to stroll around. Suddenly, I smelled your dumplings all over the street, which made me think something was up, so I came to check it out. I never expected your stuff to be so unclean, and you to be so shameless! It's a good thing you called me a liar!"

The sound was still sharp and piercing, penetrating the quiet snack street. Some onlookers next to Old Lady Wang immediately frowned and covered their ears.

However, the louder the voice, the more guilty one is.

The less something is, the more eager they are to prove it.

She was the wet nurse of the second son-in-law of the Zhou family, not his biological mother.

Who were those people who called each other "son" and "mother" in their yard last month?

Xu Wenjie smiled but remained silent, looking at the old lady Wang with her new identity, and made a plan in his mind.

Zhang He, who had caught this information, also gave Xu Wenjie a questioning look. Xu Wenjie smiled and nodded, indicating that he understood.

Desperate to prove herself, Old Lady Wang saw Xu Wenjie smiling slightly but remaining silent. She immediately recalled that night when he held a dagger to her son's neck and couldn't help but shudder.

She mustered her courage and addressed the crowd, "Everyone, come and judge this! It's one thing for this person to sell things and harm people, but to call the Zhou family swindlers!"

However, Old Lady Wang had only been here for a short time and didn't go out often. Many of the onlookers were seeing her for the first time, so naturally, there were all sorts of opinions. Old Lady Wang felt guilty and was about to explain with her hands in her pockets when an old man interrupted her.

"The Zhou family could never be liars!"

Zhang Erye, who had been silently observing from the crowd, naturally seized the opportunity to show off. He coughed a few times and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards the Zhou family in the north of the city.

Then, filled with gratitude, he said:

"The Zhou family is a well-known local gentry in our town, and Master Zhou is a true philanthropist. The road in front of the town and the bridge behind the town, which one wasn't built by the Zhou family? To say that the Zhou family are swindlers is to slap the face of our Qingshan Town, isn't it?"

Immediately afterwards, Master Zhang stepped forward and began to lecture Xu Wenjie with a painstaking and earnest expression.

"Master Xu, you're practically one of us from Laoya Village now. We'll admit our mistakes. The people of Laoya Village are all poor but proud. You can't risk someone's life for a little money, and you certainly can't slander the great philanthropist of our town!"

After saying that, she even squeezed out two tears in a mocking manner, as if she were advising him with a sense of exasperation at his lack of ambition.

These words directly labeled Xu Wenjie's family as poor, short-sighted, and unscrupulous merchants.

Upon hearing this, some of the people who knew Master Zhang praised him for his righteousness, saying, "As expected of the Zhang family of Laoya Village, I've heard that they are highly respected in the village. They are indeed reasonable and do not try to protect their own villagers."

Upon hearing this, Old Lady Wang also cast an admiring glance at him. The old man's reaction was not too bad, and she praised him again, saying, "Second Master Zhang is truly righteous."

After receiving these compliments, Master Zhang was very pleased. He felt lightheaded and immediately raised his chin, his goat horn-shaped mustache pointing skyward.

Xu Wenjie did not interrupt them, but let them enjoy the praise from the crowd, while he secretly gave Xu Zhuzhu a wink.

When Xu Zhuzhu, who was hiding behind Zhang He, poked her head out and nodded at him, Xu Wenjie changed the subject.

"How did a son-in-law's wet nurse become a great philanthropist in town? Master Zhang is exaggerating."

"Besides, nothing is settled yet. Since the old lady says she doesn't recognize her, then let's assume that I've mistaken her for someone else. However, whether or not she used the Night-Blooming Jasmine should be left to Constable Hu to determine!"

As he spoke, he cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Constable Hu, saying, "Thank you for your trouble, Constable Hu."

Hu, the constable, nodded slightly, cleared his throat, and said solemnly, "All of this is just hearsay. Produce the evidence. There is currently a war in the north. Although the situation has stabilized somewhat, the registrar came down to give instructions a month ago."

“Our respective town governments cannot be in disarray, especially regarding these Night-blooming Flowers. There are people responsible for counting, accounting, and registering them every morning, noon, and evening. We haven’t heard of anyone using the medicine recently, nor have we heard of any shortages. If you say that they have put this stuff in their house, then there must be evidence.”

Old Lady Wang immediately handed the purse in her pocket to Constable Hu.

"Of course, the thing is right here."

"Look, this fell right out of the landlady's pocket, everyone can witness! I'm just an old woman, I don't have to worry about food or clothing, I'm not a swindler trying to extort money, why would I frame them?"

She said with a fawning smile, "My son isn't a proper son-in-law of the Zhou family yet, so I should still give these government officials some face."

Officer Hu took the purse, smelled it, and indeed it had a strong, pungent odor.

He squeezed the purse again, his face expressionless, and said, "Grandma, are you sure this is it?"

Grandma Wang looked at the silk pouch she had personally placed the night-blooming cereus flower into and nodded, "That's right, this is it."

Hu, the constable, nodded and quickly opened the purse, revealing a bundle of white roots and round, emerald-green vegetable leaves.

"What is this? Is it grass root? It doesn't look like a flower either!"

Everyone exclaimed in surprise. This thing was clearly a root and leaves, while the Su Ye Hua was taken as a flower bud. It couldn't possibly be a Su Ye Hua!

"Although this thing has a strong smell, it does smell similar to the night-blooming cereus at first glance. But I'm in the yamen every day, and I've never seen a night-blooming cereus like this. Old lady, how do you explain this?"

Grandma Wang's face changed drastically. Her son had given her the flower, and she had put it in herself. She had clearly touched it when she picked it up, and it was still in the shape of a flower bud. How could it have turned into a pile of grass roots as soon as she opened it?

"How could this be?" Old Mrs. Wang blinked several times, looking incredulous. She held Hu the constable's hand and examined it from head to toe, even smelling it. It was indeed just grass roots with a strong fishy smell.

Not only did Old Lady Wang not believe it, but Second Master Zhang was also surprised. His son had told him something completely different. He secretly sighed, realizing the situation was not good and that he had to make a quick getaway.

However, the fact that Old Lady Wang is so certain means that there really is a night-blooming cereus inside. How did it suddenly turn into a bunch of grass roots?

Zhang He also let out a curious "Eh" and turned to look at Xu Zhuzhu behind her.

At that moment, Xu Wenjie winked at Xu Zhuzhu, who was hiding behind Zhang He, and Xu Zhuzhu chuckled.

That's houttuynia cordata, which doesn't exist in this world.

The night we brought the watermelon home, someone threw away a bag of fresh houttuynia cordata at the garbage station. My family didn't like it and thought it had a strong fishy smell, so we didn't bring it and left it there.

Just now, her father deliberately brought up Old Lady Wang's background to divert her attention. While Zhang Erye was on stage performing and defending Old Lady Wang, she took the opportunity to slip into the crowd and secretly replaced the contents of the bag with houttuynia cordata.

The garbage dump serves as her base point for instantaneous movement, meaning she can move wherever she wants.

However, this movement is a full-body teleportation, so someone still needs to distract them.

Otherwise, she could have disappeared with the purse as soon as Old Lady Wang pulled it out, but that would have been right in front of everyone, which would have been terrifying.

Even before Old Lady Wang could frame them or report them to the authorities, their family would be immediately put on the spot...

Officer Hu examined the houttuynia cordata in his hand from all angles, and finally made a decision, "This is a very fishy-smelling herb. Old lady, are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Seeing this, the crowd became noisy again, like weather vanes shifting in their opinions.

"Is it fake? Could it really be a scam?"

“I think so too. My brother’s wife works for the Zhou family, but I’ve never heard of her. She seems to be a fraudster… trying to extort money from me.”

……

In the dead of winter, Grandma Wang was like an ant on a hot pan, her back covered in sweat from anxiety.

She racked her brains but couldn't figure out what was going on. The purse had been in her pocket ever since she picked it up, and she hadn't taken it out again until Officer Hu arrived. How did it suddenly turn into this smelly grass root?

Suddenly, her gaze turned sinister as she locked onto Cao Gu, who was staring at everything expressionlessly, and she immediately became angry.

He immediately launched into a tirade of insults: "You little bitch! Did you secretly switch it to try and harm me? I knew you were just like that little bitch, both traitors..."

She glared fiercely at him, her face contorted with rage, and raised her arm high. But before the slap could land, Officer Hu stopped her.

"Grandma, the Zhou family wouldn't beat someone up in the street."

Upon hearing the name of the Zhou family, Old Mrs. Wang immediately felt guilty. Her own face was important, but her son's face was even more important. She slowly let go, but her arm was held tightly. She struggled in pain but still couldn't break free.

Having no other option, Old Lady Wang could only resort to a laugh and sophistry, saying, "I didn't mean to, I just didn't hit you! Officer Hu, please have some respect for me."

The Zhou family is indeed not to be trifled with. Constable Hu snorted coldly and shook off Old Lady Wang's hand.

Grandma Wang breathed a sigh of relief and was thinking about how to get rid of the mess.

Another short, stout constable squeezed through the crowd and shouted gruffly, "Make way! Make way! I heard someone is using the Night-Blooming Flower for personal purposes, so I've come to arrest him."

As Zhang Xiaolin jumped in, he saw that Old Lady Wang was being held by Constable Hu, and her father was shrinking into the crowd with his head down, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into. Meanwhile, the Xu family members were standing there, especially Xu Wenjie, who had already returned.

what's the situation?

Shouldn't their family be waiting for him to arrive, and then being taken to see the officials?

Looking at the fat constable again, when he saw that Constable Hu was also there, he couldn't hide the smug smile on his face.

"Good for you, Hu Da! I knew it was you who colluded with this old woman to steal the 'Su Ye Hua' from the yamen to harm people. Now quickly surrender!"

He drew his sword and stepped forward.

But when Constable Hu threw a flying knife, the constable trembled in fright and pulled the knife back into his hand.

But he still wouldn't let it go: "Why are you glaring at me? Don't think you're something just because the registrar is nice to you. Let me tell you, stealing Su Ye Hua is a capital offense, let alone putting it in food. This time, even the registrar can't save you!"

The fat constable chattered on and on, absorbed in his newfound fame from this case, and how he was about to become a rising star in the yamen.

Hu, the constable, didn't even bother to lift his eyes. He threw the purse along with the houttuynia cordata he was holding in front of the fat constable. "Open your eyes and look! This is the night-blooming jasmine you mentioned!"

The fat constable's laughter stopped abruptly when he saw the houttuynia cordata on the ground.

What do you mean by "night-blooming cereus"? This is clearly just a common, unremarkable plant!

A street corner in the distance.

Seeing that things were not going well, the man standing at the corner immediately gave a wink to a young man in the crowd.

The young man understood and led the group of troublemakers away. Seeing this, Old Lady Wang dared not linger any longer.

She apologized repeatedly: "Nothing of the sort! Nothing of the sort! I was wrong. This old woman's eyesight is failing, and her nose isn't working well either. Officer Hu is very perceptive and has already investigated. I'll be going now..."

After saying that, he grabbed Cao Gu and ran away without looking back, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

Zhang Xiaolin and the fat constable were left staring in astonishment at the pile of houttuynia cordata.

Zhang Xiaolin also secretly glanced at his father and saw that his father had moved quickly and was already sitting in front of the steamed bun stall, seemingly unaware of what had just happened.

When she gets ruthless, she'll even curse her own father: "You old fool, all you can do is pretend to be dead!"

But the fat constable didn't understand, "Is that all?"

He just received the news and rushed over from the government office. Why is it different from the plan?

Damn it, that Scholar Wang is really unreliable!

He had a long face, and his newly popular idol career was over...

Xu Wenjie watched quietly as the group of hooligans dispersed as if they had agreed to do so, and he also looked towards the alley entrance.

Under the winter sun, in the half-shaded alleyway, no one had long since vanished...