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

Because of the imperial court's control and its past extensive propaganda, ordinary people rarely get to see the real Su Ye Hua (a type of herb).

This flower is quite expensive to use in medicine. This year, the average income per capita in Laoya Village is negative, and even in the best of times, it only amounted to two or three strings of cash.

Therefore, although many people know about this flower, very few have actually seen it. However, the older generation is knowledgeable and experienced, and they were all taken aback when they heard what Master Zhang said.

The crowd gradually became restless, and everyone's anxiety was written on their faces.

"Quanfu, wrap it up quickly! This stuff can be dangerous."

Grandma Wang looked even more solemn.

She had seen this thing when she was young and had heard about its power, so she quickly told Li Quanfu to wrap it up.

Li Quanfu then realized what was happening, pinched his nose, and quickly wrapped it up.

Xu Zhuzhu carefully observed the movements of the crowd.

Although Zhang Xiaolin didn't need to show his face when they were in town, he was involved in the entire plan and had naturally seen the flower before, making him even more familiar with it.

Half the village who came to watch the spectacle saw the items taken out of his house, and he himself had asked his mother to open them. He was both surprised and annoyed.

His father would never hide this!

This time, he really shot himself in the foot.

Even someone as eloquent as him couldn't come up with any excuses, but he knew that Xu Wenjie was definitely involved in this matter.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Chenshi's legs went weak, and she almost fell on her bottom in the snow. Fortunately, Zhang He reacted quickly and caught her, preventing her from falling.

As mentioned before, although Zhang Chenshi lacked her own opinions, she was not a bad person at heart. When she found this thing in the pile of firewood, her first reaction was that her old man had hidden this harmful thing that was both harmful to himself and others, and that she had exposed it.

My heart was pounding so hard I could barely move...

"What...what should I do?"

She grabbed Zhang He's hand and started crying; her mind wouldn't allow her to come up with any other solutions.

The moment Zhang Siye smelled the substance, a glint flashed in his eyes, and he frowned.

He reacted quickly; this was no longer a simple matter of stealing, after all, he had just touched something similar, and he might also get caught.

He knew his nephew's true nature well, and if he were implicated, things would get complicated. So he didn't say another word and silently headed home.

They were clearly afraid of getting into trouble.

As luck would have it, he was stopped by Master Zhang again.

Master Zhang rolled his eyes so hard they almost reached the sky.

Third Master Zhang truly valued brotherhood. Even at this moment, he asked Fourth Master Zhang with concern, "Fourth Brother, what's wrong with Second Brother? You always have a lot of ideas, you'd better think of a solution quickly!"

Master Zhang glanced at him impatiently, abruptly shook off his hand, and said coldly, his previous amiable demeanor completely gone: "What kind of plan are you trying to come up with? This is a matter of life and death. He's had enough of living. He doesn't care about his life. I want to live a few more years."

Besides, from the moment we started, there was such a huge pit in front of him. Zhang Xiaolin was blinded by greed and jumped in without even looking. How could he possibly pull him out?

Master Zhang was taken aback by Master Zhang's words and fell into deep thought.

Seeing the two old men arguing, Xu Wenjie gave Xu An a wink.

From the moment Zhang Xiaolin appeared, Xu An, who had almost become invisible, immediately perked up and became very interested after receiving his father's instructions.

With his big, innocent eyes, he asked his father, "Daddy, what is this thing? Why is everyone so afraid of it?"

Her brother has become a tool, with too much acting involved. Xu Zhuzhu's lips turned down as she tried to hide her smile.

At this moment, Xu Wenjie naturally gave a detailed explanation, and also recited all the laws and regulations set by the imperial court.

Upon hearing this, the anger that Zhang Jiaqiang had suppressed for so many years burst forth, and everyone exclaimed, "This is outrageous! Arrest them and take them to the authorities immediately! Don't let them implicate us!"

However, a woman who had been listening carefully had a different idea and whispered, "What's the big deal? Haven't you heard? I heard there's a reward for reporting someone—ten taels of silver!"

"What!?"

When the young men who had been slacking off heard that there was money to be shared, they didn't care about anything else and immediately told Li Quanfu that they were willing to report the Zhang family to the town government.

Li Quanfu was pleased to see this and did not stop them.

Xu Zhuzhu didn't know before that there was such a thing as getting money for reporting someone.

She had heard her mother say that if she only knew that hiding this thing would result in ten strokes of the cane, and if it was used in food, it would be thirty strokes of the cane, plus a fine of three thousand taels of silver.

She had never seen a caning in ancient times. Before she was three years old, her mother never took her to see any government offices or lawsuits. However, her mother told her that there was a woman who had eloped with someone and was given ten canings. Before she even left the government office, she was beaten to death.

Of course, it cannot be ruled out that the woman was physically weak.

If the villagers remember the past kindness shown to the Zhang family, they would only give them a good beating.

But if someone were to say something that involves the steamed bun stall in Zhang Xiaolin Town, it would be more than just a matter of ten lashes.

Clearly, Master Zhang Si realized this as well, which is why he quickly distanced himself from the situation. However, Master Zhang San's simple mind couldn't process it that quickly, and he was still thinking about how to get his brother out of trouble.

When Zhang Xiaolin heard the young men say they were going to the government office to report them, he immediately became anxious.

Now that this has happened in full view of everyone, if this were to happen at the yamen (government office), he would definitely get a beating. He lives in town and has seen how terrifying it is to be beaten with a cane at the yamen.

Despite his current state of confusion, he had no choice but to hastily provide evidence for himself.

"Wrong, wrong, this doesn't belong to my family. Everyone has seen what kind of person my father is. How could he possibly hide this? It must be Li Lao Er and this Xu guy who conspired to frame our family."

As he spoke, he pointed directly at Xu Wenjie and Li Quanfu.

Of course, Zhang Erye, who was so pretentious, had already ruined his family's reputation decades ago, not to mention Zhang Xiaolin.

Compared to Li Quanfu, the kind-hearted village chief, and Xu Wenjie, the newly arrived scholar, very few people were willing to believe Zhang Xiaolin.

Besides, Zhang Xiaolin himself suggested opening this thing, and he acknowledged what it contained. No one else's words carry more weight than his status as Zhang Erye's biological son.

Now, there's no way to pin the blame on anyone else.

Xu Zhuzhu snorted coldly in her heart.

Among the crowd, three young men had already quietly left. Fortunately, there was no wind or snow today, so the group headed headlong towards the town.

"Stop making excuses, Zhang Xiaolin. I'll still take your side when you say that. This is a good thing your father hid away. Speaking of which, if you put this in food, it would be addictive, right? I've heard that your business hasn't been doing so well this year!"

Old Mrs. Wang chuckled and sighed, looking smug and speaking in a very sarcastic tone.

But Xu Zhuzhu found Grandma Wang even more adorable.

These words directly pinned a huge blame on Zhang Xiaolin, but they also served as a wake-up call for him.

That's it!

Zhang Xiaolin's anger surged; Xu Wenjie was colluding with Li Quanfu to take revenge on him.

And then there are these ungrateful people in the village who have taken advantage of their irrigation canal for so many years, and now they actually want to get involved too. What ungrateful dogs!

He was naturally furious and was thinking about how to climb out of the mud jar when he caught a glimpse of the animal trap on the ground. His eyes lit up and he suddenly burst into laughter.

Pointing at Xu Wenjie, he sneered, "You call yourself a scholar? You went to all that trouble to come up with such a lousy idea! This thing was clearly hidden by your family. The wet nurse of the Zhou family's son-in-law saw it!"

Regardless of the Zhou family or the wet nurse.

Upon hearing this, Xu Wenjie's eyes, which had been hiding a smile for a long time, suddenly brightened, and a hint of amusement appeared on his lips: "Oh? Since it's my house, why would I come to your house?"

Without a second thought, Zhang Xiaolin said, "Didn't you see your wife? I stole her yesterday. You were afraid I'd report you to the authorities, so you put on this whole show!"

He spoke with absolute certainty, a strange smugness in his eyes as if he had seen through Xu Wenjie's scheme. "Xu Wenjie, you've tried to steal a chicken but ended up losing the rice instead."

Zhang Chenshi, who had been sobbing, stopped crying and listened intently to her son's words.

Everyone was puzzled. Was Zhang Xiaolin terrified?

Xu Wenjie, however, did not rush to refute. Instead, he smiled slightly and said unhurriedly, "So, Brother Lin, do you admit that you went to my house to steal something last night?"

So what if they stole it?

"Then let's go to the yamen and have one of our fingers cut off!"

Zhang Xiaolin was stunned for a moment, then immediately realized that he had been tricked by Xu Wenjie, and instantly flew into a rage: "You bastard Xu! You son of a bitch..."

Everyone laughed.

Xu Wenjie's pupils contracted as he stared intently at Zhang Xiaolin, his sharp gaze making Zhang Xiaolin's skin crawl: "Brother Xiaolin, you'd better think this through. Did you steal it? Or did your father hide it?"

Zhang Xiaolin cursed angrily, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes, as if he had made some kind of decision.

"My dad hid it."

He gritted his teeth, his voice barely audible.

Anyway, his father is sick now and needs to see a doctor, so let's just let his father get a beating. It's better than him losing a finger. He's still young, and his father won't live for many more years.

"My son, you!"

Zhang Chenshi, who had finally recovered, fainted upon hearing these words.