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

Right now, in order to protect himself, Zhang Xiaolin has pushed his father out to confess, which has earned him the contempt of many, but they can't help but feel sorry for Zhang Erye.

Ultimately, it's a case of the upper beam being crooked, so the lower beam will follow suit; they brought it upon themselves.

It's pitiful for Zhang Chenshi, who is already so old, to have to suffer such a blow.

Upon seeing Zhang Chenshi faint, Lihua Niang and Zhang He, who were on good terms with her, hurriedly helped her into the house, inserting needles into her philtrum and feeding her water to help her catch her breath.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Chenshi ran to Zhang Erye's bedside and cried as soon as she woke up. Pear Blossom's mother, fearing something might happen, followed her.

Zhang He thought Zhang Chenshi was also clueless; otherwise, she wouldn't have stopped crying so quickly when Zhang Xiaolin claimed it was her husband's scheme.

Not wanting to show too much goodwill, Zhang He left the house on her own.

However, since Master Zhang was still unconscious, Zhang Xiaolin had no intention of calling a doctor for his father, and now he was even less likely to do so. He actually hoped that his father would not wake up.

Otherwise, if his father found out about this, there would be no need to say anything more; he would just pin the blame on him.

Li Quanfu had actually considered this point as well.

This is a serious matter. He believes that even if the evidence is conclusive, Master Zhang is still unconscious and has not given a confession. It is impractical to take a unconscious patient to the yamen. It would be better to wait for the young men who reported the case to bring the yamen officials before making any further plans.

Besides, this was only what was found at the Zhang family's house; he didn't find the things that were missing from the Xu family's house.

Thinking about this made him feel somewhat guilty.

After all, Zhang He said that it was her father's handwriting, and if it couldn't be found, her family would definitely regret it for the rest of their lives.

The Xu Wenjie family helped me a lot; the rice they sent me from time to time must have cost me a lot of money.

Ultimately, a significant portion of the money earned from that secret recipe was used to subsidize their family, so in a way, their family benefited from Zhang He's father's kindness.

Therefore, I would prefer to resolve the matter of the secret recipe first, get Zhang Xiaolin to hand over the items, and then deal with the flower issue.

After all, the flower had been shown to everyone, so it wouldn't be so easy for the Zhang family to deny it.

Thinking of this, Li Quanfu said to Xu Wenjie, "Brother Xu,"

He was full of apologies and somewhat embarrassed, "I'm really sorry, I didn't find your father-in-law's belongings, but don't worry, you and He Niang, I'll go in and search a few more times..."

After all, all the evidence points to Zhang Xiaolin.

After saying that, he was about to take action, and ordered Wang Dazhuang and the others to go into the yard to search.

This time, after listening to what Zhang Siye said, Zhang Sanye did not avoid the situation, but he also did not stop it. He just stood there motionless, his face gloomy.

Xu Zhuzhu looked up and saw that even the sunlight shining around him seemed several degrees colder than the sunlight around the onlookers.

Upon hearing Li Quanfu's words, Xu Wenjie's eyes flickered slightly, his lips moved, and he felt somewhat ashamed.

Li Quanfu had no idea that this was a fabricated excuse. His sincere assurances, however, made Zhang He, who was standing nearby, feel ashamed.

However, the issue of this ancestral recipe is indeed easy to resolve.

Besides the flower, Xu Wenjie had also prepared a "secret recipe" for Xu Zhuzhu, which could be used to make it appear at Zhang Xiaolin's house if necessary.

Ultimately, he hadn't anticipated that Master Zhang would fall ill, allowing Zhang Xiaolin to conveniently pin the blame on his father.

However, even if Master Zhang collapses from exhaustion, he can still use his status as a scholar to argue his case in the yamen and have Zhang Xiaolin take the punishment in his place.

The current emperor values ​​filial piety above all else. In the years before the imperial examinations were held, the questions were all about filial piety, and he even searched far and wide for stories of filial piety from all over the country to tell the Empress Dowager.

The loss of the Su Ye Hua by the yamen is no small matter. If it is investigated, no matter what the result is, it will only be a loss of face. At that time, we can use the story of Zhang Xiaolin's "filial piety and taking the punishment in place of his father" to suppress the matter. I believe the yamen will be happy to see that happen.

Speaking of which, I heard from that fat constable last time that two flowers went missing from the yamen. How come it's been almost ten days since the flowers went missing, and no one from the yamen has come to investigate yet?

This matter is questionable, so let's leave it aside for now.

Xu Wenjie recalled Zhang Xiaolin's malicious intentions these days and felt that he must be harboring illusions at this moment. It would be better to let him suffer a little first so that he could reflect on himself and hopefully see the difference between good and evil!

When Xu Zhuzhu saw her father, Xu Wenjie, lower his eyelids and then raise them again with a smile on his lips, she knew he probably had another idea.

Sure enough, his father, who usually spoke softly, raised his voice at this moment.

“When you went in to search just now, I discussed it with my wife. The evidence points to Zhang Xiaolin, but if he is hiding somewhere else and refuses to hand him over, there’s no point in us arguing. We’ll just be getting angry for nothing.”

While seemingly targeting Li Quanfu, their real target was Zhang Xiaolin.

"However, as my wife also mentioned, this secret recipe was meant to be passed down from my father-in-law to his grandson. After all, they share the same surname and were relatives a hundred years ago. If Zhang Xiaolin calls my father-in-law 'Grandpa' and kowtows three times towards the north, we won't hold this against him. Otherwise..."

Xu Wenjie paused deliberately, his tone suddenly shifting, his eyes sharpening. "Let's not show any mercy. Let the authorities handle everything. Whatever they find out, we'll accept it. Whether the thief loses a finger or gets a beating is all up to luck."

This last sentence was said to Zhang Xiaolin.

The onlookers were also happy to see a good show. The Zhang family needed to be taught a lesson, especially Zhang Xiaolin, who had been running rampant for many years.

He originally thought that by pushing his father out to take the blame for hiding the flower, he would be all set in his ways, but he never expected Xu Wenjie to go back on his word.

Zhang Xiaolin couldn't swallow this insult any longer, and roared angrily, "You bastard surnamed Xu, you're a liar!"

Before Xu Wenjie could even pay attention to him, Old Lady Wang launched her attack, her offensive relentless. She commented, "Although this old woman is not well-educated, she knows one thing: it's better to tell a sow I don't want her to have piglets than to keep your word with a scoundrel!"

There was another round of laughter.

Xu Wenjie narrowed his eyes and said with a leisurely smile, "I didn't force you. This is a choice. Whether you kneel or hand it over to the authorities, I have no objection. I'm really sorry to trouble these young men to search you like this."

As he spoke, he bowed respectfully to the young men searching the house.

Zhang He, who was standing to the side, added with a smile, "Thank you all for your help today. In a couple of days, I'll treat you to a meal of our family's traditional dumplings."

This year, Laoya Village has been living on coarse grains. Rice is hard to come by, let alone food made from fine flour, which is more expensive than rice.

The young people scratched their heads shyly, looking a little embarrassed, and laughed, saying, "Oh, not at all."

Then everyone sided with the Xu family, especially Wang Dazhuang, "Zhang Xiaolin, they're only being lenient because they're giving you face. It's just a matter of kowtowing a few times towards the north, it's no big deal. If this went to the yamen, you'd suffer a lot more..."

It was supposed to be advice, but it was really just mockery.

Zhang Xiaolin was holding his breath, his eyes almost bulging out. He didn't want to admit defeat, but he didn't know anyone in the yamen. On the contrary, Li Quanfu had an older brother-in-law.

That scholar Wang is nowhere to be found now. He doesn't want to admit it, but he's too afraid to gamble...

He glanced coldly at Xu Wenjie, shoved away the two young men who were holding him, and, ignoring the intense pain in his legs, knelt down on the snow.

It responded after three knocks.

"Grandpa!" she knelt down.

"Grandpa!" He knelt down twice.

"Grandpa!" He knelt three times.

At this moment, the crowd watched coldly, suppressed laughter, mockery, relief, and insults...

At that moment, Zhang Xiaolin felt an unprecedented sense of shame.

After kneeling, he dragged his injured foot to his feet, his face gloomy, and a complex expression appeared in his eyes. "Is that enough?"

He gritted his teeth, his dark eyes filled with complex emotions, yet without a trace of remorse.

Xu Wenjie sighed inwardly.

"Let's drop the matter of the secret recipe. I hope that Brother Lin will be careful with his words and deeds from now on, and do good deeds and accumulate virtue."

He twitched his brow slightly, suddenly realizing he had gone too lightly.

After a whole morning of commotion, it was already noon when Li Quanfu locked the Zhang family's gate and had two young men guard it, waiting for the people who had gone to the yamen to report the case to return with their officials so that they could take the people away together.

However, Li Quanfu couldn't help but worry again. He wondered if the young man who went to report the case could make it back before dark, given the slippery roads in the snow.