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

Xu Wenjie and Li Quanfu had already finished eating and were chatting about everyday matters around the fire.

They gradually started talking about the Zhang family's ancestors.

Older Mrs. Wang, who knew more about the family, said with great emotion, "Speaking of which, the Zhang family used to be very wealthy. My husband's great-grandmother told me that they were truly philanthropists. They earned their own money, built irrigation canals, and didn't take a single penny from the villagers... Who knew that later, their descendants were unfilial and they would fall into such a state of decline."

"Do you know the hill behind here? Wasn't that theirs before?" Old Mrs. Wang asked mysteriously.

Xu Wenjie was puzzled and asked in cooperation with Old Lady Wang, "I heard from Uncle Deng that the hill behind this used to belong to the Liang family, didn't it?"

Grandma Wang shook her head, bent down to get closer to the fire, put her hands together and whispered as if only I knew, "Uncle Deng came later. My great-grandmother said that before the Liang family, it was the Zhang family."

“In their generation, the Zhang family had a gambler who lost all his family's wealth, including the house in town. So they moved back to this old house, the one in the back.”

Grandma Wang gestured with her chin, pointing to the courtyard of Zhang Erye behind her, "That means only Zhang Erye's courtyard is left. Zhang Sanye and Zhang Siye's courtyards were built later. The old house in town used to be Liang's house, but it's gone now. It's a real pity... The Liang family was a very philanthropic family."

The Liang family?

Xu Wenjie caught the key phrase and quickly asked, "Grandma Wang also knows about the Liang family's affairs?"

Li Quanfu echoed his doubts. He knew from the beginning that Xu Wenjie had come to seek refuge with the Liang family, but since he hadn't found anyone, there was no question of seeking refuge with them.

Grandma Wang raised her head slightly, quite proudly, and slowly said in her aged voice, "Although our Old Duck Village is known for being poor in the surrounding area, it's not like we've never had a wealthy family."

"However, the Liang family were originally from Liangjia Village, my maternal home. Their ancestor passed the imperial examination and became a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations). They moved to the town. His son then passed the Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest-level imperial examinations) and became a high-ranking official in the north. I heard he even married a wealthy woman from the north. Later, for some reason, the Liang family was attacked by robbers in the middle of the night. Dozens of family members were wiped out. The screams were incredibly tragic..."

As Granny Wang spoke, she deliberately lowered her voice to create a terrifying atmosphere. Even as she spoke, she couldn't help but shiver.

Xu Wenjie frowned, about to ask another question, when Wang Dazhuang interrupted him.

Wang Dazhuang laughed heartily, clearly questioning Granny Wang's words.

“Auntie, you’re making up stories again. Where did you hear this from? We’ve never heard of it before. Besides, we’ve never heard of any bandits from this area, from when or where they came from.”

In his view, this was just a made-up story.

After all, they all knew about the Liang family's affairs. The widely circulated version in Qingshan Town was that the head of the Liang family lost money in business and the whole family went to other places to make a living.

His aunt loved to make these kinds of jokes, turning the stories she heard into real events and telling them to them. He had heard them since he was a child, and he was even scared when he was a kid!

Grandma Wang, feeling questioned, slapped Wang Dazhuang on the head.

Her face, etched with the marks of time, and her stubborn eyes revealed her unwavering dignity. She pouted and said discontentedly, "Do I need to make up stories? I only heard about this a few days ago when I was chatting with a relative of my niece's aunt. She works for the Zhou family! The Zhou family and the Liang family had such a good relationship back then, they must have known something."

"Wang Po, stop fooling Scholar Xu! He just arrived. Don't let him believe you. He might really think there are robbers killing people in our Qingshan Town!"

Everyone laughed and offered their advice.

They didn't believe it, after all, the rumors came from the Zhou family, who were quite influential in the town. Besides, if the Liang family had really been killed by bandits, how could the yamen not have heard a word about it?

It is clear that what Old Lady Wang said is not credible.

Everyone gasped and burst into laughter.

Li Quanfu pressed further, "Grandma Wang, is that true?"

Faced with such unanimous questioning, Old Lady Wang became somewhat timid and stammered, unable to give a clear answer. She didn't know if her relative had lied to her.

He chuckled sheepishly and shook his head, "Hard to say."

Xu Wenjie remained silent, his fists clenched. A voice inside him was calling out, telling him that the Liang family's situation might not be as simple as just losing money in business.

Li Quanfu knew Xu Wenjie would care. He glanced at Xu Wenjie and saw him pursing his lips tightly, so he asked, "Grandma Wang, what's the name of your niece's aunt's relative?"

"You can't say that, they told me a thousand times not to say it..." Old Mrs. Wang quickly shook her head like a rattle-drum.

Before he could finish speaking, his gaze was drawn to a figure at the village entrance. "Hey! Those must be people from the yamen!"

Following Old Lady Wang's gaze, everyone saw two constables at the village entrance: one fat and one thin, one tall and one short, both wearing red jackets and carrying knives, followed by three young men.

One of the young men was being supported by two others.

Xu Wenjie snapped out of his daze and looked in the direction of the sound. Before he could even see who it was, Tiezhu's mother, who was on good terms with Old Lady Wang, cried out "Ouch!" and ran up in a panic.

Ignoring the two constables, Tie Zhu's mother rushed to the young man being helped up, asking, "Son, what happened?"

Tie Zhu, who was being helped up, smiled awkwardly, scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly, and his face turned red. He pretended to be relaxed and said with a smile, "Mom, don't worry, I just walked too fast and tripped at the village entrance."

He was the one who came back early to warn others, but he failed to deliver the message. Near the village entrance, he fell down a slope and sprained his leg. It took him a long time to get up before two people helped him up.

Upon seeing the constables, Li Quanfu quickly got up and went to greet them.

Because he usually dealt more with Hu Da's men, he had little contact with these two people and didn't know them, nor did the two constables know him.

He couldn't help but wonder, if his brother-in-law heard that it was about Laoya Village, he would definitely ask more questions. Was his brother-in-law not on duty today?

But that doesn't make sense either. Even if he's not on duty, his brother-in-law's subordinates would always notify him. But given the current situation, the only possibility is that his brother-in-law isn't at the yamen right now.

If not at the government office, where could they have gone?

Of course, now is not the time to think about this.

Li Quanfu suppressed his doubts and politely invited Zhao Pang and Liu Zi to sit in front of the fire. "You two must be tired from your journey. In this freezing weather, please have a cup of hot tea to warm yourselves up. We are in a remote and poor area, so please don't mind the lack of good food."

Seeing that Li Quanfu was very methodical, Xu Wenjie stood aside without saying a word, but simply helped pour hot tea.

Zhao Pang and Liu Zi's hands and feet were frozen stiff from the journey. They hurriedly took the tea and, regardless of how hot or cold it was, gulped it down. It took them several bowls to recover.

Once they regained their composure, the two immediately adopted the air of "adults." "Indeed, this is a remote and impoverished place. This journey is exhausting!" Liu Zi said in a high-pitched voice, putting on airs.

Normally, it's Constable Chen who's in charge, but now it's their turn. After saying that, he said sternly, "Where is the criminal who illegally possessed the forbidden flowers? We need to take advantage of the early hour and arrest him and bring him back to the yamen."

Li Quanfu noticed the arrogance of the two constables, but he didn't take it to heart. He also didn't want to delay the Zhang family's affairs, as any further delay could easily lead to unforeseen changes.

He then opened the Zhang family's gate and led the two constables to Zhang Erye's room, pointing to the unconscious Zhang Erye on the bed and saying, "This is the prisoner."

Liu Zi asked in confusion, then scoffed, "This is Zhang Xiaolin? Why did he faint? Did he faint from the shock of hearing that the two of us were coming?"

But why did this old man give himself such a youthful name?

Li Quanfu gave an awkward laugh, chuckled twice, and didn't know how to respond.

Then he suddenly realized, "You two are mistaken. The culprit is not Zhang Xiaolin, but Second Master Zhang. It's the stuff that Zhang Xiaolin's father hid."

Zhao Pang was confused. He was already anxious, and now he could no longer suppress his panic. He shouted, "Why are you villagers talking all over the place? No two of you are saying the same thing. Whether it's Zhang Erye or Zhang Xiaolin, we'll take whoever our boss tells us to take."

Li Quanfu was helpless. How could he know what the three people who reported the case said?

After Zhao Pang finished speaking, he suddenly saw a young man peeking in from the doorway. The moment the young man made eye contact with Zhao Pang, he turned around and ran out of the yard, which was very suspicious.

Zhao Pang shouted, "Liu Zi, grab him quickly!"

Zhang Xiaolin was so terrified that he fell hard and screamed as the two men tied him up.