The sickly son died young? After the marriage exchange, I will bring prosperity to his entire clan f

"Where are the officers and soldiers?" Regardless of whether they were looking for You Yuan, many times the officers and soldiers would rather make a mistake than let go of the person they were looking for.

You Yuan's injuries have only recently begun to heal, and he can barely walk a few steps. If he were to be taken away by the officials, he would lose his life with the slightest disturbance.

"I heard the news too late. They've already searched several houses. They should be here soon," Granny Zhao said anxiously.

Du Mingxian comforted her, "Don't worry, just do what you need to do. Remember, you're just a servant in this house. You're just there to do the work. You don't know anything else. As long as you don't panic, nothing will happen."

"well."

"Go outside and hang the clothes to dry."

The Zhou family members often came over and knew that someone had been rescued from their home, but they didn't really know the specifics. They wouldn't go into You Yuan's room to see for themselves. "Is that person, Fourth Sister-in-law, a wanted criminal by the imperial court?"

"No, Second Sister-in-law, you go back first. I'll handle this. You just stay home and don't come over. You don't know anything, so don't panic."

"Okay, okay." Zhou left in a hurry.

……

The investigation was swift. Ling Silang and Du Mingxian stood in the courtyard. The officials had already reached Ling Erlang's house. From next door came Zhou's terrified voice, "Slow down, slow down, my jar, it can't break."

Upon hearing the exaggerated voice, Du Mingxian knew that it was her second sister-in-law giving her a signal: "Husband, let's go take a look."

"it is good."

Just as the two reached the door, the men who had gone to search Ling Sanlang's house on the left came out and were heading this way. There were ten of them, each carrying a curved sword and wearing official robes. Moreover, they were not ordinary constables.

"Are you from this family? Come in." The lead officer pointed at Du Mingxian and Ling Silang and shouted.

Both of them looked frightened and hurriedly retreated, obediently standing to one side of the door, watching these people enter the courtyard, search every room, and even hear... the sound of a teacup breaking.

Du Mingxian's face was dark. Ling Silang seemed to sense that her breathing was unsteady, so he reached out and gently held her hand to comfort her.

The people in the cellar were not spared, but they came out quickly and gathered in the courtyard. "Boss, there are no suspicious people."

The man in the lead looked at Du Mingxian and Ling Silang, then glanced at his subordinate. One of the subordinates stepped forward and opened a portrait in front of the two of them. "Have you seen the person in the portrait before?"

Du Mingxian looked up and saw that the resemblance to You Yuan was indeed about 70%. She must be looking for You Yuan. If it were a sketch, it would look even more like him.

Ling Silang calmly shook his head, "No."

The subordinate even looked at Du Mingxian specifically, "And you?"

"No."

"If you see this person, you can go to the government office to inform them and receive a reward."

"Yes," Ling Silang answered again.

The man in the lead raised his hand and said, "Let's go."

As soon as these people left the courtyard, Du Mingxian and Ling Silang breathed a sigh of relief, only to hear a childish voice outside, "Sir, the person is at their house. I saw with my own eyes that day when the Ling family's new daughter-in-law and married daughter returned, there was a person in the carriage. That person was covered in blood, and that's the person you're looking for."

Du Mingxian's heart jumped into her throat. She stood inside the door and looked out, and saw Zhao Di's younger sister, Pan Di, the little girl who had once hidden in the mountains with her sister and later begged an old man for food.

Some children are inherently bad.

The leader had already left when he heard this and immediately asked, "Do you remember when it was? If you answer correctly, I'll give you something to eat."

Pandi rarely eats, but now that there's food in front of her, her eyes immediately light up. "I don't remember the exact day, but it was the day their daughter who got married came back. You can ask them, everyone in the village knows about it."

The man in the lead turned around, his sharp eyes looking at them. "Tell me, have you seen this person before?"

“Sir, we really haven’t seen him before,” Ling Silang quickly said. “My sister is coming home on the 10th of this month.”

The man in the lead's eyes changed slightly, and he held the knife directly to Du Mingxian's neck. "You tell her."

Du Mingxian clenched her fists tightly, barely managing to suppress the urge to retaliate. Ling Silang stepped forward first, "Sir, my wife did go to pick up my sister, but they didn't bring anyone back with them. If they had, other people in the village would have seen them. If you don't believe me, sir, you can gather everyone together and ask them."

The leader felt that Ling Silang was right, and ordered his subordinate, "Go and tell the village chief to gather everyone in the village. I want to ask them a lot of questions."

"Yes."

Watching the people leave, the leader glanced at the two of them and said, "You two can come with me too."

The group walked to the open space in front of the ancestral hall in the village. The officials called for everyone to gather, and soon many villagers gathered around. Everyone dared not speak loudly, but the whispers never stopped.

Du Mingxian and Ling Silang stood next to the officials, clearly being controlled by them.

"On the 10th of this month, did any of you see this woman bring back a person covered in blood?"

There was an uproar, but no one stood up.

“Pandi, do you have a grudge against my fourth sister-in-law? Last time you falsely accused her of taking your sister away, and this time you’re making a false accusation. Do you want the officials to take my fourth sister-in-law away? How can a child like you be so wicked?” Madam Wang jumped out and pointed at Pandi, scolding her.

Someone immediately pointed their knife at Wang, asking, "Who goes there?"

Wang was so scared that she couldn't help but tremble. "Sir...sir, I am the eldest daughter-in-law of the Ling family. Our family had a conflict with Pandi's family before, and everyone in the village knows about it."

Someone went down to investigate and quickly found out that the Ling family and the Pandi family were at odds. Many people disliked the Pandi family. In addition, the Ling family was currently building a workshop, and everyone wanted to work in the workshop. Nobody wanted to offend anyone at this time.

Another point is that the day Du Mingxian and Ling Xiaomei returned was at noon, and they didn't encounter anyone in the village, so... no one saw them.

The officer was furious, feeling like he'd been tricked by a little child. He held a knife to Pandi's neck. Even Wang, an adult, trembled all over, and Pandi was so scared she wet herself.

"No, I'm not lying. I saw the carriage enter the courtyard from afar that day, and their family carried a man out of the carriage, covered in blood. That afternoon, they called a doctor to take him home for treatment. Everything I said is true."

The officer glanced at him, and Ling Silang coughed twice before explaining in a low voice, "I have a congenital deficiency and always need to take medicine. I have to call a doctor to my house all the time. Everyone in the village knows about this, and everyone can testify to it."

"Alright, whether it's true or not, we'll know once we bring the doctor over and ask him carefully," the leader said to one of his subordinates. "Go and take the Ling family members with you, arrest the doctor, and don't let them speak on the way."