Thanks to Setsura, Green KiTea, Salt Rose or Topaz, and Elaine for the ko-fis! Enjoy the bonus chapters, and thanks for the support!

Shi Xiaoliu and Zhao Yueniang quickly brought out the food. There was one dish of stir-fried meat, one of stir-fried tofu, and one of stir-fried vegetables. When they cooked, they had thought guests might come at night, so they deliberately made a bit more.

When Old Man Feng saw that there was still meat on the table and that the rice was served in full bowls, he felt a little moved. Although Wei Qingshan had given them one hundred and twenty taels of silver, they had saved it all for Hua-ger’s future use. Their own meals were still just wild vegetables and coarse grains — it was already good enough to be able to eat their fill every day.

These days, life in the village was tight for everyone. Now that the rice crops were already filling out with grain, everyone was waiting for the new harvest. Once it came in, everyone’s lives would be easier.

The Feng family hadn’t seen meat for a long time. They ate quickly, and although they were fast, they didn’t seem rude.

Shi Xiaoliu poured water for everyone. Seeing the three members of the Feng family who had come, all with sallow complexions and thin faces, Shi Xiaoliu thought of when Lin Yu had not yet found him — he had also been starving like this. Thanks to the two of them taking care of him, now his family could not only eat their fill but also buy some meat.

At night, Hua-ger shared a bed with Shi Xiaoliu, while Lin Yu laid out bedding on the shop’s table for the Feng couple to sleep on. The two of them rested there.

The next day, just after they finished breakfast, someone from the yamen came to summon them. Lin Yu hadn’t expected it to be so soon. The group closed the door and went out, and Shi Xiaoliu looked for little beggars on the street to get Wei Laotai dragged over.

Seeing the group heading toward the yamen, quite a few people followed along to watch the excitement. The matter with Wei Qingshan had caused an uproar throughout the town. Each of the three charges sounded like a major crime, yet Wei Qingshan didn’t seem like a vicious person. He and his little husband did business very honestly.

Wei Laotai hadn’t gone to lodge a complaint first. Instead, it was Lin Yu who first accused his own mother-in-law and two constables. This sounded very shocking, and nearly half of the idle people in town went to see what had happened. Shopkeeper Jin even closed his shop and went with his wife.

Fang Shuizi had nothing to do at home, so he followed along too. He was worried that Lin Yu’s complaint might implicate Qiu Laoliu — after all, that was his old lover.

The county magistrate, dressed in his official robe, sat above. He struck the wooden block in his hand to open the court session. Lin Yu and Wei Qingshan both knelt on the ground. The magistrate coughed lightly and said, “It is you two who are accusing your own mother?”

“Yes, this humble commoner Wei Qingshan accuses Wei Laotai of the crime of slander.”

“Stand up, both of you,” the magistrate said gently, then asked, “Where is Wei Laotai?”

In the crowd, Qiu Laoliu was also squeezed in. He craned his neck to look inside — as long as that crazy old woman wasn’t found, then it had nothing to do with him. The magistrate asked again, “Where is Wei Laotai?”

The clerk whispered from the side, “The people sent from the yamen didn’t find her.”

The magistrate was troubled — without the accused, how could he try the case? Qiu Laoliu felt very pleased. Finding an old beggar was as hard as reaching heaven; he didn’t believe they could find her.

Shi Xiaoliu was also a little anxious, constantly glancing toward the street. Why hadn’t they come yet? It really made him anxious to death. Then, in the distance, he saw a few little beggars carrying someone over. He happily shouted, “They’re here, they’re here!”

Everyone turned to look back. They saw a few beggars carrying an old woman rushing over. They directly threw the person onto the court floor and ran off again.

Even the magistrate sitting above was a bit stunned — what kind of entrance was this?

“You are Wei Laotai?”

Wei Laotai tried to crawl away. “I’m not, I’m not.”

“Speak truthfully! Do not blame this official for being rude!”

Wei Laotai was pressed to kneel on the ground by two yamen runners. A silver tael fell out of her bosom and rolled a few times. Everyone saw it clearly. Wei Laotai quickly picked it up and hid it in her bosom again.

The yamen runner next to her struck the floor with his staff, and she immediately became obedient. “It’s me, it’s me.”

“Wei Qingshan and his husband accuse you of slander. Do you have anything to say?”

Wei Laotai had never seen an official before and was so scared that she was trembling. “L-Lord Magistrate, Wei Qingshan doesn’t support — doesn’t support his own mother! Look at me now, look at how I am!”

“Wei Qingshan, what do you have to say?”

Wei Qingshan presented the severance document he had brought in his bosom.

“This was personally stamped with a handprint by Wei Laotai. The silver I had earned before was taken by her to marry off the second son and build him a house. What’s more, it’s written clearly that the one hundred and fifty taels of silver left in the family, along with five mu of paddy fields, were all given to Wei Er. I was only given a broken thatched hut. If I hadn’t almost died of illness that day, Wei Laotai still wouldn’t have given me silver. Only then did I sever ties.”

The onlookers erupted in an uproar. “This Wei Laotai’s heart must be too cruel. They’re all her own sons — how could she be so biased? And yet she even shouted for Shopkeeper Wei to support her.”

“Exactly, exactly, what a biased heart!”

“A pitiful person must have something detestable about them!”

Wei Laotai quickly tried to defend herself. “Lord Magistrate, I am his own mother! Even if we separated households and severed ties, he still can’t refuse to support me! And besides, Wei Qingshan seized my family’s courtyard and farmland and sold it all!”

Wei Laotai knelt on the court floor, shouting nonstop. “Lord Magistrate, even if Wei Qingshan doesn’t support his own mother, he still can’t forcibly sell my family property!”

The onlookers started discussing heatedly. “Yes, even if they’ve severed ties and he doesn’t support her, he still shouldn’t sell her family property and leave her with nowhere to stay.”

“Didn’t you just hear Shopkeeper Wei say that all the family property was earned by him? When they split the family, none of the silver or farmland was given to him.”

“But that was what he gave up. How could he later regret it and sell her family property?”

The onlookers pointed and whispered among themselves. Even Shopkeeper Jin in the crowd smacked his lips. “Yes, this really is strange. He clearly didn’t want it — why did he sell it later?”

Zhou Gaozhong was also in the crowd. “Isn’t it obvious? It must be that Wei Qingshan later felt it was unfair, drove her out, and then sold her family property.”

“It’s not impossible.”

Among the onlookers outside the yamen, quite a few people started shouting, “Then you tell us, why did you sell this old woman’s family property later on?”

The county magistrate struck the wooden block, “Silence! Silence!”

The county magistrate had already read the case file, so naturally, he knew this case was not something that could be explained clearly in just a few words. “Wei Qingshan, you speak.”

“Yes, Lord Magistrate.” Wei Qingshan stepped forward. “Last year, there was a disaster. Wei Er’s wife, Xia Hehua, brought her mother and elder brother over. Later, when the disaster became more severe, bandits arose in the village. Xia Hehua’s elder brother, Xia Banzi, abducted a young man from the village.”

“Ah, why are we talking about last year’s disaster again?”

“Lower your voice, just listen to what he’s saying.”

Wei Qingshan’s voice was firm and powerful, calm and neither servile nor overbearing. He continued, “After a few days, because there was no grain at home, Wei Er also ran away. When he returned during the New Year, he said he had been working as a traveling merchant, but in truth, he had gone with Xia Banzi to Aozi Mountain to become a bandit, burning, killing, and plundering — committing every imaginable crime.”

“In order not to be found out as a bandit, Wei Er first pushed Xia Banzi off a cliff on Aozi Mountain. He brought back gold, silver, and valuables. Xia Hehua was wearing a half-old gold hairpin on her head, and that was how people discovered it. The village chief gathered me and several men from the village to capture Wei Er.”

After Wei Qingshan’s statement, the noisy crowd outside the court suddenly went quiet. Everyone stood on tiptoe, craning their necks to look inside.

“Say it, quickly say it!”

“That day, the village chief was preparing to take Wei Er to the town to see the magistrate. Who would have thought Xia Banzi had not died and bore a grudge in his heart, and he actually led over ten bandits from Aozi Mountain to slaughter the village? Fortunately, the village men resisted, killed the bandits, and captured five of them alive. General Yue pursued the bandits to the village, and after hearing of the Feng family’s suffering, he directly beheaded Wei Er. The remaining bandits were brought to the town.”

A surprised exclamation came from the crowd, “That’s true, that day five bandits were executed at the town market.”

“I even went to see it.”

“Yes, I didn’t expect it was Boss Wei and his people who captured them!”

“This Wei Er was far too vicious. Last year, everyone was suffering from the bandits, and yet someone with family and farmland took advantage of the chaos to commit crimes!”

“He deserved to die!”

“Ptui! This old woman is truly hateful. Boss Wei was obviously ridding the people of evil, yet in her mouth it turned into murdering his own younger brother!”

Everyone started talking over each other. Zhou Gaozhong, standing among the crowd, kept wiping the sweat from his patched sleeves, “How could this be? How could this be?”

“Wei Qingshan, what does this have to do with you selling the old Wei family courtyard?” The county magistrate asked from above.

“It does have something to do with it. The old Wei family courtyard and five mu of paddy field sold for a total of one hundred and ten taels of silver. Together with the ten taels of silver found in the house, all one hundred and twenty taels of silver were given to the victim, the Feng family.”

“What does Wei Er have to do with the Feng family? Wasn’t it his wife’s elder brother who abducted their young man?” someone in the crowd shouted.

“Silence! Anyone disturbing the court will be thrown out by this official!” The magistrate gave a cold snort.

“My lord, yes, this humble commoner has brought witnesses.”

“Summon them.”

The Feng family of three was brought into the court. Bringing up the sad matter again, the Feng family broke into loud sobs.

Old Man Feng wiped his tears, “My lord, it is true that Wei Qingshan sold Wei Er’s family property and gave it to me, only because, only because—ai, only because my family’s young ger was abducted, and that beast Wei Er violated my boy, causing my boy to die a miserable death!”

There was an uproar below. The people from the same village were shocked. This Wei Er was truly too vicious — even killing him was too lenient.

More and more onlookers gathered, and even outside the yamen, it was packed with people. This case was truly complicated. One thing after another kept coming out, and the yamen runners had to push the crowd back to keep them from squeezing forward.

Some of the women listening to the Feng family’s testimony couldn’t help wiping their tears. “What sin, what sin.”

“This evil woman had been spreading rumors all over town these past few days. Turns out it was the villain who complained first!”

“Hmph, you have the nerve to talk. That day in front of the shop, didn’t you say the constables should take Boss Wei for interrogation?”

“I—I didn’t know, didn’t know at the time!” That person was so flustered that they blushed bright red. “Wasn’t it all Zhou Gaozhong who said it!”

At this moment, Zhou Gaozhong was being squeezed by the crowd, unable to leave even if he wanted to. Many people reached out, pointing at him. “Zhou Gaozhong, that day, it was your voice that was the loudest. That’s why the constables took Boss Wei away!”

Zhou Gaozhong couldn’t run even if he wanted to, his face flushed red, and he kept wiping sweat with his sleeve. “A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!”

Wei Qingshan pointed at Wei Laotai. “My lord, it was all because this old woman secretly hid the family’s grain inside the quilt. Wei Er had no food and became a bandit. First, it was this old woman’s coercion, second, Wei Er was already of crooked mind. On the day of his beheading, Wei Er learned this old woman had secretly hidden the grain and bit off one of her ears.”

Wei Laotai clutched her head and crawled around on the ground in a panic. “You lie, you lie! Wei Qingshan, you are a cursed star sent from heaven. Our whole Wei family was all cursed to death by you!”

The entire case had been explained clearly, causing an uproar among the crowd. “My lord, my lord! This evil woman must be severely punished, otherwise, the people’s anger will not be appeased!”

“Yes, Lord Magistrate!”

The crowd all started shouting for the county magistrate to severely punish the evil woman. The county magistrate sitting high on the bench was stirred with passion by their cries — right now, he truly was the upright and just official who upheld justice for the common people!

“Such an evil woman must be punished, otherwise, it is hard to appease the people’s anger. Give her twenty strokes of the plank and throw her out of the town!”

Wei Qingshan cupped his hands and stepped forward. “Lord Magistrate, since ancient times, there has never been a reason for a son to accuse his mother. This commoner accused Wei Laotai because I wanted to drag out the person behind her. That person instructed Wei Laotai to slander me in town, wanting to ruin our shop and drive me and my spouse’s entire family out of town. It was truly hateful.”

Qiu Laoliu in the crowd had already wanted to run. He kept wiping his sweat, but there were just too many people watching today. He was squeezed and shoved for a long time and still hadn’t gotten out.

At this point, he could no longer hear what was being said inside, but the people outside all wanted to squeeze in to hear what was going on. He just wanted to hurry and get out to hide.

At the time, he had only wanted to ruin Wei Qingshan’s shop. Who knew this man was hard-hearted enough to accuse his own mother and accuse the constables!

Wasn’t Wei Qingshan just a commoner from the market? By logic, as long as he spent some silver, nothing would have happened. Who knew that silver was useless this time? He truly hadn’t thought this matter would blow up so big!

One of the yamen runners went forward and snatched the silver from Wei Laotai’s arms. “Lord Magistrate.”

“Wei Laotai, where did this silver come from? Speak quickly and avoid suffering from flesh and skin punishment!”

“Lord Magistrate, Lord Magistrate, I have been wronged! It was Qiu Laoliu who told me to make trouble, it was he who told me to make trouble!”

“Where is Qiu Laoliu? Wasn’t he just here?” People in the crowd all started looking for Qiu Laoliu. “Where is Qiu Laoliu? Lord Magistrate, summon Qiu Laoliu!”

Qiu Laoliu still wanted to run but was pushed forward by the people and sent to the front. “Qiu Laoliu is here, here he is!”

“Lord Magistrate, this commoner’s second complaint accuses Qiu Laoliu of colluding with Wang Jinbao and Duan Dahu to bully others using their power!”

The people outside the yamen, unable to squeeze inside, all craned their necks to look. “How far has the trial gone? How far has it gone?”

“They are now trying the complaint against the constables!”

Even the county magistrate sitting high on the bench secretly pulled out a handkerchief to wipe his sweat. He had judged cases for so many years, but it was the first time that nearly the entire town had come.

Wang Jinbao and Duan Dahu were also brought up. As soon as they were brought up, the two cried out that they were wronged. “Lord Magistrate, Lord Magistrate, we have been wronged! We were only doing our duty fairly!”

“Qiu Laoliu, was it you who instructed Wei Laotai to go make trouble?” the county magistrate asked.

“No, no, I have no grudge or enmity with Wei Qingshan’s family. Why would I instruct Wei Laotai to make trouble? Lord Magistrate, I am wronged! This crazy old woman is spouting blood!”

“Qiu Laoliu, it was clearly you who told me to go. You even deliberately dragged me here from the countryside!”

The two of them started quarreling on the court. Wei Laotai, seeing that things were already hopeless, simply went all out, reaching out to grab Qiu Laoliu. Qiu Laoliu was caught off guard and had his face scratched. The yamen runners watched for a while before finally separating the two.

“Doesn’t Qiu Laoliu have a bun shop? He must have been jealous that their business was good.”

“So that’s how it is. I was wondering what was wrong with Qiu Laoliu. Now that you say it, it all makes sense.”