The daily life of a space tycoon raising children, doting on his husband, and farming.

Chapter 23 is as it always is.

“A letter,” Yang Rang said. “Ten days ago, Tian Sheng received an anonymous letter that warned him that Li Wenhua already knew about his affair with Zhang and wanted to take the opportunity to ruin his official reputation.”

Lu Chengjing: "Where is the letter?"

Yang Rang: "Burn it."

Lord An asked, "Who was the messenger?"

"I don't know." Yang Rang shook his head. "The letter was pressed under the official documents in Tian Sheng's duty room. There are many people coming and going in the duty room, making it difficult to investigate."

“Tian Sheng doesn’t seem stupid. What if an anonymous letter from an unknown source is meant to sow discord?” Shang Wan, who was granted permission to observe, felt that there was something suspicious about the whole thing.

In a courtroom, no one is allowed to speak freely. However, Lord An merely glanced at Shang Wan without reprimanding her, as if tacitly approving.

Lu Chengjing didn't miss Lord An's expression and secretly wondered what Shang Wan had done to receive such preferential treatment from Lord An.

"Tian Sheng was skeptical of what was said in the letter, so he sent people to investigate." Yang Rang glanced at Lu Chengjing. "The investigation revealed that Li Wenhua had drunkenly told someone about his fondness for other men's wives."

Lord An turned his gaze to Lu Chengjing, who said, "I have indeed heard of this matter, but I dare not believe everything said while drunk, nor have I publicized it to anyone."

Lord An nodded.

The case is now clear: there is ample witness testimony and physical evidence. Tian Sheng, the mastermind, committed suicide by poisoning himself, and his accomplices should also be punished.

Although Niu Baoqing was coerced by Tian Sheng, he did indeed put the poison into the wine. After careful consideration, Magistrate An sentenced him to sixty strokes of the cane and two years of penal servitude in accordance with the law.

Xie Zhiqiang was convicted of dereliction of duty and attempted murder, but was spared the death penalty because the attempt was unsuccessful. He was sentenced to one hundred strokes of the cane and exiled two thousand li away.

Geng Hao coerced Niu Baoqing's family and neglected his duties after the incident. Considering that he protected an important witness in the case, he was sentenced to fifty strokes of the cane and fined twenty taels of silver, and was barred from holding public office again.

Yang Rang disregarded human life and helped Tian Sheng commit countless evils. His actions were serious, and he was sentenced to immediate execution according to the law.

Liu Tong arbitrarily changed the heavy shackles, and according to the law, he should be given ten strokes of the cane and fined two taels of silver. If he commits the same offense again, he should be dismissed from his post and investigated.

Lu Chengjing was released without charge, but because he was implicated for no reason and almost lost his life, the government gave him twenty taels of silver as compensation.

Shang Wan was rewarded with five taels of silver for his meritorious assistance in the investigation.

"Retire!"

Once the notice was posted, it sparked a great deal of discussion among the people, and the Li family was in an uproar.

Zhang was convicted of adultery and sentenced to ninety strokes of the cane according to the law. If the Li family was willing to pay one thousand taels of silver to redeem her, the sentence would be reduced to twenty strokes, and she would be taken back by her husband's family.

Li Can wished he could strangle Zhang, who had cheated on him, so how could he possibly pay money to ransom her?
Fearing punishment, Zhang ended her life with a white silk ribbon.

Qin Cuixiang was secretly delighted and sent a message home to discuss how she could become the official wife through her son.

Shang Wan settled Lu Chengjing at the gate, asked the guards to look after him for a while, and ran to the East Market to rent an oxcart.

Qiao Yu'an rushed over upon hearing the news, accompanied by a girl of about fifteen or sixteen years old who bore a striking resemblance to him.

"Now the truth is out. That Tian Sheng is truly despicable. It's too easy for him to commit suicide by poison." Qiao Yu'an said indignantly, as if he wanted to punch Tian Sheng if he were in front of him.

Lu Chengjing smiled slightly. Because he was worried about scaring the three of them, Shang Wan had already tidied him up, and he had regained some of his former charm.

Qiao Weiwei had long admired Lu Chengjing, and when she saw him smile, she could hardly take her eyes off him.

Lu Chengjing naturally noticed it and frowned, asking, "Who is this young lady?"

“She’s the younger sister I often mention to you.” Qiao Yu’an winked at Qiao Weiwei. “Chengjing is the same age as me, Weiwei, you should call him big brother.”

Qiao Weiwei blushed slightly and gave a graceful curtsy, "Weiwei greets Brother Lu."

Her voice was like that of a nightingale, melodious and pleasing to the ear.

Lu Chengjing nodded, but didn't say a word.

The slight blush on Qiao Weiwei's face faded instantly, and she bit her lip, looking flustered. Qiao Yu'an quickly smoothed things over, "Chengjing, Weiwei is a young lady, she's shy, and this is our first meeting, you should at least say a few polite words."

Lu Chengjing remained expressionless. "I've always been this way."

Qiao Weiwei's face paled, and she looked hurt. She grabbed Qiao Yu'an's sleeve and hid behind him.

Qiao Yu'an immediately felt sorry for her younger sister, "Look at you, always with a stern face, you've scared Weiwei. In the future, Weiwei will be terrified of you."

Lu Chengjing frowned, about to say something, when Shang Wan drove over in an oxcart, with Shi Tou sitting beside her.

"Young Master!" Shi Tou jumped out of the car excitedly, ran forward in a few steps, pushed past Qiao Yu'an and Qiao Weiwei who were blocking his way, grabbed Lu Chengjing and looked him up and down, tears streaming down his face, "How did you get so thin?"

His young master must have suffered terribly in prison, sob sob sob, his poor young master!

Helpless, Lu Chengjing raised his left hand to pat Shi Tou's shoulder and offered a few words of comfort.

Shi Tou had cried because he was too excited. Once he calmed down, he felt a little embarrassed and quickly wiped away his tears.

Shang Wan walked over, her gaze sweeping over Qiao Yu'an, who was glaring at her, and Qiao Weiwei, who had her head down, and said to Lu Chengjing, "It's already noon, let's eat something before we go. It will take more than an hour to get here by oxcart."

"Okay." Lu Chengjing nodded.

Shang Wan bent down to brush the strands of hair from his face and asked with a smile, "What would you like to eat?"

Lu Chengjing thought about it for a while and said, "Three-delicacy wontons."

“Okay.” Shang Wan tried to pick him up, but Lu Chengjing stopped her, his ears turning slightly red. “Let Shi Tou do it.”

Shang Wan raised an eyebrow, "You dislike me?"

"No." Lu Chengjing's long eyelashes trembled slightly, and his pale lips were pressed together.

Stone scratched his head. "Sister, I'm stronger, let me do it."

Shang Wan looked at him and asked, "Are you sure you want to compete with me in strength?"

"No, no, no." Stone waved his hands repeatedly, joking that his sister could kill a wild boar with one punch.

Shang Wan glanced at Lu Chengjing's expression, thought for a moment, and then handed over the task of carrying people onto the oxcart to Shi Tou.

Tsk, men's pride and all that.

Qiao Yu'an's eyes were sore from staring, but Shang Wan didn't even give him a glance. Lu Chengjing even forgot to say goodbye and left in the oxcart.

Qiao Weiwei asked softly, "Brother, shouldn't we invite Brother Lu to stay at our residence for a while?"

Qiao Yu'an slapped his forehead, "I got so angry when I saw Shang Wan that I forgot everything. I have to go after her and see what's going on."

He saw Shang Wan, that unfaithful woman, arguing with a strange man in the alley.

Chengjing is no longer the third young master of the Lu family, and he is seriously injured. Who knows how that woman might abuse him? He must not let her succeed!
Qiao Weiwei was left standing there, biting her lip, a hint of resentment flashing in her eyes.

Shang Wan knew that Qiao Yu'an was secretly following him, so she had Shi Tou send him a bowl of three-delicacy wontons.

Qiao Yu'an clenched her fists as she looked at the wontons.

Hmph! Don't think that just because you treat him to wontons he'll help you cover it up. Once he finds a good opportunity, he'll definitely tell Cheng Jing about Shang Wan's infidelity and make him divorce her!

However, this place has really delicious wontons.

"Weiwei, what do you think... huh?"

Where is Vivi?
The three of them slowly returned to Elm Tree Village in an oxcart, intending to give Xiao Huan and Yuan Yuan a surprise, but the two of them gave them a fright first.

Yuanyuan has disappeared.

(End of this chapter)