The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

"The corn in your Qinghewan area is growing very well this year."

When Magistrate Liu arrived at Qinghe Bay, he saw that the cornfields there were growing vigorously, free from disease, with plump ears of corn, exuding the joy of an impending harvest.

He knew the corn situation in Pingchuan County in previous years; it was plagued by ear rot and there had never been a bumper harvest.

He searched everywhere for someone to prepare the medicine, but to no avail.

The cornfields in Qinghewan were better than he expected this year, so he couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.

The gloom brought on by Xu Yong's mismanagement of the corn was somewhat soothed by the lush green cornfields of Qinghe Bay.

"Lord Liu, you are unaware of this, but it was Xu Yong's medicine that cured the ear rot disease in Qinghe Bay. That bastard Xu Yong left the real medicine for Qinghe Bay and gave us the fake medicine," Lu San, the Lu family's steward, said through gritted teeth.

He gets very angry when the topic comes up.

He also came to Qinghewan to inspect the cornfields and found that, just as Xu Yong had said, the cornfields in Qinghewan were growing so well because of the medicine he had formulated.

I never expected to fall for Xu Yong's trick.

Lu San quickly figured it out. The reason Xu Yong left the real medicine for Qinghewan was twofold: firstly, he was a villager of Qinghewan and dared not deceive the villagers; secondly, the cornfields in Qinghewan grew well after using his medicine, which would trick more people into falling into the trap, and Lu San would be tricked in the process.

Even if the fake medicine ruined the cornfields of other villages, Xu Yong could use the thriving cornfields of Qinghewan to turn the tables and blame others. But why did the same medicine work in the cornfields of Qinghewan? It must be because you used it incorrectly.

That way, the blame can be shifted to someone else.

Thinking about it this way, Lu San hated Xu Yong's despicable act of selling fake medicine even more.

Xu Yong was a master fraudster, using a series of interconnected schemes to lure people into his trap.

His eldest son is right. People with a wealthy family like the Lu family might only lose some money if they are deceived, but those farming families who make a living by farming might suffer famine if they are harmed.

Xu Yong must be held accountable for this.

Magistrate Liu's face was equally grim. It seemed that Xu Yong was quite capable, having actually concocted a medicine to cure ear rot.

You should know that even with his connections from his classmates, he couldn't get a job from the Ministry of Agriculture in Shengjing.

Xu Yong was so unscrupulous that he left the real medicine in Qinghewan while giving fake medicine to other villages.

He didn't even know how to convict Xu Yong.

After all, he still wanted Xu Yong to produce the real prescription.

Gu Dashu shook his head after hearing Lu San's words and said to Lu San, "Lord Lu, you've been fooled by that bastard Xu Yong. He didn't concoct the real medicine at all; it was concocted by my mother. My mother generously distributed it to the whole village for free. The reason our village's cornfields are growing so well is because we sprayed the medicine my mother concocted. It must be that scoundrel Xu Yong who got the medicine and stole my mother's formula."

"What? He dared to lie to me?" Lu San's eyes widened.

So this medicine wasn't even prepared by Xu Yong.

Xu Yong is really bold.

Gu Dashu began to complain to Magistrate Liu: "Lord Liu, you know that my family and the Xu family are not on good terms, but my mother was magnanimous and still gave the medicine to Xu Yong, thinking that his family's crops were innocent."

Gu Dashu glanced at Magistrate Liu, who, being a man who cherished his crops, nodded in agreement.

Gu Dashu continued, "Xu Yong is a heartless scoundrel. Instead of thanking my mother, he secretly concocted the medicine and sold it. If he could have concocted the medicine, that would have been fine, but the medicine he concocted ruined the crops. He tried to steal a chicken but lost the rice instead. It's a pity for those villagers who were deceived, and a pity for all those corn crops."

So this medicine was originally concocted by Tong Huaqiong!
Upon learning the truth, Magistrate Liu breathed a sigh of relief, as Xu Yong would now have no way to offset his crimes with merits.

Stealing Tong Huaqiong's prescription is one crime, deceiving the people is an even greater crime, and selling counterfeit medicine is an unforgivable crime when all three are combined.

Gu Dashu carefully observed Magistrate Liu's reaction and noticed that after Magistrate Liu's face relaxed, his brows suddenly furrowed slightly.

Having mingled with all sorts of people in the past, Gu Dashu was quite adept at reading people's expressions, and he immediately understood Magistrate Liu's thoughts. Magistrate Liu was simply wondering why Tong Huaqiong hadn't presented the medicine sooner since she had concocted it, instead allowing Xu Yong to take advantage of the situation.

Gu Dashu absolutely would not allow the county magistrate to doubt his own mother.

Thinking this, Gu Dashu said to Magistrate Liu, "Lord Liu, to tell you the truth, it was such a coincidence that I ran into you on the way. Early this morning, my mother asked me to accompany you to the county government to offer you medicine. At the crossroads, we met villagers from several villages in Yue Liang Wan and Gua Zhou Wan who were looking for Xu Yong. That's when we learned that Xu Yong had secretly mixed pesticides and ruined the crops."

"The reason my mother didn't give you the prescription at first was because she was afraid something might go wrong and ruin the crops. She first tried it on our land and found it worked well before she started distributing it to the villagers for free. To be honest, my mother has been very worried these past few days, unable to sleep, fearing that the medicine wouldn't be effective. A few days have passed, and as you, Magistrate Liu, have seen, the corn in our village is indeed growing well. The ear rot is gone, and the cotton aphids are gone too. My mother is relieved, so she decided to give you the prescription so that you can promote it in our Pingchuan County."

Magistrate Liu's eyes lit up instantly.

This widow Tong is interesting; she not only concocted the medicine but was also willing to share the prescription.

This is truly a noble act.

Gu Dashu continued, "To be honest, Magistrate Liu, I don't understand why my mother wanted to give away this prescription. In my opinion, wouldn't it be better to just keep the prescription and sell it to everyone? Wouldn't that generate more revenue than our pastry shop? After all, people can live without pastries, but they still need to eat grain. My mother scolded me, saying that Magistrate Liu worries about the corn harvest in our Pingchuan County every year, how could she use this prescription to make money? She said that she comes from a farming family and knows the hardships of farmers who depend on the weather, and now that she has concocted a medicine to cure ear rot, she wants to benefit more people in the area."

Gu Dashu deliberately belittled himself to elevate his own mother.

As expected, Magistrate Liu was moved to tears after hearing Gu Dashu's heartfelt explanation.

Look at this, this is the situation of ordinary peasant women under his control.

So magnanimous, so selfless.

If Widow Tong's pesticide really works on the corn in the whole county, he will definitely submit a memorial to Widow Tong requesting commendation from the imperial court.

Lu San, who was standing to the side, had tears in his eyes.

Lu San extracted from Gu Dashu's words that his family owned a pastry shop. Who in Qinghe Bay owned a pastry shop? Could it be that this young man's mother was the widow who saved his eldest son?
So he asked, "Young man, is your mother the owner of Peach Blossom Dessert Shop?"

Gu Dashu nodded and said, "That's right, I even delivered pastries to the Lu family before."

Lu San said excitedly, "Your mother is the savior of my eldest son. I never imagined that this pesticide was also made by your mother. Your mother is not only a lucky star for the Lu family, but also a lucky star for the entire Pingchuan County."

He wanted to tell the eldest son about Widow Tong's righteous act.

"Lord Liu has arrived!"

"Lord Liu has arrived!"

The disaster-stricken villagers, who were waiting in the Qinghewan Ancestral Hall for Magistrate Liu to uphold justice, were overjoyed to see him arriving in Gu Dashu's donkey cart.

They all came out to greet them.

They were getting impatient waiting for Magistrate Liu to come and uphold justice at the Qinghewan Ancestral Hall.

They were afraid that something might go wrong along the way, and they wouldn't be able to get compensation from Xu Yong.

In their anxiety, these villagers from other villages said some very unpleasant things to Liu Tielian, implying that Liu Tielian, as the village chief of Qinghewan, was siding with Xu Yong.

Liu Tielian was so angry he wanted to explode.

Now that Magistrate Liu has arrived, Liu Tielian can finally relax.

He was truly afraid that if Magistrate Liu didn't arrive soon, he would lose control of the situation.

Thanks to Tong Huaqiong, who thought of everything so thoroughly, she sent Gu Dashu to the county government office in advance to pick up Magistrate Liu.

When everyone saw Magistrate Liu, they all marveled at Tong Huaqiong's influence, realizing she had actually managed to bring him here. (End of Chapter)