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

Chapter 319 The aftermath
Magistrate Liu said, "The child probably can't understand the Shengjing dialect spoken by Lord Liang."

Magistrate Liu repeated it in the Pingchuan dialect.

Xiao Long said, feeling wronged, "Dad said... Dad said I look like a girl, so he'll bring me home first, and then I'll become a boy once Sister Man'er's mother accepts me."

Before Xiaolong could finish speaking, tears started streaming down his face.

Lord Liu asked, "Where is your mother?"

Xiao Long gritted his teeth and said, "He died of illness."

Lord Liu pressed on, asking, "Where did you live before?"

Xiao Long rubbed his eyes and said, "I live in the courtyard on Zishi Street."

Tong Huaqiong was horrified. This was the very place where Hong Shi and He Chao had been living after being kicked out by Xu Zaohua.

When Mrs. Hong was doing Xiaolong's hair and makeup in the morning, she casually mentioned this place, but Xiaolong never expected to use it to make up a lie.

Lord Liang and Magistrate Liu exchanged glances.

Xiao Long stepped forward and grabbed Lord Liang's sleeve, saying timidly, "Sir, could you please do me a favor and let me stay by my father's side?"

Chen Sufeng rushed over in a rage, picked up Xiaolong and shoved him into Lord Liang's arms, saying, "He is a traitor, sir, you should take him away immediately, and it would be better to behead him."

Lord Liang: "."

Xiao Long struggled in Chen Su Fen's arms.

Gu Dahan rushed forward, snatched Xiaolong from his arms, and said to Chen Sufeng, "Are you crazy?!"

Chen Sufeng, her eyes red from crying, said, "I'm going crazy. Lord Liang, this child is a traitor. You must take him away and hand him over."

Lord Liang: "."

This crazy woman wants to use him to get rid of the bastard child, how could he fall for it?

Lord Liang's beard twitched as he squatted down and carefully examined Su Chengmin lying on the ground.

He knew Su Chengmin very well; he would recognize him even if he were ashes. The person lying on the ground was clearly not him.

Lord Liang stood up, waved to the crowd, and the officers and soldiers quickly withdrew from Tong Huaqiong's courtyard.

Tong Huaqiong finally let out a sigh of relief.

It felt like surviving a catastrophe.

Magistrate Tong Huaqiong said, "Aunt Tong, as the saying goes, harmony in the family brings prosperity. As the mother-in-law, you shouldn't be too harsh on your daughter-in-law. What did you do to make her willingly admit to harboring a traitor? This time, it was Lord Liang who was wise. If there were such a fool, your whole family would have been arrested. Be nicer to your daughter-in-law in the future, and don't always use your position as the mother-in-law to pressure her."

"And no matter what, the child is innocent."

Before stepping out of the courtyard, Magistrate Liu gave Tong Huaqiong a deep look.

That look in his eyes was meaningful, seemingly meant to reassure Tong Huaqiong.

She always felt that Magistrate Liu had seen through something.

If that's really the case, Magistrate Liu, as the local official in charge, must protect her.

Now, everyone in Yanguan Town knows that she is associated with Magistrate Liu, and many people even believe that she is Magistrate Liu's godmother.

If Xiaolong and Su Chengmin's identities are exposed, their "adopted son," Magistrate Liu, will also lose his head.

When the villagers heard that Tong Huaqiong's family was harboring remnants of a traitor, they were so frightened that they ran to Tong Huaqiong's doorstep in a panic to find out what was going on.

While the officers and soldiers were searching the courtyard, everyone was already defending Tong Huaqiong in unison, swearing that there could be no remnants of traitors in Qinghewan.

The village chief said it very clearly this morning: harboring remnants of traitors will result in the extermination of nine generations of their family.

The villagers are not clear about the nine-clan relationship network, but they know that if you tie all the people in Qinghewan together, it doesn't even reach the nine clans. It might even extend to their married daughters and their relatives and in-laws in other villages.

No one in the village blamed Tong Huaqiong; on the contrary, they hated the person who reported her.

Many people thought to themselves, even if Tong Huaqiong really was harboring remnants of treason, she should at least help cover it up, not report it. Even if you have a grudge against Tong Huaqiong, you shouldn't report her.

What good will it do you to report me?
They'll have to lose their heads along with them.

Just as the villagers were gathered around Tong Huaqiong's house, fearing the end of the world was imminent, the soldiers withdrew.

Everyone truly felt the relief of surviving a disaster.

"How could Tong Dajiao harbor remnants of traitors?"

"Let alone Tong Dajiao, no one in the entire Qinghe Bay dares to do that."

"How many heads do you have to chop off?"

The villagers clutched their chests and discussed the matter amongst themselves.

"The soldiers didn't search my in-laws' house first, but they searched the whole village and then came back for a second search. What does that mean?" Zhao, Liu Yue'e's mother, asked the village chief Liu Tielian, puzzled.

Liu Tielian's face was ashen. Magistrate Liu and Lord Liang hadn't left yet, and he couldn't tell his younger brother and sister-in-law that it was Granny Huang who had maliciously reported this.

"What do you mean?" Er Gouzi asked, his eyes wide. "They're just angry that I was rude to the officers and soldiers and said some unpleasant things, so they're causing trouble for the boss."

The villagers suddenly realized.

Liu Tielian yelled at Er Gouzi, "Er Gouzi, what do you know?"

At this moment, a soldier who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old said, "Young man, we are just following orders, why would we make things difficult for you? If we wanted to make things difficult for you, we would have let you crowd here to watch the show."

Er Gouzi didn't dare to reply.

The young officer pointed to the old woman, Huang, who was trying to slip away against the wall and said, "That old lady swore that this house was harboring traitors. Since someone has reported it, we must carry out the search mission."

Old Woman Huang shrank back in fright.

Aunt Qin said loudly, "You've been used as pawns by this old woman. Her granddaughter works in Tong Dajiao's shop, and she wants to leave her granddaughter behind and get her wages directly from Tong Dajiao. Tong Dajiao didn't want to make an enemy of her."

The officers and soldiers searched Tong Huaqiong's house but found no traitors. They already knew that Granny Huang was using them as pawns.

They couldn't arrest and punish Granny Huang, but they had to let the villagers know about her behavior. So the young soldier deliberately revealed Granny Huang's report to the public.

Magistrate Liu gave an awkward smile and said to Lord Liang, "The villagers are foolish; their pursuit of personal grudges only adds to your troubles."

After the officers and soldiers withdrew from Qinghe Bay, everyone began to focus their firepower on attacking Granny Huang.

Old Lady Huang wanted to escape, but the older women who were on good terms with Tong Huaqiong wouldn't let her get away.

Er Gouzi cursed, "Old Huang, what evil intentions do you have? You made false accusations because of personal grudges, so you should be arrested."

Zhao pointed at Granny Huang and gritted her teeth, saying, "Are you trying to kill the whole village?"

Huang Pozi defended herself, saying, "I only told the soldiers that there were two strangers in Tong Dajiao's house, I didn't say anything else."

Liu Tielian roared, "You call this saying you didn't say anything? Don't you know that the word 'stranger' can't even be mentioned now? If it weren't for Magistrate Liu and Lord Liang's sharp eyes, just because you said there were two strangers in the village, they would have arrested everyone in Qinghewan. How many generations of your family do you have to be executed?"

Village chief Liu Tielian shouted until his voice cracked, all so that Lord Liang would hear the phrase "clear-headed and discerning".

Old Lady Huang only wanted to get revenge on Tong Huaqiong; she didn't think that far ahead.

Hearing the village chief's words, he was naturally unconvinced.

He said, "If you're going to blame someone, blame Widow Tong for having two strangers in her house. Even if the whole village is arrested and beheaded, it's still Widow Tong's fault."

Before Huang Pozi could finish speaking, someone next to her smeared her mouth with cow dung.

"Who are you cursing? You deliberately led people to my house and exposed the fact that Da Han has an illegitimate child in front of the whole village and Magistrate Liu. You old hag, you just want to embarrass me in front of everyone."

Tong Huaqiong took a spoon full of cow dung and smeared it haphazardly into Huang Pozi's mouth.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a soldier turning back.

This is a surprise attack to test her.