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

The residents of the old house, like the villagers, were baffled as to why their home had caught fire.

Everyone was sitting inside eating glutinous rice balls that evening when a loud crash shook the table violently, and the bowls of glutinous rice balls fell to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, their roof caught fire.

After surviving the ordeal, both Grandpa Gu and Grandma Gu believed that Yao's family had thrown firecrackers and set the house on fire.

Grandpa Gu looked at Yao's family with hostility.

Wei, who was holding Yao's wife, knew clearly that her son had set off fireworks in the yard that night, fireworks that were given to him by Man'er and Yao Zu.

However, Mr. Wei did not believe that such a loud noise could be produced by fireworks.

Wei hugged Yaojia tightly. Yaojia was trembling, and Wei was a little uncertain.

If it really was her son who caused the trouble, Mrs. Wei would definitely punish him.

The cautionary tale of Chunwang is still fresh in our minds.

Jia glared at Wei, wishing she could take the opportunity to humiliate her daughter-in-law.

Gu Ruinian covered his face with soot and hid in the crowd.

"Fengnian, Fengnian's wife, Yaojia is still young and doesn't know any better. How did you two adults raise him? How could you let him burn the house down?" Old Master Gu was furious.

If it weren't for his great-grandson, he would have slapped him this morning.

Now things are really bad. The house is on fire, and the firefighting just now soaked the beds, clothes, and blankets. In this freezing weather, where are they going to go?

Yao Jia cried and said, "It wasn't me."

At this moment, Gu Ruinian wiped the dust off his face and angrily scolded Yao Jia: "You're such a liar at such a young age. I told you to be careful when you were playing with fireworks in the yard tonight, but you wouldn't listen. You burned the house down."

“I saw it clearly, why don’t you apologize to your great-grandfather and great-grandmother right away?”

Is it really the Yao family?
Nobody found it strange.

After all, every year there are ignorant children in the village who set off firecrackers and set their own clothes or haystacks on fire.

However, it's not common for a family like the Yao family to burn their house down like this.

When Grandma Gu heard that Yao's family was the cause of the trouble, she glared at them and started scolding them.

Tong Huaqiong frowned. What kind of firecracker could make such a loud bang? Her yard, which was some distance from the old house, was shaken as if by an earthquake.

She knows that the fireworks from Yao's family were given to us by our children. If this goes on, wouldn't it implicate our own children?

It would have been better if Gu Ruinian hadn't spoken, but as soon as he did, Tong Huaqiong began to suspect him.

Wasn't he making gunpowder?

Seeing the terrified Yao family and the completely bewildered Wei family, Tong Huaqiong steadied her breathing and said, "I just heard a loud bang at home. Even my windows shook. Anyone who didn't know better would think they were blasting a mountain. What kind of fireworks could make such a commotion?"

After Tong Huaqiong reminded them, everyone frowned.

Tong Huaqiong was not the only one who heard the loud noise, nor was she the only one who felt the earth shake.

However, everyone was so focused on putting out the fire that they forgot about this.

Reminded by Tong Huaqiong, Wei realized what was going on and said, "Auntie is right. My Yao family plays with small fireworks. They can't even light a haystack, let alone a house."

"Could it be that someone threw explosives into our yard?"

Grandma Gu rolled her eyes at Madam Wei. Her eldest daughter-in-law was a troublemaker, even dragging her granddaughter-in-law into it.

Madam Wei hugged Yao Jia tightly and said to him, "Yao Jia, tell your mother clearly what happened."

"It's alright, just tell me, and I'll stand up for you."

When the loud noise occurred, Yaojia frantically rushed into the house.

Just now, Gu Ruinian desperately pointed out her son, and she and Tong Huaqiong realized that the culprit in this matter was probably Gu Ruinian.

Otherwise, why would he be in such a hurry to jump out?

After being comforted by Madam Wei, Yao Jia looked at Gu Ruinian and said, "It was my uncle who asked me to order it."

The crowd erupted in a roar.

Gu Ruinian shouted sternly, "What nonsense are you spouting?"

Yao Jia trembled at Gu Ruinian's shout. Gu Fengnian stood up, pointed at Gu Ruinian, and said, "What are you yelling about?"

Then he turned to Yaojia and asked, "What did your uncle ask you to order?"

Wei felt a sudden darkness before her eyes.

Could it be that Gu Ruinian instigated Yao's family to set the house on fire?

But where did that loud noise come from?

Yao Jia said, "My uncle told me to light a big firecracker. He said it would bloom into beautiful flowers after it went up in the air, so I lit it."

Wei was so angry that she gritted her teeth and pointed at Gu Ruinian as if she wanted to tear him apart.

Gu Ruinian tried to argue, but Old Master Gu interrupted him: "What exactly did you ask the Yao family to order?"

During this time, Gu Ruinian had been rummaging around in the yard, and Grandpa Gu seemed to have noticed something.

He thought that since his grandson's leg was already lame, it would be good for him to have something to do. He never expected that he would instigate the Yao family to set the house on fire.

"Grandpa, look, this is gunpowder."

While the people in the old house were making a fuss, Gu Jingzhe had already quietly led his men to find the tools Gu Ruinian had hidden in the backyard.

When Grandpa Gu looked at the face by the light of the oil lamp, he turned pale.

The village chief flew into a rage and yelled, "Gu Ruinian, did you do this? Do you know that manufacturing gunpowder illegally is punishable by beheading?"

Gu Ruinian brought this upon himself, so let him die. He shouldn't drag the whole village down with him.

The village chief understood: Gu Ruinian had created a powerful gunpowder, and in order to get rid of him, he had lured the Yao family to light the fuse of the gunpowder while they were setting off fireworks.

No wonder Yao's family was so scared at first; the child was naive and thought he had caused trouble.

The villagers then realized what was happening.

It turned out that Gu Ruinian was manufacturing gunpowder without authorization.

No wonder it made such a loud noise.

He's incredibly daring; he'd do something that could mean either exile or execution if caught.

But why did he make gunpowder?
Could it be that they're just trying to blow up their own house?

Gu Ruinian pursed his lips, his face pale, and his eyes flashed with resentment.

He knew nothing about this era and was learning from the village chief for the first time that it was illegal to manufacture gunpowder privately.

Young Master Zheng had never told him that.

Before the New Year, the villagers came to scold Zheng Er Gongzi, saying that he sold his information to two families. Not only did the Zheng family hoard charcoal, but Tong Dajiao also hoarded charcoal. When the price of Zheng family's charcoal rose and caused public resentment, Tong Dajiao appeared out of nowhere as a savior and brought out 200,000 catties of charcoal.

The Zheng family suffered a severe blow, losing half of the Shen family's wealth in the process.

It was Tong Dajiao again; Gu Ruinian hated his aunt's family to death.

The Second Young Master Zheng suspected that he and Tong Dajiao were plotting against the Zheng family. He tried his best to explain for a long time before the Second Young Master Zheng didn't break his other leg, but he demanded that he must make gunpowder that could destroy the city wall before spring.

Gu Ruinian spent his days and nights working on it, and finally succeeded in creating gunpowder.

To test its power, he specifically chose the night of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Because the whole village sets off firecrackers on the night of the Lantern Festival, the crackling sound will mask the sound of his gunpowder.

Unaware of the power of his gunpowder and fearing he might blow himself up, he led the Yao family to light the fuse.

Unexpectedly, a loud explosion burned down their house.

"Ruinian, why are you making gunpowder for no reason?"

"You're lucky you only blew up your own yard. If it hadn't been discovered by everyone, the whole village would probably have been blown up."

“We cannot tolerate this matter concerning the village chief, otherwise we won’t be able to sleep peacefully at night.”

The villagers were terrified at the thought of a time bomb in their village.

If the authorities find out, the entire village could be wiped out. (End of Chapter)