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

Chapter 685 Cold Case
"Manager Tong, I'll go with you and see what's going on. I'll come back and let you know as soon as I find out."

Daring to bully the people of Qinghewan is a slap in the face to Village Chief Liu.

Village Chief Liu wished the entire He family would spend their lives in jail.

He had to go and see for himself.

Tong Huaqiong nodded and said, "Okay, go ahead. I don't need to remind you what you should or shouldn't say."

Village Chief Liu squinted slightly and said, "Don't worry, I know."

Village Chief Liu went to the county government office with Zhang, the yamen runner.

He returned half a day later.

According to Village Chief Liu, Uncle He was so frightened on the way that he wet his pants.

When they arrived at the courtroom, both the silver-haired woman and the gray-haired woman fainted.

Village Chief Liu presented He Chao's household registration certificate, insisting that He Chao had always been a resident of Qinghewan and was not a resident of Pingyang County at all.

These people are scammers.

Taking advantage of He Chao's absence, they came in a group to swindle He Chao's family property. After being exposed, they became furious and kept threatening Hong Shi.

Magistrate Liu was furious.

Uncle He originally wanted to insist that He Chao was his nephew, but the first one to give in was Zhu Zi, who was afraid that if he didn't confess, he would be exiled.

One of their purposes in coming to the He family was to adopt him to He Chao in order to seize He Chao's property. Along the way, Village Chief Liu hinted that he was one of the masterminds.

Zhu Zi was so frightened that he confessed how his whole family had plotted to control Hong Shi, how they had forced Hong Shi to be adopted, how they had seized He Chao's property, and even their sinister plan to poison He Chao and Hong Shi.

With one move from the pillar, the others could no longer withstand it.

They were all already struggling to cope.

Finally, the men were each given fifty strokes of the cane, and the women were each given thirty strokes of the cane.

Apart from Uncle He and Aunt He, the rest of the family members were imprisoned for two years.

"The old man and the silver-haired old woman were released?"

Tong Huaqiong thought that because they were old, their punishment would be lighter, but that was far too lenient on them.

The worst ones are these two old geezers.

"How could that be? The two old folks have been sent to Pingyang County to await trial. They'll probably be beheaded." Village Chief Liu couldn't contain his excitement and continued, "You don't know how exciting it was. To escape punishment, Uncle He and Aunt He's husband started biting each other, and in the process, they even found out where their husbands died."

Village Chief Liu looked excited.

You can even get some juicy gossip while you're in court? Unbelievable!

He didn't even dare to think about Magistrate Liu's happiness.

"It turns out that these two old folks had been eyeing each other since they were young. They were rolling around in haystacks when they were discovered by Uncle He's wife, and the two of them poisoned her to death."

Tong Huaqiong was shocked; this was a gender-swapped version of Pan Jinlian and Wu Dalang.

Those two are really ruthless.

Even harsher words are still being used.

Village Chief Liu said, "The two of them weren't satisfied with just killing one person, so a few years later they killed the old woman's husband. Do you know how they did it? The old woman had set a poisonous animal trap deep in the mountains. She lured the man into the mountains to pick mushrooms, and he was caught in the trap, breaking his thigh. Before the poison took effect, the bleeding attracted a pack of wolves who tore him apart and ate him."

"Tell me, isn't that ruthless? I was trembling when I heard it. Even Magistrate Liu, who judges cases every day, said he had never seen anything so ruthless."

"The He family was so shocked they were speechless."

Given that this is an old case involving two lives, the two men's actions were far more serious than simply being flogged.

Since both cases occurred in Pingyang, the Pingyang County authorities were required to cooperate in the trial. Magistrate Liu temporarily detained the man and wrote a letter to the Pingyang County magistrate detailing the murder, agreeing to continue the trial once news arrived from Pingyang County. If the facts were conclusive, the two old men would likely be executed in the autumn.

Without those two old fogies coming up with ideas, the rest of the He family wouldn't be able to cause any trouble. Besides, they've already been terrified in court, and they'll probably regret coming to the He family in Qinghe Bay for the rest of their lives.

Tong Huaqiong and the Hong family expressed their satisfaction with the news.

Tong Huaqiong was busy throughout the entire first month of the lunar calendar.

They finalized the marriage between Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao, watched Tong Pandi remarry, helped Li Mingxiu establish a female household registration, and dealt with the He family together with Madam Hong.
My days were incredibly fulfilling.

Time flies, and the first month of the lunar calendar is over.

The sunlight stripped away the winter chill, enveloping the entire Qinghe Bay in a warm glow.

Tong Huaqiong sat in the courtyard basking in the sun, planning her trip to Shengjing. Her little granddaughter Ying'er moved her feet and pounced into Tong Huaqiong's arms like a little dumpling, holding a piece of mung bean cake in her hand and stuffing it into Tong Huaqiong's mouth.

"Grandma, seven, seven."

Tong Huaqiong was amused by her granddaughter and pinched her adorable cheeks.

Chen Su-fen sat to the side embroidering, looking at her youngest daughter with loving eyes.

Although there were maids in the house and a wet nurse for Ying'er, Chen Sufen still personally sewed the clothes for her two daughters.

Ying'er flapped her short legs and climbed onto Tong Huaqiong. Only then did Tong Huaqiong realize that her little granddaughter could already walk and run.

Since becoming pregnant, Chen Su-fen has handed over the bakery of Peach Blossom Desserts.

In the past two years, Peach Blossom Desserts has grown and expanded, opening many branches, and each branch has trained baking chefs.

Every year, a baking competition is held. It's no exaggeration to say that you can tell what kind of pastries are popular in Ningcheng just by looking at Taohua Desserts.

Even some wealthy families in Shengjing knew the fame of Peach Blossom Desserts and sent people to Ningcheng to buy them. Some powerful families in Shengjing even wanted to poach the bakers of Peach Blossom Desserts to work as their private pastry chefs.

When Peach Blossom Desserts was first established, Tong Huaqiong wanted to cultivate Chen Sufeng into a benchmark in the baking industry.

After all, she has an exceptional talent for baking.

Many of Peach Blossom Dessert's enduringly popular signature products are the result of Chen Su-fen's exploration and improvement upon recipes provided by Tong Hua-qiong.

In the two years that Chen Su-fen has been taking care of her children in Qinghewan, her apprentice Liu Xiu-xiu has already become a baking master at the Taohua Dessert flagship store. If she weren't so young, she could have been the head of the baking room.

Master Wen from Fucheng is already a god in the entire Fucheng pastry industry.

Tong Huaqiong felt that Chen Sufeng's child was hindering her career.

In this era, women don't have many opportunities to leave their homes, and having children should take precedence over other things. It's estimated that Chen Su-fen herself didn't intend for having children to interfere with her baking career.

After all, she is the most traditional woman of this era, the one who best embodies the spirit of the times.

Tong Huaqiong, however, did not want Chen Sufeng to stay at home taking care of the children. She wanted Chen Sufeng to continue her baking business at Peach Blossom Desserts.

Otherwise, it would be a waste of her baking talent.

In the past two years, Tong Huaqiong has focused her energy on Jufulai and the textile business. Since Chen Sufen did not take the initiative to mention returning to Taohua Dessert, she did not ask Chen Sufen about her plans.

Now, taking this opportunity, Tong Huaqiong wanted to ask Chen Sufen about her plans.

If Chen Su-fen doesn't want to return to Peach Blossom Dessert Shop, she will respect her decision.

Chen Sufen is different from Liu Yue'e. Liu Yue'e is not good at managing the household and likes to gossip about other people's business. She is easy to cause trouble if she stays at home, so she has to keep her busy.

"Su Fen, Ying'er is all grown up now. What are your thoughts? Do you want to go back to Peach Blossom Dessert Shop, or like Yue'e, go to Jufulai, or work at the weaving workshop?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Chen Sufen was taken aback.

She rarely thinks about this problem.