The Evil Mother-in-law: Torment Children, Work Hard, Be Rich!

Chapter 685: Chapter 685: Old Cases from Years Past

"Shopkeeper Tong, I’ll go and check it out. If anything happens, I’ll come back promptly to inform you."

To dare to bully the people of Qinghe Bay is to dishonor Village Chief Liu.

Village Chief Liu wished that the He family would rot in their prison cells.

He had to follow and see for himself.

Tong Huaqiong nodded and said, "Alright, go ahead. I don’t need to remind you what should be said and what shouldn’t."

Village Chief Liu squinted his eyes and said, "Don’t worry, I understand."

Village Chief Liu went to the county government with the official Zhang.

He returned by midday.

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

While they were in court, the silver-haired woman and the gray-haired woman both fainted.

Village Chief Liu presented the household registration certificate of He Chao, firmly asserting that He Chao had always been a resident of Qinghe Bay and definitely not from Pingyang County.

These people were scammers.

Taking advantage of He Chao’s absence, they teamed up to swindle He Chao’s estate. When exposed, they were embarrassed and furious, and kept threatening Mrs. Hong.

County Magistrate Liu was furious.

Uncle He originally intended to insist that He Chao was his nephew, but the first to crumble was Zhu Zi, fearing that non-disclosure would get him exiled.

One of their purposes in coming to the He family this time was to have him adopted by He Chao to seize He Chao’s estate. On the way, Village Chief Liu hinted that he was one of the masterminds.

Zhu Zi was terrified and voluntarily confessed how the entire family conspired to coerce Mrs. Hong, force the adoption, seize He Chao’s estate, and their dark plan to eventually poison He Chao and Mrs. Hong.

Once Zhu Zi confessed, the rest couldn’t hold out any longer.

They were already at their breaking point.

In the end, the men were beaten with fifty paddles, the women with thirty.

Except for Uncle He and Aunt He, the rest were detained for two years.

"Did the old man and the silver-haired old woman get released?"

Tong Huaqiong thought their punishment was lighter due to old age, which was far too lenient for them.

Those two old devils were the worst.

"Absolutely not, those two have been sent to Pingyang County to await trial and are likely to be beheaded." Village Chief Liu couldn’t contain his excitement as he continued, "You have no idea how thrilling it was. Uncle He and Aunt He ended up turning on each other, and in doing so, they revealed the murder of the old companions."

Village Chief Liu’s face was lit with excitement.

Getting good gossip in court is a rare treat!

He could hardly imagine County Magistrate Liu’s delight.

"It turns out these two old devils had been fond of each other since they were young. They were caught in the haystack by Uncle He’s wife, and together, they poisoned her to death."

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

These two were truly ruthless.

And their words were even more vicious.

Village Chief Liu said, "Killing just one wasn’t enough for them. A few years later, they killed the old woman’s husband. Guess how they did it? The old man set a poisoned animal trap in the deep mountains, then lured her husband there to pick mushrooms. His leg got caught, and before the poison could take effect, the bleeding attracted a pack of wolves, which devoured him."

"Now, tell me, is that ruthless or not? I was shaking when I heard it, and even County Magistrate Liu, who deals with cases daily, said he’d never seen anything so cruel."

"The entire He family was too shocked to speak at the time."

With a years-old murder case involving two lives, the punishment was naturally not simply a paddling.

Since these cases occurred in Pingyang, cooperation with Pingyang was required for the trial. Liu County Magistrate had them temporarily detained and wrote a letter to the Pingyang County Magistrate explaining the murder case. They would continue the trial once a response from Pingyang arrived.

If the evidence was conclusive, an autumn execution for those two old devils wasn’t just a dream.

Without these two old devils plotting, the rest of the He family couldn’t cause any trouble, and having already been scared senseless in court, they would likely regret coming to Qinghe Bay’s He family for the rest of their lives.

Tong Huaqiong and Mrs. Hong were satisfied with the outcome.

...

Throughout the entire first lunar month, Tong Huaqiong didn’t rest.

She finalized the marriage between Gu Jingzhe and Lu Zhaozhao, arranged for Tong Pandi to remarry, helped Li Mingxiu establish her own household, and assisted Mrs. Hong in dealing with the He family...

Life was truly fulfilling.

Time flew by, and the first lunar month had passed.

The sunlight peeled away the chill of winter, enveloping all of Qinghe Bay in a gentle warmth.

Tong Huaqiong sat in the courtyard soaking up the sun, planning a trip to Shengjing, when her little granddaughter Ying Er toddled over like a chubby little bundle, holding a piece of mung bean cake to feed Tong Huaqiong.

"Grandma, seven, seven..."

Tong Huaqiong was amused by her little granddaughter, pinching her cute little cheeks.

Chen Sufen sat nearby embroidering, her eyes full of love as she looked at her youngest daughter.

Although the family had maids, and Ying Er had a wet nurse, Chen Sufen still personally sewed her daughters’ intimate clothing.

Ying Er kicked her little legs and climbed onto Tong Huaqiong, who only then realized her little granddaughter could walk and run already.

Ever since Chen Sufen became pregnant, she handed over the baking room of Taohua Dessert.

In these two years, Taohua Dessert had grown and flourished, opening many branches, each developing skilled bakers.

An annual baking competition was held, and it was no exaggeration to say that whatever pastry was trending in Ning City, you could see it at Taohua Dessert.

Even some prominent families in Shengjing knew the name Taohua Dessert, sending people to Ning City to purchase desserts, and some aristocratic families in Shengjing wanted to poach Taohua Dessert’s bakers as their private pastry chefs.

When Taohua Dessert was founded, Tong Huaqiong aimed to groom Chen Sufen into a benchmark in the baking industry.

After all, she had a remarkable talent for baking.

Several of Taohua Dessert’s popular, enduring flagship products were results of Chen Sufen’s explorations and improvements on the recipes provided by Tong Huaqiong.

In the two years Chen Sufen had been taking care of her children in Qinghe Bay, her apprentice Liu Xiuxiu had already become a baker at Taohua Dessert’s main store; if not for her young age, she could have taken charge of the entire baking department.

Meanwhile, Master Wen from the provincial capital had already become a legendary figure in the city’s pastry industry.

Tong Huaqiong felt that giving birth had delayed Chen Sufen’s career.

In these times, opportunities for women to step outside their homes were rare. Childbearing needed to come before other things, and Chen Sufen likely didn’t perceive having children as a hindrance to her baking career.

After all, she was the traditional woman of this era, aligned with its ethos.

However, Tong Huaqiong didn’t want Chen Sufen to spend her entire life raising children; she wished for her to return to her baking career at Taohua Dessert.

Otherwise, her baking talent would be wasted.

For the past two years, Tong Huaqiong had been focusing on Jufu Supermarket and the textile business, and since Chen Sufen hadn’t brought up returning to Taohua Dessert, she didn’t ask about her plans.

Now, taking this opportunity, Tong Huaqiong wanted to inquire about Chen Sufen’s intentions.

If Chen Sufen didn’t want to return to Taohua Dessert, she would respect her decision.

Unlike Liu Yueer, Chen Sufen wasn’t bad at managing the household and didn’t like gossiping about others, so keeping her busy was necessary to avoid trouble.

"Sufen, Ying Er has grown up. Do you have any thoughts? Do you want to return to Taohua Dessert, or perhaps, like Yue Er, get involved with Jufu Supermarket or the Weaving Workshop?" Tong Huaqiong asked.

Chen Sufen paused.

It was a question she rarely contemplated.