The Comeback of the Charming Farmer's Wife

He spilled everything out as if he were pouring beans from a bag, "The young master of the Liu Family was always so lecherous; it was he who took a fancy to you, he who drugged your water, and even ravished you in the wild. But, was it that he did not fancy me? Yet, I accidentally drank the water and was bullied because of you. It’s all your fault, all your fault. That’s why you deserve to take the blame for me, just like that. I was bullied because of you, so it’s only right for you to bear the sin alone, it’s only right."

"Since he already paid with his life for the crime, why go after the Jiang Family’s winery?"

Archivist Huang’s brother nodded, then shook his head, "I don’t know! No, I do know! It was the Liu Family who wanted it, it was my brother who wanted it; they wanted everything, they wanted everything, it’s none of my business!"

"Why did they want the Jiang Family’s winery?"

"Why, why? Money, the Jiang Family’s winery is profitable!" confessed Archivist Huang’s brother as he spilled all the beans.

Upon hearing this, Ye Er, disguised as the Second of the Jiang Family, wiped his face, revealing his true features.

And the lights inside the room were also relit.

Ye Zi’an and the steward entered together.

When Archivist Huang’s brother saw the two of them, he finally snapped to his senses, stunned.

"It was you who captured me!"

Ye Zi’an snorted coldly, "Knowing full well that the Liu Family’s son was licentious, you didn’t warn the young master of the Jiang Family, which is one thing, but you didn’t even keep yourself out of harm’s way. Who else do you have to blame for being bullied? Take him away!"

Before leaving, he also said to Ye Yi, "Bring Archivist Huang to the county office before dawn. Knowing the law and yet breaking it, harboring criminals, his crime shall be upgraded one degree."

"Yes!"

Soon after, Ye Yi and the others went to capture Archivist Huang.

Meanwhile, Ye Zi’an went back to review the documents they had obtained. After he finished, news of the arrest of the Liu Family also spread out.

It turned out that every year during the flood disasters, the Liu Family would profiteer from the calamity, selling substandard goods for higher prices and hiking up grain costs, and that was just the least of it. More crucially, the Liu Family had conspired with the Hong, Zhou, and the former County Magistrate. They had replaced the disaster relief grains dispatched by the court.

Most of the relief grains were indeed old but at least not moldy; however, what they replaced them with was actually moldy rice, which they then mixed with the remaining rice to distribute to the people.

He didn’t dare to imagine whether there had been anyone who ate the moldy rice, fell ill, and then died because they couldn’t get treatment.

For ten whole years, the people of Mianyang endured this!

Therefore, in the following days of the entire eighth month, it was all about ’capture, capture, capture’!

Every few days, one could see a family being arrested, the Huang Family, Liu Family, Hong Family... None on the list were missed, they were all caught in the net.

And every day, officials from the county office were seen appraising the assets of each family. The investigation was horrifying.

Ye Zi’an realized that he didn’t even need to touch tax revenue to clear the county office’s debts, and he could even afford to repair dams and levees.

Not to mention other families, just the Zhou Family alone turned up 58,600 taels of silver, the Huang Family 30,000 taels, the Liu Family 180,000 taels, the Hong Family 160,000 taels, and so on.

These fortunes may have been earned by the families themselves, but the crimes they committed were so severe that paying double the silver would not make amends.

Take Archivist Huang and the former County Magistrate’s collusion, for instance, their wrongful convictions and false charges had cost at least five lives.

As for the Hong Family, there were three other families who had paid blood money to cover up murders, in addition to the Hong Family’s financial crimes.

Thus, everyone on Ye Zi’an’s blacklist was arrested, exiled, or had their property confiscated.

The previously arrogant and domineering figures on Mianyang Street were no longer to be seen.

In one month’s time, Mianyang’s years of darkness had finally dispersed, welcoming the light.