Knowing that Xie Yunjiao was doing well in prison for the time being, the Gao family finally breathed a sigh of relief.

They had been hiding in Wu Mingde's house for several days and did not dare to go out.

Since Doudou and Lianjin could not go to school, Peng Yingtian went to Wu Mingde's house to teach them, and he could also eat at Wu's house openly.

Old Wu and Old He visited many people who bought his braised meat, and found that except for one person who got the plague, no one else was sick.

The man who was infected with the plague knew Old Wu. He was from the village next to Old Wu.

Old Wu asked him if he had ever eaten anything special besides Lao He’s braised meat?

In the end, the man said no, and that he was eating the same way as usual, but nothing was wrong now, so the problem must be with the sick pig.

However, if Xie Yunjiao had not asked the officials to send him medicine to treat the plague, he might have died long ago.

When he heard that Xie Yunjiao was thrown into jail because of this incident, he felt very puzzled.

"How can a hero who saved people become a villain?" the man said.

"It's all because of that corrupt official and Gu Lan who are in cahoots with each other!" Old He said angrily.

The village is now in a mess because of Gu Lan's elder brother. Not only has he occupied the village's bamboo weaving factory, he has also turned the villagers' common property into his personal property. The villagers work hard but don't get much money.

Moreover, all the customers were found by Xie Yunjiao. Now that he has finished the last batch of business led by Xie Yunjiao, he blames the villagers for not being able to get business himself, forcing the villagers to make some repetitive styles and sell them at a low price on the market.

Fortunately, Village Chief Gu had a trick up his sleeve and asked the villagers not to put the anti-counterfeiting mark that Xie Yunjiao requested on the bamboo weaving.

Gu Ping was lazy and liked to eat. When he saw the villagers making bamboo weaving, he asked his men to sell it and didn't care about anything else at all.

As a result, as soon as they put it up for sale, they were discovered by the vendors who had bought out the styles, and they were reported to the police and arrested.

At first, Gu Ping made a big fuss, but the other party took out the original agreement with the bamboo weaving factory and sued them for infringement.

Gu Ping was speechless and had to agree to pay compensation.

But he couldn't come up with the money, and in the end Gu Lan had to sell the gold, silver and jewelry that Zhao Qian had given her to help him pay it back.

After Gu Lan pulled Gu Ping out, she started scolding him without giving him any face at all.

Gu Ping was scolded so badly that he lost all his face, but he didn't dare to say a word.

He hated Xie Yunjiao in his heart. She didn't want to do good business but signed an agreement with others. As a result, he couldn't come up with new designs and couldn't rely on his old profits. He could only let the bamboo weaving factory stop production.

But even if the factory stops working and production, the employees still have to receive their basic salary.

In a fit of anger, Gu Ping closed the bamboo weaving factory and tried to ignore it.

For this reason, the villagers all have some complaints against Gu Ping, but they can't do anything about him. Now Gu Ping controls the entire Hexi Village, like a mountain tyrant, who can get whatever he wants. They can't afford to provoke him.

Not only that, Gu Ping also openly forced out the teacher from the village's school, drove all the children out, and turned the ancestral hall into a gambling house.

They also went to nearby villages to solicit customers, causing the nearby villagers to curse Hexi Village as soon as they heard the name of Hexi Village, saying that the people of Hexi Village were a cancer and garbage.

The people of Hexi Village were once envied for their improved living standards, but now they have become the rats crossing the street that everyone wants to kill.

The entire Hexi Village wailed and complained, and began to regret why they had helped Gu Ping and caused Xie Yunjiao to go to jail.

Only half a month had passed, but they were already regretting their decision so much that they wished Xie Yunjiao could be released from prison immediately.

Xie Yunjiao was not idle in prison. She cured an old lady who was coughing and also got along well with the people in several nearby cells.

Only then did I realize that each of these death row inmates had many unspeakable stories, especially some who were wrongly accused and had not really committed any crime.

Just like the old lady in the cell next to her, she said that when she was twenty years old, she helped her master escort a very precious treasure, but it was stolen on the way. She was caught by the enemy and sent to prison, where she was tortured and forced to tell the truth about the treasure.

But she knew nothing about it. After being tortured for twelve years, she still couldn't explain why, so she was thrown into the death row by the enemy and stayed there for another ten years.

So she was only in her forties, not even fifty, but she had been tortured so much that she was not only weak but also had many health problems.

Xie Yunjiao couldn't cure her illness in a short time, so she could only give her acupuncture to make her feel better.

Knowing that Xie Yunjiao might still go out, the old lady always looked at Xie Yunjiao hesitantly, but never spoke.

That day, Old Wu came to tell Xie Yunjiao the good news, saying that the real source of the plague had finally been found.

It turned out that the plague did not come from Xie Yunjiao's sick pigs. The plague in Hexi Village was brought back by Lao He's wife.

She went to visit her parents some time ago. When she came back, she passed by a village and saw that it was empty with no one in it. The children were so hungry, so she took them in to find something to eat.

Later it was discovered that there had been a plague in the village and all the people inside had been burned to death.

She was very scared and left with her children.

She thought that she had only drunk water from a water tank in a village household. It looked very clear and tasted sweet, so it should be fine, so she didn't mention it to Lao He.

Later, Old Wu found a breakthrough when he found out that the person who had eaten Old He's braised meat and contracted the plague had also passed through that village.

Later, Lao He went back and asked his children, and the children told him that they had drunk water in the village where the plague had broken out.

Lao He was so angry and upset, but it was useless. The person was dead, so who could he blame?

Unfortunately, even if they knew the truth, they were powerless and could not help Xie Yunjiao even if they went to the authorities.

Xie Yunjiao thought about asking Gao's family to find Hai Jing, but Hai Jing's family forbade Hai Jing to help because they all knew that this matter was planned by the prince, and they couldn't help even if they wanted to.

He might even harm himself by helping Xie Yunjiao.

Xie Yunjiao had nowhere to turn for help, but she never gave up. She spent the whole day thinking about how she could get out of this cage with a clear name.

As the days passed, the leaves gradually turned yellow, the fields welcomed the joy of harvest, and finally it was time for the provincial examination.

Both Wu Mingde and Doudou took part in the provincial examination, but Lian Jin did not go because he had not reached the level to take the provincial examination at all.

During the exam, Gu An saw Doudou and was taken aback: "You kid, you're also taking the exam, isn't that a waste of paper?"

Doudou glanced at him indifferently without saying anything.

Gu An smiled smugly: "In your current situation, if I report you, I'm afraid you won't even be able to take the provincial examination. If you are scared, kneel down and beg me. Maybe I will feel better and not report you."