The young general had met Zhang Zhixing and did not believe that the frail-looking, scholarly-looking Zhang Zhixing would be a bandit who robbed people on the road.

But Zhang Zhixing's brainless henchman was indeed burly and looked somewhat like a bandit.

The young general kicked He Laowu away and turned his gaze to He Lizheng and Liang Hai, waiting for their response.

Intelligence came from below that these two men, especially Liang Hai, had had several dealings with Zhang Zhixing, and had even bought thousands of kilograms of charcoal that Zhang Zhixing had hoarded at a high price.

Liang Hai was stunned. He was about to say that he knew nothing, but then he paused.

To maintain the price of charcoal and prevent too much low-priced charcoal from entering the city, he bought a considerable amount of charcoal from Zhang Zhixing at a price two coins lower than the market price per catty, spending a full hundred taels of silver.

They also bought all the expensive bamboo charcoal stored by Zhang Zhixing, about three thousand catties, for an additional three hundred taels.

For Liang Hai, this amount of silver was nothing, but now that his house was about to be confiscated, all the charcoal he had collected would be wasted.

It even caused him to be held accountable by his superiors and he had to receive fifty lashes!

In the end, it's all Zhang Zhixing's fault!

They received news of the imperial court's impending arrival well in advance, but they didn't share it with him, their major client, or even offer him a word of advice.

It's impossible that the Liang family has fallen to such a state, yet Zhang Zhixing has managed to escape unscathed!

Liang Hai's eyes darted around, and he stammered, "This... I don't know the specifics of the highway robbery. But the He family is indeed penniless, and they survived by eating wild vegetables and digging up tree roots on their way to seek refuge with me."

Also, Zhang Zhixing seems to have a good relationship with Steward Chen. If you want to investigate further, you'll have to ask Steward Chen.

The young generals could easily understand Liang Hai's intentions. He was simply making a veiled complaint, claiming that the officials above Manager Chen and Zhang Zhixing were colluding to manipulate coal prices.

He then bribed officials with large sums of money to escape unscathed.

Unfortunately... when he summoned Zhang Zhixing, he had already found out the relationship between Zhang Zhixing and Steward Chen, as well as the seventh-rank official backing Steward Chen.

Zhang Zhixing's subordinates also failed to find any evidence that he had bribed officials. The seventh-rank official and several stewards had paid Zhang Zhixing money for vegetables such as bamboo shoots and bean sprouts, and the money was recorded in the books.

At most, the price is a bit cheaper, but it can't compare to the price of fresh vegetables in Longxing Prefecture.

However, the vegetable prices in the city are also inappropriate, even far exceeding those in the capital.

Zhang Zhixing selling vegetables at low prices isn't exactly wrong.

The young general shook his head: "I have not found any evidence that Zhang Zhixing bribed the manager. On the contrary, I know that you gave your sister to the official as a concubine and, under the guise of carrying the dowry, you gave the official a lot of benefits."

Having committed grave errors, He Laowu and Liang Hai, do you know your crimes?

Liang Hai was taken aback and quickly apologized and begged for forgiveness.

He Laowu persisted, pointing to his broken leg and crying out, "Your Honor, I'm innocent! My leg was broken by Zhang Zhixing and his men! If you don't believe me, ask my father, my second and third brothers, or anyone in Shanqing Village!"

And then there's Old Wang, the Crippled Wang. His family couldn't afford five taels of silver, so he gave his wife to the bandits as collateral, and all he got in return was a bag of coarse rice!

A hint of disgust flashed in the young general's eyes.

Seeing that He Laowu was about to die, He Lizheng exchanged glances with his sons and quickly spoke up:

"Your Excellency is wise. It has been too long, and I have forgotten whether the leader was Zhang Zhixing or not, but his men are definitely bandits! The people who robbed us back then had the exact same build as him!"

Liang Hai whispered, "The bandits are cunning and harm the people. You must not be deceived, sir, and leave the bandits in the stronghold to continue to harm the people."

A dark glint flashed in the young general's eyes. After ordering his family to confiscate his property and punish him with caning, he left the charcoal workshop.

The subordinate immediately stepped forward and lowered his voice: "Young General, what do you think..."

The imperial court instructed that, while Prince Anle was seriously injured, they should rally the people of his fiefdom, win their hearts, and stabilize the situation.

When spring comes and the snow melts, the people are told to return to their hometowns and continue farming.

Suppressing bandits could, by a measure, be considered part of their duty.

The young general narrowed his eyes, looked at the palace, and gave the order: "After the snow melts, I will personally lead people to send the people back to their hometowns, and at the same time, eliminate the bandits and robbers in the Longxing Prefecture area."

"yes!"

*

In the valley, a batch of vegetables that Ye Wenxue planted in the charcoal kiln ripened. Small vegetables such as scallions and garlic sprouts grew extremely easily, forming a lush green expanse that was a delight to behold.

Ye Wenxue collected the vegetables and divided them into two parts.

The animals that had been stored away in the space for a while had become listless, so Zhiwang was asked to take them down the mountain to sell.

The freshly harvested food will be kept at home for our own consumption.

Scallion omelets, stir-fried cured pork with garlic sprouts, coriander mixed with pig's ears, chive and egg pancakes, chive and pork dumplings, added to grilled fish as a side dish... The children had to walk around the valley several times after each meal to digest their food.

Su Jiu also enjoyed a few good meals and stopped secretly complaining about Ye Wenxue's shady dealings.

After the last snowfall stopped, heavy snow returned, making the mountain roads even more difficult to traverse, and some even became icy and impossible to climb.

Ye Wenxue then detained Dazhuang and Sanyuan, preventing them from going to the bamboo house.

As for Su Jiu... it's none of her business, she can go or not, it's up to her.

Fortunately, Xu Lin's poison has been removed and the needles have been inserted almost completely. Next, he just needs to apply medicine and rest as usual.

After dinner, Siwang took a stroll and got hungry again. He secretly took Shuangshuang to the kitchen, where they each grabbed a cucumber, washed it, and ate it one after another. It was very crisp.

Shuangshuang watched her mother and older brother working on planting vegetables outside the window. After finishing their cucumbers in a few bites, they took Siwang to help.

Unexpectedly, Siwang was not walking steadily and slipped after taking a few steps on the snow, landing hard on his bottom with a 'thud'. He was completely stunned.

Shuangshuang quickly pulled him up, patted the snow off Siwang's bottom, and sighed softly, "Never mind, go inside and practice calligraphy."

Siwang puffed out his cheeks and refused, "No, I don't want to. I want to go help Mom with the chores."

All you can carry is a small hoe!

Helpless, they carried the person along, slowly moving step by step into the cave. The two of them poked their heads inside:

"Mom, brother, we're here to help."

While busy working, Ye Wenxue thought for a moment and handed a small hoe to each person: "Go, shovel the snow in front of the house, dig a hole and pile the snow together, maybe we can find a water source."

Siwang was full of energy. He picked up a small hoe and carefully slipped to the doorway, squatted down, and started digging into the ice.

The kitchen was lit by firewood and charcoal every day, which heated the two kang beds. The snow around the earthen house melted a small ring, and it was loosened with a hoe.

Inside the house, Sanyuan, who was watching Yuanyuan and learning about herbs from Su Jiu, couldn't help but peek out from outside when he heard the commotion.

Seeing that Sanyuan's mind was no longer on the herbs, Su Jiu told him to rest for a while: "Don't go too far, continue in half an hour."

Sanyuan gave a perfunctory reply, shoved the cradle and Yuanyuan inside it right under Su Jiu's nose, and then turned and ran out.

It wasn't that Sanyuan wasn't paying attention in class; it was just that... his master had nothing better to do, so he dragged him into two hours of lessons, from recognizing acupoints to memorizing meridian charts, and then to identifying herbs...

Sanyuan felt dizzy and lightheaded, and couldn't take it anymore.