Chen Shouzhu fainted from the pain, but only for a few seconds.

She was woken up by being splashed with cold water.

The horrific scene caused the onlookers outside the courtroom to tremble with fear.

"Ah—I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything."

After the fifth needle went in, Chen Shouzhu could no longer bear it.

She honestly confessed to buying the deadly powder, including her plot with the Chen family to steal the Yan family's secret recipe.

"I was wrong, please forgive me, Your Excellency. I was blinded by greed. They are also implicated. It was my husband who told me to do it. I was just following orders. The Chen family was also involved. Chen Jinshou knew perfectly well. He knew I gave him the poison. It was the secret recipe he got. I only told him to deceive Lamei. Who knew he was going to steal it?"

"No, Aunt, I didn't know about the poison. You told me it was croton powder, you lied to me! And the secret recipe was given to me by La Mei. I didn't steal it, I didn't! Your Honor, please investigate, I really didn't steal it!"

"You bitch, how dare you push me like this! I'll beat you to death!"

“I am your own mother, and you actually slander your own family. I should have strangled you back then. Oh dear, what sins have I committed to give birth to such an ungrateful child?”

"Rebellious daughter! Rebellious daughter!!"

"....."

Chaos erupted in the hall as the Chen and Zhao families began fighting amongst themselves.

"Keep quiet! Another word and your punishment will be doubled!!"

The magistrate's roar finally silenced them.

Who is Lamei?

When the magistrate asked her questions, Yan Xia nudged her youngest daughter with her elbow.

"This humble woman is like a winter plum blossom."

"Did you give him the secret recipe for your mother's shop?"

The winter plum tree shook its head frantically.

"No! How could I have stolen the shop's secret recipe from him? He deliberately lied to me, saying that my mother wanted to marry me off hastily and that she wouldn't give me the shop, trying to sow discord between me and my mother. After I rejected him, he became furious, and I never saw him again. Brother, why have you become like this? What did Mother do to offend you that you would do this to Mother and me? Are you even Mother's biological son?"

No wonder she's Yan Xia's daughter.

The acting was just as good.

Tears welled up in the winter plum blossoms.

It's heartbreaking to see.

"You're lying, you're lying!! I should have poisoned you back then, you bitch! You good-for-nothing! You deserve to die, you should die right now!"

Jin Shou was furious and tried to stand up to hit La Mei, but the constables held him down firmly.

But his words gave him away.

The county magistrate severely tortured him, beating him with boards and whips, and even pouring salt water on him.

Jin Shou finally took the blame.

He confessed in front of everyone in the hall.

He knew that the bottle Chen Shouzhu had given him contained poison.

He also admitted that the bottle of poison was given to him by Chen Shouzhu.

The people watching the play outside pointed and whispered about him, saying, "Whose descendant is so unfilial, even wanting to kill his mother?"

Yan Xia's feigned pleading as a loving mother moved everyone.

Finally, Chen Jinshou was sentenced to thirty strokes of the cane for attempting to kill his mother and was exiled to a harsh, cold place. Chen Shouzhu received thirty strokes of the cane and served twenty years in prison. Zhao Daniu received twenty strokes of the cane and served fifteen years in prison.

Chen Duoliang, Chen Lishi, Zhu Xiaohua, Chen Shoujia, Chen Jinbao, Chen Yinbao, and Li Rulan were sentenced to the same punishment.

He was given fifteen strokes of the cane and imprisoned for five years.

Only Chen Yinbao's wife, Wang Lihua, escaped this fate.

Because she is not qualified to be involved in this matter at all.

After Yan Xia and her husband divorced, she became the one who got beaten up.

In order to protect the Chen family's only great-grandson, the Chen family tacitly kept her out of the incident.

From then on, Wang Lihua lived in the Chen family with Chen Tiangui and their only daughter, Chen Zhao'er.

No one will bully her anymore.

Not only that, the county magistrate also ordered the Zhao and Chen families to each pay Yan Xia ten taels of silver.

The Zhao family sold off all their land and emptied their savings.

The Chen family is the same.

After a heavy snowfall, the land was frozen solid for miles. The remaining snow that had not yet melted froze into ice, freezing the earth and causing everything to wither. The wind howled, piercing through the air and leaving behind the bleakness of winter.

Yan Xia came to the city gate alone and handed the water bag in her hand to Chen Jinshou.

"Today your mother will see you off on your final journey. If you are thirsty or hungry on the way, drink this. It's not hot water, it's hot porridge. Remember, this is your life-saving item. Keep it close to your chest. Your mother has spoken to the officials and they will treat you well. Remember, reform yourself well and don't do anything foolish again."

She shed two tears, then turned and left.

"mother--"

"Son was wrong, son was wrong—"

Jin Shou knelt on the ground, weeping uncontrollably.

He gripped the water pouch tightly in his hand, but Yan Xia did not turn around.

Was she really there to say goodbye to Jin Shou?

No, if it were Jin Fu or Jin Lu who were exiled to the harsh, cold land, she would not only make arrangements to maintain good relations with them, but also send them leather boots, thick clothes, and sew silver notes into their clothes.

Instead of simply using a fancy but impractical water pouch to get rid of it.

In court, her plea for her youngest son was nothing but an act.

Since the goal is to expand and strengthen the business, reputation is more important than money.

She had added something to the porridge in the water bag.

It was a fertility-inhibiting medicine bought from the store with the remaining points. Not only would it prevent the user from having children, it would also ensure that the user's body would be strong for a period of time and that they would not die easily. Yan Xia had calculated the distance and should arrive by early spring.

The timing was perfect, allowing Jin Shou to survive while also subjecting him to immense suffering in the harsh, cold land.

Yan Xia didn't hate him that much originally, but he knew it was poison and still let La Mei put it in the flower cake. How many people did he want to kill? He treated human life like dirt. He was rotten inside and out.

Such a person is not qualified to have offspring, much less deserves to die easily.

Once home, Yan Xia quickly put Jin Shou out of her mind.

The day after tomorrow is Lunar New Year's Eve.

She closed the shop yesterday and wrote a notice that it would reopen on the seventh day of the Lunar New Year.

Buy all kinds of New Year's goods.

Zhao Dali led Yan Xia's family back to the village.

Chen Jinshou, on the other side, also began his journey.

One sat in a warm carriage, while the other, wearing cloth shoes, walked on foot in the cold wind.

Yan Xia's "greeting" was nothing more than exchanging a few words with the officials; she didn't give them a single penny. These people were not under Zuo Li's jurisdiction.

Naturally, he wouldn't listen to Yan Xia just because of Zuo Li's influence.

We haven't even left the county yet.

Chen Jinshou's frail body couldn't withstand it; he was still in shackles.

It's comparable to jogging with weights on.

"Sir, could you please rest for a while? I can't walk any further."

I thought the two officials would stop there.

Unexpectedly, one of them kicked him hard.

"Rest? You dare to rest? Get out of here and get to the neighboring county quickly, or do you want us to sleep with you in the wilderness after dark?"

The two of them didn't give him a friendly look.

The water sac hidden in his chest had long since cooled from warm to cold.

The two officers slept on the bed at night, while he huddled on the floor.

Like a stray dog.

They only deserve to smell their stinky shoes.