Lü Feng nodded.

"Alright, then you should work hard, and it would be best if you could pass the imperial examination. That way, when your sister gets married in the future, she'll have her older brother to back her up."

As for the cost of the imperial examinations, don't worry, our orphanage will cover it.

When you are able in the future, you can give back to the orphanage and help more children who were once homeless like you.

"Yes, I will." Zhao Qianxun's eyes shone with determination.

At this moment, he is Zhao Qianxun, not the Niu Dan who suffered so much and was wronged.

Two days later, the court convened again, and Zhao Qianxun, once again led by Lü Feng, arrived at the county government office.

Despite being identified by the village chief and clan elders of Niujia Village, Zhao Qianxun continued to deny it.

"My surname is Zhao, and my name is Zhao Qianxun."

What exactly do you want? Why do you insist on forcing me to admit that I am the "cow egg" you're talking about?

People can look alike, and things can have similarities. Does looking alike necessarily mean someone is from your village?

Then let me ask you, how did you manage to drive a child who was about my age out of the village?

As for their purpose, my family sent people to inquire about what happened back then.

I heard that after the Niu Dan siblings you mentioned were driven out of the village, their uncle and aunt took over the older brother's house as a matter of course.

He even sold the fertile land that used to belong to his elder brother to the village chief and several clan elders.

Niujia Village has limited land, and good land is even scarcer.

"May I ask, those of you who benefited, were you involved in framing the Niu Dan siblings you claim to be?"

I thought I was just here to testify, but I never expected to be dragged into this mess in the blink of an eye.

A new round of investigation and evidence collection led to Niu Erlang and his wife being sent to prison once again.

The villagers from Niujia Village who testified along with him were also imprisoned.

If their previous accusations are proven true, that would be a separate case.

To put it more bluntly, if Niu Dan and his sister died, it means that they were indirectly responsible for their deaths.

The laws at that time were not very comprehensive.

The verdict depends entirely on how the county magistrate manages the relationships, and then determines the crime based on the two clauses of false accusation and robbery in the law.

Depending on the severity of the offense, the punishment could be imprisonment, hard labor, or exile.

The village chief and elders were enraged when the witnesses were dragged into jail together.

He cursed and swore at Niu Erlang and his wife.

Who cares about being a village chief or clan elder anymore? The important thing is not going to jail.

Then the village chief, clan elders, and others began to tell a series of stories about the Niu family.

Niu Dalang and Niu Erlang's families had long since separated.

However, Niu Dalang and his wife were hardworking, so they lived a very wealthy life and even built three large brick houses for their home.

Niu Erlang and his wife were the kind of people who were incredibly lazy and liked to take advantage of others.

The reason why Niu Dalang had an accident was that after having a meal at Niu Erlang's house, he fell into a ditch by the roadside and drowned on his way home.

Unable to accept the reality of her husband's death, Niu Dalang's wife hanged herself on the night before his funeral.

Niu Dan and his sister were left behind.

Niu Erlang and his wife, being the only elders, naturally moved into Niu Dalang's courtyard, claiming they were there to take care of their nephew and niece.

In reality, she bullied the two siblings every day. The neighbors could always hear the sound of her beating the children.

I tried to persuade her before, but Niu Shi beat Niu Li even more severely.

Unable to stand by and watch, yet unable to offer any help, no one went to intervene or persuade them anymore.

One day, Niu Li was sent to the mountain to gather pig feed, but then it rained heavily. Niu Dan was worried about his sister, so he went up the mountain to look for her.

Later I heard that both children were very sick.

The people knew about this because Niu Dan, his face flushed, kowtowed to his uncle and aunt, begging them to lend him money to see a doctor for his sister.

As a result, the story of Niu Dan and his sister stealing silver from their home, and then the village chief and clan elders stepping in to drive the two brothers out of the village, came to light.

Well, if we don't confess, there might still be a glimmer of hope.

This move was devastating. The village chief and the clan elders lost all face and dignity. The village chief was dismissed, and the clan had to elect new clan elders. Most importantly, they each received ten lashes.

Ten strokes of the cane might be bearable for young people, but these were all old men in their fifties or sixties. They'd be lucky to escape with their lives.

After further investigation, including obtaining the county magistrate's approval, the results of the autopsy revealed that Niu Dalang's bones showed no abnormalities in color and there were no other injuries on the remains.

Therefore, it is impossible to determine whether Niu Dalang was murdered or if it was an accident.

Furthermore, because Niu Erlang and his wife were of impure character, abused their children and nephews, seized property, and framed others, they were sentenced to sever ties with Niu Erlang and his wife.

The property left by Niu Dan's parents belongs to Niu Dan and his siblings.

Since Niu Dan himself cannot be located at the moment, the village will temporarily take care of his property.

Whether houses are rented out or left vacant, or fields are rented out, half of the proceeds go to the village, and the other half is entrusted to the orphanage for safekeeping.

Ten years later, if Niu Dan and his sister still did not come to claim them, all of Niu Dan's properties were sold, and the proceeds were donated to an orphanage.

As for the village chief and clan elders who bought Niu Dan's land, how did they buy the land and how did they change the name back to the original owner?

What do you call this? Illegal gains. As for the money used to buy the land, go find whoever paid for it.

Before Uncle Niu Dan and Aunt Niu Dan were released from prison, each of them received thirty strokes of the cane.

He spent more than half a month in jail before finally dragging his rotten back to the village.

Life in the village was not easy.

Under the coercion of the yamen runners, not only were they forced to move out of Niu Dan's house, but they also had to return the money from the land sale and compensate for the rent they had paid for living in Niu Dan's house for such a long time.

When it comes to being sarcastic, no one can outdo Magistrate Qiu.

Despite losing money, their big house, and their own aches and pains, none of this deterred Niu Erlang and his wife.

What devastated them most was that while the couple was away from home, their beloved son had his leg broken because someone had seen him peeping at another man's wife taking a bath.

With his leg broken, not only was there no one to take care of him, but his wound became infected and he had no food. By the time the couple got home, their son had already fainted from a high fever.

Finally, she begged the villagers for help and took her son to the pharmacy.

They sawed off the broken leg.

Now look what's happened! The family that was all perfectly fine is now all sprawled out on the bed.

Every day, only Niu Erlang's wife endured the pain in her buttocks to cook a pot of porridge for the whole family to eat throughout the day.

More than a month later, the couple's buttocks finally healed and they were able to go out and walk around again.

She started plotting something bad again; Niu Erlang's wife still believed that Zhao Qianxun was Niu Dan.

So, he keeps loitering around the entrance of the orphanage, trying to reunite with his relatives.

Seeing that no one paid attention to her, she sat at the door and cried and made a scene, which attracted the attention of the people who did not know what was going on and they pointed and talked about the orphanage.

For the sake of the orphanage's peace, Lü Feng chose to report the matter to the authorities again.