Worried about her son, Mrs. Wang finally had to compromise and paid five copper coins to settle the matter.

The queen hurried to the ancestral hall, fearing that her son would suffer.

She happened to come over and her son had not been beaten yet, which made her feel lucky.

But when I heard the village chief ask his son,

"Village Chief, Widow Chen has already proven my son's innocence. Why don't you believe her? What's going on? You're trying to put the blame on my son. I don't want that."

"Even if you are the village chief, you cannot abuse your power and indiscriminately convict my son!"

The village chief couldn't stand Wang Po's unreasonable behavior anymore, so he asked two people to take Wang Po away.

"What are you doing? Don't touch me. My son is here. I won't leave..."

Mrs. Wang's noisy voice was getting farther and farther away.

The village chief looked at Wang Lai again, his expression no longer gentle. He said in a cold tone, "Wang Lai, if you can't explain the shoe prints, you'll get fifty beatings!"

Wang Lai thought that he would be fine with the testimony of Widow Chen, but he didn't know that the village chief also wanted him to reveal the shoe prints.

If he knew why the shoe prints were exactly the same as his, he wouldn't have to be tied up at all.

"Village chief, you are making things difficult for me. How should I know if you don't know? Please let me go quickly."

"Wang Lai, I don't think you'll cry until you see the coffin."

"Ye Ge, Ye Yan, give Wang Lai fifty blows with the stick."

"Yes, village chief."

After a while, Wang Lai moved a long bench out of the ancestral hall and pressed Wang Lai onto it.

The two men held sticks in their hands and raised them up and were about to bring them down.

Wang Lai shouted when the stick was about to make close contact with his butt.

"Wait, I remember."

The village chief was waiting for Wang Lai to say this, and immediately waved his hand, signaling to Wang Lai and Wang Yan not to hit him.

"Village chief, I know. It was Liu. The shoe prints were made by Liu."

After Wang Lai said this, there was a huge uproar in the crowd.

What Wang Lai said was really outrageous. How could a woman like Liu do such a thing?

"It's really not worth it for Liu to marry Wang Lai. Not only did she give him three daughters, but she also had to work from dawn to dusk every day, and even for this, she was often beaten and scolded by Wang Lai. Now that Wang Lai is in trouble, he has no hesitation in pushing Liu out."

"Who says she isn't? I still remember when Liu first married Wang Lai. She was very pretty and charming. After so many years, if someone hadn't told me who Liu was, I really wouldn't have recognized her."

"I think it's most likely Liu's doing. Even if Wang Lai is a scoundrel, he wouldn't push his wife, who he shares a bed with, into the fire pit!"

"What's the big deal? There's an old saying that goes, 'Husband and wife are birds of the same forest, but when disaster strikes, they fly away separately. Now, as long as Wang Lai can get himself out of this situation, no matter who the other party is, he will hold on to him tightly. Just wait and see!"

"Hey, I'm just a little curious. Why did Wang Lai mention Liu? Is there something fishy going on here?"

"Who knows? I can only ask Wang Lai."

…

"Wang Lai, you said it was Liu. Show me the evidence. You can't just say it was her without any evidence."

"Village Chief, isn't this right here? The shoe prints match my shoes, so someone must have worn my shoes and done it. Who could have gotten my shoes in the middle of the night? My mother couldn't have gotten them, so the only one left is Liu."