When the officials forced Madam Shen to kneel in the main hall, no one reacted.

Grandma Shen also cried out that she was wronged.

"This has nothing to do with me. Sir, I have no relation to Shen Wanli whatsoever, not even a distant relative. I really don't know anything about it."

Grandma Shen cried until her face was covered in snot.

Lord Zheng snorted coldly, slammed his gavel, and shouted, "Silence!"

Grandma Shen immediately fell silent.

"Bring the witnesses."

Following Lord Zheng's shout, an official led a man into the main hall.

The man knelt down and began to speak: "This humble citizen is... I overheard an old woman and Constable Wu Gui discussing something... The old woman gave Wu Gui twenty taels of silver, and Wu Gui agreed to arrest the Shen family..."

As soon as the man finished speaking, everyone was in an uproar.

Tian Guifen's hair practically seemed to be on fire with rage: "You old bastard, you're so vicious!"

"An'an said his family would definitely come looking for him. How could you bribe officials to harm him when you couldn't even adopt him?"

As the Shen family members shouted angrily, the onlookers finally understood what was going on and began to curse them.

Grandma Shen trembled like a leaf, unable to utter a single fart.

Wu Gui knelt down and cried out his innocence: "My lord, I don't even know this old woman, how could this be..."

"Since you say I'm a fugitive, then tell me, which fugitive am I, and what's my name?"

An An suddenly asked a question in a calm manner.

Wu Gui paused for a moment and didn't answer immediately.

He took the money to do the job, and all he wanted was to arrest the Shen family and the little boy, lock them up in jail for three or four days, and release them before the adults found out.

Just say you arrested the wrong person.

The old woman wanted these three or four days, seemingly hoping to take the opportunity to adopt someone.

When dealing with government affairs, who dares to ask detailed questions?

Therefore, Wu Gui didn't do any kung fu at all.

"This is outrageous! They just arrest ordinary people like that?"

"Exactly, I wonder how much money they collected before!"

The people are outraged.

They can't even come up with a proper reason; how careless can they be?

This also proves how little they care about ordinary people!

"quiet!"

Lord Zheng slammed his gavel again, restraining himself from looking at the case file, and then said, "Constable Wu Gui has accepted bribes and committed embezzlement and perverted the law; the evidence is conclusive. He is hereby stripped of his constable uniform and will never be employed again. He shall be given twenty strokes of the cane and shall compensate An'an and the Shen family for the twenty taels of silver he received as bribes."

"Shen Wangshi, for bribing officials and disregarding the law, is sentenced to twenty strokes of the cane! Execute immediately!"

"Please spare me, sir! I'll never do it again!" Wu Gui immediately begged for mercy.

"My lord, I'm innocent! I'm an old woman, twenty taels of silver would kill me!"

Grandma Shen was so frightened that she wet herself and cried incessantly.

She even pleaded with Shen Wanli: "Wanli, I'm your own aunt! You can't just watch me die!"

"Second Aunt, you just said that in front of the adults that we are relatives who are hundreds of miles apart. Were you lying to the adults just now? Deceiving the adults will also be punished."

Shen Wanli held his daughter, his face extremely cold and stern.

Do you want him to plead for you?

When they framed their whole family, did they never consider that they were relatives?

For a moment, Granny Shen was caught in a dilemma and could only burst into tears.

"This old lady isn't young, will she be beaten to death?"

"After all, they are elders in the family. The Shen family hasn't done anything wrong, so why can't we let the old man go?"

People around started talking about it.

Enraged, Tian Yexiang retorted, "Would you accept a gift from an elder like that? It's easy for you to say that when you're not in the same boat! Bah! You're shameless!"

It's not that they encountered such disgusting elders!

Magistrate Zheng glanced at the case file, then immediately said, "Take Shen Wangshi into custody for now and await further instructions!"

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at An'an, and seeing that she didn't react, he felt a little uneasy.

I don't know if this person is satisfied or not.

On the way back, many of the villagers who had come with them spoke to and comforted the Shen family.

"Luckily, Lord Zheng was discerning, otherwise you would have been in deep trouble." Da Sheng's family said with lingering fear, "Tell me, how could that old bastard be so vicious?"

Is the desire to adopt a child driven to madness?

Tian Guifen hugged her daughter tightly, her face tense and her expression very unpleasant.

Everyone understood and said nothing.

Surprisingly, before they even arrived at Shen Wanli's house, Shen Baili and Old Master Shen were already waiting there.

Grandpa Shen hurried forward, anxiously looking around to make sure everyone had returned before finally letting out a sigh of relief.

Then he asked, "What happened? Now that you're back, everything must be alright, right?"

God knows how terrified he was when he learned that his youngest son's family had been taken away by the government.

If it weren't for his wife's desperate pleas to stop him, he would have left long ago.

"Father, don't worry, it was just a misunderstanding. Everything's alright, they've already let us go." Shen Wanli tried to be gentle, not wanting his father to worry.

The old man was getting on in years and was clearly not up to the task. After listening to his youngest son's words, he rubbed his back and slowly sat down on a large rock by the roadside.

He then said with a wry smile, "I'm old and useless now."

"Grandpa, shall I carry you back?" Shen Yishan squatted down in front of the old man and asked worriedly.

"Cough cough cough," Shen Baili coughed twice forcefully, and just as he was about to speak, he heard a childish voice.

It was Shen Liuliu speaking.

"Uncle, your throat hurts, so go home and take your medicine."

Stop causing trouble.

Shen Baili looked displeased and ignored Shen Liuliu, saying to Shen Wanli, "Your Liuliu isn't a child anymore; it's time to teach her manners. Why are you interrupting before the adults have even spoken?"

No rules or regulations!

Shen Wanli's entire family's expressions changed.

Shen Wanli gave his wife a look, and then he spoke.

"It's my daughter, and I'm happy to spoil her. What's it to you?"

Shen Baili: ...

"Besides, our Liu Liu is only three years old. You're arguing with a three-year-old about rules and regulations. Don't you think it's you who lacks manners?"

Shen Baili: ...

"Next time, mind your own business and don't try to tell my kids what to do! I'm not dead yet! It's none of an outsider's business to talk about my kids!"

Shen Baili: ...

"Wow! Daddy, I love you so much!" Shen Liuli stretched out her arms, wanting her daddy to hug her!

That's so awesome!

It's really hard not to love a father like that.

An'an watched from the side and nodded unconsciously.

Yes, this family is indeed nice.

It is worthwhile to entrust Xiao Liu to them.

"Shen Wanli, I'm your own elder brother! How can you talk to me like that? An elder brother is like a father, don't you understand?"

"Father is still alive and well, what's with this 'eldest brother is like a father' thing?"

Shen Wanli refused to budge an inch, too lazy to pay attention to his eldest son, and directly ordered his son: "Yishan, take your grandfather back."

Then, holding his daughter, he led his family home.

I'm too lazy to waste time with my boss.

Over the years, the Zhou family has caused so much trouble and chaos, but when has the eldest son ever stepped in to manage it?

At first, he thought it was because the eldest son couldn't control his wife, but later he realized what it meant to be in cahoots!

"etc!"

Shen Baili didn't expect Shen Wanli to be so disrespectful to him, but he hadn't achieved his goal yet, so how could he let Shen Wanli leave like that?