At this point, as long as Nie Yilin takes everyone away and brings them to the yamen for questioning, the sentencing and conviction are no longer her concern.

The sun was high in the sky, and although Cheng Qingyan and Yue were standing in the shade, she did not want to delay any longer: "Today, Constable Nie and all the brothers have worked hard. You take the person back to the yamen. After that, it is up to the magistrate to decide what to do."

"Meng An, take Constable Nie and the brothers to rest and have a meal before setting off back to the county office."

"I've already done everything I could and should do in this matter. If anyone causes trouble because of this in the future, I'll have to trouble Officer Nie to come again."

Nie Yilin gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist, took a step forward, and stood beside Cheng Qingyan. He looked around at everyone and said, "Regarding Young Master Cheng's matter, the magistrate instructed us to do our best to cooperate. How could we dare to complain about being tired?"

"Besides, it is our duty to arrest criminals, and we dare not complain about being tired."

"From now on, if Young Master Cheng needs anything, just give us a call, and we will do our best to help. If anyone causes trouble again, there are plenty of empty cells and instruments of torture in the county jail. If anyone doesn't believe us, feel free to go and experience it for yourself."

The threat was blatant, but no one dared to say anything.

This is the plight of the lower classes under a class system, who have no voice whatsoever.

There are no clear boundaries between right and wrong. Those with power are those in high positions; a single word from them can decide a person's life or death.

These ordinary working people, with the imperial court's leniency, had no problem getting enough to eat.

If the imperial court were to lower its standards even slightly, ordinary people like them would be the first to die.

There was no way Cheng Qingyan could make any changes for everyone under this social system.

The system and rules are not things that her identity can change.

Everyone was frightened by Nie Yilin's words and could only stand back timidly, not daring to look up at Cheng Qingyan and the others.

They were terrified of being found an excuse to be thrown into jail and punished.

Ordinary people should live a peaceful life, farming and working to support their families, and it's best to stay away from government officials.

Because once the yamen runners come looking for you, it's never a good thing.

Cheng Qingyan, too, didn't want to have anything to do with the government anymore.

Every time she came into contact with the government, nothing good ever happened to her.

Finally, after saying goodbye to Cheng Qingyan and the others, Nie Yilin took everyone with him, and the crowd gradually dispersed as they left.

Cheng Yuanfu and Cheng Yuanji did not leave. Cheng Yuanji received Cheng Shaowen's wages from Cheng Qingyan, but he still did not know which place Cheng Shaowen worked at under Cheng Qingyan's supervision.

Given the dangerous situation that occurred today, he was very worried about letting Cheng Shaowen continue doing such dangerous things with Cheng Qingyan.

They only have one son, Cheng Shaowen, who is still unmarried, so they can't afford any accidents.

After the crowd dispersed, Cheng Yuanji began to question Cheng Qingyan: "Third brother, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to let Shaowen do such a dangerous thing with you?"

"Shaowen is just working for you. Even if we don't consider our brotherly relationship, Shaowen should at least call you uncle."

"He's not married yet. What if something happens to him? How am I, his father, supposed to live?"

When Cheng Yuanji started questioning him, Cheng Shaowen stepped forward to stop him, but he couldn't do anything violent to his father.

He could only do some ineffective obstruction, which only made him more anxious and sweaty.

If this continues, his fact that he wasn't actually working for Cheng Qingyan will be exposed, and when he gets home, his father will surely give him a beating!

Seeing Cheng Shaowen's worried and troubled expression, Cheng Qingyan did not get angry at Cheng Yuanji's questioning, but instead patiently endured it.

Putting everything else aside, Cheng Shaowen has been secretly keeping an eye on Chen Yanping these past few days, and Cheng Qingyan and the others should thank him properly.

So this time it was her initiative to keep it from Cheng Yuanji. As for the follow-up issues, it depends on how Cheng Shaowen handles them.

Before Cheng Yuanji could say anything more, Cheng Yuanfu spoke up.

"Second brother, that's enough. What's the point of making a scene now that it's already happened?"

Cheng Yuanji opened his mouth, but after looking at Cheng Yuanfu's eyes and expression, he didn't say anything more.

The mysterious man's words echoed in their ears: their past bad attitude towards Cheng Qingyan was now behind them.

Now that someone is looking for them, they should always leave themselves and their families a way out.

They were all aware of Cheng Qingyan's situation, and over the years they had gradually drifted apart from her because of it. Now that Cheng Qingyan's life had improved, they wanted to try and rekindle their relationship because of their past feelings.

Therefore, Cheng Yuanfu and Cheng Yuanji's attitude towards Cheng Qingyan is quite strange.

It's not exactly good, but it's not bad either; they're not much different from before.

After being told a couple of things by Cheng Yuanfu, Cheng Yuanji successfully shut his mouth.

Cheng Qingyan, however, smiled despite his pale face and said, "My two elder brothers don't need to have any unpleasantness over this matter. From now on, I won't let him get involved in such dangerous things again."

Upon hearing this, Cheng Shaowen looked up at Cheng Qingyan, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

His uncle was initially very resistant to him, and you could even say he didn't give him a friendly look.

She had just helped him, which made him even more confused about their relationship.

Cheng Qingyan's attitude was very good, and she didn't get angry even though Cheng Yuanji was lecturing her, which surprised Cheng Yuanji.

From a young age, Cheng Qingyan didn't get along with either of their families, and they rarely took Cheng Qingyan out to play.

One reason was the age difference between Cheng Qingyan and them, and the other was that every time they took them out, people would say bad things about their parents.

Having heard it so much, and being young and impetuous, at a time when they cared a lot about their reputation, they wondered why their parents would raise Cheng Qingyan.

With an extra person in the family, and because their parents were getting old and had a child late in life, the gossip started to spread.

This was one of the reasons why the two brothers were not close to Cheng Qingyan, but Cheng Qingyan was not old enough to remember things at that time.

Moreover, even if she could remember the origins of the conflict between her, Cheng Yuanfu, and Cheng Yuanji at that time, it would be of no use.

Because the previous owner of this body must have already died.

After all, when she first transmigrated, she was being buried by Ye Lingyu.

Ye Lingyu wouldn't be so clueless as to not know whether someone is alive or dead; her wife isn't stupid.

Therefore, she had no way to investigate or hold a grudge about what happened before, and could only pretend that nothing had ever happened.