Su Yu completely ignored them. Soon, Shen Xudong and Zhang Caiyun had emptied their pants pockets. The stench filled the air, and the convicts instinctively moved away.
Su Yu continued to whip the dog without stopping.
During this time, Shen Xudong and Zhang Caiyun pulled each other several more times.
Mu Wanting said, "Everyone, they all have such severe diarrhea now, what is there to doubt?"
Now, almost all the exiles point fingers at them.
"That's so vicious, they could even do this to their own relatives."
Mu Wanting spoke to the official.
"Sir, there is one more thing."
Then, her gaze swept towards the fourth concubine.
The fourth concubine bit her lip, then with a determined look in her eyes, she pulled her daughter to kneel down on the ground.
"Sir, I was reluctant to speak, since we are all from the same family. However, Zhang Caiyun's actions have gone too far."
“Shen Xinglan and Mu Wanting were indeed pushed into the river by her. My child and I saw it clearly before.”
As soon as she said this, several other convicts also spoke up.
“I did see Zhang Caiyun push Madam Mu earlier, and as a result, Young Master Shen fell down.”
More and more people came forward to testify, and Zhang Caiyun's guilt was confirmed. She was even afraid to go see the officials.
Finally, Mu Wanting took out a packet of herbs from Zhang Caiyun.
“Sir, this herb is the same laxative that was used in the whole team before. We couldn’t find the culprit before, but now it turns out that it was Zhang Caiyun.”
The other two incidents could at most be considered personal disputes, but the fact that laxatives were added to the medicine for all the exiles had already endangered everyone's health.
Zhang Caiyun couldn't believe it: "Sir, no, it's not a laxative, it's medicine for treating abdominal pain."
Then he glared at Mu Wanting and said, "This little slut has a grudge against me. I can't just believe whatever she says, sir."
Mu Wanting suddenly realized what was happening, her face filled with worry.
"That's perfect, Second Aunt, you should eat it, it's good that you have diarrhea right now."
After saying that, Mu Wanting fed the medicine into Zhang Caiyun's mouth.
Zhang Caiyun struggled violently, but Mu Wanting's hand was like an iron clamp, and she could not break free. She was forced to swallow, and her face turned ashen. She squatted on the ground and vomited.
Mu Wanting pretended to be clueless: "Second Aunt, what are you doing? This is a good thing, you don't need to do this."
The convicts were also puzzled, but the smarter ones had already figured it out.
Soon, Zhang Caiyun clutched her stomach, stood up, and tried to go to the toilet, but with a "plop," she soiled her pants pocket.
The foul odor dissipated, and everyone kept their distance.
Now, it's crystal clear what the medicine is.
The convicts complained, "She's a cook; if she wanted to poison someone later, it would be much easier for her."
"That's disgusting. She's the one who poisoned us before."
Su Yu sneered: "If we don't kill this kind of person, are we going to keep him around as a menace?"
Ma Dazhuang was torn between his conscience and his will, and finally said, "From now on, I will whip Zhang Caiyun 10 times every morning and evening."
Su Yu remained silent with a cold expression.
Ma Dazhuang was also a little guilty. It was the same problem: without Zhang Caiyun, their income couldn't be guaranteed, and there was no one to cook for them.
This punishment is too lenient for the third wife's family.
The members of the third branch of the family were resentful, but there was nothing they could do, since the officials were now in charge.
Mu Wanting was also a little disappointed; this Ma Dazhuang was not up to any good.
The convicts dared not speak out against their anger, after all, they still had to make a living under Ma Dazhuang's control.
The next day at breakfast, Mu Wanting saw that the Liu family was so angry that they smashed their bowls and chopsticks.
"This is outrageous! In the past, when people were exiled, they would at least be given black flour cakes and vegetable dumplings. Now they've stopped giving them and you have to buy them. Who can afford 500 coins for black flour cakes and vegetable dumplings?"
Other families echoed this sentiment.
When everyone saw this morning that there were no black flour pancakes or vegetable dumplings, only white flour pancakes and meat soup, their faces turned extremely pale.
"This is no longer caring about whether people live or die."
But Zhang Caiyun was still shouting: "White flour cakes are 6 taels of silver each, and meat soup is 25 taels a bowl. If you don't want to eat, then go hungry."
The prices of white flour pancakes and meat soup have gone up, and there's nothing to eat. How is this any different from forcing everyone to their deaths?
Mu Wanting frowned: "Is it always like this?"
Mother Shen sighed, "Yes, ever since you left, you've had to charge for the black flour cakes and vegetable dumplings."
Mu Wanting had a bad feeling. Encirclement would inevitably lead to failure, which would just drive everyone into a dead end.
She quickly went to find Ma Dazhuang.
“Sir, this can’t go on forever. Everyone will have to spend their money. You’ve made money too, but the black flour cakes and vegetable dumplings have always been distributed free of charge to the constables.”
Ma Dazhuang was getting impatient.
"Our decision is none of your business."
Mu Wanting said, "Sir, please take a good look at the sentiments of the masses. If you don't give them a way to survive, it's inevitable that they will rebel."
"Who gave you the right to speak?"
He frowned, raised his whip and lashed it at Mu Wanting, but Su Yu quickly reached out to stop him.
“Boss, she was just trying to persuade me kindly, and I’ve mentioned this to you before.”
Ma Dazhuang pursed his lips. He had paid a high price to get this job. If he didn't get anything out of it, wouldn't all his hard work have been for nothing?
Just then, a woman from the Liu family, carrying a young child, knelt down and begged.
"Please, we really have no money left. Could you give us some black bread, even spoiled bread would be fine? My child is starving to death."
"No money? No money? Then starve to death!"
Zhang Caiyun roughly kicked the woman and the child away, and the child cried out.
Seeing her smug and self-satisfied face, the convicts' anger soared.
Coupled with the previous laxative incident, the convicts rioted.
Everyone picked up large stones and tree branches and attacked Ma Dazhuang and Zhang Caiyun.
With a knife and whip in his hands, and with the protection of the officials, Ma Dazhuang quickly subdued the exile who was about to kill him, but he was still apprehensive.
However, even more people rushed towards Zhang Caiyun.
There's no other reason than that Zhang Caiyun was simply too annoying; almost all the exiled prisoners harbored resentment towards her.
Moreover, the bad idea of not giving everyone black bread was Zhang Caiyun's suggestion to Ma Dazhuang. Ma Dazhuang was initially hesitant, but since Zhang Caiyun accepted the money for distributing food to everyone, Ma Dazhuang acquiesced.
Zhang Caiyun cried out for help, but the members of the third branch of the family watched coldly. They even wished that they were among those who had attacked Zhang Caiyun.
But there were already too many people there, and they couldn't squeeze in.
Suddenly, a heart-wrenching wail was heard from Zhang Caiyun. When they turned around, they saw that Zhang Caiyun had already fallen into a pool of blood.
She wasn't dead; her hand was outstretched, her eyes filled with a desperate will to live. But the convicts were all extremely vicious, kicking Zhang Caiyun repeatedly.
"Come save me! Second wife, are you all useless?"
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