After the mind-reading and gossip-eating incident, officials in the imperial city were demoted one a

Chapter 134 Courtroom Dispute

"No problem," Zheng Tianxing said, looking at Xue Ruoxue.

"The cloth looks damp from some time ago, unlike what Manager Wu could have achieved in just a few days."

"Ms. Xue, do you have any evidence to prove that this is not your fault?"

Xue Ruoxue was anxious. She had personally inspected most of them and found them to be fine. Even if there were problems, it was impossible for only one truckload to be okay. There must be something fishy going on; someone was framing her. Yet, she spoke with absolute certainty:

"My lord, I have also been examined, and there was really no problem at the time. I hope you will investigate thoroughly."

"But you're doing the inspection alone?"

"There's also a shop assistant hired by a local woman to help out."

"Bring the people up."

A young man was brought in from outside by the yamen runners. He looked timid and was trembling. Xue Ruoxue frowned when she saw him.

"Who are you here? State your name." Seeing his reaction, Zheng Tianxing slammed his gavel, and the shop assistant was so frightened that he knelt on the ground.

"Mr...Mr..., I am...Wang Shitou."

"Were you involved in the inspection and handling of Manager Wu's batch of cloth?"

“Yes…yes!”

"Why are you so nervous? Do you know there's something wrong with these fabrics?"

"No...no!" Wang Shitou waved his hands repeatedly in fright.

"No problem, why are you so nervous? Adults won't wrong an innocent person."

Xue Ruoxue was furious. She never expected that her usually diligent servant would be so cowardly in front of the officials.

Anyone unaware of her fear would surely assume she sold substandard products to Manager Wu.

"My lord... you are so dignified, I am afraid."

"Answer truthfully. You have carefully inspected the fabric. You cannot lie when I ask questions, or you will be punished with a beating."

"Yes, yes. Small, small, no problems were found during the inspection."

Xue Ruoxue breathed a sigh of relief.

"Since you both have conflicting accounts, we'll wait for the yamen runners to return from their inspection of the warehouse and report back before further investigation."

Zheng Tianxing picked up his teacup and drank some tea.

"Yes, my lord."

Not long after, the people who went to investigate returned.

"Sir, we have carefully inspected the Xue family warehouse and found several holes, which were blocked with cloth."

"What? How could there be a hole?" Xue Ruoxue couldn't believe there was a problem with the warehouse; someone must have framed her.

Xue Ruoxue glanced at Wang Shitou and saw that he was trembling even more. So, was he aware of the situation, bribed, or did he have other motives?

"Slap! Madam Xue, what else do you have to say?"

"My lord, the warehouse is managed by the shop assistants, and I really don't know anything about it."

"Wang Shitou, you've been hiding something. Tell the truth now."

Zheng Tianxing shouted loudly, and Wang Shitou, unable to withstand the attack, knelt on the ground and kowtowed.

"Sir, I did say that, yes, my young lady said to take something... to block it, such a trivial matter... there's no need to report it."

"What nonsense are you talking about? How could my daughter say such a thing?"

"Shopkeeper, yes, it's true. I wouldn't dare to lie to you, sir," Wang Shitou said tremblingly.

"Bring Ye Yuanru in."

The presence of two women brought by the yamen runners aroused the curiosity of the people, and the number of onlookers outside the courtroom gradually increased.

"This humble woman, Ye Yuanru, greets Your Excellency."

Early in the morning, the yamen runners came to her door asking for her assistance in a case. They couldn't get any information out of her, and she felt uneasy. After listening outside for a while, she learned that there was a problem with the fabric in her house.

"Ye Yuanru, is what your shop assistant said true?"

Zheng Tianxing gently stirred the tea leaves with the lid of the teacup in one hand, knowing without even looking how Ye Yuanru would respond.

"Your Excellency is wise. My family depends on this shop for our livelihood. How could I, a humble woman, act so rashly?"

Ye Yuanru glanced at Wang Shitou, and tears instantly rolled down her cheeks, looking aggrieved as if she had been betrayed by her own people.

Zheng Tianxing nodded at Ye Yuanru, "The gold shop shouldn't be handled so hastily, but Wang Shitou spoke with such certainty. Could it be that he's framing you?"

Ye Yuanru's voice trembled with tears as she looked at the waiter with a pained expression.

“Sir, Wang Shitou has worked in our shop for four years. He is quick and efficient. My mother and I think highly of him and have always taken good care of him. I think he may have his own reasons.”

The incident happened suddenly, but Ye Yuanru's mind worked quickly, and sure enough, the people outside agreed with Ye Yuanru's words.

"The boss is so sure about his employee, so he must have trusted him a lot before."

"Warehouses should be strictly managed. How can we just deal with a hole like this so carelessly?"

Xue Ruoxue's eyes were red, and she glared angrily at him from the side.

"Wang Shitou, I've always treated you well, why are you saying these things to deceive the adults? Did someone instruct you to do this?"

The boss is trying to shift the blame onto him. Wang Shitou waved his hand, trembling like a leaf in fear.

"No, I...I really did say it, I didn't lie."

Wang Shitou is an honest man, and Xue Ruoxue kept him in the shop because of that.

Ye Tianxing saw that his frightened appearance didn't seem fake, but his trembling and incoherent speech made him look tired.

"Wang Shitou, is there anyone who can prove that you did indeed inform him of this?"

"Miss's maid... Chunzhi is also in the shop."

Wang Shitou knew that Chunzhi couldn't testify for him, but he couldn't afford the three thousand taels of goods.

When Chunzhi was summoned in for questioning, she, as expected, did not tell the truth.

“My lord, I don’t remember Wang Shitou mentioning this to Miss.”

Zheng Tianxing's gaze swept back and forth across the crowd:

"It's truly a case of each side having its own version of the truth. Chunzhi, do you really not remember? If there's even a hint of falsehood, I will not let you off lightly."

Chunzhi quickly kowtowed and said firmly, "My lord, this servant dares not lie, I have indeed never heard of such a thing."

Xue Ruoxue then said:

“Sir, there must be something fishy about this. Wang Shitou is usually honest and law-abiding, and he would never frame someone without reason. Someone must be behind this.”

"No, miss, really... tell me."

Ye Yuanru cried out, "My lord, I am truly wronged! Wang Shitou, how much benefit did the person behind this give you?"

“I remember now. There was an old woman begging outside the shop with her granddaughter, and I gave them the coins I had.”

Yes! That grandfather and grandson, that grandfather and grandson, adults, there are others who can testify for me.

Wang Shitou was so excited that he stopped stuttering when he realized someone could vouch for him.

Xue Ruoxue looked at Ye Yuanru in surprise. Both of them were nervous. Ye Yuanru thought that the two beggars might have disappeared and said:

"There was indeed a grandmother and grandson standing at the store entrance that day."

"Wang Shitou, describe what that grandfather and grandson look like."

"The beggar grandfather and grandson, could it be these two?"

A loud shout came from the entrance of the government office. Everyone looked over and saw an old woman holding her granddaughter's hand, begging from the people with a broken bowl in her hand.

Zheng Tianxing raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself, "What a coincidence."

"Bring people in."

The old woman was brought in by the bailiffs, who kept saying, "This old woman was just begging outside; she hasn't broken the law."

"It's her! It's them!" Wang Shitou shouted excitedly.