Finally, eight people pressed their fingerprints to vouch for Duan Tian and prove his innocence.

When Lian'er handed the list to Su Luo, Su Luo glanced at it and then handed it to one of the Red Feather Army soldiers beside him.

"Take these people who have put their fingerprints on the document, and also detain Duan Tian."

"Yes, Your Highness."

The Akabane army quickly apprehended everyone, including Duan Tian.

"Your Highness, Your Highness, why are you arresting me? I don't know what crime I've committed!"

Duan Tian was overpowered by two Akabane soldiers, but he remained stubborn.

Su Luo sat there slowly, her eyes showing no sign of life, but the sound of her voice sent chills down Duan Tian's spine.

"Manager Duan only knows that I am the Princess Consort of Yu, but you don't know that I am also a businesswoman. Businessmen have their own judgment when it comes to scales, weights, and visual estimations."

At this point, Duan Tian's struggles ceased, and he roughly understood that Su Luo had noticed the problem of dwindling food supplies.

He was in charge of the estate, so regardless of whether he was responsible for the decrease in grain production, he couldn't escape responsibility.

Lian'er poured Su Luo a cup of tea they had brought from the courtyard, while Su Luo continued speaking with a cool expression.

"Since I'm a businessman, how could I leave my things with someone else without knowing the quantity? Manager Duan, don't you agree?"

Duan Tian's left cheek twitched, his back was soaked with sweat, his legs gave way, and he knelt down in front of Su Luo.

"Your Highness... I don't know what you're talking about. I've always been doing my job at the estate."

Moreover, the scale I've been using has always been Zhuangzi's old scale; I know nothing about it, I'm completely innocent!

Duan Tian stubbornly refused to admit it. As long as he shifted the blame to the inanimate object, the scale, the princess couldn't do anything to him.

"Hmph! Is that so?"

“Since the scale is faulty, we’ll replace it. I happen to have brought two with me. Men, come and replace it with our scale and weigh all the grain here.”

The two Red Feather Army soldiers each took out a stick. Now Duan Tian knew that Su Luo had come fully prepared for this trip, but even so, there was nothing he could do about it.

Then the two Akabane weighed the grain that had been taken out of the warehouse again using their scales, and the result was 290 dan (a unit of weight).

"Your Highness, it's all two hundred and ninety loads. The scales on the estate are fine."

Su Luo raised her hand to dismiss the two, then looked at Duan Tian with a cold gaze.

"Manager Duan, I brought a total of 1,867 dan of grain. Even if you record it as 1,800 dan in my ledger, I won't come looking for you."

After all, the estate is so big, it's only natural to give the tenants a few more loads of grain. But you're telling me that when the grain reached you, there were only a little over 1,500 loads, which is more than 300 loads short.

"Besides, you know how scarce food is these days, Manager Duan. After something like this happened, how can I still trust you?"

Duan Tian shook his head vigorously. No matter what he had done, he couldn't admit it now. At worst, he would lose his job as the manager of the estate. But if he admitted it, it would be the death of him.

"Your Highness, even if there is nothing wrong with this scale, when I put the grain in, there were only a little over 1,500 dan (a unit of weight).

The princess said at the time that she hadn't weighed it, and I don't understand why she's changing her mind now. I wonder if I did something wrong. If the princess doesn't like me, she could just send me away. Why bother...?

Duan Tian stopped talking in time, and the following words automatically led people to speculate that Su Luo wanted to get rid of Duan Tian.

Then, by deliberately revealing these things, with a strong intention to frame her, the blame was shifted from Duan Tian being accused of embezzlement to Su Luo being portrayed as a villain.

This little incident wasn't enough to make Su Luo jump up and curse. Duan Tian didn't expect that even after he had thrown mud at Su Luo, she would still calmly drink her tea.

Su Luo's reaction was completely different from what he had expected. If Su Luo were furious, she wouldn't have time to think. As long as Su Luo's thoughts were in disarray, he could use his silver tongue to find a way out.

But seeing Su Luo like this, he panicked a little.

"Does Steward Duan mean that I framed you?"

"I wouldn't dare."

He said he wouldn't dare, but his expression was one of feigned ignorance.

Su Luo put down her teacup, her tone unusually calm.

"I know Steward Duan is not convinced, but I have plenty of time today, and I will convince you."

Su Luo's goal was not to severely punish Duan Tian, ​​but to find the grain he had hidden. Combined with the grain he had previously taken from the estate, it was quite a lot!

"Lian'er, have our people returned?"

Lian'er turned around and called to the people behind her, "Take it."

Then a member of the Red Feather Army placed an old, long box on the table in front of Su Luo.

When Duan Tian and the eight farmhands who had vouched for him saw the box, they were all horrified. They knew all too well what was inside.

"Your Highness, this was found in Duan Tian's room. He hid the box under his bed, but the box is dust-free, which means it must have been used frequently to be so clean."

Once people in the village recognized what the box was, they began to describe it.

"Isn't that Manager Duan's scale box? Manager Duan treasures his scale the most, how come it's under the bed?"

Another person added, "The manager brought out the scales; he must have accidentally left this box in the room."

Su Luo held up the box and asked the people on the estate behind her.

"Everyone, take a good look. Does this thing belong to Steward Duan?"

Things often need to be weighed in the village, and they often see Duan Tian take it out, so they can't be mistaken.

"Yes! It's Steward Duan."

Su Luo smiled coldly and opened the box in front of everyone. Inside was a scale, exactly the same as the one that Steward Duan had taken out.

this……

"Isn't that Steward Duan's prized scale? Why are there two of them?"

"Yes, what exactly happened?"

The people in the village were completely bewildered; they had no idea what was going on.

Su Luo looked at Duan Tian kneeling on the ground and asked, "Manager Duan, what's going on?"

Duan Tian narrowed his eyes: "This is not mine. My scales were in front of the Princess. Didn't the Princess see them just now? This is not mine. Someone is trying to frame me."

Duan Tian firmly shouted that someone wanted to harm him, and there was also the spearhead just now pointing at Su Luo. This scale was also found by Su Luo's people, so it's hard to say that Su Luo wasn't framing him.

“Everyone in the village has seen this. If Steward Duan still wants to deny it, I have witnesses.”

"Someone, please bring Grandpa Zhang up here."