Zuo Li had an official knife at his waist and asked a series of questions.

He scanned the room with a serious expression.

"I am, I am..."

Zhang Furen's voice was very soft and trembled slightly.

I don't know if it was fright or fear.

“I did not hit anyone. This shrew is just talking nonsense. She must have lost her mind. Sir, please don’t wrong an innocent person. She’s trying to extort money from me. Otherwise, where did all this expensive clothing and jewelry come from? She must have extorted money from me.”

When Zhang Furen saw Yan Xia calling this poor, penniless boy "nephew," he assumed Wang Yuanshan was a member of her maternal family.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

They don't seem to be a wealthy family.

She's quite pretty, and some people even call her Manager Yan. Could she be a prostitute?

He doesn't look like a respectable person at all. He's so young, yet his nephew is already so old.

Perhaps this guy isn't even from her family; could he be her lover?

Zhang Furen's gaze was like a winding mountain road, revealing contempt.

As soon as he finished speaking, a burst of noise erupted around him.

"Hahaha, Zhang Furen, you're killing me with laughter. He's the manager of Yan's Pastry Shop. Does he need your little bit of money? He makes a fortune every day. Trying to cheat you? Don't make me laugh my teeth out."

"Exactly! I just bought a birthday cake from Manager Yan a few days ago for my daughter's birthday. The cake was no bigger than a head, and it cost several taels of silver. Manager Yan is trying to rip me off? That's a huge joke. A few of her cakes could make your shop's revenue for many days. Trying to rip you off? You're really trying to make yourself look good."

"Wow, you bought a birthday cake? How does it taste? My two daughters have been asking me to buy them one too, but it's too expensive. It's enough for our family of six to eat for three months, so I just couldn't bring myself to do it."

"It's delicious, brother, you must try it. Birthdays only come once a year. If you have some extra money, you should buy one. Don't disappoint your daughters. They should be happy before they get married."

“Brother is right. I’ll go to Manager Yan’s shop in a couple of days to place an order and buy one for each of my two daughters.”

"........"

The conversation among the crowd gradually drifted off-topic, and they all started talking about cake.

Yan Xia coughed twice.

"Cough cough—"

"This Zhang Furen is domineering and arrogant. He must have done a lot of bad things. Are there any other victims? Come forward if you are not afraid. With Chief Constable Zuo here, he will give you justice. If you have been beaten or humiliated by Zhang Furen in the past, come forward and let Chief Constable Zuo make a note of it. This evil man must be severely punished. It would be best if he never came out of prison for the rest of his life!"

Upon hearing this, the people who had previously only dared to grumble in the crowd all came to Zuo Li's side and poured out their bitterness.

Some were beaten by Zhang's grain shop, some had their grain weighed off by Zhang, some worked for free and didn't receive a penny of wages, and some almost died after eating moldy rice and flour from his shop.

There were more than ten victims.

But no one dared to go to the county government to file a complaint against him.

It turned out that they had all been threatened by Zhang Furen. They learned from him that Zhang Furen had threatened that if he was framed and imprisoned, he would kill their entire family on the day he was released.

They thought that it was just a beating, and at most they would be imprisoned for two or three years. If Zhang Furen caused their family to be destroyed, then they would have suffered a huge loss, since they had lived in Shuangqiao Town all their lives.

You can easily find your home address by asking around.

These people were afraid, so naturally they didn't dare to cause any bigger trouble.

But Yan Xia's words just now implied that if multiple crimes were added together, Zhang Furen might not be able to get out of prison for the rest of his life. So what were they afraid of? They had to file a lawsuit.

As a result, Zuo Li was surrounded by people.

Zhang's Grain Shop has two managers.

They were both surnamed Zhang; one was Zhang Furen, and the other was Zhang Fuyi, two brothers.

Normally, if Zhang Furen was in the shop, Zhang Fuyi would go to play with the birds and drink wine. If Zhang Furen went to the north to collect grain, Zhang Fuyi would watch over the shop.

The two brothers were of one mind.

The crowd of onlookers numbered as many as a hundred.

Almost all the local residents came to watch the melon.

Having obtained evidence of Zhang Furen's crimes, Zuo Li closed the net.

He arrested everyone at Zhang's Grain Shop, including Zhang Fuyi, who was still resting in the brothel.

Upon returning to the county government office, he reported directly to the county magistrate.

The magistrate held court in the morning.

The people who had been persecuted by Zhang's Grain Shop waited at the entrance of the county government office.

He has already testified.

"mighty--"

After the court session began, witnesses came in one by one to recount their grievances. The Zhang brothers looked ashen-faced and dared not argue any further. With so many witnesses, even eight mouths couldn't explain their situation.

Oh no, oh no.

This is really the end. I should have closed the grain shop and opened a shop in the north instead.

If it weren't for the corrupt magistrate there, the officials' fondness for extorting protection money, and his refusal to relocate the grain shop in order to earn more money, he would have been fine.

Otherwise, things wouldn't have ended up like this.

"Your Honor, please see the truth! I know I was wrong. I beg you, Magistrate, to be lenient with my punishment. I'm willing to donate all the grain from the shop, just to ease my sentence..."

Zhang Furen had a very clear understanding of the government's laws.

He felt that as long as he took the initiative to admit his mistake and donated food to show his sincerity, he would only need to serve a year or two in prison at most before he could be released.

But he underestimated Magistrate Lu.

"Donate? Your entire fortune has been confiscated, what are you going to donate? Guards, bring that woman here!"

Magistrate Lu gave a cold laugh.

A woman?

The Zhang brothers were completely bewildered; why was another witness appearing?

And what about the confiscation of family property? They just beat up a few lowly scoundrels.

How did it get confiscated?

On what grounds?

Just as the two were feeling bewildered and resentful, the woman was helped into the hall.

"Waaah—"

"Please, Your Honor, do justice! It was him! He killed my husband and my son! My poor husband, not even thirty years old, died so young. His body wasn't even brought into the village; he died alone outside. He died so tragically, his body was covered in bruises, his face was covered in blue and purple marks, and he died with his eyes wide open. I know he's waiting for me to seek justice for him—"

"My lord, it was he who beat my husband to death and stole our grain, leaving my son without money for medicine. He died along with my husband. Of the three of us, two are gone. What's the point of me living? This kind of evil person deserves to go to hell! King Yama, please open your eyes and take him to the eighteenth level of hell!"

"Waaaaah—"

The woman went mad as soon as she saw Zhang Furen.

Her lower body was bleeding from walking.

But as if he couldn't feel any pain, he knelt straight on the ground.

He kowtowed and cried out.

Soon after, blood appeared on his forehead.

Magistrate Lu waved his hand.

Two constables pulled her up.

Don't let her kowtow anymore.