Uncle Ning was the first. When Ning Hong suddenly disappeared, everyone in the village knew. They even found the family that bought the corpse to mate with their daughter.

That family never imagined that the person they buried was actually alive and had even passed the imperial examination.

The family was both shocked and frightened. When the magistrate ordered them to speak, they told him everything that had happened back then.

Of course, they also repeatedly emphasized that they did not know Ning Hongze was still alive.

They wanted to find a dead person to marry their daughter, not a living one. If they had known the person was alive, they wouldn't have dared to do such a thing even if they had a hundred lives.

Ning Hong, however, believed what they said.

He summoned them only to prove that what he said was true.

Over the past few years, Ning Hong has changed a lot. The boy has become more robust, taller, and his features have become more defined.

Ning Hong did not reveal the matter of selling Ning Nuonuo to a brothel.

Even if it were said, it would only damage Nuonuo's reputation, but it wouldn't bother Uncle Ning at all.

There are many people in the village who can't make a living and sell their daughters.

Therefore, Ning Hong never intended to reveal this matter from the very beginning.

All he needs to do is seize on the fact that they committed murder.

Although the murder attempt failed, given his status as a scholar who passed the imperial examinations, he probably wouldn't let Uncle Ning off easily.

Sure enough, in the end, Ning's eldest uncle was exiled three thousand miles away, and Ning Liu was sentenced to three years in prison.

Three thousand miles is a bitterly cold place, and I don't know how many years Uncle Ning can endure it with his body.

There are two copies of the complaint.

The first lawsuit filed against Ning's eldest uncle for disregarding human life.

The second document is a complaint against Liu Shi, a scholar from Yangcheng, for seizing a woman and forcibly taking away someone else's property.

The moment the petition was issued, the onlookers at the yamen gate were in an uproar.

Among them were those who had been bullied by Liu Shi, but Liu Shi was a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations, and they had no ability to fight back. Now, Ning Hong had set a precedent.

The people outside the door looked at each other, hesitating whether to join in the complaint, when they saw Ning Hong turn around and smile at them.

Courage suddenly welled up in my heart.

One after another, people banged on the grievance drums at the door.

"My lord, I also want to sue Liu Shi. He robbed our family's bookstore."

"My lord, my lord, please, my lord, do justice for us! Liu Shi has seized eight acres of my family's fertile land!"

The increasingly loud cries for justice gave the magistrate a terrible headache.

"Silence! No noise is allowed in the courtroom. According to the laws of the Great Jin Dynasty, a citizen who sues an official must first receive twenty strokes of the cane."

The magistrate slammed his gavel down, and the courtroom fell silent instantly.

Those people outside the door immediately shut their mouths and dared not utter another sound.

Ning Hong sighed.

When ordinary citizens sue government officials, they are first punished, which makes many people hesitant to express their opinions.

“Scholar Ning, do you have any evidence? If you don’t have any evidence, you can’t just spout nonsense.”

"My lord, I naturally have evidence. I wonder if you still remember the hot pot restaurant in Yangcheng back then."

"Of course I remember. I liked it very much back then."

"Just remember that hot pot restaurant, it was owned by the students."

"What?"

"I was forced to leave the village by my uncle and fled all the way to Yangcheng. In order to make a living, I opened a hot pot restaurant in Yangcheng. However, when Liu Shi saw that my hot pot restaurant was doing well, he asked me to give him 80% of the profits. Naturally, I refused."

Ning Hong glanced at the county magistrate. "Because the student refused, the hot pot restaurant was maliciously vandalized by Liu Shi multiple times. The student had nowhere to turn for help. Finally, a kind person told the student that Liu Shi wanted to harm him. The student was young at the time and had a younger sister with him, so he sold the hot pot restaurant at a low price and fled Yangcheng with his sister." Of course, the main reason for fleeing was that that bastard Liu Shi had taken a fancy to his sister.

How could he possibly let his sister be in any danger?

"Do you have any evidence?" The magistrate looked rather embarrassed.

Why is there no way to seek help? It must be because the people in the government are unwilling to meddle in Liu Shi's affairs.

“The students have the contracts for buying and selling the hot pot restaurant back then. Besides, many people should remember that the hot pot restaurant was vandalized every few days back then.”

Ning Hong then turned around and asked the people standing outside the courtroom a question.

"I remember the hot pot restaurant."

"I remember it too. The smell was amazing. I walked around the door every day just to smell the hot pot."

"No wonder it was suddenly turned into a teahouse later; it turns out the owner was forced to leave."

"grown ups???????"

Suddenly, a piercing cry came from the doorway.

An old woman rushed in, tears streaming down her face.

Beside her, a younger man was holding her back, seemingly trying to stop her from running in.

"Get out of my way, don't block me, don't block me! So what if I get a beating? I'm willing to risk it all to avenge my little girl. This old woman's life is worthless, take it if you want."

The old woman shoved the young man away forcefully.

"My lord, I want to sue Liu Shi for murder for money. He not only killed my husband, but also killed my fifteen-year-old daughter!"

"Auntie, do you know...?"

"I know, I know, sir, please let me finish speaking first before you punish me."

The old woman wiped away her tears and said through gritted teeth.

This old woman was also pitiful. She originally had a stable family property and lived a very comfortable life with her husband and daughter.

Her family ran a silk shop.

Liu Shi took a fancy to the silk shop and also to the daughter who helped out there. He suggested that they use the silk shop as dowry and give their daughter to Liu Shi as a concubine. In this way, the silk shop would belong to Liu Shi, and their daughter would have to be his concubine. How could they be willing to do that?

Naturally, I refused.

Liu Shi harbored a deep grudge and forcibly took her daughter. When the daughter struggled, he beat her to death. Her husband, upon learning of this, wanted to avenge his daughter, but he was also beaten to death by Liu Shi, leaving her an old woman, barely clinging to life.

If it weren't for her nephew taking her in, she would probably have starved to death long ago.

"I'm keeping this life because I hope that one day someone will stand up for me and bring me justice. Even if I die, I will be content."