Chapter 46: Take the blame

This jade pendant doesn't look like something from the village.

When Shi Tou saw the jade pendant, his heart skipped a beat. How could his brother-in-law's jade pendant be in Lin Jianshan's hands?

He subconsciously turned to look at Lu Chengjing.

Lu Chengjing stared at the jade pendant expressionlessly, his eyes gloomy.

The villagers didn't expect that there really was such evidence.

Just now, the Lin family came back and said that they had lost some silver, and they clamored for everyone to gather at the old elm tree to catch the thief.

Naturally, no one in the village recognized the identity of the perpetrator, and the Lin family members could not say who was who without proof. So Lin Jianshan suggested that two people from the village go with him to search for evidence in the Lin family.

When the villagers heard this, they naturally couldn't let those who got along well with the Lin family go. What if they covered up for each other and used something to frame someone?

So, Wu Mingli and Zhang Da, two young men from the Wu family, were nominated by the villagers.

Everyone gathered around to look at the jade pendant.

"Wow," someone exclaimed. "This jade pendant must be worth more than thirty taels. What kind of thief picked up sesame seeds and lost the watermelon?"

Some people were puzzled, "We are all peasants in this village, who can have such a good thing?"

"Yeah," someone agreed. "If you have something this good, you should keep it as a family heirloom. Who would carry it around to show off?"

"Look at the middle of this jade pendant. Does it look like a word?"

"No, no, let me take a look."

"Go away, you can't read. It's better to ask a scholar to take a look at it."

The villagers started discussing the jade pendant one after another.

Yuan Musheng glanced in Lu Chengjing's direction obscurely, his heart full of worry.

Five years ago, the Lu family sent someone to the village to take Lu Chengjing home. Yuan Musheng went to help. To thank him for his care over the past two years, Lu Chengjing wanted to give him a jade pendant representing the Lu family. If Yuan Musheng encountered any difficulties, he could take the jade pendant to the Lu family to seek his help.

Although Yuan Musheng did not accept the jade pendant, he still remembers its appearance.

It is round, with magnolia branches carved into the hollowed-out pattern around it and a striking "Lu" character in the middle. It is exactly the same as the one Lin Jianshan found at the Lin family.

But why is Chengjing's jade pendant in the Lin family?

He didn't believe that Lu Chengjing was the thief who stole the silver.

Wu Mingli and Zhang Er saw with their own eyes that Lin Jianshan took out the jade pendant from under the messy clothes on the kang. Wu Mingli knew a few words and had some guesses about the owner of the jade pendant, but he didn't say anything.

Shang Wan cannot read, but the original owner has memories related to this jade pendant.

Mr. Lu accidentally got a good stone. Since the stone was not big, he took it out and made a jade pendant for each of the three young masters of the Lu family.

The eldest young master Lu Chengyuan has a jade pendant with a pattern of green bamboo, which symbolizes continuous promotion.

The second young master, Lu Chengyi, has a jade pendant with a hibiscus pattern, which symbolizes good luck and wealth.

The third young master, Lu Chengjing, has a jade pendant with a magnolia pattern, which symbolizes noble character.

Since receiving the jade pendant, the three young masters of the Lu family have worn it every day. The jade pendant has become a symbol of their status in the Lu family.

However, since Lu Chengjing was imprisoned, the jade pendant has disappeared. Now it has appeared in the Lin family and has become the property of a silver thief, who obviously wants to throw dirty water on Lu Chengjing.

Shang Wan couldn't understand why Lu Chengjing, who was just a useless person diagnosed by doctors and who didn't bother anyone, was so bored that he used the Lin family as a pawn to deal with a useless person like Lu Chengjing? What was their goal?

Lin Jianshan took the jade pendant and walked straight to Lu Chengjing.

He was standing and Lu Chengjing was sitting.

He looked down at Lu Chengjing, and although he tried hard to hide the malice in his eyes, Lu Chengjing still saw through it at a glance.

"Mr. Lu, none of us in this village can read a single word. Please identify the words on this jade pendant and help us find the thief."

Without even raising his eyelids, Lu Chengjing said calmly, "I can't recognize you."

Lin Jianshan was stunned for a moment. He didn't expect Lu Chengjing to react so calmly after seeing the jade pendant, and even lie with his eyes open.

He was about to speak when Zhou jumped out, pointing at Lu Chengjing and shouting, "You're lying! There's clearly a word 'Lu' in the middle of the jade pendant."

"Oh, it's the character Lu." Lu Chengjing said with a mocking tone, "Since you already know it, why do you want me to recognize it again?"

Village chief Lin's face darkened, and Lin Jianshan glared at Zhou with a dark face, "Only you can do that!"

Zhou felt wronged. Wasn't she just trying to help her man?

Aunt Zhou rolled her eyes and looked at Zhou. "Mr. Lin, when did you learn to read? Even the scholar can't recognize it, but you can. You are more knowledgeable than the scholar."

The villagers burst into laughter. Zhou blushed and hid behind Lin Jianshan.

Lin Jianshan was angry, but he also knew that now was not the time to scold his wife, so he secretly winked at Gao Qi in the crowd.

Gao Qi understood and raised his voice, saying, "It's obvious that this jade pendant isn't from our village. Only Mr. Lu's family moved here from the county town. And there's a character 'Lu' on the jade pendant. There's no other family with the surname Lu in our village. There's no way this jade pendant could possibly belong to Mr. Lu."

The villagers fell silent upon hearing the sound and turned to look at Lu Chengjing.

Obviously, after hearing that there was a word "Lu" in the middle of the jade pendant, some people suspected that the owner of the jade pendant was Lu Chengjing, but no one wanted to offend him.

Someone asked tentatively: "Scholar, is this jade pendant yours?"

Before Lu Chengjing could answer, Village Chief Lin suddenly said, "The Lu family is a well-known family in the city, and they will definitely recognize our jade pendant."

The implication was that even if Lu Chengjing denied it, they could still go to the Lu family with the jade pendant and ask the Lu family to identify it.

He couldn't wait to put the blame on Lu Chengjing.

"It's my jade pendant, but I lost it a while ago." Lu Chengjing's tone was as cold as ever.

Lin Jianshan sneered, his tone unable to conceal his sarcasm, "You said the jade pendant was lost? What evidence do you have?"

"You say the silver is lost, but you have no evidence?" Shitou glared at Lin Jianshan. "So if you say it's lost, then it's lost. But if my brother-in-law says it's lost, then he has to provide evidence. How can this be justified?"

"The silver is lost!" Mrs. Liu slapped her thigh anxiously. "It's a full thirty taels, all our family's hard-earned money! Damn thief, return the silver!"

As she said this, she was about to pounce on Lu Chengjing and tear him apart. Xiaohuan drew out a kitchen knife and chopped it forward. Liu didn't even have time to withdraw her hand, let alone dare to get close.

"You little bitch!" Liu cursed angrily. Xiaohuan didn't say anything back. She just stared at her coldly with the kitchen knife, as if she was thinking about where to chop.

Liu's hair stood on end at Xiaohuan's gaze. She took two steps back and only felt safer when she was next to Lin Jianshui. She glared at Xiaohuan and Lu Chengjing fiercely, but did not continue to scold him.

Shang Wan began to reflect on whether she had led Xiaohuan astray.

The little girl was afraid of mice when we first met, but now, in just a few days, she dares to pick up a kitchen knife and chop people. Isn't she growing up too fast?

(End of this chapter)