The four men were so provoked that they had no choice but to go to the county government office in a mighty group.
Tang Youyou was a seventh-rank lady, so she didn't have to kneel when she met the county magistrate. However, the county magistrate still ordered someone to bring her a chair.
The four of them knelt on the ground, looking at the two steady men, but they always felt something was wrong.
The audience outside were also excited.
"Ah...it's really that lady?"
"So what? Have you heard? A prince who breaks the law is subject to the same punishment as a commoner! Not to mention she's just a little girl!"
"Did you notice? That lady never said a single threatening word from beginning to end. She was so frank, it didn't seem like she was pretending!"
"Ah... In my opinion, today's show was a waste of time. It seems that the county magistrate and the lady know each other!"
"Bang!" The county magistrate slammed the gavel, and the room immediately fell silent.
"Who is this person here? Who are you suing for what?"
"Sir, we are suing the owner of Yueyoufang for selling inferior goods as good ones and defrauding people of their money!"
The county magistrate looked at Tang Youyou, and she bowed slightly: "Sir, I am the second owner of Yueyoufang!"
The county magistrate was slightly surprised and turned to look at the others, "Do you have any evidence?"
"There are witnesses and evidence!"
Then, two men were brought up.
"Sir, look, I'm still carrying the schoolbag we bought together today!"
He was depressed. His schoolbag was still in good condition, but why was theirs so torn?
The other man also cupped his hands and said, "Sir, I can testify that we went to Yueyoufang together, but I was short of money that day, so I didn't make the purchase!"
Then the evidence was presented.
The county magistrate frowned, "Mrs. Tang, do you have anything to say?"
Before she could say anything, the onlookers started shouting.
"What else is there to review? The evidence is all there, so please make your verdict immediately, magistrate! In my opinion, this young lady should definitely be caned!"
"Nonsense! He has an imperial decree, so how could he possibly be punished? He'll probably just pay money and be done with it."
"In my opinion, Yueyoufang can close down after this incident!"
"It's really sad that it closed down less than two months after opening!"
"Oh... now that you mention it, I feel like there's something wrong with the quality of my bag. I'll have to return it later!"
"Bang!" The county magistrate slammed the gavel again.
Tang Youyou stood up, "Sir, their slander is completely false!"
The county magistrate stroked his beard and exchanged glances with his legal advisor, as if he were just watching a play.
"Oh? How do you prove yourself?"
She took off the shoulder bag and wanted to tear it apart with force, but she was afraid that people would think Yueyoufang’s quality was poor, so she gave up the idea.
"Sir, can I borrow a pair of scissors?"
The magistrate nodded to a yamen runner, who soon brought a pair of scissors and handed them to her.
She shook her head and said, "Please help me cut open this cloth bag!"
Everyone: This spendthrift woman, this is ten taels of silver, and you just cut it like this?
"Sir, please look!"
Then the bailiff handed the bag over.
The county magistrate suddenly realized what was going on.
“Bang!”
"The four of you take a look at it for yourselves. Do you have anything else to say?"
The bailiff threw the bag to them, and they saw the words in the bag at a glance and were shocked.
The two witnesses looked at each other and immediately knelt on the ground.
"Sir, we are innocent. The two of us really went to Yueyoufang with the other four and bought the bag together!"
The two of them were very anxious, but they didn't want to be beaten. If this got out, they would be laughed at to death in the future.
In a hurry, a man took off his satchel and handed it to the yamen runner, "Sir, please help me cut it open too!"
The bailiff looked at the county magistrate, who nodded slightly.
He cut open the schoolbag in a few seconds, revealing the Yueyoufang logo.
The man's eyes filled with tears, "Sir, there is indeed the Yueyoufang logo!"
Tang Youyou frowned, her tone quite serious, and her voice loud: "You four are clearly framing me! To tell you the truth, every bag in my Yueyoufang has an anti-counterfeiting mark, and outsiders can't imitate it!"
"Sir, please make the decision for me!"
"Bang!" The gavel slammed, and the four people in the audience trembled.
"You four still won't confess? Slandering the imperial edict is not as simple as a beating!"
The four of them were in tears. They looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
Tang Youyou's mouth twitched, "Heh... If you don't want to confess, then go to jail. But the responsibilities of an accomplice and the principal offender are definitely different!"
The four of them panicked and began to beg for mercy.
"Sir, I'm telling you... it was the owner of Liu's Cloth Shop! He... gave us fifty taels, and this package was also given by him, asking us to slander Yueyoufang.
My Lord... I was blinded by greed, and my child is seriously ill, so I can't help it. I beg for your forgiveness!"
“Bang!”
"Come here, bring the owner of Liu's cloth shop here."
The truth finally came to light, and the people were filled with sorrow.
"I told you there's something hidden in this matter. Yueyoufang won't just shoot itself in the foot!"
"Yeah, so it's just jealousy from colleagues. Tsk tsk... But what a clumsy trick!"
"Alas...it seems I still have to go to Yueyoufang to buy bags from now on!"
"Ah...you just said you were going to return the goods!"
"Who said that? You heard me wrong. I have to buy two more bags later!"
"You know what? The workmanship here is really good. My friend bought some from other stores next door. They were cheaper, but the stitching was terrible!"
Tang Youyou was in a good mood as she listened to everyone's discussion.
In the end, Liu's Cloth Shop paid Yueyoufang one hundred taels of silver as compensation, and Liu's Cloth Shop was reorganized for a month.
Yue Niang laughed so hard she collapsed backwards. "Youyou, this trick of cutting off the source of the trouble is really satisfying, and it also gave us some free publicity for our store!"
Jia Fugui also quite agreed, "Thanks to my sister for taking precautions, otherwise we would be in a state of silence after what happened today!"
Tang Youyou was a little embarrassed, "Hey... I was just thinking of making an anti-counterfeiting thing, but I didn't expect it would actually come in handy!"
Yue Niang stroked Xue'er's hair. "This child and Ruoxue get along very well. They both have the character 'Xue' in their names, but she's just too shy! Sister, the Yueyoufang in the capital will open in a few days. Let Xue'er go with us!"
"This child is shy and needs to be taught well. She will always be by my side in the future. Yue Niang, please don't be stingy and give her more guidance."
Yue Niang pursed her lips and said, "The more I look at this child, the more I like her. Why not let her be my goddaughter? She will be a perfect companion for Ruoxue!"
"Oh, this is great news, Xue'er, why are you still standing there? Hurry up and salute!"
Xue'er, who was stunned at the side, knelt down and kowtowed: "Godmother, please accept my daughter's greetings!"
"Okay, okay!" Yue Niang helped the man up and took off the jade bracelet on her hand.
"This is what my grandma left for me. It's perfect for you and Xue'er!"
"Thank you, godmother!"
"Okay, okay, that's right, be more generous and cheerful!"
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