Resolving the Lin family matter
The newcomer was dressed in a sandalwood-colored round-necked long robe, looked to be around forty years old, with a dignified face, a hooked nose, and sinister eyes.
Not a good person.
"That's where you're supposed to sit. Get down now."
Lan Xin leisurely sipped her tea, watching his angry expression with indignation.
And who are you?
The man didn't reply, but instead lifted his shirt and sat down.
“He’s from the fourth branch of the Lin family, so you have to call him Fourth Uncle.”
The old clan chief kindly offered an explanation, then looked at the man and said, "Why is the fourth brother so late?"
That man ignored the clan leader and seemed rather arrogant!
He twirled the jade thumb ring on his right thumb, a smile playing on his lips as he looked at her.
"Clan leader, when did it become the place for outsiders to make decisions for my Lin family?"
Xu Lanxin put down her teacup and sneered, "Clan leader, I also have a question. When did the Lin family become the domain of someone who is just an imposter from who-knows-where?"
As she said this, she looked at Zhang Shi, who was standing to the side.
That Zhang woman was like a firecracker, ready to ignite at any moment.
"You little wench, who are you talking about?"
"Bang!" A drunken man slumped against the door frame.
Not only did he not feel any pain, but he also laughed and joked, stumbling towards Zhang with his left foot on his right.
"Mother, when will you give Cui'er to me?"
He was burping as he spoke, and the stench was unbearable.
Lanxin covered her mouth and nose with a handkerchief, but the elders all looked at her with disdain.
Zhang Shi awkwardly instructed the servants, "Hurry up and take the master away to rest."
This mother and son are absolutely amazing.
After the hall returned to calm, Lanxin spoke up: "I have submitted a lawsuit to the magistrate, accusing Zhang of fraud, impersonating my grandfather's concubine, and trying to swindle the Lin family's property."
"absurd"
The fourth uncle slammed his hand on the coffee table, his face full of anger.
“The Zhang family’s marriage certificate has been verified by the clan elders and is not false. Why should you, an outsider, say anything more?”
Lan Xin remained seated steadily, her fake smile barely visible.
"Look how anxious Fourth Uncle is. Anyone who doesn't know the situation would think that you and that Zhang woman are having an affair."
He immediately flew into a rage and retorted, "Nonsense!"
"Fourth Uncle, don't be anxious. We're not talking about your family."
All the elders looked at him meaningfully, and he could only give an awkward smile.
"This Zhang family is neither early nor late. Her uncle just passed away, and she came to claim kinship. How come she only recognizes the Lin family now? Why didn't she come to claim kinship when her grandfather was alive? The address is written in black and white."
I think she's trying to take advantage of my cousin being alone to swindle him out of money.
"Bang!" Lan Xin slammed her hand on the table.
"No one can do anything today. Men, take Zhang away and put her and her good son under guard. Tomorrow, send them to the authorities for investigation."
But not a single servant came in to arrest the person.
This made Zhang laugh out loud, and she bent over, clutching her stomach, and sat back down in her seat.
"You think you can order the servants around in this mansion around?"
Lan Xin was not annoyed, but stared at Zhang Shi until her eyes flickered.
At this point, she had no choice but to take out her protective shield, pull out the seal from her pouch, and hand it to the old clan chief.
The old clan chief took it with suspicion and quickly read it through.
He suddenly looked up and asked:
"really?"
“If the clan chief doesn’t believe it, he can confront the county magistrate. If he still doesn’t believe it, Lord Cen will be here in a few days. If he sees that his wife’s cousin has been wronged, he will surely overturn the case.”
She's good at scaring people. She'll fool them all first. Look at Zhang Shi, she looks like a country bumpkin who's never seen the world. Once she's imprisoned and tortured, she'll confess.
As for Cen Yan, he won't come; she's just a bully relying on her master's power.
The old clan chief stood up, raised the seal with both hands, and solemnly handed it to her.
"From this day forward, everyone in the Lin family will follow Miss Lin's arrangements until An'er is released from prison."
Xu Lanxin was very satisfied with the old clan chief's attitude and nodded.
Zhang was terrified and knelt down before the old clan chief, clutching his clothes.
"Chieftain, how could you listen to her?"
The old clan chief ignored her and left first.
Fourth Uncle sat silently in his seat, stroking his thumb ring.
However, the sharp-eyed Lanxin still noticed that his left hand was bandaged.
Zhang started throwing a tantrum, and Xu Lanxin watched coldly as the servants carried her away.
After everyone had left, Lan Xin gave instructions to the person beside her:
"The old woman told our people to keep an eye on the mother and child."
Xu Lanxin arrived at the courtyard where her mother used to live, Tingyu Xiaozhu.
Built around the water, the lotus flowers in the pond have long since disappeared, and now that autumn has arrived, even the lotus leaves have withered.
Inside the main house, everything was neatly arranged, without a speck of dust.
It seems that after my mother left, someone was assigned to clean and tidy this place.
At this moment, Xiao Xi and Qing Yu walked in together.
"Is everything taken care of?"
Seeing Xiaoxi nod, she continued:
"Then let's wait for the show to start tomorrow."
Lan Xin looked at Qing Yu: "How is my cousin?"
"I have told you everything you asked me to do."
Lanxin was relieved and began to remove her hairpins.
"Why don't you help your cousin overturn the case first, instead of suing that Zhang woman?"
She paused, then smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
“You think that Zhang looks very smart, but I don’t believe she has no one backing her. Of course, we should use her as a breakthrough point first. Once the person behind her is revealed, my cousin’s case will be much simpler.”
This frame-up, riddled with errors and with this background, isn't it just a case of someone profiting from someone else's misfortune?
I used to see news reports about women being exploited and left without offspring, but I never imagined that in ancient times, you could even find men being exploited.
That fourth uncle and Zhang must be in cahoots.
The next day, Zhang was taken out of the house exhausted, reportedly having caused a scene all night.
His hooligan son was brought in front of Xu Lanxin with a bewildered look on his face, his eyes glued to her like a plaster.
"Qingkui, he might not want his eyes anymore."
Qingkui stepped forward and thumped his chest, scaring the thug into shrinking back like a quail.
When the group arrived at the government office, the magistrate was already sitting in the hall.
The styles of these courtrooms are all pretty much the same, and Xu Lanxin is very familiar with them, after all, she has been to court before.
The gavel struck with a loud thud.
The Zhang mother and son were so frightened that their legs went weak and they knelt on the ground.
"Who is below? State your name."
Xu Lanxin stepped forward, but did not kneel; she merely bowed.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, I am Xu Lanxin, the daughter of Lin Qing'er, a married woman from the Lin family."
Today, I am suing the Zhang mother and son present here, alleging that they impersonated my maternal grandfather's concubine and son to seize my family's property.
As soon as Lan Xin finished speaking, Zhang Shi started wailing and making a scene:
"You're talking nonsense! Your Honor, you must stand up for me! My son is a descendant of the Lin family, and I have a marriage contract as proof!"
After saying that, she took out the concubine-taking document and handed it over.
With a sharp crack of the gavel, the magistrate shouted:
"Silence, present the evidence."
Zhang was so frightened that she stopped crying, but she glanced at him sideways.
Xu Lanxin didn't care much; it was just a clown role.
“My lord, what can a mere marriage certificate prove? Handwriting can be imitated. We can simply take my maternal grandfather’s handwriting to someone who can imitate handwriting.”
The woman had found two skilled handwriting imitators, who were waiting outside the hall.
"pass."
The county magistrate put down the evidence in his hand and followed her words.
Two men who looked like scholars took the book on taking a concubine and sat down to copy it.
Zhang, who was standing to the side, tried to appear calm, but her eyes were filled with panic. Her son was still tugging at her clothes in a flustered manner. She impatiently pulled him back, glared at him, and he stopped making any further moves.
The two writers handed over two notebooks that were exactly the same as the book on taking a concubine. The magistrate struck the gavel and looked at Zhang.
“Zhang, do you have any other evidence? If not, I will charge you with fraud.”
"The people, the people's woman"
Zhang knelt in the hall, head bowed, her eyes darting around.
"My lord, isn't there a blood test to determine kinship? Drop her son's blood onto my grandfather's bones. If it dissolves, they are related. If not, then charge him with fraud and sentence him to be torn apart by five horses."
Zhang's son was terrified and frantically tried to pry her away.
"Mother, save me, I don't want to be dismembered."
"Shut up!"
He froze, his eyes filled with terror. He released his grip, turned, and prostrated himself before the hall, howling:
"My lord, it's not my fault! It's all my mother's fault. She made me pretend to be Old Master Lin's son, saying I could eat and drink well and get paid. It's not my fault, please let me go."
The gavel struck with a "snap".
"You audacious Zhang, confess the truth now!"
Seeing that she was trembling uncontrollably and remained silent, the magistrate continued:
"Guards, bring the torture on."
When the yamen runners lifted her up, Zhang could no longer hold back. She broke free and crawled over to kneel down.
"My lord, I confess! That concubine-taking agreement was fake! I was tricked!"
It turned out that the fourth uncle of the Lin family, seeing that his uncle was about to die, found Zhang and her son and offered her five hundred taels of silver to help her son pay off his gambling debts in exchange for her pretending to be the old master Lin's concubine.
As for Aunt Yao, it was because her son raped her while drunk that Lin's fourth uncle found out and used a scheme to kill Aunt Yao, frame Lin Yun'an, and then bribe people in the government.
Finally, Zhang was sentenced to one hundred strokes of the cane and twenty years of hard labor for fraud. Zhang's son was sentenced to one hundred strokes of the cane for fraud and rape. Lin's fourth uncle was executed three days later.
Lin Yun'an was acquitted and released.
The moment he came out, his face was beaming with joy, and he walked quickly toward her.
After a moment of stunned silence, they clasped their hands together and bowed.
"Thank you, cousin."
Xu Lanxin reached out to help him up, saying, "Cousin, let's go back to the manor quickly. Granny Li is still waiting for you at home."
Xu Lanxin walked towards her carriage, and just as she opened the carriage door, she was pulled inside by a tremendous force.
A scream came from inside the carriage, prompting Lin Yun'an to try to get on, but he was stopped outside.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com