“…” Zhou Shancai’s face suddenly turned pale.
Seeing that the county magistrate agreed to examine the book, Luo Yan was excited to make arrangements, but was grabbed by the officer and pushed aside.
Since the county magistrate is present in this matter, it is naturally not his turn to make arrangements.
The county magistrate waved to the chief clerk and then whispered a few words.
After receiving the order, the chief clerk led two officers to clear the crowd, went upstairs to invite the appraisers down, and asked the restaurant owner to move a few tables and put them on the street.
He actually wanted to check the books in the street.
Seeing this, Yuan Zuzhi nodded with satisfaction - this county magistrate was methodical in his work.
After the table was set, the county magistrate said to the upstairs, "Why don't you come down and be a witness?"
Lou Yunchun shook his head, "No, Lord Luo will take charge."
He was just asking a polite question. It would be better if he didn't come.
After the county magistrate, the chief clerk, and the appraiser were seated, the officials drove away the onlookers, cleared an open area, and then asked the buyers who wanted to inspect the books to line up one by one.
The first one was the young man with three thousand taels of silver. He walked up to the appraiser with the set of "Donglingzi Collection" and handed it to the appraiser. Then he took out the deed of sale from his pocket and presented it to the chief clerk.
The chief clerk checks the seal and signature, and after confirming that they are correct, he records them.
Everyone held their breath.
Xu Jiang and Yuan Zuzhi couldn't help but feel worried. The forgery methods of this collection were very sophisticated. They wondered if these appraisers could identify it.
The four appraisers sorted a set of collections firmly into order, and then each took out two stacks. Seeing this, Xu Jiang felt relieved.
After the entire collection was appraised, the appraisers raised two signs, one for true and one for false, at the same time, confusing the spectators who were not aware of the situation.
"Holding two cards at the same time, is it true or false?"
"That's right, why can't I understand?"
The county magistrate was also somewhat puzzled, so he asked, "What does this mean?"
A white-haired appraiser stood up and bowed to the county magistrate, saying, "Your Excellency, this set of Donglingzi Collection is half authentic and half fake."
As soon as these words were spoken, Zhou Shancai's face suddenly became extremely ugly.
The spectators couldn't help but burst into an uproar.
"It's really adulterated."
"This person is too cruel. He sold half-real and half-fake goods for three thousand taels."
"Tsk tsk, I still have too much money and don't know where to spend it. I can buy something else with three thousand taels, but I bought a set of fake books."
"You can't say that. Who knew it was fake when they bought it?"
Upon receiving the result, the three thousand taels of silver nearly burst into tears of joy, and the resentment that had been pent up in his heart also dissipated a lot. He turned to the onlookers and said, "Dear neighbors, elders and fellow villagers, I have already had this book verified by others. After discovering the adulteration, I immediately went to the bookstore to ask for a refund. However, Jisheng Bookstore saw that I was just a powerless merchant, and not only did they not refund me, but they threatened me, saying that if I insisted on returning the money, they would have the Ministry of Revenue close down our silk and satin shop. They also warned me that if I revealed their counterfeiting, they would break my legs. I was forced to endure it, but recently heard that Bandoushan was going to hold a book appraisal conference, and I couldn't hold it back any longer, so I came here to seek justice."
He turned and knelt before the county magistrate, kowtowed three times, and said, "Please, sir, make this decision for me!"
The county magistrate glanced at Zhou Shancai and saw that his expression was gloomy. He understood most of what was going on. Then he said to Sanqianliang, "I understand. You get up first."
After the three thousand taels stood up, the county magistrate said in a deep voice: "Inspect again!"
The chief clerk nodded and called out, "Next."
Zhou Shancai’s eyes blurred and he thought to himself: It’s over now.
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