Chapter 1888 Guo Zheng's Backup Plan
Qi Lie looked at the papers in his hand, somewhat puzzled, and asked, "What are these...?"
"Reporting to Your Excellency, Chen Bing said that Zhou Tiedong embezzled the Chen family's heirloom, a jade pot worth three hundred taels of silver. That's why he was sentenced to prison. Not only that, but the Zhou family also has to pay compensation and Zhou Tiedong has to serve three years in prison."
Qi Lie nodded. "That's right." Chen Bing had already explained the case in detail when he confronted Zhou Tiedong earlier.
Guo Zheng then said, "But the Chen family doesn't have any family heirlooms at all. That so-called jade pot was bought in my second year as an accountant. Although the price wasn't low, it wasn't worth three hundred taels at all, but seventy taels of silver. What you have in your hand is the receipt from when you bought the jade pot. It describes in detail the appearance, material, price, and unique features of the jade pot."
"When Chen Bing bought this jade pot, he liked it very much, but seventy taels was not a low price for the Chen family. Mrs. Chen would definitely not agree to buy a jade pot that was beautiful but useless. So Chen Bing kept it a secret from his family and only took me to help him identify its authenticity. Therefore, after buying the jade pot, the receipt was given to me and temporarily kept in the accounting office, to be told to Mrs. Chen later when a solution was found. Moreover, Chen Bing asked me to balance the accounts so that Mrs. Chen would not notice anything unusual."
Upon hearing this, Madam Pan outside the door widened her eyes in disbelief as she stared at Chen Bing.
"However, two years later, Chen Bing's youngest daughter, Chen Qiu, was playful and took a great liking to the jade pot when she saw it. She accidentally broke it. Chen Bing was heartbroken. Mrs. Chen did not know the price of the jade pot and thought it was a fake. Seeing Chen Bing's great anger, the two of them had a fight."
"The jade pot was broken and couldn't be repaired, so the receipt for buying it was useless. Chen Bing told me to burn the receipt, but I had worked as an accountant for the Chen family for four years and knew Chen Bing somewhat. I knew he wasn't as kind as he seemed. So I kept the receipt secretly."
Guo Zheng was thinking of leaving himself a way out, fearing that Chen Bing would use this to control him.
Chen Bing did find fault with him before he was fired, but he didn't use the jade pot as an excuse. Just Li the constable was enough to make Guo Zheng suffer.
Guo Zheng was older and more experienced than Zhou Tiedong. After learning that Constable Li and Chen Bing were in cahoots, he didn't try to retaliate against him. Even though he had a lot of evidence against him, he wouldn't easily show it to anyone.
Unexpectedly, after several years, the jade pot still came in handy and was used to convict Zhou Tiedong.
Guo Zheng took a deep breath. "Sir, this is what happened. The jade pot that Chen Bing claimed Zhou Tiedong embezzled was already smashed. What I am presenting is not only the receipt for the jade pot, but also the receipt that when Chen Bing tried to take it to a jade shop for repair, the craftsman said it could not be repaired. I beg you to investigate thoroughly, sir."
The onlookers whispered amongst themselves. After examining the item in his hand closely, Qi Lie nodded and asked Chen Bing, "Do you have anything else to say?"
Chen Bing never expected Guo Zheng to have this trick up his sleeve; he really went easy on him back then.
He looked up and said in a panic, "Sir, I did buy a jade pot before, but it broke. I bought another one, which cost three hundred taels of silver, but Zhou Tiedong embezzled it."
(End of this chapter)
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