Lin Wanyin looked past Qian Ming and looked at Su Chengye.
Seeing that Su Chengye had no idea what was going on with this account, a sneer suddenly appeared on her lips.
"This account is a long story."
"Before the Pingning Marquisate, there was a cousin who lived in the Su family for a few years."
"That autumn when she first came, the doctor took her pulse and said she was a little weak and that it would be best if she continued to take blood swallows."
"This five hundred taels of silver is the money I used to buy her the blood swallows the first time. But it wasn't until a few months ago that I found out that this cousin was the concubine of the Marquis of Pingning."
"The two of them had been having an affair for years and even had a child. He even tried to register the child in my name and have him inherit the title of Marquis. The funny thing is, the child was actually someone else's, and the Marquis of Pingning was also a victim."
Lin Wanyin explained the relationship between Su Chengye and Gu Ruoyun in just a few words, including the fact that Gu Ruoyun had cheated on him.
Now, not only were the people present whispering to each other with their eyes sparkling, but even the three judges listening attentively, occasionally exchanging glances.
Su Chengye listened to the people outside pointing and talking, and his face turned purple.
He walked up to Qian Ming and whispered, "Will you ask? Ask in another book."
Qian Ming nodded quickly, "I understand, I'll change it right away."
After saying that, he took out another account book from the box and opened it to take a look.
"How come there's an expenditure of 10,000 taels of silver, but no detailed information?"
"The fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the ninth year of Xuande? Could this be flowers from my mother's family?"
Qian Ming looked at Lin Wanyin meaningfully, intending to shift the topic to her mother's family.
But everyone in the Su family, including Su Qingyu who was standing outside the lobby, were stunned when they heard the date of the fifteenth day of the first lunar month in the ninth year of Xuande.
Su Qingyu's eyes were filled with grief. She lowered her eyes slightly and laughed at herself. If the old man saw the scene at the Su family today, he would probably crawl out of the ground in anger.
When Su Chengye and Su Chengyan heard this date, panic unconsciously appeared on their faces.
Su Chengye was about to speak, wanting Qian Ming to change the subject, but it was too late, Lin Wanyin had already spoken.
"This ten thousand taels of silver was spent on the old man's funeral."
"When the old master passed away, the old lady suggested a grand wedding. But the Marquis's Mansion didn't have that much money, so I took out 10,000 taels from my dowry."
Thinking of the old man of the Su family, Lin Wanyin felt a mixture of emotions. To be fair, it was the old man of the Su family who agreed to marry her. That marriage was all a calculation.
But after entering the mansion, the old man was truly kind to her and her daughter.
Before the old man passed away, he had been working hard to keep the family running and never asked her to use her dowry to support the family.
After the old man passed away, her dowry money began to be spent in large quantities in the Su family.
Now that he was gone, she didn't want to criticize an old man who had passed away in this situation. Besides, she knew the relationship between her daughter and her grandfather.
If the old man were still alive, he would be so angry if he knew that the money he used for his funeral was being taken out and quibbled about.
So, after thinking about it, Lin Wanyin said, "I can return this ten thousand taels of silver to the Su family. As for the old man's funeral, I will just treat it as my filial piety to him."
But to the two brothers of the Su family, these words were a blatant slap in the face.
Who would ask others to pay money for their father’s funeral?
If Lin Wanyin was still the Su family's wife, it would be understandable. But now that they are divorced, mentioning the funeral money again would make the Su brothers unfilial.
Su Chengye hurriedly said, "No need, the money will be paid by our Su family."
Lin Wanyin didn't say much and looked up at the three presiding officials in the hall.
"After listening for so long, do you three adults understand it?"
"Do you still think that what I took away was the Su family's property?"
Wang Jian saw impatience in Lin Wanyin's eyes, but this matter was of great importance, so he lowered his head and discussed it with the other two.
Lin Wanyin frowned slightly and spoke again.
"Actually, I have a simple solution. Most of these properties were purchased by the Marquis of Pingning in recent years."
"You can check the Su family's account books. The old man didn't leave much behind, and the Su family's income is also small."
"Then where did these things come from? They're not mine. Could it be that the Marquis of Pingning embezzled them?"
The word "embezzlement" scared Su Chengye so much that he almost slipped off his chair.
"Don't talk nonsense, how could I embezzle money?" Su Chengye said sternly.
Lin Wanyin shrugged. "I didn't say you were embezzling money. Isn't it up to the adults to investigate?"
Su Chengye held his breath in his chest and could only look at Wang Jian.
Wang Jian didn't dare to respond to this, as the Ministry of Justice was not responsible for the corruption of court officials.
The three of them discussed for a long time and decided to find the Lin family not guilty. They left the accounts and asked the officials from the Ministry of Revenue to review them.
When the verdict came out, the Lin family members had no reaction yet, but the people outside cheered first.
They all shouted that the gentlemen were the great officials.
As for why the people were so angry, Zhenzhu had a lot to do with it. While the case was being tried in the hall of the Ministry of Justice, Zhenzhu had been chatting with the crowd.
After the case was tried, news spread about how the Su family treated the divorced wife.
If Lin Wanyin was a noble lady, it would be fine, but she was just the daughter of a merchant. These people always felt that Lin Wanyin was the same as them. This made them even more angry, as if their own daughter was being bullied.
Lin Wuchen was not ecstatic after hearing Wang Jian's verdict.
Instead, he asked, "Sir, if the Ministry of Revenue has completed the verification and our accounts are fine, then how should we settle the Su family's false accusations against us?"
Wang Jian asked in return, "How do you want to calculate it?"
According to the Great Zhou Code, false accusers were to be caned twenty times in court. However, Su Chengye held an official position, so his sentence could be reduced to ten canes. He could also redeem the remaining ten canes with money.
It is almost impossible for the Lin family to move against Su Chengye by false accusation.
Then Lin Wuchen said, "This morning, the Marquis of Pingning sent people to discredit the Lin family. They said that our family robbed property and coveted the wealth of the Marquis's mansion."
"We are businessmen. Now that our reputation has been affected, how can we continue to do business with others?"
"If this matter were to reach the ears of the nobles in the palace, I'm afraid our qualifications as imperial merchants would be revoked."
"I only ask that Marquis Pingning write down the details of what happened in his own handwriting, sign and seal it. And then post it everywhere in the capital to clear the Lin family's reputation."
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