Chapter 79 Maybe... we shouldn't open it...
A lawyer?!
Li Fuwang even brought in some helpers?!
Seeing that things were developing very well, Guo Baiwen, who had only been standing by watching, suddenly realized that the young lawyer looked somewhat familiar. He quickly stepped forward and said loudly, "Sir, the lawyer is mistaken! If this theft was merely a spur-of-the-moment act by two young apprentices—"
"Then why is there ink stain on Boss Li Fuwang's hands?!" Guo Baiwen said, pointing to Li Fuwang's right hand.
When the people sent by Boss Li were in a hurry to get the formula and reached into the drawer, their fingertips would inevitably get stained with the ink he had prepared in advance.
This ink will show up when it comes into contact with oil, and even after washing your hands, it will leave a light gray mark.
These marks will gradually fade over several days.
At this moment, thanks to Guo Baiwen's identification, some yamen runners had already come up to examine him. Before Boss Li could hide, a hand was raised, revealing the mark on his hand.
Seeing that there was indeed a mark on Boss Li's hand, Guo Baiwen felt much more at ease.
Even so, the lawyer who was defending Mr. Li only paused for a moment when he saw this, and then continued, "It's just a mark that was accidentally left on you. Maybe the shop assistant deliberately rubbed it on Mr. Li when he had the chance."
"It's a bit far-fetched for Brother Guo to identify Boss Li based on just this one mark."
Guo Baiwen looked directly at the other person and continued, "Whether it's far-fetched or not, I still have witnesses."
He also invited the cloth shop owner and the embroiderers from his shop.
“This is the money bag that was accidentally left behind by the well in my yard,” he pointed to the money bag on the evidence tray. “The material and pattern are the most fashionable styles in the county, and it was only put on sale a couple of days ago. The cloth shop has only sold a limited number these days, and there’s no way two young apprentices could have used such a money bag!”
"Moreover, the embroiderers in the cloth shop can testify that Mr. Li just bought an identical money bag from her recently."
That was clearly the money bag he used to bribe Yang Qiaomai before!
Li Fuwang's heart sank. He couldn't help but look around and, after confirming that he didn't see Yang Qiaomai in the crowd, he breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time, he couldn't help but curse the other party for being careless.
Such a beautifully embroidered money bag, once the money inside is taken, it can be thrown away without a second thought!
It shouldn't be thrown any further!
Unfortunately, this Guo family brat caught us red-handed!
Fortunately, their private transaction was not witnessed by anyone else.
The lawyer's expression changed slightly as he looked at the money bag, but he still insisted, "This money bag might have been stolen by Mr. Li's employee beforehand to give away as a gift, in an attempt to frame my client!"
After all, since these two thieves were petty thieves, if they could steal from Guo's shop, they could certainly steal from Li's shop as well.
Moreover, compared to the unfamiliar Guo Ji, wouldn't it be easier to succeed with our own Li Ji?
The lawyer looked very confident, and besides mentioning the two Li Ji employees who had already been identified, he even made some snide remarks about Guo Baiwen, such as "the thief crying 'stop thief'" and "deliberately framing him."
It was only then that Guo Baiwen recognized the lawyer opposite him as the young master who had previously sold him land.
Compared to when we met before, he looked more prosperous and had grown a beard.
He looks like he's aged seven or eight years in an instant.
If Guo Baiwen hadn't recognized the style of the jade pendant the other person was wearing, he probably wouldn't have dared to make a direct judgment immediately.
But the other party clearly had no memory of him at all.
After all, almost a year has passed, and Guo Baiwen's appearance and height have changed quite a bit.
"Isn't the lawyer's statement a bit far-fetched?" Guo Baiwen said firmly. "Whether or not Boss Li ordered it, there is still one more piece of evidence. Besides the jewelry pieces that were found during today's search, what I kept in that box and which were then stolen by these two employees included several secret recipes for Guo's desserts!"
"Pshaw—you say there's a recipe in that box, so he actually has the recipe?"
Guo Baiwen ignored his sarcasm and simply cupped his hands in greeting to Zhao Dayong, indicating that he should take out the box that had been brought out from the scene of the theft.
After taking the box out, Guo Baiwen specially put on cloth gloves and opened all the drawers of the box.
He even made a point of walking around the field so that everyone could see him clearly, just in case people couldn't see him.
Because of the ink paste applied beforehand, the paper stored in the drawer and the marks of fingerprints were particularly noticeable.
Especially now, the place where the papers should be placed is completely empty.
Unfortunately, the two petty thieves, who had just been recognized, had already been thoroughly searched from head to toe by the constables, who even searched the soles of their shoes.
They were not found carrying any papers with recipes written on them.
Furthermore, if the two men were truly motivated by greed, as they claim, why would they specifically take away Guo's dessert recipe?
Guo Baiwen bowed to the county magistrate above him and continued earnestly, "I hope that Your Excellency will thoroughly investigate this matter!"
Upon receiving the new information, the magistrate ordered his constables to take orders to Li's Pastry Shop and begin searching the premises.
Li Fuwang was shocked to find that Guo Baiwen had such a backup plan, and he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat.
He carefully recalled the recipe he had received from the shop assistant, and the gray marks on his hands now must have come from that time.
For safety, he even rewrote the paper with the recipe written on it and then burned the stolen recipe sheets.
The handwriting and paper were completely unrecognizable. Even if the food made later tasted the same as Guo's Shop, who could say for sure?
Is this Guo's secret recipe or Li's secret recipe?!
Li's courtyard was not small, but since the items were stolen just last night, Li Fuwang couldn't hide them any better in such a short time.
In less than half an hour, the constables in charge of the search had already brought over quite a lot of things.
Although there were no traces of ink paste on the paper with the recipe written on it, a half-burnt topographical map of what appeared to be Guo's courtyard was found in Boss Li's study.
Furthermore, after those prescriptions reached the county magistrate's hands, although the handwriting on them didn't match Guo Baiwen's own handwriting...
However, when Guo Baiwen was asked to write down his family's secret recipe from memory, and the county magistrate compared the two versions, he found that the ingredients and methods were exactly the same.
This left Li Fuwang, who had been trying to argue that it was his family's secret recipe, speechless.
After all, it was Guo's shop that was robbed last night, not Li's.
If he didn't know the family's secret recipe by heart, how could Guo Baiwen remember Li Ji's dessert recipe so well?!
After several moves in succession.
Even the renowned lawyer Wang, known for his silver tongue, had no words left to refute him.
Who would have thought that this young man from Guo Ji could produce so much evidence so quickly?
Ink paste, money pouch, formula.
Every move is deadly.
But, but it's okay!
He even hired a lawyer in advance to help!
Thinking about it—
Li Fuwang looked up expectantly at the lawyer he had specially hired at a high price. In the past, no matter what the final outcome was, Lawyer Wang could always help him settle things.
This time, he should have other methods as well.
It should be possible—
To Li Fuwang's disappointment, the lawyer he had hired, Wang, had silently turned his back on him and stopped looking at him.
No.
How could this be!
I gazed at that indifferent figure.
Realizing he might really be convicted this time, Li Fuwang trembled all over, his fat body could no longer support him, and he collapsed to the ground instantly.
Go to jail.
Is he really going to go to jail?!
How could this be?!
We've already spent a fortune hiring lawyer Wang, why does he still want to go to jail?!
Everyone says that lawyer Wang is very skilled!
Does hiring him guarantee a clean break, no matter the type of court case?
Despair gripped them, and they saw that all was lost.
A surge of malice rose from somewhere, and Li Fuwang gritted his teeth silently as he looked at the person who was still facing away from him and pretending not to hear anything.
The people in and around him were all pointing and whispering about him. He had never experienced such a situation before in all his decades of life.
Although he did it, it was a private matter after all... How could he, how could he?
Li Fuwang's once fair and chubby face had turned a deep liver color.
So he gave the lawyer, who had his back to him, one last fierce look, steeled his resolve, and, without hesitation, suddenly raised his voice and shouted—
"Lawyer Wang! Lawyer Wang, save me! Lawyer Wang! I spent a full thirty taels of silver to ask you for help! You can't just abandon me like this!"
These words immediately caused a stir in the room.
Lawyer Wang was taken aback when Li Fuwang said such a thing at this moment. His face turned pale and then green. He instinctively turned around to defend himself.
But Li Fuwang wasn't about to let him get away so easily. Taking advantage of his plump body, he pounced on him and forcefully hugged his waist.
He kept calling out "Lawyer Wang" over and over again, until it completely drowned out the lawyer's voice.
The two of them then openly began to pull and tug at each other in the hall.
The onlookers outside were buzzing with discussion.
Seeing that the once quiet courtroom was now as noisy as a market, the magistrate's face grew even longer.
According to Li Fuwang, the lawyer he hired had already received money in advance, making all his previous statements even less credible.
The two were still arguing, so the magistrate slammed his gavel again and shouted, "Li Fuwang instigated theft, and the evidence is conclusive. According to the law, he is sentenced to eighty strokes of the cane and three years of penal servitude. Li Da and Li Er committed theft and are sentenced to sixty strokes of the cane and one year of penal servitude."
His gaze then turned to Wang the lawyer standing below, and he said in a serious tone, "Wang Hualong accepted money and instigated eulogies. He was a member of the imperial examination system and knowingly broke the law! He instigated lawsuits first and then falsely accused innocent people. He is hereby stripped of his official title, his official robes are confiscated, and he is sentenced to seventy strokes of the cane!"
Upon hearing that Wang, the lawyer, had been stripped of his official title, the already considerable discussion suddenly grew even louder.
It was at this moment, listening to the discussions of the onlookers outside, that Guo Baiwen learned that this lawyer Wang was actually a scholar.
Although lawyers had a bad reputation and were not favored by the government, the number of candidates for the imperial examination was limited, and some scholars felt that they could not pass the examination.
Some of them lacked the physical strength to farm, the talent to be merchants, and the meager income to be private tutors. Therefore, lawyers, who brought in money quickly and in large amounts, became their best choice.
No wonder that when they were in court just now, the Guo and Li families, who were both commoners, knelt down respectfully, while only this lawyer Wang enjoyed the privilege of being exempt from kneeling.
Seeing that Boss Li, who had arrived full of confidence, was now dejected and suppressed, Guo Baiwen felt no pleasure, but rather a complex mix of emotions.
It seemed that only then did Wang, the lawyer who had been stripped of his official rank, realize what had happened.
He suddenly let out a roar, ignoring the fan he was holding and the scholarly demeanor he had maintained just moments before, and pounced on Boss Li, starting to punch and kick him.
Boss Li was not intimidated by him, and the two soon started fighting each other.
Coupled with the discussions outside, the magistrate's face turned ashen. "Disrespect in court! That's an even greater offense! Wang Hualong, do you want to go to jail again?!"
Seeing that the two were locked in a fierce fight, the constables rushed over and separated them, pinning them down one by one.
"Twenty more strokes of the cane for each person! One year of penal servitude!"
After this ordeal, Grandma Guo and Guo Xiaohua finally understood why their family had been caught up in this trouble for no reason.
The thought that it was because of them that I was so scared that I didn't get a good night's rest at the restaurant last night, and I was woken up several times in the middle of the night.
It also delayed the store's business and the two children's studies today.
She spat several times at the spot where Boss Li had been taken away, and then clasped her hands together in gratitude to Heaven for a long time.
Although the house looks a bit messy now, nothing is missing and no one is injured.
It can be considered a stroke of good luck amidst misfortune.
Back at his shop, looking at the neighbors and regular customers who were watching the commotion and asking about the details, Guo Baiwen suddenly realized that with just a shop, whether it was selling hot pot or sweets, he could make a living.
No matter how much effort you put into prevention beforehand, or how profitable your business is, it's difficult to resist the wickedness of human nature and the current hierarchical system.
The Boss Li who dared to plot against me was nothing once he went to the county government.
And he—if it weren't for Yang Qiaomai's kind and loyal nature.
If it weren't for the fact that Zhao and his son, the bailiffs, witnessed the thieves on their way home...
If the magistrate of Xiuning County is incompetent, then he himself will be the one who suffers the most today.
He, who had always only wanted to make money and live a good life, suddenly felt somewhat lost.
With great difficulty, they managed to see off all the guests, neighbors, and acquaintances who had come to inquire about the situation, together with Grandma Guo and Xiao Hua.
After closing the shop's main and side doors, they still had to busy themselves packing up.
It was at this moment that Grandma Guo saw Guo Xiaohua go upstairs to tidy her room, and then she came closer, clutching the rag in her hand.
When Guo Baiwen sensed the figure behind him and turned around to look at her, he saw Grandma Guo holding a rag, looking hesitant to speak.
He didn't urge her, assuming that Grandma was frightened by what happened yesterday.
Just as I was about to go over and hug Grandma and say a few words of comfort, I saw her suddenly raise her head as if she had made up her mind.
This sight startled Guo Baiwen.
But Grandma Guo's determination didn't last long; the rag in her hands was almost twisted into a pretzel.
"Wen-zai," she looked at Guo Baiwen with difficulty, sighed softly, and finally finished saying what she wanted to say next.
"How about we just close down the candy shop at home for now?"
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