This incident happened under his jurisdiction, and Wu Bokai felt indescribable anger and guilt.
He didn't know how those families whose money was embezzled were doing now. If something really happened, he would really want to kill those two people.
“At present, we don’t know exactly how much they have embezzled, but I did hear them leak some of the information about Zheng Rong you mentioned.
I found the list of sacrifices sent back in recent years, and I also found the one from four years ago. Zheng Rong's name was not on it.
But they became greedy and thought that this person had no power or influence, so they just added him in.
I still need to interrogate him to find out the specifics, but I've already sent someone to search, and they should be able to find something."
As soon as Wu Bokai finished speaking, someone came to report.
"Sir! We found some things in Tang You's room, as well as in Tang You and Zhuo Yi's homes."
“Give it to me!”
The bailiff brought up a large tray.
There were quite a few things on it, including a medium-sized wooden box, an account book, and some silver bills.
There were quite a lot of letters, filling an entire box. I guess there were dozens or even hundreds of them, but they were all unopened.
Wu Bokai took the account book and started to look through it. It would have been fine if he hadn't looked at it, but after he did, he became even angrier.
It clearly records the military pay they forged and embezzled, and a total of twelve people were involved in the forgery.
These people are from different villages, and each village is very far away from each other. You can tell at a glance that they are afraid of attracting attention if they get too close.
Moreover, they were both very cautious and did not dare to cheat too frequently, basically only one more every six months.
The military pay in Qingyang Kingdom has a standard. Because of the frequent wars, the conscripted soldiers are paid high salaries.
Even the most ordinary soldiers received two taels of silver per month, and centurions and captains received even higher wages.
So over the years, the two of them have embezzled nearly five hundred taels of silver.
Among them, he embezzled nearly two hundred taels from Zheng Rong alone!
If this money is given to an ordinary farmer, even if he does not farm, it will be enough to last him a lifetime.
Wu Bokai's inner anger was bursting out, and he didn't care whether to eat or not.
"Come here! Go to court immediately! Go to court! I want to personally interrogate these two bastards and find out who they are!"
Xiao Lingdang didn't look at the account book, but even without looking at it, she knew that there must be some money.
They deserve it! Let them do nothing. People like them are not innocent even if they die.
Wu Bokai went to the ear room to change into his official uniform. When he came out, he saw Xiao Lingdang waiting at the door and hesitated slightly.
"Little Bell, you..."
Little Bell tilted her head and gave him a look with sparkling eyes, "Godfather, can I be the plaintiff again?"
Wu Bokai swallowed the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
Forget it, this little girl is not an ordinary person.
"Well, yes, but can you do it on your own? Do you need me to go to Shuanghe Village and invite some more people?"
Xiao Lingling shook her head and said, "No need. Grandma Qiao has been tortured by this incident and her mind is not clear anymore. I have already asked about the matter. I can do it myself.
It's just a formality; the main thing is the evidence."
Wu Bokai nodded. "That's right. I definitely won't let them off easily this time. You know what to say later, right?"
Little Bell raised her chin proudly, "Of course!"
She has so many storybooks not just for fun.
Wu Bokai nodded in satisfaction. "Then you go first, I'll follow."
After all, the two of them still have to avoid suspicion.
Qiaomei quickly followed, "Miss, I'll accompany you."
Xiao Lingdang wanted to refuse, but Qiaomei didn't say anything and just stood beside her.
As a last resort, the two of them had to walk to the court together and stand in the hall.
Soon, the gate of the county government office opened, and the yamen runners were all on high alert, lined up on both sides.
People passing by knew at a glance that the court was about to begin, and soon a large crowd of people gathered at the door.
Everyone was a little surprised to see that there were only two little girls in the hall.
Accompanied by the familiar majestic voice, Wu Bokai walked out from the backyard and sat on the high hall.
There was silence under the gavel.
"Who is this here? Tell me your name. What is your complaint?"
When Xiao Lingling saw that the show was about to begin, the two of them knelt down on the ground and squeezed out two tears at the right time.
"Sir! My name is Xiao Lingdang, and I'm from Shuanghe Village. I'm here to seek justice for Grandma Qiao from our village."
Four years ago, it was reported that Grandma Qiao’s son Zheng Rong died in the army.
But Grandma Qiao consulted a fortune teller, and he clearly found that Uncle Zheng is still alive. So, I would like to ask the adults to help check it out."
Little Bell quietly used her magic power. Although she was small, her voice was very clear and could be heard clearly by everyone.
Well, that's a bit unreliable.
But everyone still has great faith in temples, Taoist priests, masters and so on.
Wu Bokai suppressed his laughter and slammed the gavel, "Someone, come! Bring me the lawyer!"
Tang You was brought up with his hands tied behind his back.
At this moment, he had already imagined his own fate, and he felt depressed.
Wu Bokai did not interrogate Tang You directly, but asked someone to present the things they had searched from them.
"Tang You, now explain to me what happened to these banknotes, account books, and letters that were seized from you!"
Tang You looked at the things on it that could easily cost him his life, and he regretted it so much that his intestines turned green.
If he had known this earlier, he would not have kept an account book, and he should have burned those letters long ago.
At that time, he was afraid that his crime would be exposed, so he kept the letter to cover up his lie, saying that he accidentally revealed it. After all, it was not opened, so it made sense.
The account book was also used to record the division of the spoils between him and Zhuo Yi, in case he turned against them later.
Unexpectedly, these things became his death warrants.
Now he didn't dare to quibble and told everything he had done in detail.
There was a huge uproar outside the court for a while. No one expected that he would be so bold.
However, when talking about the mastermind, the two began to blame each other and refused to admit it.
The more Wu Bokai listened, the angrier he became. He didn't care what the verdict would be, and he ordered Tang You and Zhuo Yi to be beaten with fifty sticks each.
Everyone felt relieved when they saw this, but Xiao Lingling still felt regretful.
Because not everyone is as lucky as Grandma Qiao to wait for the truth. Some have passed away forever with the grief.
Wu Bokai directly sentenced the two men to the same crime, confiscated their property, gave them 80 strokes of the cane, and exiled them 800 miles after the autumn.
All the confiscated properties were returned one by one according to the records in the account books.
As for letters, they need to be registered before they can be sent back.
When Xiao Lingling received the fifty letters sent back by Zheng Rong, she couldn't help but feel sad for Grandma Qiao.
One letter every month. Grandma Qiao has been waiting for so long, but she has never seen a single one.
If it weren't for the villagers' constant help, Grandma Qiao probably wouldn't have seen it in her lifetime...
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