"You! Wang Hua! You're still innocent!" Jiang Yaojie was furious! He pointed at Wang Hua and cursed.
Wang Hua, however, was not afraid at all and said, "Your Honor, please see the truth. The reason for terminating the lease is still in Jiang's hands, and you can check it! There is a valid reason, so why can't I terminate the lease!"
Jiang Yaojie was so angry that his face turned red. If it weren't for Magistrate Duan being there, he probably would have gone up and given Wang Hua a good beating right now.
"Alright! Then produce the evidence!" Magistrate Duan and Jiang Ling exchanged a glance and looked at Wang Hua before speaking.
“It’s…it’s with her!” Wang Hua said, pretending to be scared as he pointed at Jiang Ling.
Jiang Ling didn't waste any words and took the paper with Wang Hua's name printed on it.
Magistrate Duan took a look and confirmed it was indeed Wang Hua's seal. He smiled and said, "Wang Hua, did you carefully read what was written in the contract you signed?"
Wang Hua was stunned. It had been almost three years since the contract was signed, and he had almost completely forgotten the details. He stammered for a long time without saying a word.
Then a contract was tossed next to Wang Hua. "Take a look for yourself. See what Article Six says in this contract!"
It was Jiang Yaojie who threw the contract away. After hearing what Magistrate Duan said, Jiang Yaojie's emotions had calmed down considerably.
Feeling somewhat uncertain, Wang Hua picked up the contract and quickly skimmed through it. He saw that Article 6 clearly stated, "If the lessee does not renew the lease in advance due to personal reasons, the lessor has the right not to refund the deposit!"
“This…” Wang Hua stood there, stunned, unsure of what excuse to make.
"Wang Hua, do you know your crime for threatening a court lady?" Magistrate Duan's tone immediately turned cold.
Wang Hua wasn't stupid. Of the five people standing in front of him, only Jiang Ling was a woman. He had a bad feeling, his eyes darted around a few times, and then he continued to kowtow, saying, "Your Honor, you've been wronged! Your Honor, you've been wronged! I haven't taken my money yet! Otherwise, let's just let this matter go!"
Jiang Ling smiled faintly, thinking to herself, "Hmm, if this guy were in modern times, he could probably win a Best Actor award!"
“My lord, all the silver in Lu Family Village has been sprinkled with something called luminous powder. This stuff comes from Persia and is not available in our Great Hua Dynasty. If you want to verify its authenticity, just have Wang Hua bring out the silver, and we can tell the truth at a glance from a dark place!” Jiang Ling said.
Wang Hua was startled. He stared at Jiang Ling with wide eyes and an incredulous expression. Jiang Ling smiled faintly at Wang Hua and said nothing.
"You...you filthy bitch, you tricked me!" Wang Hua cursed fiercely at Jiang Ling.
"Outrageous! Insulting a lady of the imperial court!" Magistrate Duan roared, his beard bristling and eyes wide.
"What? A... a court lady?" Wang Hua was taken aback, looking at Jiang Ling with disbelief.
"Nonsense! Lady Jiang is a fourth-rank official of the imperial court. Do you think a mere merchant like you can afford to offend her?" Magistrate Duan used his status to suppress her.
Wang Hua was so frightened that he trembled and quickly returned all the money he had received. But Jiang Ling didn't want to let it go so easily. Since the business was gradually growing, there would definitely be some scoundrels in the streets.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ling glared at Wang Hua and said, "You think it's over just because you paid back the money?"
Wang Hua stood there, stunned, unsure of what to say. He was filled with regret, not for his own unreasonable behavior, but for the fact that a woman of imperial rank had come from Lu Family Village.
"Take him to the entrance of the resort! Call everyone here, whether they are tourists, shopkeepers, or villagers!" Jiang Ling unleashed her full power, making the people around her feel very uncomfortable.
However, the village chief and Jiang Yaojie listened and immediately went to inform people, while County Magistrate Duan and Zhao Liu escorted Wang Hua to the entrance of the resort area.
Hearing the commotion, everyone rushed over. Their gazes varied, but all focused on Jiang Ling and Wang Hua.
Fortunately, Jiang Ling was a veteran of many battles, otherwise she would have been terrified by the gaze she was being given.
Jiang Ling coughed lightly and said to everyone, "Everyone, I am Jiang from Lujia Village, and I am also a fourth-rank official in the imperial court. I have gathered you all here today because I have something to inform you about!"
Jiang Ling pointed coldly at Wang Hua and said, "I'm sure everyone knows this person, he's Wang Hua, the owner of the tavern on our commercial street!"
“When Wang Hua terminated his lease, according to the contract, we should not have refunded his deposit. However, based on the principle that it is not easy for everyone to do business, we refunded his deposit. But today he suddenly came over and wanted us to refund three years' rent. Look at the reasons Wang Hua wrote!”
As she spoke, Jiang Ling unfolded the piece of paper that Wang Hua had written earlier in front of everyone, turned it around, and then looked at the village chief and said, "Village chief, could you please read what's on it?"
When the village chief read the contents of the paper aloud, everyone was filled with righteous indignation.
"Damn it, it's this guy! He diluted a lot of the liquor he bought from me last time with water, and when I came to confront him, he wouldn't admit it!"
"Yes! Yes! This guy is really bad at shortchanging customers!"
The crowd kept talking, almost drowning Wang Hua in their spittle. At this point, Wang Hua completely lost his confidence and hung his head like a deflated balloon.
"Everyone, my son, Jiang Yaojie, has something to announce!" Jiang Ling said after exchanging a glance with Jiang Yaojie, seeing that the atmosphere was right.
As soon as Jiang Ling spoke, everyone fell silent and all eyes were on Jiang Yaojie.
Jiang Yaojie suddenly felt a little nervous, and his heart started pounding faster than before.
Jiang Ling encouraged Jiang Yaojie with her eyes. Jiang Yaojie nodded, clenched his fist, walked to Jiang Ling's side, glanced at the crowd, and said, "Dear uncles, aunts, and elders, regarding the resort's commercial street, I've come up with a simple plan. I will set up suggestion boxes at the street entrance..."
Jiang Yaojie rattled off the words he had repeated countless times at home, leaving the crowd somewhat unfamiliar with this avant-garde idea. Some of the shopkeepers even showed signs of displeasure.
"Little kid, what if you're maliciously slandered? Are you just going to be unjustly kicked out like this?" one of the shop owners said with dissatisfaction.
"Are you sure about that? If it's a malicious smear campaign, we will investigate. As for how we will investigate, that needs to be kept confidential!" Jiang Yaojie said.
"Then, how do we know there's a problem?" the boss continued to ask.
"It's very simple. We will make a public announcement every two weeks. We will gather everyone together, open the ballot box in front of everyone, and show the votes inside! Of course, we will have both penalties and rewards!" Please rest assured, bosses.
The crowd breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that there would be both punishment and reward, but soon disharmony arose again from among them.
"Well...who knows if you guys will secretly open the suggestion box and see what's inside beforehand!"
Jiang Yaojie smiled faintly and continued, "Please rest assured, our suggestion box will have two locks. The key to the first lock will be given to you merchants, and the key to the second lock will be kept by the villagers of Lujia Village! Unless both locks are opened at the same time, the suggestion box cannot be opened by a single lock!"
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