Upon hearing Lu Yongnan's words, Jiang Ling curled her lips into a cold smile and said, "Lu Yongnan, you said it yourself! Don't regret it!"
Lu Yongnan puffed out his chest and said defiantly, "Of course! What do I have to regret? On the contrary, you've wronged me for no reason! If this has nothing to do with me, how will you compensate me?"
Jiang Ling was utterly disappointed in the man before her. She frowned and glared at Lu Yongnan, saying almost word by word, "I've truly wronged you. How about I kneel down and kowtow to you to apologize, and even give you a thousand taels of silver?"
"One...one thousand taels?" The village chief and Lu Yongnan were both speechless when they heard this number.
Even if Lu Yongnan was cunning, he was still just a farmer who cultivated a few acres of land. Let alone a thousand taels, even a hundred taels would be a huge sum of money in his eyes.
Upon hearing Jiang Ling's words, Lu Yongnan subconsciously licked his chapped lips and asked incredulously, "Are you telling the truth?"
“Of course, I am a lady-in-waiting appointed by the Emperor, how could I deceive you? But Lu Yongnan, let me make this clear beforehand, what will we say if I find evidence of elder abuse?” Jiang Ling asked coldly.
"Then I'll let you do whatever you want with me!" Lu Yongnan said, head held high.
Seeing Lu Yongnan's nonchalant attitude, Jiang Ling exchanged a glance with the village chief, who then took a puff of his pipe and nodded, saying, "Lu Yongnan, then come with us!"
Lu Yongnan's eyes darted around in their sockets a few times before he shook his head and said, "Village chief, as I just said, this matter must be known to everyone else in the village."
Seeing Lu Yongnan's state, the village chief almost smashed his pipe on the beast's head. After taking several deep breaths, he suppressed his anger and said, "Fine, whoever you want to find, we'll go together!"
After hearing this, Lu Yongnan nodded smugly and, together with Jiang Ling and the village chief, visited many of the surrounding neighbors.
Afterwards, a group of people arrived at Lu Yongnan's home. Lu Yongnan's parents passed away early, and he grew up relying on the kindness of others. Now over twenty years old, he still doesn't have a wife.
He lived alone in a small house, but Lu Yongnan kept it very clean and tidy.
If Jiang Ling hadn't witnessed it with her own eyes, she probably would have been fooled by this honest-looking, hardworking man.
After returning home, Lu Yongnan looked at Jiang Ling and the village chief with a pitiful expression and said, "This is my house, you can search it as you like!"
As he spoke, Lu Yongnan's eyes reddened. He sniffed hard, sighed, and sat down in the courtyard looking extremely dejected.
"Village chief, Xiao Nan is an honest and efficient worker. Is there some misunderstanding?" Lu Tao, Lu Yongnan's neighbor, asked suspiciously.
"Yes, yes, we've all watched Xiaonan grow up, I believe he wouldn't do such a thing!"
"Yes, although Xiaonan doesn't have parents, he is very filial to our elderly relatives. I remember that when our elderly relative fell down, it was Xiaonan who notified us!"
"Village chief, we can't wrong an innocent person!"
Everyone chimed in with their opinions, and Lu Yongnan was overjoyed to hear their comments, but still looked embarrassed and sighed heavily, saying to everyone, "Thank you for believing in me, but I believe the village chief and our lady must have their own reasons. Anyway, I have nothing to hide, so you can investigate as you please!"
Lu Yongnan's words undoubtedly put Jiang Ling and the village chief in an unreasonable position. Although everyone was dissatisfied, they could only grit their teeth and watch everything unfold because of Jiang Ling's status.
The village chief's face was so gloomy it looked like it could be wrung out, but Jiang Ling gently shook her head, signaling the village chief not to get angry.
"Lu Yongnan, where is your kitchen?" Jiang Ling asked casually.
As soon as she uttered those words, it immediately drew the dissatisfaction of the crowd. Finally, a man couldn't hold back any longer. He stood in front of Jiang Ling, his dark face revealing extreme displeasure.
“Madam Jiang, I know you are a lady and have already become an official, but you can’t bully us like this. Lu Yongnan is usually honest and kind, he wouldn’t even step on an ant. You’re framing him for no reason, you must feel worse than if you killed him!”
Jiang Ling looked up at the man in front of her and said calmly, "Then tell me how I wronged him! How is it more painful than killing him?"
"You...I...I can't argue with you! But I want to say don't think you can do whatever you want just because you're an official!" The man was probably still afraid of Jiang Ling's identity, so he opened his mouth and said angrily.
Jiang Ling didn't make a scene. She simply glanced at the people around her and asked, "Since you all believe so much that Lu Yongnan wouldn't do such a thing, then I want to ask you, were you with Lu Yongnan for twelve hours straight? Were your eyes on Lu Yongnan for twelve hours straight?"
Jiang Ling's words were particularly sharp, causing everyone to pause in surprise. They exchanged glances as if they wanted to say something, but ultimately fell silent.
Jiang Ling looked at everyone and said, "I can't convince everyone with just a few words. In that case, why don't you all come with me to Lu Yongnan's kitchen and take a look!"
"The truth will come out then!"
After saying this, Jiang Ling's gaze fell on Lu Yongnan and she said, "Lu Yongnan, please lead the way!"
Lu Yongnan frowned, gritted his teeth, and nodded fiercely.
After walking a few steps, Jiang Ling and the group arrived at the kitchen. When Jiang Ling saw the cloth bag that Lu Yongnan had placed on the floor of the kitchen, the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up.
"Didn't I give Lu Yongnan this bag at the nursing home? Why is it here?" Jiang Ling still wanted to give Lu Yongnan a chance to see if he would pull back from the brink.
Unexpectedly, Lu Yongnan showed an extremely aggrieved expression, his features almost all scrunched up. He took a few deep breaths, hung his head, and said to Jiang Ling, "My lady, although I am not very literate, I have heard a saying, 'If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext!' I think that's probably what I am now!"
Jiang Ling gave a cold laugh. Her initial thought of giving Lu Yongnan one last chance had vanished. Her eyebrows furrowed, and she snapped, "Enough nonsense! Bring me the bag right now!"
As soon as she said that, she immediately drew extremely dissatisfied expressions from the people around her. They all glared at Jiang Ling with wide eyes.
If it weren't for Jiang Ling's status as a lady, someone would probably jump out and accuse her of going too far.
"Stop talking nonsense! Go now!" Jiang Ling didn't give Lu Yongnan any face and scolded him with a dark face!
"You slut! Let's see how arrogant you'll be later!" Lu Yongnan cursed through gritted teeth.
"Here you go!" Lu Yongnan threw the bag into Jiang Ling's arms with a dark face.
Jiang Ling smiled slightly as she looked at Lu Yongnan, then gently opened the bag. Pointing to a few words on it, she said, "Everyone, could you please read and tell me what these words mean?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com