Chapter 118 - 110: Taifeng Silver Bank

Chapter 118: Chapter 110: Taifeng Silver Bank

He snapped at Old Mrs. Bai, "All of you, be quiet! You, explain yourself. How exactly did you save these thirty taels? What is your annual income from your fields? What are your household expenses? How much silver can you save in a year, and how long did it take you to save this total amount? Make yourself clear."

Old Mrs. Bai was frantic. ’Even though I run the household, I’ve never actually kept the books. All I know is that after every harvest, we set aside grain for the family to eat and sell the rest for two or three taels of silver. After deducting household expenses and the money for Xiao Feng’s schooling, there’s almost nothing left. How could we possibly save any money?’

’In the small box where I’ve been saving for most of my life, I’ve only managed to put away a few taels of silver. Last time, I spent two taels on Zhao Lan’s treatment, and the money in the box was already nearly gone.’

When Liu saw Old Mrs. Bai standing there, mouth agape and speechless, she grew anxious herself. She quickly tugged on her husband’s sleeve, urging him to say something and save the situation.

Bai Dazhu was, after all, a man, and the family’s eldest son. Though he was intimidated by the official, he couldn’t just stand by and watch his mother be backed into a corner, speechless, while he acted like a coward.

Bai Dazhu cleared his throat softly and said to Meng Nan, "My Lord, our family didn’t save these thirty taels of silver overnight. It took us more than a decade to accumulate this small sum. The Bai Family has five plots of fertile farmland and two plots of sandy land. Every year, after setting aside the grain we need to eat, we can sell the rest for several taels of silver. The whole family scrimped and saved, and we only managed to put this money away with great difficulty. We were planning to use it to arrange a marriage for my eldest son."

Meng Nan’s expression didn’t change as he said coolly, "So, you’re saying you saved up these thirty taels, bit by bit?"

Bai Dazhu nodded eagerly. "Yes, exactly."

"Then this thirty taels of yours—was it in the form of silver notes, broken silver, or silver ingots?"

Bai Dazhu froze, never having imagined Lord Meng would ask such a question. ’What am I supposed to say?’ He shot a desperate look at Old Mrs. Bai, pleading for help.

By now, Old Mrs. Bai had composed herself. She knew she had to stick to this lie. ’Otherwise,’ she thought, ’this won’t be something I can just brush off by saying I was mistaken.’

Old Mrs. Bai jumped in. "We have a bit of everything. Some broken silver, and some silver ingots. As for how much of each... I’m getting old and muddled. I’ve never properly counted them."

When the villagers gathered outside the courtyard heard this, many of them shook their heads, and some began to whisper among themselves.

"That old woman is shameless. How can she even say something like that? The way she worships money, she probably counts her savings every single day. How could she not know how many silver ingots she has?"

Meng Nan turned to Bai Zhi and asked, "And you? Can you prove where these thirty taels came from?"

Bai Zhi smiled. "Of course. The money is Uncle Hu’s, so naturally, he can prove it."

They had gotten their story straight the night before, so of course they knew what to say and what not to say in front of the official.

Uncle Hu stepped forward and addressed Meng Nan. "My Lord, to tell you the truth, my family is poor, and I’d never been able to save any money before. But a short while ago, my son, Hu Feng, was fortunate enough to find a stalk of ginseng while hunting in the mountains. I entrusted the ginseng to our village’s Doctor Lu and asked him to help me sell it for some money to support my family."

Meng Nan raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And how much did it sell for?"

Uncle Hu replied, "It sold for 200 taels of silver in total. Doctor Lu can vouch for that."

taels of silver? A single stalk of ginseng sold for 200 taels of silver?