Chapter 121 - 113: False Accusation

Chapter 121: Chapter 113: False Accusation

All told, it wouldn’t even amount to two taels of silver.

Meng Nan pointed to the box. "Were the thirty taels of silver you lost originally kept in here?"

Old Mrs. Bai nodded. "Yes, it was kept in here. All of it was right in here. Now, it’s all been stolen by that—that heartless girl, Bai Zhi."

Meng Nan sneered. He flicked his wrist, tossing the money box to the ground. The few strings of copper coins inside spilled out. "Still refusing to tell the truth, even now? You really won’t shed a tear until you see your own coffin."

Old Mrs. Bai was so frightened her legs gave out, and she collapsed to her knees with a THUD. Her words, however, remained stubborn. "My Lord, how would this old woman dare deceive you? Every word I have said is true. I implore Your Lordship to see the truth!"

Meng Nan nodded. "Fine. Then today, I will give you a chance to ’see the truth.’"

Meng Nan turned to the Jin guard. "Go and fetch the silver from the carriage."

The Jin guard hurried off and returned carrying a tray covered with a piece of red cloth.

Meng Nan snatched away the red cloth, revealing twenty silver ingots neatly arranged on the tray. They were five-tael ingots, totaling one hundred taels.

Meng Nan said to the Jin guard, "Take thirty taels and put them in the box."

Upon hearing this, every member of the Bai family was ecstatic. ’Is it because Lord Meng can’t solve the case that he’s going to compensate us with the government’s money?’

The Jin guard handed the tray to a constable behind him. He then bent down, picked up the box from the floor, and took six silver ingots, placing them inside one by one.

The box was too small. It was full after only four ingots; no more would fit.

"My Lord, it can only hold twenty taels. It won’t fit any more," the Jin guard reported.

Only then did Old Mrs. Bai understand. Lord Meng wasn’t having the silver placed in the box to give to her...

Meng Nan sneered. "This money box of yours can hold twenty taels of silver at most. So how did you manage to lose thirty taels from it?"

"I... I... perhaps I remembered incorrectly. I think... I think it was twenty taels I lost." Old Mrs. Bai was terrified, and her usually sharp tongue began to falter.

Meng Nan’s voice thundered, "The evidence is right before your eyes, yet you still refuse to speak the truth! It seems I won’t get anything out of you here. Men! Take every last member of the Bai family back to the government office. I will interrogate them properly and find out exactly how this silver was lost, and just how much!"

When Liu heard this, her face went pale with panic. She frantically pulled on Old Mrs. Bai’s arm. "Mother, I don’t want to go to prison! I don’t want to go! And Xiao Feng can’t go! He’s supposed to become a high-ranking official someday!"

Of course, Old Mrs. Bai was just as panicked. Seeing a constable take out iron shackles, ready to arrest them, she scrambled forward a few steps on her knees and kowtowed hard before Meng Nan, the sound echoing loudly. "My Lord, I was wrong! I admit I was wrong!"

Meng Nan raised a hand, signaling the constable to stop. "You were wrong? What, exactly, were you wrong about?"

Old Mrs. Bai said hurriedly, "To answer my Lord, my family didn’t lose any money. I was just playing a prank on Zhao Lan and Bai Zhi. Not a single coin was lost! Really! There’s no need to go to the government office for questioning."

"So you’re saying you baselessly slandered Zhao Lan and Bai Zhi?" Meng Nan asked.

Old Mrs. Bai shook her head and waved her hands frantically. "No, no, no! It wasn’t slander, just a prank! It was only a joke! I never thought she would go and ask for Your Lordship’s help. I got scared, that’s why... that’s why I didn’t dare tell the truth."

The Jin guard spoke up from the side, "This doesn’t look like a joke to me. This is extortion. It’s a false accusation. You’ve broken the law."