Meng Nan pointed his finger to the small box and asked: “You lost 30 silver coins that were originally inside here?”
Old Lady Bai nodded her head: “Yes, they were all here. All of them were here. But now, they were stolen by that little girl.”
Meng Nan coldly throws away the small box to the ground. The few pieces and stringed copper coins were thrown away outside the box: “Even up to now, you’re still refusing to tell the truth? You will not cry unless you’ve seen a coffin.”
Old Lady Bai was so scared to the point her legs soften and she fell to the ground. However, her mouth was still determined: “How can this old woman dared to deceive Daren. This old woman is telling the truth. Please investigate it clearly.”
Meng Nan nodded his head, then said: “All right, this official will give you an opportunity to learn something today.”
Meng Nan turned around and said to Jin Shiwei: “You go and take the silver in the carriage.”
Jin Shiwei rushed to go. When he came back, he had a tray in his hand with a red cloth on top.
Meng Nan pulled the red cloth, revealing 20 pieces of silver ingots that cost 100 silver coins, that were neatly placed in the tray.
(1 silver ingot = 5 silver coins)
Meng Nan then said to Jin Shiwei: “Put 6 silver ingots in the small box.”
When the Bai Family heard this, they were all overwhelmed. Local Magistrate Meng Nan couldn’t solve the case, so he decided to give them money to make up for their losses.
Jin Shiwei handed the tray to the public servant next to him and bent his knees to pick up the small box on the ground. Then, he put the silver ingot one by one inside.
The box was too small, only 4 silver ingots were put inside but it was already full. It could no longer accommodate another piece.
“Daren, I can only put 20 silver coins. I can’t add another one.” Jin Shiwei said.
At this moment, Old Lady Bai understood. Local Magistrate Meng Nan didn’t let his people put money inside the box to give them money but to… …
Meng Nan sneered: “The small box can only hold 20 silver coins, but why did you lose 30 silver coins?”
“I, I, maybe I remembered it wrong. It seems that I only lost 20.” Old Lady Bai was so scared. Her tongue that was always sharp seemed had lost its sharpness.
Meng Nan angrily shouted: “The evidence is already in front of you, but you still refuse to tell the truth. It seems that there is no government official in your eyes. Someone come, bring all the Bai Family in the Judicial Court. This officer will give them a good trial in there to see how they lost the money and how much they lost.”
When Mrs. Liu heard this, she became so anxious, so she hurriedly pulled Old Lady Ba’s sleeve: “Niang, I don’t want to go to the prison, I don’t want to go. Xiaofeng, he cannot go in there, he will become a big official in the future!”
Old Lady Bai doesn’t know what to do, she was also very anxious. However, when she saw the public servants taken out the iron lock and preparing to lock them. She hurriedly kowtowed in front of Meng Nan: “Daren, this old lady admit her mistake, this old lady was wrong.”
Meng Nan raised his hand, indicating for the public servants to stop: “Do you admit your mistake? What did you do wrong?”
Old Lady Bai busily replied: “Answering back to Daren, this old woman didn’t lose any money at home. This old woman was just playing around with Zhao Lan and Bai Zhi. I’m serious, I didn’t lose any money. We don’t need to go to the Judicial Court.”
“So, you were only falsely accusing Zhao Lan and Bai Zhi?” Meng Nan asked.
Old Lady Bai shook her head and waved her hand again and again: “No, no, I did not. I didn’t falsely accuse them. It’s was only a joke. I didn’t expect Daren will suddenly visit here, so this old woman was afraid, to tell the truth.”
On the side, Jin Shiwei opened his mouth: “I don’t think you were only joking, you are blackmailing them, you are falsely accusing them, which is illegal.”
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