Chu Yi and Shen Luzhu were first taken to the town, and then got on the carriage and returned to the Xing'an County government office with the official mission. It was the first time in Shen Luzhu's life that he had walked such a long distance. He was so tired that it felt as if his legs were no longer his. The soles of his feet were also aching. If Chu Yi hadn't been supporting him throughout the whole process, he would have been so tired. I'm afraid I would have collapsed halfway from exhaustion.
As soon as he arrived at the county government office, Shen Luzhu was temporarily taken to a remote small room and guarded by a dedicated person, while Chu Yi was taken to the front of the hall alone for questioning.
Shen Luzhu waited anxiously in the room. Every second was as painful as a century. He didn't know what the official meant by separating him from Chu Yi. Was he afraid that they would collude in confession, so he was interrogated separately? Or are you prepared to give in and find it difficult to handle when both of you are present? I don’t know when I will see Chu Yi again!
As the door creaked open, Ding An appeared with Chu Yi. Shen Luzhu suddenly stood up from the chair: "Chu Yi! How are you?"
Chu Yi wanted to step forward to comfort his wife, but the official separated them. He could only smile at his wife with relief: "I'm fine, don't worry, don't be afraid."
Soon Shen Luzhu was taken out alone by Ding An and questioned by Magistrate Xin.
"Is this the wife of the owner of Chu's shop, Mrs. Shen?"
"She's a folk girl."
"This county wants to ask you, does your shop sell burning paper called banknote paper money?"
"Back to the county magistrate, we did make a kind of paper money that looks somewhat similar to a banknote."
Cao County Lieutenant sitting nearby heard this and stared at the woman in the hall and asked: "So you are admitting your crime of forging banknotes?"
"Sir, what we are making is just burning paper with a slightly similar appearance. You can tell if it is a bank note at a glance. The girl thinks that it is not a counterfeit bank note! If you don't believe it, you can call the official just now and search it from the shop. Bring up the paper money, adults will know it at a glance!"
County Lieutenant Cao picked up the paper money and molds on the table in front of him and asked Shen Luzhu to identify them: "Is this what you are talking about?"
"It was these adults who did draw lessons from the style of banknotes when they made this kind of paper burning. However, we did not really follow the shape of the banknotes. Instead, we made the rectangle into a square, doubling the overall size. Not to mention, all the text patterns on it have been modified, so no one will recognize this paper money as a real banknote!"
Magistrate Xin picked up another dozen of papers on the table and motioned to Ding An to give it to Shen Luzhu: "Do you recognize this one?"
Shen Luzhu took the piece of paper handed over by Ding An and looked at it, and was stunned: "Sir, these banknotes... No, these are not real banknotes, these are all fake, but these things are not related to the people. The woman’s shop doesn’t matter!”
Cao Xianwei asked with a straight face: "You are a country woman, but you are quite capable. You can tell that this is a fake just by looking at it twice? And you said it has nothing to do with you!"
He Xiancheng on the other side also questioned: "The production method of this fake banknote is exactly the same as your so-called banknote paper money. How do you explain this?"
Shen Luzhu replied in a neither humble nor arrogant manner: "My lords, although Min Nu is just a country woman, her family's paper money shop has a pretty good business, and the monthly income is quite large. For the convenience of safekeeping, Min Nu has been visiting regularly. The more times you exchange banknotes at the town's bank, the more naturally you will understand them. The writing on these banknotes has no sharp edges at all, and the paper is quite rough. Although they look similar at first glance, they always come into contact with each other. It should be easy to tell from the banknote that it is fake!
This method does seem to be similar to my family's banknotes, but it really has nothing to do with the girl's shop!
Dear adults, please take a careful look at the paper money made by my family. There is a lotus pattern at the bottom of the left periphery, and in the picture of a sacred deer and crane below, the antlers of the sacred deer and the claws of the third crane are there. Look carefully to see if they are... There is a Polygonatum flower integrated into the painting.
These are the marks made by the folk girl. My grandfather named the folk girl Luzhu. Luzhu is another name for Huangjing, so the folk girl designed it in these paintings. There is nothing more to this matter than the folk girl and the husband of the folk girl. The third party knew, but these fake banknotes did not have these unique marks, so they were not the work of women. "
Cao Xianwei picked up the banknotes in front of him again and looked through them carefully. Sure enough, he found three small umbrella-shaped flowers that were integrated with the lotus pattern, deer antlers and crane claws in the three places mentioned by Shen Luzhu, that is, The Polygonatum flower mentioned by Shen Luzhu.
County Lieutenant Cao handed the paper money to Magistrate Xin and continued to question Shen Luzhu: "Ms. Shen, you have to tell the truth when you come here. You said that this fake banknote has nothing to do with your Chu family. How do we know this?" Wasn’t the mark specially prepared by you in order to escape guilt today?”
Shen Luzhu didn't show any panic at all and responded calmly: "Your Excellency, you really praise the women of the people. If the women of the people could predict what happened today and know about it in advance, I'm afraid they wouldn't be standing here in such embarrassment now, sir." Your question."
Magistrate Xin had also read the marks on the paper money at this time, put the things aside expressionlessly, and asked unexpectedly: "Ms. Shen, do you know about Lu Ji's grocery store in Changshui Town?"
Lu Ji? Shen Luzhu was confused. He didn't seem to know anyone named Lu: "I don't know, a civilian girl."
"But the clerk in the shop insisted that these banknotes and paper money were all bought at your Chu family. How do you explain this?"
Shen Luzhu was stunned for a moment. He really didn't know why this guy from Lu Ji wanted to frame him: "What the lady said is true. Can you bring that guy? I am willing to confront him!"
Ding An soon brought a man up. Shen Luzhu looked at the man in front of her and fell into deep thought again. She had indeed never seen this man before, and she didn't know who ordered him and for what purpose.
Shen Luzhu spoke up before everyone else: "Who are you? Why do you accuse us of selling the fake banknote to you?"
Liu Er, the clerk at the grocery store, was the one who went to Wufang Village to inform Huang Liang last time. He was just brought here and he was still a little confused, but when he heard Shen Luzhu's question, he instantly came to his senses. , this woman must be the unlucky Chu family!
He was also forced to have no choice. Huang Liang said that this was a serious crime of beheading. If he didn't blame the Chu family for this matter, he, as a clerk in the shop, would be sentenced together: "Your Majesty, you are aware of this. The villain didn’t slander them, I bought all the paper money sold in my shop from their Chu family!”
Ding An on the side was also obviously stunned. This Shen family seemed to be very smart just now, why was she confused now? After asking this question, even if Liu Er really framed her, he would have guessed her identity now!
"You're lying. You've never been to my house at all, and you've never asked me or my parents to buy paper money! Otherwise, tell me, which room do I sell paper money in, the east wing or the west wing?"
Shen Luzhu acted like a completely irritated and unreasonable child, as if he was letting out all the information with just one mouth! Liu Er couldn't help but feel relieved. Huang Liang ran away in a hurry when he heard the letter before. He didn't have time to tell him anything about the Chu family's information. Who knew that this girl from the Chu family was so stupid? It would be much easier to handle now. !
"East...west wing!" As soon as Liu Er said one word, he saw that Shen Luzhu's expression was different and he quickly changed his words!
"Who would remember this when they go shopping? You weren't there when I went there. It was your father who sold it to me!"
Shen Luzhu ignored Liu Er, turned around and bowed respectfully to the three adults in the hall: "My lords, Min's daughter's shop is not in the courtyard, but in a separate small room outside the courtyard. The female prime minister’s parents died when she was young, and on weekdays it is the daughter of the common people and her husband’s younger brothers and sisters who look after the shop, as can be testified by the several official servants who went to Kaoshan Village today.”
Before the three adults could speak, Ding An took the initiative to reply when Magistrate Xin looked at him: "My lord, what Mr. Shen said is indeed true."
Magistrate Xin nodded thoughtfully, and then motioned to Ding An to take Shen Luzhu down. Shen Luzhu was taken back to the previous room again. Ding An didn't say anything, but just let the young couple stay there for the time being. Here, he ran to the front of the hall again to investigate the case.
Chu Yi saw that his wife seemed to have been there much longer than he had just done, so he hurriedly stepped forward to check: "Why did it take so long, but you were made things difficult for her?"
Shen Luzhu shook his head at him, leaned against him, and returned to Chu Yi, finally able to stay at ease for a while.
In the front hall, Liu Er was already panicking and was kneeling on the ground in fear.
Captain Cao Xian slapped his big hand on the table in front of him: "Liu Er! What else do you have to say!"
"Yes, it was the villain who lied. Sir, you saw clearly. The villain was also forced. It was the wicked Huang Liang who forced the villain. Please bypass the villain this time!"
"Come here, suppress this unruly citizen who framed others and disrupted the court's handling of the case, and wait for his punishment!"
When Ding An came back, he happened to encounter this scene. Seeing Liu Er being taken away, he stepped forward to report another incident: "When three adults and junior officials searched the Chu family's shop and workshop in Kaoshan Village, they found something The suspicious point is that when we took away the Chu family couple, we deliberately left two men behind to continue inquiring about the news in the village. These two people have returned just now and are waiting for the adults to ask questions outside the door."
"Let them in quickly, Ding An, what news did you ask them to inquire about?"
"Your Excellency, the county magistrate, the clerk discovered that the banknotes in the Chu family's shop were very different from those handed over by the defrauded merchants. The Chu family couple did not behave like ordinary criminals at that time. Even this Shen family was She took the initiative to accompany her husband. The clerk couldn't tell whether they were criminals who had been prepared for the crime long ago, or whether they were really wronged, so he asked his subordinates to go to the village to inquire about anyone who had been there before. Is the banknote and paper money used to buy the Chu family consistent with what was found in the shop?"
The two detectives quickly arrived in front of the hall and respectfully reported to the adults in the hall the news they had found out today: "Sir, we followed Ding Tou's instructions and made inquiries in nearby villages. The Chu family sells The banknotes and paper money were indeed the same as those found in his shop, and most of the villagers said that the couple in the Chu family were trustworthy, and they were not the kind of people who cheated, cheated, and did all kinds of evil things. people."
"Ding An, send someone to Changshui Town again to continue searching for Lu Ji's boss Huang Liang. In addition, the couple from the Chu family cannot be completely cleared of suspicion yet..."
Just as Magistrate Xin was talking, he saw someone coming to report: "Sir, Sun Ji's fourth boss said he wanted to see you for something important!"
The Sun family is a well-known local wealthy businessman with properties in the county and various towns. The most important thing is that the Sun family has always abided by laws and regulations and is very supportive of government work. Especially the fourth boss of the Sun family is a face-loving and caring person. He is generous and helps the county government donate money to help many poor families every year. He has always had a good relationship with Magistrate Xin.
Magistrate Xin saw that today's interrogation was almost in progress and that the rest of the matter would have to wait until there were new clues before he could decide, so he simply met with Sun Si to see what urgent matter he had.
