Contentment with modest wealth

Chapter 55 The Vanished Fingerprints Have Reappeared!

As soon as Su Ming'en burst in, Zhang Qi could see clearly that at least a dozen or twenty people from the Su family had come. Along the way, they had not only pushed down the main gate, but also smashed several water vats in the yard, and knocked down one of the second gates. Each of them was carrying sticks. The gatekeeper was far too conservative. This was not a case of coming to interrogate someone; they were clearly there to ransack the house!

Zhang Qi was startled: "May I ask, Second Master Su, what is the reason for this? Have I offended the Su family or Second Master Su in any way?"

"You still have the nerve to ask? Smash their house first!"

Su Ming'en roared, and the dozen or so men all moved out and started smashing things inside and out.

Zhang Qi panicked so much his legs went weak. He summoned his servants to stop them while repeatedly telling Su Ming'en, "Second Master Su, if you don't stop, I'm going to report you to the authorities! Even if your Su family is powerful and influential, you can't bully people like this!"

"Sue the authorities?" Su Ming'en sneered. "Didn't you already sue? What are you still pretending to be so arrogant about? The confession against our Su family is right here on the Imperial Envoy's case file. Are you still trying to play dumb with me?"
"—Smash it hard! Leave nothing behind, inside or out!"

Zhang Qi was completely bewildered: "What confession? What imperial envoy? What nonsense are you spouting?"

"I'm talking nonsense?" Su Ming'en grabbed his collar. "It seems you won't give up until you're completely convinced, and you're looking at us so we don't know it was you who did it."
"You're coming with me to the county government office right now, and we'll confront each other face to face!"

Zhang Qi's whole body went limp!

What did Su Ming'en mean?
Why can't he understand?

He naturally struggled to stay away, but at that moment, a loud shout came from outside the door: "Sir! Sir! The officials are here! The head constable has arrived with a lot of people! They say they want to take you to the county office to give a statement!"

Zhang Qi was stunned.

The government officials have also arrived!

What exactly did he do wrong?
"Where is Zhang Qi?!"

As soon as the constables entered and saw who was in the room, they immediately rushed towards Zhang Qi.

This wealthy man has had frequent interactions with their county magistrate over the years, so how could they not recognize him?

After the constables grabbed Zhang Qi from the left and right, they took him away.

Zhang Qi completely lost his composure and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I want to see Lord He! I want to see Lord He!"

"Does Master Zhang mean that Lord He is also related to the Su family's cases of abusing their power, harming innocent people, and disrupting the rice market?"

The constable with the knife at his side suddenly said something that made Zhang Qi swallow all his words.

Why do those words from the constable sound so familiar?

How come it's the same thing he said to Young Master Qin last night when he mentioned the Su family?
What exactly happened that night?
His anger suddenly turned into panic, and in his daze, he was already being pushed and shoved out of the house by the constables.

It wasn't until he stepped into the main hall of the county government office and saw the imperial envoy and the county magistrate sitting on the high platform, and Su Mingxing kneeling below, that he suddenly shuddered and came back to his senses!

Who is kneeling below the hall?

"This humble citizen, Zhang Qi!"

"Zhang Qi!" The imperial envoy he had met before was no longer amiable; he was now exuding an aura of authority. "You personally confessed that Su Mingxing was corrupt, disrupted the rice market, abused his power in Shawan because of his uncle who was an official, and then murdered innocent people after failing to force them into prostitution. Do you have any other witnesses to these allegations?"

Before Zhang Qi could finish listening, he was already sweating profusely. When he turned his head to the side, he met Su Mingxing's resentful gaze, who was kneeling beside him. He shuddered again!
"Your Honor, please understand! This humble subject has never uttered such words! Lord Su is fair and law-abiding, and has never overstepped his bounds. This humble subject could never have said such a thing!" "Zhang Qi! If you recant your testimony, that is contempt for the law! I have the authority to execute first and report later, so you'd better think twice before you act!"

"Your Excellency is wise! I never said that!"

After the case was concluded, Guo Yi sneered: "Then take a look at what this is!"

Several sheets of paper were thrown down, and two of them, bearing fingerprints, landed right in front of Zhang Qi.

Zhang Qi glanced at the contents of the paper and was immediately shocked. He then grabbed them all at once!
Upon seeing this, he almost fainted!

The contents of this paper are exactly the same as what he told Young Master Qin last night. How could this be?!
He turned to look at Su Mingxing, who was glaring at him through gritted teeth!

Zhang Qi panicked!

He couldn't understand why there were these pieces of paper!
He looked at the fingerprints again and compared them with his own. Now he couldn't even breathe properly!
These are his fingerprints!

When did this fall?

Why can't I remember?

"Zhang Qi! This is your own confession, and your arrest warrant is clearly displayed on the document. Do you still want to recant your confession?!"

Guo Yi slammed the gavel.

Zhang Qi was so shocked that he jumped up!

He opened his mouth, indeed wanting to argue, that the Su family was the local tyrant of Shawan, someone the Zhang family couldn't afford to offend! Even the three brothers combined couldn't afford to offend them! How could he admit that?

But sitting in the courtroom right now is an imperial envoy sent by the court, who has the power of life and death! With the written agreement and fingerprints on paper, what can he possibly argue?
If he doesn't admit it, the imperial envoy can just say one word and he'll lose his head!
But he really didn't understand how this confession came about, or when the handprint on it was put on.
Last night on the ship, he clearly only pressed his fingerprint on that document...

wrong!

He suddenly straightened his back!
He remembered, that sudden gust of evil wind...

That's right!

He clearly pressed his fingerprint twice!
The fingerprints that disappeared in the darkness were actually on this confession!

He understood. When the young master Qin heard the attendant's reply, his expression changed, and then he sent the attendant behind the screen!

So he went behind the screen just to write his confession?

And not for writing contracts?
So, it turns out that Young Master Qin's claim that the Su family stole his business was a complete lie, a trap!
He said that only to trick him into revealing these inside stories!
Cold sweat poured out of his body like rain. He felt as if he had fallen into an abyss, and no matter how hard he tried, his legs wouldn't touch the ground.

Why would Young Master Qin harm him like this?

Didn't he know that this would make the Su family see the Zhang family as a thorn in their side and would definitely try to destroy them?

Fear crept up from the bottom of his heart. He opened his mouth wide and stared at the imposing Guo Yi and Su Mingxing, who seemed to want to devour him alive. He then tightly closed his eyes!
This can't be true, it can't be!
If that young master Qin was indeed trying to harm him, then what about their deal?
Is it fake too?!
"Zhang Qi!" the county magistrate also spoke up, "Why haven't you answered the Imperial Envoy's question?!"

The sound of the gavel exploded in Zhang Qi's mind. He felt dizzy and his vision went black. He suddenly fell forward and collapsed to the ground!
(End of this chapter)