After being reborn as a widow, the mistress of the Hou family remarried a powerful official

Chapter 17 Taking back the dowry

Ke Yiqing took a step forward and said, "Sir, this is my wife's petition. I also ask you to seek justice for my wife."

When the subordinate officials took the petition, Jing Zhaoyi took a closer look and saw that it was not a big case, just a dispute at most, so he felt relieved and prepared to go to court.

"What, what's going on?" The people gathered outside the door to eat the melons from the aristocratic family. They spread the word and actually a lot of people gathered.

"Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

"Who is it? Why are you squeezing?"

The boy struggled to pull away the person in front of him and carefully helped the old lady in.

Jing Zhaoyin sat on the high platform and clapped his hands. The whole room was silent. He asked, "Who in the hall is making a noise here?"

The subordinate officials next to me came over and said, "Sir, this is Mrs. Pingyang Hou."

Jingzhao Yinxin said that although Marquis Pingyang was in decline, he was still one of the eight aristocratic families. Now that the old lady came to visit in person, could she ask me to handle it fairly and not to bully her daughter-in-law?
That's all, it's not a big case to begin with, so just let her go.

"It turns out to be the old lady. Please get on the chair quickly and ask the old lady to sit down."

Unexpectedly, the old lady didn't even bother to sit down, so she said anxiously: "My lord, I don't know something. Today's fact is a misunderstanding. I will take my daughter-in-law back and discipline her more."

Ke Yiqing sneered, this old guy is really arrogant and will not be unreasonable when he gets to the government.

Sure enough, Na Jing Zhaoyi said with some displeasure: "If there is any misunderstanding, I will make a decision on my own. I have already received your daughter-in-law's petition, so I will naturally take care of it."

The old lady wanted to say something more, but he was slapped down, "Okay, the case is going to trial. If anyone dares to make a loud noise again, don't blame me for being disrespectful."

Seeing that it was irreversible, the old lady snorted coldly before sitting down.

Jing Zhaoyi asked again, "Ke Yiqing, what are you doing?"

"My lord, my wife's dowry was sold without authorization by Manager Li of the palace. It was this pawnshop owner who collected it."

The shopkeeper looked at the old lady, then at Ke Yiqing, and finally said: "Cao Min did take some things from the house manager Li, and there was a lot of property. When Cao Min asked him, he told Cao Min that it was the old lady in the house who meant it. Only then do you dare to accept it.”

As soon as these words came out, the room was in an uproar.

The old lady was so angry that her face turned red, and she scolded: "Ignorant pariah, I am the royal wife given by the imperial court. If you dare to slander me, even if you have ten heads, you won't be able to chop me off!"

The shopkeeper was really scared when he heard this, but he still argued unconvincingly: "This is not what the common people said, but what your manager Li said. Furthermore, how could he, a small manager, get the results without your instructions?" The young lady’s dowry deed?”

"you!"

"quiet!"

Jing Zhaoyi said in a deep voice: "Old madam, if I haven't asked you yet, please don't answer without permission."

As soon as she arrived at the court official's place, the old lady calmed down her temper and said hello repeatedly.

"Ke Yiqing, what do you think?"

Ke Yiqing glanced at the old lady faintly and sighed: "Although the old lady has always been strict, I believe in her character."

Such a delicate beauty, standing here alone, and being widowed at a young age, with just a sad and plaintive look, is enough to make the people think of her.

Some people in the crowd felt pity, saying that being a housekeeper and a widow was not easy, and the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law was even more difficult without anyone to support her.

Others said that it was probably the mother-in-law who took advantage of her daughter-in-law's dowry.

Jing Zhaoyi had no reaction to this. He only raised his eyes and asked, "Old madam, is what Manager Li said true?"

The old lady forced a smile, "I did ask him to do something recently, but I really didn't know about Yiqing's dowry."

"Oh? What did the old lady ask him to do?" "This..."

At this time, the servant beside her became smart and stepped forward and said: "My lord, I don't know something. The old lady fell seriously ill a while ago, and she is already unable to handle many matters in the house."

The old lady also coughed at the right time, "Yes, after I recovered from my illness, I couldn't remember many things clearly."

The implication behind the words was to shirk responsibility. Jing Zhaoyi held back his anger and turned around and asked: "Ke Yiqing, I want to ask you, has the old lady been sick before?"

Ke Yiqing bowed and said, "Sir, this is indeed the case. The old lady's health has not been getting better recently. In order to buy her good ginseng, the family's wealth has already been emptied. I also want to continue to buy medicine. I just asked about the dowry, but I didn’t expect that something like this would happen.”

After she finished speaking, she wiped away her tears. Such a picture of a beautiful woman crying really made the listener cry and the listener feel sad.

Even Jing Zhaoyi sighed: "You are a good daughter-in-law. I will handle the matter impartially and give you justice." He turned around and ordered, "Since the old lady can't remember clearly, please send Manager Li to come up for questioning. .”

"I just went to ask, but the Marquis of Pingyang said that Manager Li has taken leave and gone home."

"I am returning home on leave at this time. Are you planning to escape? Come on, hurry up and arrest Manager Li!"

Upon hearing this, the old lady was so frightened that she shivered. After a long while, she said tremblingly: "Then Manager Li has been working in my house for many years, but it is just some dowry from his daughter's family. I think it should be ignored."

Ke Yiqing didn't know what she was thinking, so he also interjected: "You can't forget it. Those land deeds for fertile land are worth at least 3 taels. You take medicine and see a doctor, and your juniors study and write. You need money for all household expenses, no matter how lavish you are. It can’t be like this.”

The onlookers outside were still moved by the old lady's profound righteousness, and they nodded after hearing this. Yes, this amount of money is not a small amount, not to mention that Pingyang Hou has long since declined, and is no longer the top of the aristocratic family it once was.

"After all, she is an old lady who has never experienced hardship. She doesn't know how expensive firewood, rice, oil and salt are, so she sold her daughter-in-law with just one mouthful."

"Who says it's not the case? The person in charge is an outsider, but my wife is a member of my family. I think she is somewhat ungrateful."

Such discussions continued, and the old lady's face turned as black as carbon, but Ke Yiqing stood aside and had to cover her face with a handkerchief to avoid laughing.

I don't know if it was intentional or not, but Jing Zhaoyi waited until these people finished chatting and then shouted for silence.

"Old madam, I have one more thing to ask. Since the young madam's dowry has been kept by you, how did Manager Li get the deed?"

Of course the old lady couldn't answer this, and she immediately rolled her eyes and softened.

The maid next to her caught her skillfully and shouted: "No, the old lady fainted."

If another person had used this method, he would probably have been fooled by it, but this Jing Zhaoyi was originally a military attache, and he had some skills. In addition, he had a foreign wife, and he usually liked to pretend to be stunned to get attention.

Seeing that the old lady's eyes were still twitching, he knew that she might have something up her sleeve, but the other party was Mrs. Pingyang Hou after all. Although he was Jing Zhaoyi, the power of this family meant that he would not provoke her if he could. .

After pondering for a moment, he said: "Today, the right and wrong of this matter have been made clear. The dowry is the private property of the young lady of the Hou Mansion. Since its origin is unknown, you should return it to her as soon as possible."

The shopkeeper couldn't believe it, "Your Majesty, it's clear to me that the common people are just opening their doors to do business. If things end like this today, I'm afraid that the business of the ordinary people will not be able to be done in the future, my lord."

Ke Yiqing was also surprised by this result, but it was not her intention to embarrass the pawnshop owner, but she was interrupted just as she was about to speak.

"Now that the matter has come to this, what dissatisfaction do you still have? You accepted the money without knowing its origin. I haven't punished you for the crime of unclear supervision, but you dare to question me!"

At this time, the military attache of the Yamen also looked at the shopkeeper coldly with his stick, as if he would punish him with a stick if he dared to say another word.

The shopkeeper couldn't help but wince. He didn't dare to fight with the official, so he had to beg for mercy and take Ke Yiqing to the shop to get back the dowry.

The old lady who was pretending to be dizzy on the other side saw this and wanted to open her eyes and follow her to get it. Now the money from the sale of the dowry was in her hands. If she got it back, she could sell it again and get more money, her dick. Can you come out earlier?

It's a pity that her little thoughts did not escape Ke Yiqing's eyes.

"The old lady is fainting. What are you doing, maid, standing there stupidly? I think you should go back and ask a medical officer to take a look."

Now the old man's eyes, which he wanted to open, had no choice but to close them with regret.

(End of this chapter)