In ancient times, they secretly became gods in the deep mountains.

Chapter 64 Wu Minmin Returns Home to Investigate the Truth

He Jinzong closed the door to his study. Only he and Wu Minmin were inside.

He rubbed his forehead in distress, looking at the woman in the white prison uniform. After a night of fear and trembling, her face looked slightly haggard, and her eyes were bloodshot.

Wu Minmin is the young owner of Wu Family Cloth Shop. She has always been in charge of managing the family business, which was founded by her grandfather.

Her father was merely a son-in-law of the Wu family.

Her grandfather was seriously ill, and her grandmother and mother did not get involved in the family business. She was the sole owner of the Wu Family Cloth Shop.

"This humble woman greets Your Excellency!"

Wu Minmin knelt down with a thud and pleaded, "Please, Your Honor, have the foresight to see this clearly. The Wu Family Cloth Shop is the foundation laid by my grandfather. I cherish it dearly, how could I possibly do something like selling inferior goods to tarnish the reputation of the shop!"

"There must be some misunderstanding here!"

He Jinzong did not underestimate this girl who was about the same age as his daughter Wanwan. She was able to manage a cloth shop on her own in her teens, which showed that she was a very intelligent person.

“Young Master Wu, your cloth and clothes have been infested with maggots. According to the locals, the maggots on clothes cannot be washed off, and they will even parasitize people after changing clothes. They are very frightened by this.”

“If this isn’t handled properly, it will be very difficult for both of us!” He Jinzong said in a heavy tone. “The people are still blocking the yamen.”

"My lord, please give me a chance to prove my innocence. I will definitely investigate the cause and effect and give the people an explanation," Wu Minmin pleaded.

"This is why I summoned you here." He Jinzong looked at Wu Minmin with approval.

The officials he sent couldn't find any clues, but as the owner of the cloth shop, Wu Minmin might be able to detect some clues.

This was a decision he made after careful consideration.

"I can let you go back and work with the officials to investigate this matter, firstly to give the people an explanation, and secondly to give the Wu family's cloth shop a way to survive."

He Jinzong emphasized: "I am only giving you half a month. After half a month, you must present the truth to me. Can you do that?"

"If the truth is not found within this timeframe, the Wu family will face the risk of having their assets seized, and your life may be in danger!"

Did the adults agree to her request?

Wu Minmin understood and, overjoyed, loudly promised, "Thank you, sir, for giving me a chance to prove my innocence. I will definitely find out the truth within half a month and give you and the people an explanation!"

Although she was not born a man, she had been raised by her grandfather since childhood, and the courage she had developed was not to be underestimated. Wu Minmin was confident that she could find out the truth within half a month.

He Jinzong said, "I will have someone escort you out through the back door. When you go out recently, remember to take a carriage and bring several servants who know martial arts, in case anyone with ill intentions tries to harm you. You can also come to me if you need anything."

"Yes!"

As a child, Wu Minmin often heard her grandfather say that Lord He would be a wise and virtuous official.

She used to be unable to distinguish between wise and wicked officials, but in this matter, Lord He was willing to give her a chance to make amends and did not use torture to extract a confession. Only then did she truly realize that she had met a good official.

"I will go back and find out the truth right away." Wu Minmin breathed a sigh of relief.

"I will have my officers accompany you back."

Wu Family Cloth Shop was located on East Street in the county town, which was considered a bustling area. The Wu family's old residence was not far from the cloth shop. She was escorted home by Magistrate He in a secretive manner, accompanied by several plainclothes officials.

The elderly Mrs. Wu fell into a coma after being devastated by her granddaughter's arrest.

Wu Minmin's mother, Wu Huier, was busy taking care of her mother while also dealing with the people who came to her door.

Wu's son-in-law, Zhang Heng, is cleaning up a mess at the cloth shop.

The old man was bedridden and unaware that his granddaughter had been arrested.

"My granddaughter... has Minmin returned yet?" The old lady asked her daughter, who was attending to her, with a sob in her voice as soon as she woke up. "Mother..." Wu Hui'er couldn't answer. Her daughter had been imprisoned by Magistrate He and hadn't returned yet.

"Waaah..." came the sobbing of Old Mrs. Wu from inside the house.

She cried out, “How could this happen? We’ve been in business for decades and have always had a good reputation. Minmin is so smart, how could she possibly cheat the people by selling inferior goods? Our fabrics are all carefully selected from the best fabrics in the south, how could they have maggots in them!”

"Mother, please stop crying, you'll hurt yourself." Wu Huier exclaimed as she wiped away her mother's tears, her brows furrowed tightly.

"Grandmother! Mother! Father!"

As soon as Wu Minmin entered the house, she instructed her maids and servants to close the door tightly.

It's best not to spread the news of her release from prison, otherwise it will cause trouble and have a negative impact on Lord He.

"Minmin!" Old Mrs. Wu's crying stopped abruptly: "I heard Minmin's voice."

When Wu Huier saw her unharmed daughter, she exclaimed in surprise, "Minmin, are you alright?"

"Mother!" Wu Minmin took a deep, weary breath: "I'm fine, don't worry."

"Minmin, you're back. Is everything alright now?" Grandma Wu cried tears of joy upon seeing her granddaughter return.

“Grandmother, the master gave me half a month to find out the whole truth. As long as there is evidence to prove that Wu Family Cloth Shop is innocent, my name can be cleared.”

“I suspect that our fabric shop is doing too well and that someone is jealous of it, so someone framed our family,” Wu Minmin said, expressing her suspicion.

"Which jealous monster is so despicable as to let maggots infest our cloth and clothing, causing the people to misunderstand us, and even imprisoning my daughter? If we find that person, we will not let him off easily." Wu Huier sneered.

“Daughter, what’s our next step?” Wu Hui’er asked.

Wu Minmin replied, "I want to ask my father if the goods were tampered with on the way here, and what the other cloth shop owners have been doing these past few days since we returned to Xiping County?"

"Where's my father?"

“Since the accident at home, your father has been staying at the cloth shop to prevent it from being vandalized by the people.” Wu Huier sighed, wondering what her husband’s situation was like now.

With the people outside so frenzied, she couldn't bear to leave her husband alone in the cloth shop.

"Let my dad come back. I only have half a month," Wu Minmin said.

Old Mrs. Wu quickly instructed the maid beside her, "Go and call the master here."

Upon receiving the news, Zhang Heng rushed home.

Seeing that his daughter was alright, he visibly breathed a sigh of relief: "Minmin, you're back. I knew the adults were wise and powerful, and that they would definitely release you after finding out the truth."

"Father, the master gave me half a month to find out the truth, otherwise our family's lives will be in danger."

Wu Minmin poured cold water on him.

“Father, tell me the whole story behind buying the cloth, and see if we can unravel the mystery and find some clues.” She got straight to the point.

“Our goods are all purchased from those cloth merchants. I can guarantee there won’t be any problems. We’ve been cooperating for so many years, buying goods from those cloth merchants since your grandfather’s time. It’s impossible that problems are only starting to appear now,” Zhang Heng said confidently.

"I heard from the doctor who inspected those fabrics that the maggots on the people's bodies look a bit like corpse maggots. Could our house be unclean?" Wu Huier suddenly thought of this.

“A few days ago, I was having tea with Madam Jiang and the others. They told me that there is a Golden Saint Goddess on Mount Qihuang, who is incredibly powerful and has boundless magical abilities. The county magistrate can’t find a single clue about this matter. Why don’t we go to Mount Qihuang to pray and ask the goddess to bless us?”

Old Mrs. Wu glared at her daughter and said sternly, "Hui'er! The Master said not to speak of strange phenomena, physical prowess, or supernatural beings!"

(End of this chapter)