Noble Lady

"In the twelfth lunar month, he was expelled from the academy and all the money in the family was taken away. He left a letter saying he was going to Beijing to handle an important matter, but he never returned. For such a long time, there has been no news."

"I came to the capital this time to ask him to return my dowry."

Fan Wenxuan is worthy of being the daughter of the headmaster. Even though she is a concubine's daughter, she speaks very clearly.

In just a few words, everyone in and out of the hall knew the whole story.

Everyone was in an uproar.

Only Sun Pingan shouted angrily, "You are talking nonsense. Since we have been together before, your things should be mine. How can you say they are stolen?"

"A husband is the leader of his wife. Do you know that if you go to Jingzhao Prefecture to sue your husband, you will be thrown into a pig cage in the countryside?"

But his face was swollen like a pig's head, his speech was unclear, and no one cared about what he said.

It was his incessant chattering that made those girls who were deceived by Sun Ping'an's identity as a scholar even more resentful.

"He's already married, but he's still pretending to be a spinster, scamming girls out of their money. How shameless!"

"This kind of liar should be dragged out and cut into pieces!"

"How hateful!"

Amidst the chorus of curses and condemnations directed at Sun Ping'an, Fan Wenxuan pulled out a petition from her bosom and said, "Master Mei, I do not wish to continue being married to such a treacherous and thieving villain. I beg you to make a decision for me."

There was a burst of applause in the hall.

Sun Ping'an was still busy, but no one cared about what he said.

Lord Mei and Mr. Chen took the opportunity to exchange glances for a long time.

"Bang!" The sound of a gavel.

The whole room fell silent.

Master Mei stroked his beard, his expression unfathomable. "Madam Fan, although it is indeed unfortunate for you to marry such an immoral and unethical man, the government has no right to force him to divorce you."

After saying this, he showed a helpless look.

The people watching below also sighed, "Do we really have to continue living with such a shameless person?"

Of course, there are also some uncles and aunts who are not afraid to speak out, "Who would bring such a small matter between husband and wife to court? Let's talk about it behind closed doors."

"Now that you're married, you should definitely put your husband first. It wouldn't be shameful for a wife to talk about this kind of thing in court..."

There were many more such stories, but Fan Wenxuan turned a deaf ear and just kept saying, "Master Mei, I heard that Jingzhao Prefecture had concluded a case before..."

"A former editor from the Imperial Academy borrowed a large sum of his wife's wealth and signed a promissory note, but when the time came, he refused to acknowledge it. In the end, it was Lord Mei who made the fair judgment and helped the lady get back the dowry she was entitled to."

"I wonder if this is true?"

Fan Wenxuan has already praised Lord Mei highly. If he admits it, we cannot turn a blind eye and must speak for the people. If we deny it, we will be slapping ourselves in the face.

Lord Mei subconsciously glanced at Master Chen beside him, and Master Chen nodded imperceptibly.

Master Mei secretly breathed a sigh of relief, stroked his beard, and said, "It is true."

"I act impartially and never show partiality or favoritism towards anyone. However, the young lady produced the IOU signed by the borrower personally, so I could make the decision for her."

"Excuse me, Madam Fan, do you have any proof that the person kneeling before you took away all your dowry and property?"

"It's good that Your Excellency is willing to make the decision for me." Fan Wenxuan also looked relieved and took out another thin piece of paper from her bosom. "Sun Ping'an also signed the IOU."

Sun Ping'an's pupils trembled, and he cursed in disbelief, "Fan Wenxuan, you are absolutely shameless! It was you who said that the dowry was prepared by your stepmother, and that signing this IOU would allow you to deal with your father-in-law."

"Now you're bringing this to court. You're not keeping your word!"

Some people were moved by Sun Ping'an's indignant words and started to curse, "Yeah, if you said you were going to deal with your father-in-law, how could you give up this factory? This is clearly a breach of trust."

The girls who had been deceived by Sun Pingan sneered, "Isn't it that Sun Pingan was planning to cheat his wife out of her wealth? If he didn't want to touch his wife's dowry, why would he sign this IOU?"

"That's right. He took his wife's dowry and ran to Beijing to commit fraud. Instead of condemning him, you blame Madam Fan for seeking justice for you. Is it just because Sun Ping'an is a man?"

Fan Wenxuan bowed to each of the girls and said, "Thank you all for your protection."

Then he looked at Sun Ping'an coldly and said, "You keep saying that I'm untrustworthy. I just want to ask you, did you take my dowry? Did I forge your signature on the IOU?"

Sun Ping'an said stubbornly, "You and I are family, how can you say it's your dowry? What's yours is also mine!"

"Shameless!" Fan Wenxuan sneered, waving her sleeves and kneeling in the lobby, holding the IOU and the petition. "Please, sir, help me!"

Master Mei said awkwardly, "Madam Fan, you are from Xiangzhou. If you have a property dispute with Sun Ping'an, you should go to the local government in Xiangzhou to file a complaint."

Poor Mrs. Fan, it was a wasted trip.

There was another uproar in the hall.

Only Sun Ping'an was smug.

Fan Wenxuan felt lost for a moment before she put away the complaint and the IOU. "May I ask, Your Excellency, does Sun Ping'an need to be detained for defrauding so many people of their money?"

Master Mei said slowly, "Sun Ping'an used an excuse to defraud money. Considering it's his first offense, he will be ordered to return the property to its original owner. As for his detention, he will be punished and detained in Jingzhao Prefecture for more than a month."

"If he fails to repay the stolen property, his detention will be extended."

"I understand." Fan Wenxuan smiled. "Thank you for answering my questions."

Sun Ping'an was going to stay in jail for a while anyway, so she could do whatever she wanted with his house.

What's more, he has a mother who cares about her son.

Unexpectedly, before she came to Beijing, the man had clearly analyzed the situations she might encounter for her, without making any mistakes.

She didn't believe it before, but now it seems that the man is indeed a master.

Lord Mei waved his hand, and Fan Wenxuan left with her petition and IOU.

Leaving behind a group of people looking at each other in bewilderment.

As for Sun Ping'an, after the sound of the gavel, Mrs. Mei ordered him to be beaten with a stick and then dragged into the jail.

When Sun Pingan was beaten, he howled like a ghost, and when he was dragged into the prison, he cried out to the sky and the earth: "It's unjust, it's unjust...."

He probably realized that Fan Wenxuan was still his wife in name. He was detained in prison, and Fan Wenxuan was the only person who could bring him medicine and food. If she didn't go, he would have to stay in prison.

The most important thing is that he was detained. Fan Wenxuan could live in his house in the capital whenever she wanted, and he couldn't stop her at all.

……

Although Fan Wenxuan failed to get her money back, Sun Ping'an's ending was still very satisfying.

After leaving the court, Fan Wenxuan said goodbye to the lady who had kindly sent her to Beijing, and then went to find Zhongsun Ping'an's residence.

The girls who were cheated of their money by Sun Ping'an also came to find Fan Wenxuan and expressed their willingness to help her divorce from a man like Sun Ping'an.

Fan Wenxuan expressed her gratitude, but she also said: "I came to Beijing alone and now I don't have a place to stay. No matter what, I still have to settle down first before I can think about the future."

The girls were the most enthusiastic and took her to Sun Ping'an's house.

As for the door lock, just call a locksmith to open it and replace it.

They also wanted to help Fan Wenxuan clean the yard, but Fan Wenxuan declined.

"Thank you for your kindness, ladies. However, you were also victims. I feel extremely guilty about my relationship with Sun Ping'an. How can I dare to ask you to help me with these trivial matters?"

Those girls were all good people. Seeing that she felt really guilty, they didn't insist.

But they all told her some things to pay attention to, and told her that if she had any difficulties, she could ask them for help at any time.

Fan Wenxuan was naturally very grateful.

Before evening, Fan Wenxuan had cleaned up a room for herself.

Although this yard is not big, it has two entrances. In order to save trouble, Sun Ping'an only cleaned up one bedroom, and even the things in the yard were cleaned and tidied up by the girls.

"Sun Ping'an has deceived so many girls with just his mouth. He is so lucky." Fan Wenxuan sneered.

"Mrs. Fan is lucky. Fortunately, she discovered Sun Ping'an's true identity early and was able to turn back." An unfamiliar female voice sounded in the yard.

Fan Wenxuan was startled, and then she saw a girl dressed simply walking towards her with an umbrella.