Making you a son-in-law is not about making you conquer the world.

Suppressing his anger, Lin Ping continued with a smile and asked, "Auntie, may I ask what your surname is?"

Lin Ping is a man of good manners; he wouldn't lay a hand on someone as old as a woman or child.

The old woman looked flustered and replied unpreparedly, "My surname is naturally Lin!"

"Oh? You also have the surname Lin, not bad, not bad."

Lin Ping nodded in satisfaction and continued, "It's really not easy for you to have lived this long."

Upon hearing this, the old woman immediately cried out, "Your Excellency, you must do justice for me! This young man has cursed me to die young; he looks down on the poor!"

The prefect walked over with a pleased expression, and asked Lin Ping with a stern face, "What's going on here?"

A hint of coldness flashed in Jiang Yunying's beautiful eyes as she instinctively shielded Lin Ping behind her. She was truly worried about her troublesome husband.

Having finally gained the right to take on the case, instead of checking on the deceased, he insisted on chatting idly with these women and children, and now he's being accused of looking down on the poor.

For Lin Ping, cursing an old woman was nothing, but it would still leave a bad reputation, especially since there were thousands of poor people around.

Lin Ping shook his head and said seriously, "You're not poor. Otherwise, why would your husband have married into your family?"

The old woman was a little confused and tried her best to refute, "Nonsense, my husband didn't marry into the family!"

Marrying into a family is not a glorious thing, especially for poor families, who look down on it. So the old woman retorted loudly.

"Oh? If he didn't marry into the family, why would Lin Gouzi take your surname, Chen?" Lin Ping asked in return.

“Her husband’s surname is Lin, and her child takes his surname. What’s wrong with that?” the prefect argued on behalf of the old woman, forgetting his own position.

He was a high-ranking prefect, how could he possibly know the situation of an ordinary farmer's family? It was obviously pre-arranged.

Lin Ping laughed and said, "That's why I said it's not easy for her to have survived until now."

"How dare you! You dare to insult the common people in front of me! Don't think that just because you have the City Lord's Mansion backing you can act with impunity!" the Prefect said sternly, not letting go of any opportunity to accuse Lin Ping of wrongdoing.

Lin Ping calmly replied, "Prefect, you should keep that 'shit' label to yourself. I, Lin Ping, cannot afford to wear it. First of all, I do not need the support of the City Lord's Mansion, and secondly, I have no lawlessness."

"On the contrary, it must be that the Prefect himself has forgotten the laws of the Wu Kingdom!" Lin Ping began to retort.

If a prefect cannot even remember the laws of the Wu Kingdom, how can he have the face to hold such a high position?

"How dare you slander me! Such a crime cannot be protected even by the City Lord's Mansion." The Prefect spoke sharply, but he was somewhat flustered inside. Lin Ping's confident demeanor did not seem like he was bluffing.

"Here we go again..." Lin Ping sighed and turned to Xia Linglong, asking, "May I ask, Captain, what is the crime of marrying someone with the same surname?"

Xia Linglong was pondering Jiang Yunying's sword moves when Lin Ping asked her this question, and she casually replied, "Marriage between people with the same surname is considered adultery and is punishable by death!"

As Xia Linglong said, since the Zhou Dynasty, people with the same surname could not marry. However, the severity of the punishment varied from dynasty to dynasty. In the Wu Kingdom, it was so severe that it resulted in execution.

"Your Excellency, this old woman committed a capital crime. Isn't it remarkable that she's still alive?"

Lin Ping smiled at the Prefect of Huai'an and finally gave a powerful rebuttal.

The old woman turned pale with fright and immediately knelt on the ground, kowtowing frantically. She cried out, "I'm innocent! I'm innocent! My surname isn't Lin, my husband's surname isn't Lin either, and none of my children are among those who died here!"

Clearly, the old woman had been bribed to put on an act. She panicked when Lin Ping suddenly asked her a question and made up the name of the deceased.

But Lin Ping kept asking questions, and the old woman couldn't react in time. In order not to give herself away, she deliberately said that she and her son had the same surname, but she made an even bigger mistake.

Lin Ping had studied psychology and knew that people are prone to incoherent speech and even make some basic mistakes when they lie.

Since the old woman was a fake family member, she must have been acting under someone's orders. Jiang Yunying thought of going forward to interrogate her, but Lin Ping pulled her back with his big hand.

In terms of strength, Jiang Yunying was far superior to Lin Ping. Even ten Lin Pings couldn't move her. Yet, she obediently stopped in her tracks and asked in confusion, "Is my husband afraid that she won't dare to reveal the mastermind?"

From this, it can be seen that Jiang Yunying has made considerable progress. Impersonating a deceased person's family member is not a capital offense, but if she reveals the mastermind, she will likely face retaliation. Moreover, the person who bribed the old woman is likely a subordinate of the mastermind, so even if she dares to speak out, it will be of no use.

Lin Ping shook his head innocently, thinking to himself: I'm innocent! I didn't mean that. I just didn't want to let go of my wife's hand!

However, Lin Ping nodded approvingly at Jiang Yunying's progress, then glared angrily at the families of the other deceased.

These people were all so frightened that they scattered in all directions, and dared not openly deceive the city lord's mansion and the princess.

"Outrageous! How dare they impersonate the deceased's family! Issue an order that no one is allowed to approach!" the prefect said hypocritically, clearly giving these people a chance to escape so that Lin Ping wouldn't find out anything useful from them.

"How do you know they aren't the deceased's real relatives?" Jiang Yunying asked Lin Ping with a puzzled look in her ear. She could clearly see that these people were crying very earnestly.

If you're paid to be paid, you'll naturally work hard and cry – that's a basic quality of an actor!

Lin Ping thought to himself, then explained in a serious tone, "Just a guess!"

amount……

Jiang Yunying regretted asking Lin Ping and pointed at the dead, saying, "Let's quickly check the cause of death of these people."

To clear the city lord's name, it is necessary to prove that these people were not killed by private troops. The best way is to find out the real cause of death.

Lin Ping shook his head, then changed the subject, "My lady, what is the relationship between the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Prefect? ​​Should they obey the Prefect's orders?"

To be honest, Lin Ping was a complete novice when it came to politics. Luckily, he had Li Mingxuan by his side; otherwise, he would have been deceived countless times.

"The Embroidered Uniform Guard is under the direct command of the Emperor and is naturally not subject to the orders of the Prefect," Jiang Yunying replied truthfully.

"In that case, Xia Linglong wouldn't be biased towards the prefect. Since she's convinced that this was the work of the private army, it proves that these people died from a hail of arrows," Lin Ping replied slowly.

With his X-ray vision, he had already examined the deceased's wounds, but he couldn't tell Jiang Yunying everything, so he used Xia Linglong to explain.

"Husband, are you saying that these people were really killed by the private army?"

Jiang Yunying's expression changed drastically. He glared angrily at the two commanders, ready to enforce military law and establish military authority.

"Alright... my wife is still as adorable as ever... adorably silly!" Lin Ping thought to himself. "If it really was the work of a private army, would my husband have gone to such lengths?"

"My lady, don't you want to know why the deceased's real family members didn't show up?" Lin Ping asked seriously, his eyes deep.

“Yes, could it be that these people don’t have any family members? Or are their family members not worried about their whereabouts? However, does this have anything to do with this case…” Jiang Yunying stared at Lin Ping with wide, questioning eyes.

thump……

Lin Ping almost knelt down, thinking to himself: There's a reason why the City Lord's Mansion has fallen to this state. From now on, if anyone says that the little fat guy is stupid, I'll be the first to refute them. It's definitely hereditary!