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

"Your Honor, you must redress our grievances and bring these wicked people to justice!" The two women lay on the ground, sobbing incessantly, determined not to let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip by.

They had initially thought the prefect was favoring Lin Ping, but now it seemed Lin Ping was completely ungrateful and was simply courting death.

Since it wasn't a fight, then he was bullying ordinary people, which is punishable by imprisonment according to the law.

Xia Yeran kept shaking her head, truly baffled by Lin Ping's thoughts.

Even if he has a prejudice against Xia Linglong, or even hates the entire royal family, he doesn't need to joke about going to jail.

Currently, countless eyes are secretly watching them, and the slightest disturbance could lead to impeachment by high-ranking officials, which would then reach the ears of the monarch.

"Guards, arrest the troublemakers!" Xia Yeran said, forced into a corner.

With hundreds of eyes watching from outside, they couldn't be too obvious.

He considered first imprisoning Lin Ping, and then secretly releasing him.

Several soldiers held knives to Lin Ping's neck and said angrily, "Young Master Lin, come with us."

Most of these officers and soldiers were from ordinary backgrounds and couldn't stand seeing the rich bullying the poor. Now they could finally vent their anger.

"Good job catching him! He should spend the rest of his life in jail!" Many people outside the door started to jeer, unaware of how many good deeds Lin Ping had done for the common people.

Among them were those who had received his favors, and they wanted to speak out in the fairest terms, but they didn't know how to say it. The facts were right in front of them, and there was no room for him to make excuses.

You can't just say, "This is Dr. Lin, he saved my life, so everything he did was right."

I'm sorry, but he saved your life, though he hasn't saved anyone else's. This personal relationship cannot be used as evidence to exonerate him.

Before he could finish speaking, he was probably already drowned in spittle from everyone.

Zhou Xiyin was so anxious that she kept stamping her feet and giving Lin Ping meaningful glances. If he could change his mind, there would be room for maneuver in this matter.

Lin Ping did speak, but his tone was somewhat harsh: "What right do you have to arrest me? Does being an official make you so great? Does that mean you can arrest people at will?"

Is this guy out of his mind? He was bullying the weak just now, and now he's pretending to be pitiful, putting himself on the level of an ordinary citizen.

Sorry, you're so rich, we ordinary people can't accept your money.

"Hmph, the evidence against you for beating civilians is irrefutable, what excuses do you have?" the constable said angrily.

Before coming here, he had no impression of Lin Ping and was thinking of just taking him away.

Unexpectedly, Xia Yeran came in person, which left him with no right to make decisions.

Since Xia Yeran has already demanded that someone be arrested, what is there to hesitate about?

"Is it illegal for me to beat my own servant?" Lin Ping said sarcastically.

Household slaves are different from ordinary people. They have no human rights and can be beaten and scolded at will, as long as no one is killed.

Going back a few hundred years, household slaves were commodities that could be bought and sold at will, and even slaughtered.

Beating up a servant is not actually illegal.

“Sir, he’s talking nonsense. We are just needlework girls here, not his servants,” the two women cried, their voices filled with more anger than fear.

They never expected Lin Ping to come up with such a clumsy method; it was simply shameless.

"Oh? You said they are household slaves, do they have indentures?" Xia Yeran asked curiously, almost bursting out laughing.

He was naturally helping Lin Ping. He was worried that Lin Ping might be setting a trap for him, but now it seems there might still be a chance.

Lin Ping slowly took out sheets of Xuan paper from his pocket, covered with densely written small characters.

This is clearly an employment contract.

Xia Yeran took the card and began to study it carefully. Her originally relaxed brows suddenly furrowed, then relaxed again, and she even laughed out loud, secretly giving Lin Ping a thumbs up.

"Are these your autographs?" Xia Yeran asked the two men with a cold look in her eyes.

With handwriting and fingerprints as proof, the two dared not deny it, nodding and saying, "This is just a contract, not a contract of servitude at all!"

"Take another look." Xia Yeran placed the contract in front of them, and even had someone read it aloud in case they couldn't read it.

It was indeed a normal contract at first, but Lin Ping paid them ridiculously high monthly wages, which caused a stir among the people outside the door. Some even wanted to learn needlework, regardless of whether Lin Ping had sadistic tendencies or not; making money was the most important thing.

The last sentence is the key point: It says: "You shall not leave the weaving workshop for three years. Anyone who leaves by force shall pay a fine of ten thousand taels of silver!"

Actually, this was just a confidentiality agreement. After all, the garment workshop had the most advanced technology, and if someone stole the technology and left, they would suffer huge losses.

However, literally speaking, it is quite similar to a contract of servitude. You cannot leave within three years, which means you are sold into servitude for three years. Unless you have 10,000 taels of silver, you will be Lin Ping's servant.

These women only saw the outrageously high monthly wages and didn't even consider the possibility of breaking their contracts, since they didn't want to leave anyway.

Now that this has happened, it's too late for regrets.

"Ten thousand taels..." The two gasped, almost fainting. For them, ten thousand taels was a number they never dared to even dream of.

If we're really going to have to pay that much money, we might as well kill them.

"Your Excellency, if you have no further instructions, I am going to continue disciplining the servants," Lin Ping said sarcastically, showing no regard for the prefect.

Xia Yeran was not angry at all, but kindly reminded him: "Go ahead and fight, just don't kill anyone."

Come and see, is this something a prefect should say?

There's nothing we can do; that's how the laws of the Wu Kingdom are. Household slaves have no human rights. Who told you to choose to sell yourself in the first place?

The people outside felt a chill run down their spines, their hearts burning with hatred. They could only express their anger verbally, pointing at Lin Ping's nose and saying, "You're bullying people with your power. You'll get your comeuppance sooner or later."

Retribution? Do you believe in it? Lin Ping certainly doesn't.

If evildoers are truly punished, the first to die should be some high-ranking officials hiding in the shadows.

"Stop hitting me, please stop hitting me, I've already confessed, isn't that enough?" one of the women cried.

stop!

Lin Ping signaled to Wang Xiao'e to stop for the time being.

"Ideally, it should satisfy me," Lin Ping replied calmly.

"Half a month ago, someone gave each of us one hundred taels of silver and told us to stop working. They also said that if we could ruin the Lin family's weaving workshop, they would give each of us another five hundred taels of silver." The man explained in detail with his head down.

Once these words were spoken, the truth came to light. It was clear that they were in the wrong first, no wonder Lin Ping was so ruthless.

She ruined the Lin family's weaving workshop. What a vicious woman! She deserved to be beaten to death!

No one sympathized with them anymore; some even felt that Lin Ping had been too lenient.

"This seems to violate the law as well. Why don't we take them all back to the yamen for questioning?" Xia Yeran said sarcastically.

He is the prefect, and his words are like imperial edicts.

Dozens of needlework women knelt on the ground in unison, their faces ashen.