The aroma of cooking filled the house: I sent my eldest brother to become the Grand Secretary.

As Shen Cao and Shen Chen had predicted, things were not so easy to resolve.

The next day, the county government summoned Shen Chen, saying that there was new progress in the case and that he needed to go to the county government.

Shen Cao realized that she had never seen the officials before, so she kept a watchful eye on them.

She went out as well when her older brother went out.

Inside the county government office, Shen Chen had just arrived when he saw Li Changquan, who was supposed to be imprisoned there, looking at him with a smug expression.

He showed no signs of weariness from being imprisoned for a day; on the contrary, he was in high spirits. He wasn't wearing the clothes from that day; instead, he was dressed in a brocade robe, as if he had changed it specially for today.

Although Shen Chen was somewhat puzzled, he calmly placed his hands in front of his chest and gave the county magistrate a respectful bow.

He is now a scholar who has passed the imperial examinations, and he is no longer required to kneel before the county magistrate.

"Your Honor, I am Shen Chen."

Li Quan recognized Shen Chen; he was indeed a talented man, but he didn't know how Shen Chen had offended this wealthy man, Master Li.

Shen Chen seems to have many connections with the Shen family. Shen Yu'an was there in Stone Village before, and he also went to the opening of the Shen family restaurant.

He couldn't afford to offend the Shen family.

But thinking of Master Li's promise, he hesitated.

That's no small sum of money.

He didn't want to offend either of them, since they were both his flesh and blood.

He looked at his cousin Li Quan with some resentment. If Li Quan hadn't brought the person back, he could have handled the matter much better.

Now that this person has been brought to his own county government office, it's going to be tricky to avoid offending either side.

He cleared his throat and addressed Shen Chen, who was standing below, "I've come here today to confirm some things with you, and you must answer truthfully."

Shen Chen nodded.

"You say this inkstone is yours?"

"It is I."

Li Changquan, who was kneeling to the side, immediately straightened up. "Sir, don't listen to his nonsense. He stole this inkstone."

Shen Chen frowned. "Please investigate thoroughly, sir. My younger sister confirmed yesterday in front of everyone that this inkstone is indeed mine."

He turned and pointed to Li Quan beside him, "This official was present yesterday; he knows all about this matter perfectly well."

When Li Quan was mentioned, he recounted the events of the previous day to the county magistrate.

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Changquan, whose attitude was completely different from yesterday, not only did not panic, but also confidently said, "Reporting to my lord, even if there is a 'Shen' character on the back of this inkstone, it does not prove that it belongs to Shen Chen."

As soon as Li Changquan finished speaking, an old man beside him, who appeared to be a steward, knelt down and said to the county magistrate, "Your Excellency, as soon as my master heard about my young master's matter yesterday, he immediately sent me to inquire about it."

"Many wealthy families do have the habit of customizing Duan inkstones. They usually have their own surname or unique totem printed on the bottom of the inkstone."

“I specifically asked them, and they had never heard of a person named Shen Chen who had ordered Duan inkstones from their store.”

Shen Chen hadn't expected things to turn out this way. He remembered his younger sister mentioning that the inkstone seemed to have been prepared by Shen Yu'an.

His brows were furrowed, but his face showed no sign of fear.

The county magistrate looked at him and asked, "I also made a special inquiry, and it is true that Duan inkstones can be custom-made."

"What does Young Master Shen have to say about this matter?"

Shen Chen cupped his hands in greeting, "Reporting to your Excellency, to be honest, this inkstone was prepared by my younger sister."

Li Changquan sneered from the side, "Heh, then call your sister over and ask her what's going on."

"Just because it says 'Shen' at the bottom, it means it belongs to you, Shen Chen."

"Maybe the family you stole from just happens to be surnamed Shen."

The county magistrate sent someone to invite Shen Cao.

When Shen Cao saw that the county magistrate was looking for him, he immediately came out from the crowd of onlookers at the door.

"No need to ask, I'm right here."

The county magistrate gestured to the constables at the gate to let Shen Cao in.

As soon as Shen Cao entered, she gave her older brother a reassuring look, and then knelt down.

"This humble woman greets the county magistrate."

"Your older brother said that you prepared this inkstone?"

Shen Cao raised her head, her body ramrod straight. "Reporting to Your Excellency, it was indeed prepared by this humble woman for my elder brother."

"Hehe, you're such a country bumpkin. Don't you even know your own limitations? This Duan inkstone, let alone you, even my family can't buy a custom one."

Upon hearing Li Changquan's words, Shen Cao couldn't help but retort, "Who's the country bumpkin is still up in the air. Just because you can't afford it doesn't mean others can't."

"You!" Li Changquan pointed at Shen Cao, somewhat exasperated, after hearing her words.

His steward pulled him back and turned to the county magistrate, saying, "Your Honor, I have specially invited the shopkeeper of the Duan inkstone shop in Xin'an County today to come and see if he recognizes this young lady."

"Bring up the witnesses."

The shopkeeper was brought up, and the county magistrate asked him to identify if there were any people he recognized on the stage.

He looked around and said he had only met Li Changquan, who had previously bought inkstones from the store; he had never met anyone else.

Li Changquan knew that the Duan inkstone was stolen by Shen Chen.

He looked at Shen Chen and Shen Cao smugly. The shopkeeper had never even seen them before. Let's see how they can deny it now.

"Haha, even the shopkeeper who sells Duan inkstones has never seen you before. Where did you buy those custom-made inkstones? Did they just appear out of thin air?"

"How about you conjure up an inkstone right now, and I'll spare you?"

Shen Cao was not alarmed by the shopkeeper's words; instead, she became even calmer.

She looked at Li Changquan as if he were a clown, and chuckled as she spoke, "Reporting to Your Excellency, I also have witnesses who can prove that this inkstone is indeed mine."

The county magistrate was originally worried about Shen Cao. Although he did not know the relationship between Shen Yu'an and the Shen siblings, he was sure that the relationship was not shallow, especially since the Shen siblings also had the surname Shen.

Although Li Changquan offered enough, he didn't want to offend the Shen siblings. He had heard that Shen Chen was a good student and had just finished the autumn imperial examinations. If he passed, he would become a Juren (a successful candidate in the provincial-level imperial examinations).

Upon hearing that Shen Cao also had witnesses, he immediately sent someone to bring the witnesses up.

Once he saw the witnesses brought by Shen Cao, he immediately knew the origin of the Duan inkstone.

The visitor was none other than the manager of Wan'an Hall.

After he entered, he knelt down next to Shen Cao and pointed to the Duan inkstone in the magistrate's hand. "Your Honor, this inkstone was a gift from my young master to Miss Shen."

Li Changquan, unaware of the visitor's identity, seemed to find it amusing, "Another bumpkin. He probably doesn't know the price of a custom-made Duan inkstone. These aren't things you can just give away casually?"

Shopkeeper Shen looked at Li Changquan with disdain and said, "Perhaps it's not something you can just give away casually, but for my young master, it's just a little trinket. He thought Young Master Shen needed it, so he just gave it to him."

Li Changquan wanted to say something, but was stopped by the steward. He didn't know his young master, but he knew that this Manager Shen was the manager of Wan'an Hall, which was owned by the imperial merchant Shen family. The young master he was talking about was Shen Yu'an.

If it's Shen Yu'an, then it's certainly possible to give it away freely.

He just didn't expect that the Shen siblings would know that person.

It seems his young master is going to suffer a setback today, and his master's offer will probably have to double.

It must be said that the county magistrate was indeed a shrewd man. As soon as he saw that things were not going well, he immediately found an excuse to postpone the matter until the next day.