Su Wan's voice was indeed louder than most men sitting in the meeting room. They all looked at her with shocked and awkward expressions while Lord Li covered his mouth as he placed his other hand on the top of the table. His shoulders seemed to be shaking with laughter that he was suppressing. This was the first time he had seen someone stop the chatter of these old men like this.
What a great technique, if someone screams at you. Then you just need to scream much louder than the others.
Lord Pei nudged the man sitting next to him. He knew that it was quite funny but there was no need for this man to show what he thought on his face like this, these old men were rather thin-skinned, if they took Lord Li's actions to heart then who knows what they might do.
Su Wan on the other hand simply glanced at Lord Li who was laughing as if his life depended on it and then turned to face the rest of the officials. "You all keep saying what is the point of a woman getting educated, right? Then I will ask you all a few questions, I hope that you will be able to give me a satisfactory answer."
When she saw a few officials scrunch up their noses and eyes, she added, "If you can give me a satisfactory answer then I assure you that I will drop the idea of building a school. Alright?"
This time her suggestion was met with much more enthusiasm and Su Wan curled her lips. She turned to look at the man with a bald head and a thick moustache before questioning him, "Lord Zen, I want to question you. Three years ago your daughter was married off to a scholar who was given an official position in the court. The scholar promised that he would never take another woman in his courtyard.
However, two years later, your daughter's shops were taken over by that scholar while his childhood sweetheart and illegitimate child made it to the family tree. Can you tell me why it happened?"
Lord Zen stiffened. He looked at Su Wan who was waiting for a response and then pursed his lips. He looked around the meeting table and met with eager eyes that were waiting for his response. However, the response was nowhere in accordance with what these people who were waiting for him to respond!
He looked up at Su Wan who was smiling at him and then lowered his head before answering, "That man made my daughter sign a document that allowed him to take over the shop."
"It was the transfer agreement and my daughter pressed her thumb on it."
"Did she do it willingly?" Su Wan questioned Lord Zen who pressed his lips in a firm line. He looked at Su Wan who did not seem like she was going to let him off that easily and sighed before answering, "No. She couldn't read what was written on the document and her husband told her that it was a house lease.
My poor daughter believed her husband and pressed her thumb on that document which allowed her husband to steal her shops legally."
Lord Zen did not speak further but the men in the room seemed to have realized that Su Wan had investigated their family as well as them before holding this meeting. They all looked at one another and gulped heavily.
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Su Wan left the county magistrate's office and then rushed to the land where she was going to open the farm. Behind her was Lin Jing who had followed her to the county magistrate's office when he heard that Su Wan needed to attend a meeting.
Even though the Lin brothers knew that Su Wan was strong enough to handle everything on her own and even had her own shadow guards, they did not feel at ease leaving her alone with those old men who were more sneaky than the thieves who stole gold and silver from the houses of the rich.
"You didn't have to come with me," Su Wan told Lin Jing who followed her. "You could have gone to the site and watched the workers."
As he was not a member of the county magistrate, the guards did not let Lin Jing come inside the building. He could only stay at the small tea store that was right in front of the building that belonged to the county magistrate. However, the wait was not of a few minutes but hours and Su Wan did not want her husband to waste his time waiting for her.
Lin Jing smiled at her as he opened the umbrella to shield her away from the sunlight of the spring and said to her, "It's fine. I like waiting for you."
Hearing his response, Su Wan shook her head. She did not know what to say to this stubborn man.
The two of them walked down the stairs of the county magistrate's building as Su Wan relayed everything that happened at the meeting to Lin Jing who calmly listened to her.
As they stepped inside the carriage, the driver sitting on the stone slab at the side pavement rushed over and then jumped at the front before asking, "Where to Madam?"
"Take me to the farms. The ones that we purchased a few days ago."
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