Chapter 102: What Is the Meaning of This?
Editor: DarkGem
Wait? What do you mean?
Lord Lin furrowed his brows.
On the other side, the pitch-pot director was also showing his surprise. The attendant that entered had just whispered something into his ear.
"Really?" the director asked.
The attendant nodded.
"I don’t know what this means," he said quietly.
The director didn’t spare another glance for the attendant, rather looking at Fang Jinxiu.
"Miss Fang, please come deal with the final proceedings," he said, pointing at the attendant. "After that is over, they will send you back home."
The people on sight were again stunned. The director looked to Lord Lin.
"Lord, now we can go. Let us go together to the government office," he said with a smile.
We? What did that mean?
The surprise showed on the face of everyone present.
That meant he was saying he was going together, or accompanying Jun Zhenzhen, or that the Jinyun Hall would also be participating.
Lord Lin’s face slowly stiffened and ashened.
Ning Yunzhao’s entered to call halt, and the always silent and obedient director urged them to go.
One side says to stay, another side says to go. They were completely opposite words, but for Lord Lin, they represented the same meaning.
What do you mean by this?
Lord Lin was suddenly angry.
You to stop me from punishing this girl?
Do you know what evil has been done to my daughter by this girl?
You treat a father like me so, have you no humanity? You called me uncle, but still have no heart?
Lord Lin viciously glared at the pitch-pot director and Ning Yunzhao.
Besides anger, there was also surprise.
Why would they do such a thing?
Except for the angry Lord Lin, no one paid attention to the overlooked Xianglan kneeling to the side, her fright intensifying.
"Uncle, I don’t mean anything by it," Ning Yunzhao said humbly. "I am also very sad that such a thing has happened."
"Take your sadness out of the way," Lord Lin said, restraining his anger.
Although he wholeheartedly wanted to get along with the Ning Family, at this time anyone would sympathize with his anger as a father.
Ning Yunzhao stood there unmoving, seeming not to see that Lord Lin was angry and also was not looking at that girl.
But he knew that ever since he entered that room, this girl’s gaze had been fixated on him.
She was looking at him with such a serious, focused gaze, just like he had hoped since the Lantern Festival up till just moments before when he saw her in the Jinyun Hall.
But right now his heart was troubled, so much so that he was at a loss, unable to feel anything.
"It’s just that my little sister and some friends were here at the Jinyun Hall today," Ning Yunzhao said, "and saw the circumstances of your precious daughter."
Lord Lin had no desire at all to think of that scene. When Ning Yunzhao measured it, his breathing grew ragged.
"So let me clarify the matter now, so that everybody can rest well," he growled.
"Yes," Ning Yunzhao said. He turned to look at the pitch-pot director. Though he was a noble son to the pitch-pot director, he didn’t need to hold any of a junior’s modesty to him. "What was wrong with the tea? Who delivered the tea? Are all of the staff who come to this part of the park registered? Who is that man?"
He directly fired out a line of questions, incisive as his tone as well as being crucial points to the matter at hand.
After resolving the questions, the rocks will appear after the water recedes.
But Lord Lin was not inclined to feeling gracious. His eyes frosted over.
Of course, he also wanted to ask these questions.
But not here; preferably at the county office jail cell.
There it will be all black, no justice, surrounded by vicious prisoners, the walls hanging with blood stained torture devices.
There, no matter what he asked, he would obtain the answers he wanted.
But here it was not the same.
The crux of the problem was not what had happened here, but how to clean Lin Jin’er’s name.
Although no matter what happened her repute was already damaged, but voluntarily embracing a man was different from being set up by an evil person. It was the difference of hell and Heaven.
So he definitely would force the perpetrator’s name onto Jun Zhenzhen. She was the most suitable. She had come here together with Lin Jin’er and they had stayed together in the Jinyun Hall. Jun Zhenzhen’s name was also quite terrible.
But what now? The Jinyun Hall had finally let go of its hesitancy, and Ning Yunzhao suddenly jumps in?
Ning Yunzhao was not an ignorant idiot. Could it be he didn’t know about this argument?
What’s more, didn’t the Ning Family have beef with Jun Zhenzhen? Not throwing stones at somebody who fell down a well is already quite good.
Surprise floated across the pitch-pot director’s eyes. There was also mistrust in Miss Jun’s expression, making her eyes go wide; the space between her eyes wrinkled. She looked quite adorable.
She shouldn’t overthink this.
Ning Yunzhao felt a bit fidgety.
"If you don’t clear up these questions, the reputation of the girl in the Jinyun Hall will be hard to guarantee." His tone was neither impatient nor angry. "Could it be that your Jinyun Hall wants to play the fool?"
"Of course not," said the pitch-pot director, surprise raising his voice a notch. "Our Jinyun Hall does not dare hide anything. We will go and investigate."
His expression was alarmed, like he was a small restaurant being berated by a customer who swallowed a fly.
Lord Lin’s face was ashen.
"What do you mean by this?" he asked again. Though now with less shock and anger, and more calm.
Why do you want to protect this Jun Zhenzhen?
"Lord Lin, this noble son speaks the truth," the pitch-pot director said and looked at him, sweeping away the alarm from before. His expression was now calm, serene, and his back stiffened up as he radiated authority. "Our Jinyun Hall takes responsibility for itself, responsibility for its reputation that has been passed down for a century. We will definitely find out what happened; we won’t let March 3rd end in this generation."
Reputation?
What harm does a girl being harmed in your Jinyun Hall do to your reputation! What’s more, your Jinyun Hall has so many ways of breaking free from responsibility. There is no need for such concern on your part.
In other words, what does your Jinyun Hall have to be scared of, in terms of reputation damage.
A cold sneer filled Lord Lin’s face. The director turned around.
"Investigate the register," he told the attendant.
When the director spoke, Miss Jun moved her eyes away from Ning Yunzhao.
Though the director had backed off before, with Ning Yunzhao’s timely appearance, everything had returned to normal.
It’s like there was a fork in the middle of the road, and you walked the right one to your final destination.
"The register of those in the garden is here." There was an attendant in the room who pulled it out from his sleeve; he looked like he had prepared ahead of time. "Miss Lin sponsored Miss Jun. Miss Lin brought in one maid. Miss Jun brought in two girls and one woman. At a point, Miss Jun’s servant girl and maid had left, and then Miss Lin’s servant girl had left."
He seriously turned over the pages and examined the words.
"Afterwards, Miss Lin’s servant girl entered again."
After reading that, he closed the scrolls and offered it up.
"The two girls did not sponsor anyone else, let alone a man."
The pitch-pot director took the scroll and put it in front of Lord Lin.
"Please officially confront these two young misses," he said.
Lord Lin looked at the proffered scroll.
"Since you want a court confrontation, we can have one at the county office," he said firmly.
"This kind of thing easily breeds gossip, so it’s better to decide it well. In case it leaks and you have to give an explanation, the citizens will be suspicious," the director answered equally firmly. Without waiting for Lord Lin to speak, he turned back to the attendant. "Investigate Section 1, room 19 and Section 4, room 7 for their drinks."
"Section 1, room 19 and section 4, room 7 were reserved by Miss Lin. They took two pots of tea in total. One pot was green tea that the attendants delivered personally. The other pot was of flower tea, retrieved by the servants. Two servant girls went to get the tea, but only one returned with it."
When the attendant said this, Fang Jinxiu interrupted.
"I was the one who called that servant girl away, so only Miss Lin's maid Xianglan brought the tea back," she said, looking at the prostrate Xianglan. She snorted.
Perhaps it was because of his intense fury, but at this girl's snort, Lord Lin was unable to tamp down on his anger.
"What are you snorting for?" he shouted out. "What do you mean by that?"
"I'm not trying to say anything, it's just a sound," Fang Jinxiu replied. Perhaps it was because her hand was being gripped tightly, but she swelled with confidence, daring to speak to a bureaucrat in such a manner.
When she thought this, she forcefully shook off Jun Zhenzhen's hand.
"It's fine, don't just run around willy-nilly."
Jun Zhenzhen did not try to take her hand again.
Was she a child who didn't understand anything? Fang Jinxiu stared. What was she calling fine? Didn't something just happen?
The attendant continued.
"...both young misses drank the tea until it was all consumed. There were snacks there, but they have already been examined; the examination showed no problems… Section 4, room 7 had only tea and no snacks. The tea was also flower tea, and the attendant personally delivered it there and can confirm."
The director looked at Lord Lin.
"Lord Lin, there were no problems with our food and drink," he said.
Lord Lin laughed coldly.
"So reality is how you say it?" he asked.
The director smiled.
"Of course not, that's why I requested a formal court confrontation," he said. He turned to Xianglan. "This girl, you said the tea was drugged. Were you referring to the first pot of tea or the tea you went to fetch?"
‘What is the meaning of this?’
Lord Lin was enraged again, but this time he didn't shout out his question. The pitch-pot director furrowed his brows, his gaze sharp.
"Lord Lin, I have no intention of targeting you. Since you do not believe our Jinyun Hall's investigation as well as the testimony of a medicinal specialist, then we must use witness testimony," he said. "The stories about what happen have all been muddled, and this girl said herself without prompting that the tea was drugged to hurt Miss Lin. Obviously she must be privy to some kind of information, so I definitely must question it."
HIs gaze swept over all the people present.
"This happened at our Jinyun Hall, and definitely was not an accident, rather a well thought out plan."
Well-thought out, because naturally no one dared to provoke the backers behind the Jinyun Hall. It would be like using their Jinyun Hall as a tool.
"I definitely want to know, who planned to do such a thing in our Jinyun Hall."
No one would be happy to be plotted against. Rather, they would be angry. And this time, it was the Jinyun Hall.
The Jinyun Hall was angry.
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