She mistakenly got into the bridal sedan chair and married a sickly but powerful minister, becoming

Chapter 361 Deceiving the Superiors and Concealing the Truth

When Madam Lin entered the palace, she knew that Prince Qi had evidence in his possession; otherwise, he would not have rashly exposed her.

When she saw the evidence presented to her, a chill ran through her.

She forced herself to remain calm and picked up the two account books beside her knees.

The first ledger records in detail the tea permits that the Lin family's tea shop has obtained in recent years.

The second ledger records the weight of tea sold by the Lin family's tea shop.

The weight of tea sold by the Lin family's tea shop was twice that of the tea vouchers.

Madam Lin was shocked by Prince Qi's extraordinary abilities. He had thoroughly investigated the tea shop, and the amount of tea sold matched the amount found.

"How could this be..." Old Madam Lin pretended to be incredulous and flipped through the account book again, seemingly unable to accept this so-called evidence: "Your Highness, the tea shop is owned by the Lin family, but from beginning to end, we have never interfered in its operation. It has all been managed by the manager alone."

“The shopkeeper brings the account books to report every month. The tea sold in the shop has never exceeded the weight of the tea permit.” Madam Lin held up the two account books in her hand, her tone full of doubt: “The account books you gave me are different from the account books I see every month.”

Madam Lin distanced herself from the situation, implying that the tea shop's accounts were problematic. Either the shopkeeper had falsified the accounts to deceive her, or Prince Qi had fabricated false accounts to frame her.

King Qi sneered and took out another account book: "This is the Lin family's tea shop's income details for the entire year last year, as well as the 10% bonus given to the manager."

Old Madam Lin snatched the account book and flipped through it, trembling with anger: "Fake! All fake! Am I getting senile?"

"No matter how good the tea shop's business is, I'll only give the shopkeeper a 1% commission at most. How could I give him a 10% commission? I'm in business, not doing charity. It's ridiculous."

Madam Lin countered, "Your Highness, if it were you, would you take another ten percent of the silver you already have and give it to the steward?"

King Qi's face darkened; no normal person would do such a thing.

When it was first discovered that Madam Lin gave the shopkeeper a 10% commission, he initially thought it was a mistake.

After checking again, it was confirmed that Madam Lin did indeed give the shopkeeper a 10% bonus, and she did so for three consecutive years.

King Qi was puzzled, not understanding why Madam Lin would give the shopkeeper such a high bonus.

In the end, it was assumed that Old Madam Lin had bribed the shopkeeper to prevent him from developing any disloyalty and exposing the Lin family's illegal tea business.

Only now did he realize the truth. The high bonuses that Old Madam Lin gave to the shopkeeper were not only intended to win people's hearts, but also to shift the blame when things went wrong.

“I risked my life to sell smuggled tea, which shows that I am a greedy person. Not deducting money from my subordinates is already extremely benevolent. Why would I give so much silver to a mere manager?”

Madam Lin said to the Emperor of Northern Qi, "Your Majesty, you have shown great favor to the Lin family by sending them extra tea permits every year. I am extremely grateful and would never be greedy enough to engage in the business of selling private tea."

“A terrible thing has happened to the Lin family. I am heartbroken and have no energy to manage the shop. The manager is an elder of the Lin family. He is always reliable and loyal to me. Whatever he says goes. I have never doubted his loyalty.”

"Who would have thought... Your Highness accused me of selling smuggled tea, and even produced so much evidence. I... I knew absolutely nothing about it."

Madam Lin knelt on the ground and cried out, "I am innocent! Your Majesty, please investigate thoroughly and clear my name!"

The Northern Qi Emperor frowned deeply. The Lin family had recently encountered a series of misfortunes, and those who had originally sided with the Prince Xian had not wavered in their stance. After the Jiang family broke off their engagement, they began to lean towards the Prince of Qi and were even contacting Zhao Yi.

This was not what he wanted. In order to consolidate the position of the wise king, he specially praised the wise king during the morning court session and even entrusted some political affairs to the wise king.

Little did they know that the King of Qi would expose the Lin family's crime of selling smuggled tea. This smuggled tea was not only sold to high-ranking officials and nobles in Northern Qi, but also to foreign countries.

According to the laws of the Northern Qi Dynasty, anyone who sold smuggled tea out of the country would be punished for the crime of treason.

If the Lin family is convicted, then the entire Lin family must be executed.

The Northern Qi emperor was caught in a dilemma and harbored resentment towards the Prince of Qi.

When the Northern Qi Emperor saw the evidence but still did not punish the Lin family, the King of Qi already understood that the Northern Qi Emperor wanted to protect the Lin family.

This realization gave him a strong sense of crisis, making him increasingly determined to crush the Lin family and prevent them from ever recovering.

Before the Northern Qi Emperor could speak, he continued, "Father, fearing I might have misunderstood the Lin family, I specifically investigated the tea shop's regular customers and learned the price of each type of tea. From these prices, I deduced that the Lin family was selling smuggled tea."

"Old Madam Lin kept saying that she had never interfered in the business of the shop and that it was all up to the manager. Without the master's permission, a mere steward would not have had the ability to transport the smuggled tea to foreign lands for sale."

"After all, under the rule of the Emperor, the officials of Northern Qi dared not slacken their efforts in the slightest. In particular, the outposts and passes in various places were never neglected. Only in special circumstances did they have to submit for the sake of their lives and families and do things that deceived their superiors."

The Northern Qi Emperor understood the meaning behind the King of Qi's words: the steward had the audacity to sell smuggled tea because he was instructed by Madam Lin.

The checkpoints and passes responsible for inspecting the tea were allowed to allow the Lin family to sell smuggled tea because they were pressured by the Lin family.

Madam Lin grew anxious and quickly said, "I gave the steward the authority to manage the shop; buying tea and other supplies were all entrusted to him. If he harbored ill intentions, he could easily use the Lin family's name to commit crimes outside. Besides..."

She changed the subject: "How much silver the tea shop sold is a private account, known only to me and the shopkeeper. Your Highness knows how much silver my tea shop sold in its accounts, could it be that the shopkeeper told you?"

At this point, Old Madam Lin said with a chill in her heart, "I treated the shopkeeper very well, like family. He actually took advantage of my trust and betrayed me. He used the Lin family's name to sell smuggled tea outside, and even colluded with outsiders to frame me and convict me."

These words directly point out that the shopkeeper had been bribed by the Prince of Qi to frame her for selling smuggled tea.

The King of Qi's expression suddenly changed, and he said sternly, "I know how much silver you sold your tea for, because I followed the clues and found out another unspeakable matter about the Lin family."

He pulled a letter from his sleeve and threw it directly at Old Madam Lin.

The envelope grazed Old Madam Lin's face, leaving a thin trail of blood, before falling into her arms.

Facing the imposing Prince Qi, Old Madam Lin felt her heart pounding, fearing that the evidence he would present would leave her speechless.

Her hand holding the letter trembled uncontrollably as she shakily pulled out a slip of paper from the envelope.

After seeing the list, Madam Lin looked as if she had seen something terrifying, and her face showed horror.