Shrewd wife of Lin brothers

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.

"Lord Meng," Su Wan turned her attention to the man sitting three chairs away from Lord Zen and questioned him, "Two months ago, the daughter of your concubine went missing at the house of her in-laws and when they returned her, she was no longer breathing. Is this true?"

Lord Meng stiffened. He did not think that Su Wan would bring such a matter up in the meeting, he clenched his fingers and responded, "That's true. They said that she was having an affair and was caught. So she killed herself by drowning herself in the pond."

"Is it the truth?" Su Wan pressed and Lord Meng banged on the table as he turned his head to look at Su Wan.

"How can that be true? My daughter was someone who wouldn't even dare to raise her voice much less her eyes and that too at another man," Lord Meng snapped at Su Wan harshly. He couldn't believe that Su Wan was even asking such a thing when the truth was right in front of her. "Those people lied.

They were aware to take responsibility which was why they embarrassed my daughter and sent her corpse back. The truth was that it was her husband who was enchanted by the words of that concubine he took in."

"He used to beat my daughter whenever he was angry, it was during that beating that my daughter died and that family pushed the blame on my daughter."

"Is that right," Su Wan arched a brow as Lord Meng scoffed and remarked, "Of course it is the truth! None of my daughters would ever do something that would bring shame to my name."

Su Wan curled her lips as she tilted her head to the side and then questioned, "If your daughter was educated and could do the very same thing that I did, do you think she would have died?"

Lord Meng choked on his saliva when he heard Su Wan's words but at the same time, he couldn't help but silently agree to what she had said to him. If his daughter was educated and knew how to take care of her business then would she have stayed quiet and let that man kill her slowly?

No, she would have left his house as she knew that she wouldn't become a burden on their shoulders.

"You see? The reason you are against this proposal… is not because you want to carry on with your so-called legacy and rules that were handed to you. The reason you want women to be uneducated is because you want to make sure that you will be able to suppress them just as your sons-in-law suppress your daughters," Su Wan said to the men in a stern voice.

She stood up from the chair on which she was sitting and questioned the men in a heavy voice, "No matter how less you care about your daughters, in the end, they are your flesh and blood. Whether it's for your reputation or your love for your family, sit down and think whether your objection to this proposal makes any sense."

She walked out of the meeting room. However as she reached the threshold, she turned to look at the men and remarked with a cheeky voice, "And if men were that good. Why couldn't you do what I did in just a few months?"

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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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