In Chengde Ward, at the county magistrate's office, in the second hall, the county magistrate, Gao Jing, watched expressionlessly as the fur merchant, Lu, wept bitterly before him.
"...Although I have received at least a thousand furs, how could I have known that a scholar could be so deceitful! My poor family has a seventy-year-old mother and a three-year-old child. Our daily income is meager, barely enough to support our family. A month's earnings are all tied up in this one fur. Now, how dare I accept this fur? Losing it is one thing, but the lives of my entire family are a terrible pity! I beg Your Excellency, Magistrate, to spare them!"
Hearing this, Gao Jing didn't bother to expose him, but instead smiled and asked, "How does it concern the lives of your entire family?" "What
