The Pei family declared Jiang Mingtang a “deceased wife,” then seized her dowry and her mother's old seal. On the day her former husband married the noble daughter of the Xie family, she walked into the wedding hall clutching an old wooden box and reported them to the authorities, presenting her marriage register and death contract as evidence. Everyone thought she was just a discarded wife making a scene at the wedding. But once the official marriage register was opened, it became clear that the Pei family had erased a living person from the records, forged official documents, and embezzled her dowry. The deeper the case went, the more layers of corruption came to light: the Xie family, the clan elders, the Western Storehouse, and an old official seal. Others used marriage papers to trap her. She used official records to investigate until every last culprit was dead.
