"Brother, do you want to leave some room? After all, her surname is Xie, and I heard she is a Qi practitioner with great potential."
"Room? Second brother, since you have entered the game of Dragon City, you have tacitly accepted that everything must be played according to the rules. Regardless of the princes, generals, ministers, and nobles, no one can think of staying out of it. They all have to wallow in the mud. .
"Our Liu family is like this, the new county magistrate is like this, and the Xie family's prodigy daughter is like this. Doesn't the Xie family's great scholar not know what is going on here, why didn't he still leave his daughter in the Su family? Besides, letting the Qi practitioners enter, on the contrary It is the biggest lack of attention, so what else should we pay attention to?
"No matter how expensive the Xie family is, can they be more expensive than the powerful Wei family? Even the Wei family was tricked by their Baogan faction and accidentally let in a wolf disguised as a white rabbit. She still had to swallow her anger and acquiesce to the rules, let alone Xie Family?
"Second brother, since the Liu family has joined forces, don't worry about whether the knife is dirty or not. The dirtier the knife, the easier it will be and the Wei family will be more reluctant to throw it away."
"But brother, a dirty knife will always be thrown away one day."
"It's okay, as long as that thing can be born, as long as it exists, no matter how dirty the knife is, it can be washed clean, and there may even be a chance for our Liu family to get rid of the shackles of Longcheng, Jiangzhou and even Jiangnan Road, and be promoted to the two capitals in the pass. Become another Luoyang upstart!"
The atmosphere was silent for a while.
The voice belonging to Liu Zian hesitated for a moment:
"Then...they probably don't know what we are doing to help the Wei family, right?"
"If we had known, things would not be as peaceful as they are now. The first ones to come to our door would probably be the ladies from Yunmeng Jianze.
"In the eyes of the imperial court, the most important thing in this small southern Longcheng County is the family living in Luming Street. Everyone thought that the main battlefield of the Liwei War was in Luoyang and Chang'an, but little did they know. This is the possible winner..."
The voice belonging to a certain young family leader paused and sighed:
"Second brother, the merit of following the dragon is not small. After preparing for so many years, we will see if we can seize this incredible wealth."
"I... understand. Then let the third brother go tomorrow. We really can't wait any longer. If our Liu family doesn't fight back and endures any longer, there will be no more than three hundred taels of silver in this place."
"That's right, there's also Ouyang Lianghan. Let's see if this is a dog that protects sheep, or a wolf that snatches meat!"
…
Luming Street.
The streets were surrounded and crowded with people.
There are several wealthy people's residences along the street, with red walls and blue tiles. From time to time, there are young ladies from high families and deep boudoirs, and the maids poke their heads out to look around curiously.
On the busy and crowded street, there was a large open space at the entrance of the county government office, and the focus of the entire audience fell here at this moment.
In addition to the young county magistrate, the Longcheng County Magistrate, the Chief Registrar, and the County Lieutenant all arrived one after another to sit and listen.
The detective scribes who were sent out before also returned one by one.
"Hu Ji Yingniang has been brought back to the Ming Mansion. I found her in a guest house in the Su Mansion."
"Mingfu, the agent Luo Er, and the owner of Yuanming House, Boss Zhu, have brought him."
Ouyang Rong glanced at the familiar Hu Ji and looked at the latter two.
Luo Er is a plump young man, wearing a futou and a round robe, with a timid face;
Boss Zhu is a middle-aged man with some Confucian temperament. Ouyang Rong had dealt with him once before when he held a fundraising banquet. Yuanming Building is mainly run by this Boss Zhu, but it also has shares from several other wealthy businessmen including the Liu family.
.
The three of them entered the venue, knelt down and saluted in the open space between Xie Lingjiang and Liu Zilin.
Ouyang Rong slapped the table, and after the audience was silent, he spoke:
"Are you Luo Er?"
"Greetings, sir. I am the second eldest son in my family. Everyone calls me Luo Er."
"Did you buy Hu Ji Yingniang in Yuanming Building from Boss Zhu?"
"Sir, I was entrusted by a nobleman to buy Yingniang with a luminous pearl a few days ago. Boss Zhu and the adults in the city can testify." The plump young man said respectfully.
"Lord County Magistrate, Ying Niang was indeed bought by Luo Er a few days ago. The market bond contract and the trading orbs are all here." Boss Zhu nodded and took out something from his arms.
"Bring it up."
"yes."
Yan Liulang took it and presented it to the public case table. The young county magistrate looked down and handed it to the old city magistrate to confirm the authenticity, and then said loudly:
"Luo Er, I'll give you the pearl. Who is the noble person who asked me to go to Yuanming Tower to redeem the person? Is he here? You must tell the truth and not hide anything. In the court, every word is evidence."
The young county magistrate had a cold and serious face.
"Yes, here." Luo Er nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.
Then the plump young man looked timidly at Xie and Liu, who were standing on either side.
Liu Zilin looked up at the sky with his hands behind his back.
Xie Lingjiang turned her head and frowned at the familiar plump young man. That day, the plump young man took Ying Niang and Boss Zhu to the city to redeem people, and she was watching from a short distance away. Later, she was also the first to check the market bond contract.
.
The atmosphere fell into silence, as if the whole audience was waiting with bated breath.
Luo Er looked at Xie Lingjiang and pointed at her whose expression suddenly softened.
The plump young man nodded and said firmly:
"Lord County Magistrate, I remember her. She was the one who snatched Master Liu's Hu Ji yesterday. I went to Yuanming House to redeem the girl for Master Liu. I completed the transfer procedures yesterday evening and just walked out of the city magistrate's office.
It was snatched away by this thief."
The whole place was noisy.
The grain merchants and squires who were watching looked at each other with different expressions.
The sound waves on the field came in waves from one end of the street to the other, as if they had substance, causing Xie Lingjiang's delicate body to sway slightly, as if he was unstable.
Liu Zilin smiled and glanced at a young county magistrate in front of him, only to see the latter staring at the public case document without saying a word.
Bang!
Another shock.
"quiet!"
Ouyang Rong raised his eyes and continued to ask seriously:
"Yingniang, you are the person involved. The laws of Dazhou indeed stipulate that slaves are hermits and cannot sue their masters. However, Luo Er is no longer your master. I only want to ask you, is what Luo Er said true? You
Was he forcibly taken away?"
Yingniang knelt on the ground, raised her head timidly, her face showed some fear, and looked at Liu Zilin in front of her, who had his back to her, and Xie Lingjiang, who looked back at her intently.
The latter's eyes held some hope and encouragement.
Ying Niang sighed, her face hesitated for a long time, she lowered her head, knocked her forehead heavily on the ground, and murmured: "No... I don't know, I don't know..."
Bang!
Ouyang Rong frowned and stood up, slamming the table, "Do you know or don't you know? How can there be so much hesitation in the court?"
Yingniang trembled with fright, and then she caught a glimpse of Liu Zilin in front of her, who seemed to be about to turn around. She quickly howled, wiped away her tears and whimpered:
"You're right, Luo Er is right, Nu... Nu's family was robbed by others, by... by her, it was her who robbed her. The Nu's didn't want to go, so she robbed the Lanu's! Your Majesty the County Magistrate
You have to make the decision for me!"
The noise in the street suddenly couldn't be suppressed again.
The onlookers were whispering among themselves.
But a certain Xie girl could no longer hear this. At this time, there was only white noise in her ears, and she suddenly felt that the whole world was much quieter.
This game...that's how it is...
She no longer has the shame to see her senior brother.
Xie Lingjiang turned his back to Ouyang Rong, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. It was not enough. He took another deep breath...and took another deep breath...
She opened her slightly red eyes, held her chin high, and looked at Hu Ji who was kneeling on the ground crying bitterly. She stated sentence by sentence:
"Weaving Ying.
"It was you who cried to me that you were being bullied with cold eyes all day long, and you were worried about the Liu family's revenge.
"It was you who came up with the idea to have someone buy it for you first and then redeem it to avoid the attention of the Liu family.
"It was you who recommended me the intermediary Luo Er and asked me to trust him with the only valuables I had left.
"It was you who asked me to pick you up at the City Commander's Office in the evening. You said that Luo Er had revoked your selling contract and you were free and could come with me..."
Miss Xie, who had been deceived from beginning to end, nodded calmly:
"I was wrong. I was indeed wrong. My mistake was... I firmly believed that everyone has a conscience."
The next second she suddenly turned around and shouted to the audience:
"But I didn't steal anything! Because a person without conscience and shame is worthless, not even a thing!"
She was just stupid and took it back.
The whole audience was stunned.
A certain Hu Ji who was lying on the ground trembled all over.
Behind the public case table, a young county magistrate silently stared at the delicate back below.
In fact, he doesn't have much anger anymore, this is the junior sister.