Chapter 64: 65. A Thief Has Appeared Among Us! (Part 1)

65. A Thief Has Appeared Among Us! (Part 1)

"Eldest Brother, should we leave some room for maneuver? After all, she is surnamed Xie, and I heard she is a Qi refiner with no small potential."

"Room for maneuver? Second Brother, since we have entered this game in Longcheng, it is tacitly agreed that everything is played by the rules. Regardless of whether they are princes, nobles, or royal relatives, no one can stay out of it; everyone has to fall into the mud and roll."

"Our Liu family is like this, the new Magistrate is like this, and the Xie clan's proud daughter is also like this. Doesn't that great Confucian of the Xie clan know the situation here? He still left his daughter in the Su mansion. Besides, letting a Qi refiner enter the game is the most unrefined thing of all, so what else do we have to be refined about?"

"No matter how noble the Xie clan is, can they be more noble than the ruling Wei clan? Even the Wei clan was tricked by their 'Protecting the Dry' faction and mistakenly let a wolf disguised as a little white rabbit in, and they have to swallow their anger and accept the rules, let alone the Xie clan?"

"Second Brother, since the Liu family has already taken a side, don't worry about whether the knife is dirty. The dirtier it is, the smoother it works, and the Wei clan will be even more reluctant to throw it away."

"But Eldest Brother, a dirty knife will always have a day when it is thrown away by others."

"It doesn't matter. As long as that object can be unearthed, as long as it exists, even the dirtiest knife can be washed clean. We might even have a chance to let our Liu family break free from the shackles of Longcheng, Jiangzhou, and even the Jiang Nan Circuit, and rise into the two capitals within the pass to become another new noble family in Luoyang!"

The atmosphere was silent for a while.

The voice belonging to Liu Zi'an hesitated for a moment:

"Then... they shouldn't know what we are helping the Wei clan do, right?"

"If they knew, it wouldn't be this calm. The first to come to our door would probably be those female lords from the Yunmeng Sword Swamp."

"In the eyes of the court officials, the most important thing about this small Longcheng County in the south is nothing more than the family living on Luming Street. Everyone thinks the main battlefield of the Li-Wei struggle is in Luoyang and Chang'an, but little do they know, this potential decisive move..."

This voice belonging to a certain young family head paused, then sighed:

"Second Brother, the merit of following the dragon is not small. After preparing for so many years, this heaven-splashing wealth depends on whether we can grasp it."

"I... understand. Then let Third Brother go tomorrow. We really can't wait any longer. If our Liu family doesn't fight back and continues to endure, it would be like 'there is no silver three hundred taels here'."

"That's right, and this Ouyang Lianghan, let's see if he is a dog protecting the sheep or a wolf snatching the meat!"

Luming Street.

Both ends of the street were packed, with people surging.

From the red walls and green tiles of several wealthy mansions along the street, young ladies and maids from high-ranking families occasionally poked their heads out to watch curiously.

On the bustling and crowded street, the area in front of the county government office was left empty, and the focus of the whole scene fell here at this moment.

Besides the young Magistrate, the Longcheng County Assistant, Registrar, and County Lieutenant all arrived one after another to sit and observe.

The constables and clerks who had been sent out also returned one by one with people.

"Magistrate, the Hu girl Yingniang has been brought back. Your subordinate found her in a guest courtyard of the Su mansion."

"Magistrate, the intermediary Luo Er and the owner of the Yuanming Tower, Boss Zhu, have been brought."

Ouyang Rong's gaze swept over the Hu girl, whom he was quite familiar with, and looked at the latter two.

Luo Er was a flabby young man, wearing a headscarf and a round robe, looking timid.

Boss Zhu was a middle-aged man with the temperament of a Confucian merchant. Ouyang Rong had dealt with him once when he held a fundraising banquet. The Yuanming Tower was mainly operated by this Boss Zhu, but it also had shares from other wealthy merchants, including the Liu family.

The three entered and knelt to salute in the open space between Xie Lingjiang and Liu Zilin.

Ouyang Rong struck the gavel to silence the whole scene, then opened his mouth:

"Are you Luo Er?"

"Greetings, Magistrate. My family ranks second, so everyone calls me Luo Er."

"Did you buy the Hu girl Yingniang from the Yuanming Tower from Boss Zhu?"

"Reporting to the Magistrate, a few days ago, the small one was entrusted by a noble person to buy Yingniang with a night pearl. Boss Zhu and the officials of the Market Official's Office can testify." The flabby young man said respectfully.

"Magistrate, Yingniang was indeed bought by this Luo Er a few days ago. The market voucher contract and the traded pearl are all here." Boss Zhu nodded and took the items out of his bosom.

"Bring them up."

"Yes."

Yan Liulang took them and presented them to the official desk. The young Magistrate lowered his head and took a look, then handed them to the elderly market official to confirm their authenticity, before saying loudly to the people below:

"Luo Er, who is the noble person who gave you the pearl and entrusted you to redeem the person at the Yuanming Tower? Is he here? You must tell the truth and not have the slightest concealment. In court, every word is evidence."

The young Magistrate's face was cold and serious.

"He is, he is here." Luo Er nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

Then, the flabby young man timidly looked at Xie and Liu, who were standing on the left and right.

Liu Zilin stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the sky.

Xie Lingjiang turned her head and frowned at the familiar flabby young man. That day, the flabby young man took Yingniang and Boss Zhu to the Market Official's Office to redeem her, and she watched from not far away. Later, she was also the first to check the market voucher contract.

The atmosphere fell into silence, as if the whole scene was holding its breath and waiting.

Luo Er looked at Xie Lingjiang and pointed at her, whose face had instantly eased.

The flabby young man nodded firmly and said:

"Magistrate, I remember her. It was she who snatched Master Liu's Hu girl yesterday. I was acting on behalf of Master Liu to redeem the person at the Yuanming Tower. Yesterday evening, after completing the transfer procedures and just after walking out of the Market Official's Office, she snatched her away."

The whole scene was in an uproar.

The grain merchants and local gentry watching looked at each other, their expressions different.

The sound waves on the scene came wave after wave from one end of the street to the other, as if they were substantial, making Xie Lingjiang, who was standing in place, sway slightly, as if unsteady.

Liu Zilin smiled and glanced at the young Magistrate in front, only to see the latter looking down at the official documents without speaking.

*Bang! *

Another strike of the gavel.

"Silence!"

Ouyang Rong raised his eyes and continued to ask seriously:

"Yingniang, you are the person involved. The Great Zhou law does indeed have a provision that a slave should hide for the master and cannot accuse the master, but Luo Er is no longer your master. This official only asks you, is what Luo Er said true? Were you really snatched away by force?"

Yingniang knelt on the ground, raised her head timidly, her face showing some fear. She looked at Liu Zilin, who was standing with his back to her, and Xie Lingjiang, who was staring at her without blinking.

The latter's eyes contained some hope and encouragement.

Yingniang opened her mouth, hesitated for a good while, lowered her head, and knocked her forehead heavily on the ground, murmuring: "I... I don't know, I don't know..."

*Bang! *

Ouyang Rong frowned and stood up, striking the table heavily. "Do you know or not! How can there be so much stammering and child's play in court?"

Yingniang trembled all over. At this moment, she caught a glimpse of Liu Zilin in front as if he wanted to turn around. She hurriedly wailed, wiped her tears, and sobbed:

"What he said is right, Luo Er is right. I... I was snatched away, snatched away by her, it was her! I didn't want to go, but she insisted on snatching and pulling me away! Magistrate, you must uphold justice for me!"

The sound waves on the street instantly became uncontrollable again.

The onlookers whispered to each other.

But the Xie clan young lady couldn't hear these anymore. At this moment, there was only white noise in her ears, and she suddenly felt that the whole world had become much quieter.

This trap... so that's how it is...

She no longer had the face to look at her Senior Brother.

Xie Lingjiang stood with her back to Ouyang Rong, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath. It wasn't enough, she took another deep breath... and another...

She opened her slightly red eyes, held her chin high, and looked down at the Hu girl who was kneeling and crying. She stated sentence by sentence:

"Zhiying."

"It was you who cried to me that you were bullied and looked down upon all day, and were worried about the Liu family's revenge."

"It was you who came up with the idea to have someone redeem you first to avoid the Liu family's attention."

"It was you who recommended the intermediary Luo Er to me, letting me trust him with the only valuable item I had left."

"It was also you who told me to go to the Market Official's Office in the evening to pick you up, saying that you had already had the deed of sale canceled by Luo Er and were a free person who could leave with me..."

The Xie clan young lady, who had been deceived from beginning to end, nodded calmly:

"I was wrong, truly wrong. Wrong in... actually believing that everyone has a conscience."

In the next second, she turned around abruptly and shouted to the whole scene:

"But I didn't steal or snatch anything! Because people without conscience and shame are worthless, they don't even count as things!"

She was just stupid and had picked her up.

The whole scene was shocked.

The Hu girl who was prostrate on the ground trembled all over.

Behind the official desk, the young Magistrate silently stared at the slender back below.

He actually didn't have much anger left; this was his junior sister after all.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 65 =====