You sell swords, I go crazy, I am a father in Shengjing

Under the silent gaze of Qi Xiao and Feng Xi, the entire Qushui Lane was like water splashed in hot oil, and all kinds of begging for mercy, arguing and crying out for grievances echoed non-stop.

"It's unfair! Master, how dare we, the common people, do that? There must be some misunderstanding here!"

"That's right, you ask Miss Xie to come out and speak. She knows us, and we are very honest!"

"Please, sir, we are not like those villains."

……

However, no matter how they begged for mercy and cried out for justice, the master and his servants acted as if they couldn't hear them and that all they had to do was follow them.

Moreover, those who were ordered to search their house actually found a lot of silver ingots, and put them on a plate in front of the lawyer.

Seeing these silver ingots, many people outside Qushui Lane were shocked. Even those who lived farther away from the Xie family in Qushui Lane couldn't help but gasp.

There were two plates full of silver ingots, each weighing ten taels. How could ordinary people like them ever see such things?

Thinking back to yesterday's farce and what the lawyer said when he entered the alley just now, those who had not been to Xie's house yesterday could not help but have some bad guesses in their hearts.

Could it be that these people were blinded by money after entering the mansion, so they deliberately spread rumors to slander Miss Wanyin in order to threaten others not to recover the money?

After all, in this era, a woman's reputation is still extremely important, and noble ladies are taught that losing one's life is a minor matter, while losing one's chastity is a major one...

If someone weaker and more conservative were threatened like this, they might really swallow their anger.

"As a person, you have to be down-to-earth. Look at what happens when you have ill intentions!"

Some adults even pulled their children’s hands and pointed at the people from Qushui Lane who were arrested and gave them a lecture.

Soon, the group returned to the government office under the leadership of the legal advisor. Since the matter involved the Xie family, ordinary people could not listen and point fingers at the matter.

Therefore, the hall is not open to the public today, and others cannot watch the fun even if they want to.

"Tell me, why did you steal the Xie family's money and slander Miss Xie by saying that she had an affair with a man?"

Prefect Feng was sitting upright in his official robe, and when he raised his eyebrows, it was as if the sky was clear and the mirror was hanging high in the sky.

At present, the lawyer has taken people to the residence of the matchmaker and others. He doesn't want to waste time, so naturally he will pry open the mouths of some people first.

"Sir, it's unfair. We didn't steal the money from the Xie family. It was Miss Xie who ordered someone to deliver the money to us!"

"Yes, sir, it was their people who came to visit us late at night, so we accepted the silver. How could we dare to do that?"

The gavel slammed hard, and Magistrate Feng said sternly:

"What's the fuss about?"

Seeing that the people had quieted down, he turned to look at the new steward of the Xie family.

That’s right, the butler standing here today is not the same one from yesterday, but a middle-aged man with a strong aura, who is obviously a martial artist at first glance.

Xie Wanyin was not a fool. The reason why Yunxiang and her son were able to succeed the night before was because her yard seemed to be independent and no one came to disturb them.

Logically speaking, as a housekeeper, shouldn't he come and ask after seeing that she has been entertaining the guests for such a long time?
But the housekeeper didn't.

Even if he could say that it was because she, Xie Wanyin, liked quietness and therefore did not dare to enter without permission, it was enough to prove his dereliction of duty.

Regardless of whether this person is loyal to her, at least he doesn't care.

However, she was short of manpower and was afraid of making a wrong judgment, so she did not punish the other party. She only let him do odd jobs in the mansion temporarily, and gave the position of housekeeper to her true confidant.

Therefore, Steward Wang opened his mouth and said with full energy:

"That's nonsense! Sir, please call the other people in Qushui Lane to see if they have seen our people walk into their homes!"

As Butler Wang said this, the faces of the people from Qushui Lane kneeling below turned pale.

As Magistrate Feng was well prepared, he quickly summoned several neighbors to the court, and they all said that they had never seen it.

They really had no intention of lying and were telling the truth.

Some of them were relatives of the "suspects", but they could only shake their heads helplessly, indicating that they had not seen them.

Because the officers on both sides were holding sticks and staring at them fiercely, and Prefect Feng even said bluntly that anyone who dared to lie would be beaten with a stick, so they were beaten forcing them to tell the truth.

You have to know that the severity of the beatings always depends on the people who beat them. Even if only ten beatings fall on them, as long as the officers want, they can make them lie in bed for the rest of their lives.

And those people who had just been complaining were not surprised at what the neighbors said.

Because the people who came to their house last night to deliver money said that the Xie family did not want to make the matter public, so they came to visit late at night.

Similarly, whether they came or left, they never walked through the front door of their house.

So it’s not that the neighbors didn’t want to help, it’s just that it’s impossible for them to see it.

After receiving this result, Prefect Feng said calmly:
"This is the fact. Do you have anything else to say?"

At present, Prefect Feng actually has no idea what happened to the Xie family. How many officials who can reach his position are fools?

He definitely isn't.

So even though he could clearly find out the truth by just looking it up, he still chose to play deaf and dumb. He thought that not knowing meant it didn't matter, and things wouldn't come to him later.

Anyway, his niece said that these people stole her money and threatened her by slandering her reputation, so he just had to judge according to this.

Seeing the common people below hesitating and hesitating, with anger and resentment clearly in their eyes, Prefect Feng couldn't help but speak out:
"That's true. If you acknowledge it earlier, you will only be punished with ten lashes and several months of corvée. But if you refuse to acknowledge it, I won't be so easy to deal with."

Everyone in Qushui Lane looked at each other, and the grievances in their eyes were about to turn into reality.

But as the saying goes, the people should not fight against the officials. They just saw the excitement of the big shots yesterday, and now they are getting their retribution today.

If they continue to speak out the truth now, the other party might accuse them of something else.

It’s just that they saw Miss Yin helping the Su family that night and thought she was a good person.

But now that she has colluded with people like Yunxiang and had an affair with a playboy like Su Hua, what's so surprising about her framing them?

What can these little people do?
You just have to swallow your anger and admit the crime of stealing and spreading rumors.

However, just as they were about to kowtow and confess their guilt under the leadership of the leading old man, an officer with a pale face ran in from outside the hall.

"My Lord, my Lord, something bad has happened in Anping Lane..."

Hearing this, Feng Xi and Qi Xiao looked at each other and understood everything. The person behind this incident clearly wanted to harm Xie Wanyin. Now that Xie Wanyin had been captured by Su Hua, how could the other party let the follow-up incident go away?
So this plan must be linked together.

The common people here couldn't stand the oppression of the government office, so it was natural for them to "plead guilty and accept the punishment", but what about the matchmaker who was with Yunxiang that day?

Is that a good person to get along with?

As expected, when Magistrate Feng temporarily detained everyone in Qushui Lane and rushed to Anping Lane where the matchmaker lived, his face, which had always acted indifferent, turned pale.

Because there were people inside and outside Anping Alley at the moment, they were surrounding the government secretary and a group of runners in the center, looking like they were ready to fight with the government officials.

The reason for their behavior was that in the open space in front of the master and others, there lay a middle-aged woman of medium build. She had an ordinary face, thin lips and small eyes. It was obvious from her appearance that she was not a easy person to get along with.

But such a difficult person was now lying in a pool of blood, with two lines of bloody words written on his hands.

God is blind and the Xie family is harming the people.

Su and Xie had an affair and framed each other for gold and silver.

These two lines of blood words were obviously written by the woman when she was dying, so the handwriting is messy and the sentences are incoherent.

But the confusion and incomprehensibility cannot conceal one thing, that is, what she wrote is popular enough, and beneath the popularity there are still many secrets of the big families that many people are extremely curious about.

With so many people watching, even if the master and others wanted to rush up and wipe off the words, they couldn't.

What's more, they were stopped by a group of tall and strong men. The leader even grabbed the master's collar, as if he was going to throw him to the ground to death in the next second.

"My Lord, my Lord, you are finally here! You evil creature, why don't you let me go!"

When the lawyer saw Magistrate Feng coming, his eyes almost turned red.

He was clearly doing what he did in Qushui Alley, so it's really not his fault that such a big mess happened here!
He couldn't help but curse in his heart, "Damn it!" Then Magistrate Feng raised his hand and signaled everyone to make way so that he could come to the front to administer justice.

Doesn't he know that this matter is difficult?

know.

But the arrow has been drawn to the string and has to be shot. Human lives are at stake and if he doesn't show some attitude, the people will really rebel.

"What the hell does this happen?"

After taking another look at the female corpse on the ground, Magistrate Feng said with a serious face.

After his questions, Qi Xiaofengxi and the people who came to watch understood everything.

It turns out that the master came today to arrest someone, and the reason he used was the same one he used in Qushui Alley.

But unlike Qushui Lane where most of the people involved in yesterday's events were women and elderly people, the people in Anping Lane were all big men.

Because they were none other than the people who had followed the matchmaker yesterday to carry the betrothal gifts, received the money and were responsible for the labor.

It's not easy to catch a group of grown men, but the one that gives the lawyer and others the most headache is the matchmaker.

Yesterday, the matchmaker had created an image of her as someone who was outspoken and difficult to deal with in Qushui Lane. Today, when she saw the police coming to her house, she started cursing directly.

"You are a bunch of dog officials who are in collusion with the big families! It was clearly that little bitch who was having an affair with someone and we caught her there. She sent money to our house late at night and begged us to keep silent. Now you dare to sue us!"

"Bah! You are dishonest yourself but you want to silence others! If you don't want others to know, then you better not do it. Do you really think you can cover up the world with one hand?"

"Humph! There is no such thing as this in the world!"

……

In short, this matchmaker is not as "smart" as the people in Qushui Lane. She is just like a straightforward person who says whatever she thinks, which immediately makes the lawyer who came to arrest people feel uneasy.

"So I didn't dare to continue to negotiate, so I ordered an officer to cover her mouth and drag her back to the government office with other prisoners."

The master explained anxiously.

At that time, he did not expect that the matchmaker would break free and shout that she wanted to help everyone make money yesterday. She was the one who accepted the matchmaking and she was responsible for her own affairs and would never implicate the neighbors.

Then everyone saw her pull out the sword from the officer's waist, put it on her neck, and tell them again everything that happened yesterday.

"Every word I said today is true. I am willing to prove it with my life! Miss Xie is a vicious person, and the prefect of the big family is a nest of snakes and rats. They forced me to death!"

After saying that, she took up her knife and committed suicide, even leaving two lines of blood after falling to the ground so that later generations would know why she died.

Those who surrounded the lawyer and others were naturally the men whose innocence the matchmaker risked their lives to prove, as well as the people of Anping Lane who were moved by the matchmaker's actions.

You know, even if the matchmaker and others were caught and taken to the government, and the government determined that they had stolen the silver and framed Xie Wanyin, the most they would get would be beatings and forced labor.

In any case, they could not lose their lives, and some people with wealth and connections could even find ways to avoid labor service.

Therefore, if the matchmaker had not been so stubborn and did not want herself and her subordinates to be framed, she would not have sought death here.

The tall man who was holding the lawyer's collar tightly was the nephew of the deceased matchmaker. It was said that he was the only two people left in the family, so he moved here not long ago.

At the moment, all the men and the people of Anping Lane were obviously following his lead. They gathered together and wanted to help the matchmaker to seek justice from the government and the Xie family.

After listening to the stories of his lawyer and the common people, and looking at the unrest that was about to happen, Prefect Feng felt a throbbing pain in his head, and his consciousness began to waver.

He never expected that Xie Wanyin, a young lady from a wealthy family, could cause such trouble in his territory.

Judging from the evasive attitude of Xie Wanyin and her men, he felt that what the matchmaker and others said was most likely true, and this silver theft case was obviously a means for Xie Wanyin to warn these people and tell them to shut up.

Logically speaking, this matter will most likely succeed. After all, most common people are sensible, and the Xie family is of high status. As long as the limelight passes, this matter will completely become a news story.

Unfortunately, Xie Wanyin was unlucky and met the matchmaker, a troublemaker who was willing to sacrifice her life for her innocence.

Now the matchmaker committed suicide in the street and said everything that should and shouldn’t be said before she died. What else can he do?
He didn't know what to do either!

He raised his hand and rubbed his brow, then he finally said to the men in a friendly manner:

"Don't worry, everyone. This government will never arbitrarily convict you before the matter is fully investigated. Now that the Xie family is suing you, you should go and refute it, right?"

What Magistrate Feng meant was very simple. The people could be kept in custody for the time being, but they must at least give their own confessions, right?
The men looked at each other, thinking that the matchmaker's death should not be in vain, so they followed Magistrate Feng angrily.

At the same time, there was deathly silence in the Xie residence, especially when Xie Wanyin heard someone deliberately talking loudly outside the door, talking about what she saw and heard in the alley yesterday, she directly smashed the jade cup in her hand.

"Damn it, these people deserve to die!" (End of this chapter)