C88 (1/2)
In front of the Baisha Town yamen, the villagers who were tricked and stolen stood in line, not only did they take back the money they were tricked about, the money they had stolen from others was even the same. Without waiting for the Grand Master to flip through the records, they all pointed to their own money bags and excitedly said: ”It's that, it's that.”
Although the magistrate was angry and could not get some out of it, he still stood at the side proudly. Every citizen who had received money came to kowtow to him and thank him for his kindness, to praise the Old Master for knowing that he was still alive.
Master also told him that after breaking such a big case, he might even be able to get a reward from the Emperor. If that was the case, in the future, he would be able to stand up straight in front of the Prefect Liang.
When it was finally her turn, her sharp eyes caught sight of her own money bag. The money she had painstakingly saved up came back, and she held it in her arms, heavy, afraid that someone would take it away from her, so she forcefully dragged Aunt Wang over. Luckily, she was able to take care of him on the way here.
”Let's hire a donkey cart.” The Aunt Wang said, ”Don't run into robbers on the way back.”
”Pei pei pei! So many people are hiding money, why must you try to rob me?” Madam Xu snorted, she turned her eyeballs and said, ”No, I want to go to Siyun Pavilion.”
When Aunt Wang asked her what she was doing, she told him everything that had happened that day.
Originally, when she was with others that day, she had come to beg the county magistrate for justice. However, after meeting Ling Chaofeng and complaining about nothing, she was stopped on her way home. It was a servant girl from the Siyun Pavilion who brought her to the Rouge Shop.
Madam Xu had long heard of the matter of Yue Huaiyin being the beauty of the capital city, the fact that she was almost beaten to death by the noble woman. Madam Xu also knew that the Rouge Shop was a dangerous place, and had never planned to have anything to do with it again.
But that day, she was crying until her head was spinning, when she smelled the fragrance that woke her up, she drank a mouthful of the sweet and hot tea, her heart warmed up, and ignored those things. She then cried together with Yue Huaiyin, saying that all the money she painstakingly saved had all been stolen.
Unexpectedly, Yue Huaiyin immediately took out 50 silver and gave it to her, saying that she should first take out the money she had lost to spend at home. After a few days, she would gather some and give it to her. She also gave her a bag of rice and two bags of dry goods, telling her to go home and cook for the children.
Madam Xu said, ”Although she has yet to give me the remaining silver, but since she has already spoken, I guess she will not be relying on me. My heart is at ease now, otherwise, I might not be able to live for the next few days.”
Aunt Wang curled her lips and laughed dryly. It seems like others should give it to him.
Of course the Madam Xu was not polite, she even became smarter as she hugged the silver in her arms and said: ”Then since Miss Yue is so generous, I cannot let her think that I am a greedy person. I will go and return the fifty silver taels to her now, we will definitely have endless benefits from now on. ”Her sister-in-law, come with me and get to know each other. If there's something good about me, there's naturally something good about you. It doesn't matter whether your mother is a girl or not, even if people are dirty, there's no money that is dirty in this world.”
As they spoke, they reached the Rouge Shop. Coincidentally, Yue Huaiyin had something on the shelf, and when he saw them come, he took a few boxes of rouge powder and passed them over.
The Madam Xu pretended to give her back the fifty silver, but she turned around and gave the Madam Xu another bag of silver, and gently said: ”I am going to have a fight with the sisters, her family matters are naturally my matters, don't be so polite, Aunt. Although the money is back, it's a pity that you're scared, take it to buy some tonics, then buy some food for the children to cheer them up.”
The Madam Xu was dazed for a moment. How was this Miss Yue a girl? She must be the reincarnation of Bodhisattva Yin. How could there be such a good person in this world. In comparison, Mu Xiaowan and Ling Chaofeng who knew that their home was stolen and could not live anymore were simply worse than beasts.
”However …” ”I presume Aunt and Aunt also know about what happened a few days ago, so I won't say much. But if you guys don't understand, I won't force it.”
Madam Xu continued, ”That wicked woman, she can't control men. She'll only bully the weak. Even though I haven't seen her, she must be an ugly woman with a fierce face. Someone like her should just wait to go to hell. ”
Yue Huaiyin laughed bitterly and said: ”Let's not talk about that, but because of this matter, Xiaowan and I had a misunderstanding. We can't be sisters anymore, I don't want to make her feel bad and force her. You are the mother of Xiaowan, and in my eyes, you are also my mother. I just hope that if you don't mind, you can come visit me later on, and I can have half a family here too. ”
Madam Xu and Aunt Wang looked at each other, and she scolded: ”That little bitch Mu Xiaowan, she really isn't a thing. Miss Yue, to tell you the truth, don't miss her. She doesn't even care about me, her mother, because someone poured water on her. Miss Yue, from now on, we will often come to chat with you to relieve our boredom. If there is anything that you can't handle in the shop, just say it, and even if you put down your work in the fields, we will come to help you. ”
Yue Huaiyin bowed slightly with a smile: ”I am really happy with what you have said.”
Madam Xu and Aunt Wang looked at each other, their eyes filled with happiness and satisfaction. They had brought some money with them and wanted to return home earlier, but Yue Huaiyin had even specially sent a servant to escort them.
As for Ling Chaofeng, he was only released by the county magistrate in the afternoon. What was laughable was that the county magistrate actually didn't remember that he had imprisoned Ling Chaofeng before, he only remembered that he had gotten angry and was talking to Yue Huaiyin about it, but no matter how the master reminded him, he couldn't remember that he had locked Ling Chaofeng up.
That was only natural, because Ling Chaofeng had said that it would be best if he went to the prison, only then would it prove that he was not the one who sent the person to the yamen. Although this was just a mention by Hubby, the Xiaowan was already satisfied. It was a piece of cake for the county magistrate to ”lose his mind”.
Although this matter was very strange, Ling Chaofeng still could not let go of the fact that someone was secretly helping him, but in the end, it was still satisfactory. If he really had asked the county magistrate to incite the villagers to cause trouble at the inn, he would not be able to handle it, after all, they were all innocent people who had been forced to despair.
When she returned to the tavern, Xiaowan was already waiting in front of the door. After boiling the hot water, she dragged his master into the bathroom and thoroughly cleaned him.
Ling Chaofeng didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He said that even his skin was about to be rubbed off by Xiaowan, but young lady said that after all, he had sat in prison for an entire night.
”Speaking of which, about the Qingling Village, do you want to take a look?” Ling Chaofeng said, ”But since you have returned the silver, you should take back your family's money.”
Xiaowan said, ”Then there's no need to worry, when my father comes back in the summer, I will give him some more.” Xiaowan was still cold and detached, and didn't forget to reply, ”Of course, this is all money earned by my husband.”