The boss smacked his mouth, which had lost almost all of his teeth, and said: "Miss, this zither is made of top-notch ancient paulownia wood. Just this paulownia wood alone would take a long time to find in the deep mountains and forests. Look at the strings, each string is made of 36 black gold threads. You get what you pay for. For such a top-notch zither, twenty taels is not much at all."
The young girl smiled silently, revealing faint dimples on her cheeks. She looked extremely moving. When her red lips moved slightly, her pearly white teeth formed an arc. That kind of beauty made even Yang Ling's heart palpitate. The young girl tilted her head to look at him. She clearly knew that he was peeking at her, but there was no displeasure in her expression.
The young girl turned her head to look at her brother with a smile. Suddenly, she mumbled a string of words that Yang Ling couldn't understand. The vigorous youth also replied with a similar pronunciation. The young girl shook her head and said to the boss, "Boss, I sincerely want to buy your zither. In this Chicken Crow Inn, other than me, I'm afraid that no one else would be willing to spend so much money to buy this zither. How about this, fifteen taels. If you are willing, I will do business with you."
The white-haired old man smacked his lips again and nodded. "Okay, goods are sold to those who know their place. Since Miss has said so, then I will sell this zither to you."
The young girl listened and smiled. She took out a pouch and poured out a pearl from it. She placed it in the palm of her hand and held it in front of the shopkeeper. She said, "Okay, I have a good pearl here. Even if you put it in a small place, it would be worth 18 taels of silver. I will use this pearl to exchange for your zither. You don't have to give me the change, just give me a zither case."
Although gold, silver, and Ming Destiny's banknotes were in circulation at that time, bartering was still very popular among the people. Therefore, the young girl's behavior wasn't strange. The old man took the pearl and squinted his eyes against the sunlight. It was indeed a high quality pearl. This young girl used such a good pearl to trade for his zither. This business was indeed not a bad one.
But … The old man greedily looked at the pearl again and thought to himself, Although this Chicken Crow Rest Station is bustling with merchants coming and going, it's not a good place to do business in musical instruments. I've been here for two years, but I'm still losing more than I'm earning. I'm planning to move the shop to Datong to do business.
Seeing that the end of the year is approaching, she has to find a way to sell the bead now that she has it. She doesn't know the brother and sister, so they are definitely not locals. Judging from their accent, they seem to be people from outside the border. Maybe they are just passing by here. If she steals the bead for free, she can earn back some of the losses from her business.
Thinking of this, the old man became greedy. He bent his finger and slid the bead into his sleeve. He laughed and said, "Miss, my zither only accepts cash transactions. If you really want to buy it, then bring me the money."
Hearing this, the girl pouted. She didn't have enough money on her. She stamped her foot and said, "Boss, I'm giving you a good deal, but you're still pushing it. Forget it, I won't buy the beads."
The old man blinked his eyes slyly and said with a shocked expression, "Bead? What bead? You came to my shop to buy something, not to sell it. When have I ever seen your bead? "
"What?" The girl's face immediately turned red. She angrily slammed the counter and said, "How can you be so unreasonable? Do you want to cheat me of my bead? "
Her brother flew into a rage when he heard this. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the skinny old man. He actually pulled the skinny old man out from behind the counter. He scolded angrily, "Fuck, how dare you renege on my sister's things. Do you think I, Ma Ang, am easy to bully? Old dog, give me back the bead. "
The boss immediately shouted at the top of his voice, "Robber, he's beating people. Neighbors, come and see. I, Old Wang, always do business fairly. I don't cheat the old or the young. Outsiders have come to bully us."
He saw that Yang Ling was dressed like a local. Back then, people had a strong sense of being local, and they were the typical type of people who would side with their relatives and not with reason. He thought that if he called out to the neighbors, and with this local as a witness, this pair of outsiders would have no choice but to swallow their grievances and leave. If worse came to worst, he still had two sons. Why would he be afraid of outsiders?
This shout made the young man who called himself Ma Ang even angrier. He angrily raised his hand and wanted to hit him. He scolded, "Treacherous old dog, you've gone too far!"
At this time, the curtain behind him was lifted. A strong man in his early forties with a beard rushed out. When he saw this situation, he roared and punched fiercely, "Let go of my father. Where did this little bastard come from? He dares to bully my Wang family."
This strong man seemed to have some strength. His punch was powerful. Ma Ang scornfully smiled and raised his arm. The old man who looked like a big monkey was thrown away by him. Ma Ang stood there without moving. He only stretched out one hand and grabbed the strong man's fist. His five fingers slowly tightened. The strong man screamed in pain and knelt down.
Ma Ang sneered and said, "You want to pretend to be a robber? Do you only have this much strength? "
The old man was grabbed by the collar and slapped twice on the face. As soon as he was flung away, he pointed at Ma Ang and shouted even louder. But after shouting twice, his face suddenly turned red, he gasped for breath, his body slumped to the ground and breathed no more.
Ma Ang grabbed the strong man's wrist and wanted to show off. The neighbors on the left and right side of the shop heard the noise and came over. Someone helped the old man up and suddenly shouted, "Wang San 'er, come and see your father. The old man can't make it."
Ma Ang turned his head to take a look, only to see that the shopkeeper, who had been tempted by the sight of money, had a pale complexion and was limply held in someone's arms, not moving at all. He couldn't help but be startled, and his hands couldn't help but let go.
The strong man called Wang San 'er quickly rushed over and hugged his father. He checked his father's breath and found that there was no breath. He couldn't help but wail and said with tears and snot, "Father, you're so old but you've been killed by a thief. Father …"
At this time, a man of similar age jumped out from the back door. Behind him was a group of women and children. It looked like they were all from the Wang family. Ma Ang originally thought that this family was going to pretend to be dead again, so he just sneered and didn't say anything. At this time, when he saw this family surrounding him and crying non-stop for his father and grandfather, his face couldn't help but change color, and his heart also became timid.
He stealthily pulled on his sister's sleeve and gave her a meaningful look. He took her by the wrist and was about to walk out. The people of the Wang family were not willing to let him go. They surrounded them, shouting and shoving. In the midst of the chaos, someone went outside to call two yamen runners who were patrolling the streets. Hearing that it was a major case of murder, the two yamen runners did not dare to be negligent. They followed behind the neighbors and barged into the inn, shouting, "Where is the murderer?"
This Chicken Crow Post Station was originally a post station city. It couldn't be considered a county town, but it had an important military position. In addition, it was an important post station for merchants. It had a lot of taxes, so it had a county department to manage the area. However, this county was relatively small. The county magistrate was a seventh-ranked official.
Ma Ang saw that the officials had arrived. He didn't have the guts to kill an official and rebel, so he didn't dare to act rashly again. The music shop owner's son pointed at him and said, "It's him. It's this thief who killed my father."
Ma Ang said with some weakness, "I didn't. The shop owner was old. I exposed him for stealing my family's pearl. He fainted from shame and anger. He died of a heart attack. What does that have to do with me?"
How could a murderer say that he didn't kill him and then let him go? The two Yamachi didn't care about what he was shouting. One of them pulled a thin iron chain from the back of his waist and put it on Ma Ang's head, shoulders, and arms. He was tied up tightly. The other one held a knife at his waist. If Ma Ang dared to resist, he would definitely stab him in the head.
After Ma Ang was tied up, the Yamachi pulled the chain and shouted, "If you have something to say, go and say it to me. Let's go! I say, Old Wang's family, don't cry. Take your father to the yamen and say it. My fellow villagers, please go and be witnesses. "
The young girl was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes. Seeing that her brother was about to be tied up, she hurriedly pointed at Yang Ling who had been silently watching from the side. She said, "My brother didn't kill anyone. This person was there the whole time. He can be a witness."
On the other hand, Yang Ling had been watching from the side. Although Ma Ang was young and vigorous, that old fellow stole people's belongings. He could be considered an old thief. Looking at his condition just now, he probably had some kind of brain hemorrhage or heart disease. After being beaten and scolded by Ma Ang, he was angry and anxious. In a moment of agitation, he ended up stealing a pearl and lost his life.
When the Yamachi with the knife in his hand heard this, he was already halfway out of the shop, but he turned back. He put on a fake smile and said, "If that's the case, please come back with us to be a witness."
Looking at the beautiful young girl crying like a pear blossom in the rain, with a pleading expression on her face, Yang Ling's heart softened. He nodded. The group arrived at the yamen. The eldest grandson of the Wang family went up to beat the drum and complain about the injustice. The magistrate, Min Wenjian, hurriedly put on his official robe and went up to the court to interrogate the case.
On the stage, the seventh rank magistrate was usually the lowest rank. It seemed as if anyone could kill him with a finger. In reality, the magistrate's power was much greater than the current secretary of the county committee. He was the director of industry and commerce, the director of finance, the director of taxation, the director of the court, and the director of the public security bureau.
This Min Wenjian was different from the majority of the civil officials who came from the imperial examinations. He was originally a guerrilla warfare general in the border army. Because of the special geographical location of the Chicken Crow Post, he was sent here to manage both the civil and military affairs.
When Yang Ling saw that the magistrate was actually a black-faced man with a full beard, he was greatly surprised. This county magistrate, who came from a military background, had been a civil servant for two years. He more or less understood the rules. When he heard that Yang Ling was a scholar, he hurriedly asked someone to show him a seat and dispense with the formalities. He then sat in the court to interrogate the case.
At a glance, this pair of brother and sister were not passers-by. They were the son and daughter of the newly appointed deputy, Magistrate Ma. The deputy was also considered an official under the jurisdiction of the magistrate. However, the Chicken Crow Post was a city because of the post. The local deputy was in charge of over a hundred people. Moreover, it belonged to the military post system. In reality, he was on the same level as Min Wenjian.
Last night, Min Wenjian had just attended Deputy Ma's banquet. At the banquet, he had seen his son and daughter. He wanted to absolve them, but killing a person was not a small matter. Although the pearl was found on the corpse, proving that he had stolen someone's property, it was also a fact that he had died on the spot. Although Min Wenjian had used a broadsword to chop someone up, asking him to interrogate the case … he had not even memorized the laws of Ming Destiny.
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