Twenty-five, go, enter the government office

  After completing the land deed transfer formalities, Ma Qianjiu and Zhu Yuanzhang bid farewell to the Shens and hastily galloped back on horseback.

  As soon as they left the house, Ma Qianjiu couldn't bear it anymore and hastily asked: "Zhu Ba, is County Magistrate Chen really a member of the Donglin Party? Do you have any basis for what you said?"

  "There's no...". Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and shrugged: "I don't know if County Magistrate Chen is a member of the Donglin Party or not. Thinking carefully, he probably isn't. Right now, Wei Zhongxian is persecuting the Donglin Party, and all the Donglin Party members in the court are living in fear. Since this County Magistrate Chen has been doing well all along, it proves that he has no relation with the Donglin Party."

  "What's gotten into you?" Ma Qianjiu asked in surprise.

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and said: "This is the simplest, most direct way to provoke a quarrel between the Shens and the county magistrate. No other method has such good results."

  Ma Qianjiu hesitated for a moment before saying, "But... County Magistrate Chen isn't a member of the Donglin Party, after all. There will come a day when things are cleared up, and at that time, won't the Shen family resent us?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang thought to himself, this year is already the seventh year of Tianqi, Emperor Tianqi will die soon, and Emperor Chongzhen will ascend to the throne in a few months. Wei Zhongxian's downfall is already settled, and the eunuch party will soon face disaster. The days ahead for the Zhu family will be difficult, what does it matter if they offend the Zhu family?

  However, this idea cannot be expressed, and he can only say lightly: "When Shenyi dealt with Chen County Magistrate, it is impossible to hang the words 'you are Donglin Party' on his mouth. I dare to confirm that Chen County Magistrate was deceived and still confused, unable to figure out where he offended Shenyi. It's very difficult for them to clear up the misunderstanding, so we don't need to worry."

  Ma Qianjiu still had some doubts in his heart, but when he saw Zhu Ba's calm and composed expression, he couldn't help but feel that what he said was trustworthy, and there was no need to be suspicious.

  As he rode his horse, he carefully recalled the words Zhu Ba had said today, and suddenly realized that Zhu Ba was not a simple person. He seemed to have some knowledge of the eunuch party and the Donglin Party, while he himself, a seasoned official who had seen many things, couldn't quite figure out what was going on in the imperial court.

  For example, the struggle between the Eunuch Party and the Donglin Party, Ma Qianji only heard a few paragraphs from the storyteller, it seemed to be three years ago, there was a case of Yang Lian, several people were killed, but these great things in the imperial court, a rural farmhouse steward listened to it and forgot it, didn't take it to heart at all. How did Zhu Ba know more about it than me? Could it be... that he is really a child of a fallen aristocratic family?

  People in this era are strange, they won't respect families who became rich overnight, but will respect families who fell into poverty overnight. Because people think that families who became rich overnight lack foundation and learning. But the young masters of fallen families are scholars who have suffered hardships, these people are knowledgeable and worthy of respect. After all, this idea comes from people's respect for scholars.

  Ma Qianjiu had just looked down on the people of Shenyi with disdain, saying that they "didn't even qualify to stand in line for the imperial examination", but now looking at Zhu Ba's expression, he seemed to have a hint of respect, as if he were the fallen son of the current prime minister.

  The two of them rushed back to the Ma residence on horseback, and saw that it was bustling with activity in front of the mansion.

  Under the flagpole of Ma's mansion, a group of yamen runners stood, Zhu Yuanzhang counted them silently, twelve in total. These yamen runners had iron rulers hanging from their waists, whips on their backs and handcuffs dangling from their buttocks, but they didn't hold anything in their hands, instead standing with empty hands.

  Across from the group of yamen runners, stood two or three rows of the Marquis's household guards, at least forty-five men, all dressed in green uniforms and small hats. These guards held their weapons in hand, some holding bamboo spears, others holding rattan clubs, and still others carrying pu dao... presenting a formidable array as if facing a great enemy.

  Around these two groups of people, there were many onlookers, including laborers and villagers from nearby, who had gathered to watch the commotion.

  The leading yamen runner was smiling wryly at the family guards, saying: "Brothers, we are only here on the orders of County Magistrate Xu to invite your young master to come to the yamen for a few questions. Why do you have to put on this show?" In these times, being a yamen runner is quite prestigious, and they can bully good people at will, but when facing wealthy families and gentry, these runners dare not be arrogant, not even daring to hold their weapons in hand, only trying to persuade with kind words.

  "This group of family members, however, refused to sell the yamen's account and coldly snorted: 'Our young master said that Chen Guanyu is used to framing people, if he wants our young master to go to the yamen, he must have ulterior motives, we won't go!'"

  "How dare you, what's the county magistrate's name that you're yelling out?" a bailiff shouted.

  That Ding was intimidated by the bailiff's shout, and retreated behind his companions, but still added in a sinister tone: "This is what my young master said, do you dare to yell at my young master?"

  As soon as the words came out, the yamen runner also became a bit timid. He didn't dare to offend the young master of the family with "jinshi pole". So he also shrank back towards his colleague's back and said in a sinister tone: "If your young master has the guts, go to the county magistrate's office and say it."

  As soon as this sentence came out, Jia Ding was intimidated again...

  Ma Qianjiu and Zhu Ba arrived on horseback, dismounted together, and rushed into the Ma residence.

  The two of them went straight to the front hall, where they saw Second Master pacing anxiously. This man was not only foolish and impulsive but also lacked the ability to think on his feet. When the yamen runners came for him, he panicked and didn't know what to do, so he just stayed at home and refused to go out. Fortunately, the yamen runners were afraid of the Ma family's power, or else they would have burst in and taken him away long ago.

  At this time, Ma Qianjiu and Zhu Ba returned, and Second Master immediately exclaimed with great joy: "Is the matter settled?"

  Ma Qianjiu nodded and said: "It's done, thanks to Zhu Ba. The Shi family has already made arrangements, we can go to the government office now."

  "Hey, I'm going to the yamen, don't think you can just walk out." The second young master was also a bit scared.

  "Don't worry, there shouldn't be a problem. As long as the people from the Shirt family show up, Chen Guanyu will definitely be scared out of his wits." Zhu Yuanzhang said seriously: "The eunuch party's power is overwhelming, let alone Chen Guanyu being just a humble county magistrate of Baishui, even if he were the governor of Shaanxi, he wouldn't dare to confront the eunuch party head-on."

  The second young master heard this and was overjoyed: "Good, then I'll go to the government office. Come on, people! This young master is going out, hurry up and prepare the sedan chair."

  Figures began to hurry about in the front courtyard, four servants brought over a small black sedan chair and placed it at the entrance of the hall. The second young master swaggered into it, the four servants shouted "heave ho" as they lifted the sedan chair and carried it out through the central hall, Ma Qianjiu and Zhu Ba followed on foot behind them.

  The sedan chair went out of the Ma family's main gate, and the servants saw that the second young master's sedan chair had come out, knowing that they no longer needed to guard the door, and dispersed with a hum. The second young master's sedan chair walked straight into the midst of the yamen runners, he stretched his head out from the sedan and said in a slightly trembling voice: "Go to the yamen, I'd like to see what trouble Chen Guanyu wants to find me...". Although these words were spoken firmly, unfortunately, the tone of voice was somewhat cowardly, revealing the second young master's inner fear.

  Zhu Yuanzhang shook his head secretly, this second young master is indeed not capable in all aspects! A year later, the White Water King's rebellion broke out, I wonder what kind of ending this second young master will have.

  It was not easy to invite Master Ma, and the yamen runners also breathed a sigh of relief. They quickly formed a protective circle around the sedan chair and set off towards the county town. On their outer perimeter, dozens of Ma family servants surrounded them again, forming a large group that walked along the road, drawing attention. The villagers who were eager to see the excitement all ran over to watch, surrounding the Ma family servants from the outside, layer upon layer, and in no time at all, more than a hundred people had gathered.

  The crowd grew larger and larger, with six or seven hundred people entering the county town gate. By the time they reached the government office square, there were over a thousand people. The surrounding area was filled with surging crowds, and the noise could be heard from three streets away.

  The crowd was in an uproar, all wanting to know what had happened. So some busybodies, relying on a few clues, began to speculate: "Did you see? The yamen runners brought the young master of the Ma family."

  "Ma's family? The one with the imperial scholar's plaque? Are the yamen runners daring enough to come and arrest someone?"

  "Haven't you seen how well-behaved she is sitting in the sedan? She was invited here, not taken by force!"

  "Guess why we need to invite people from the Ma family?"

  "Need I guess? This morning, the county magistrate brought a group of 'crooked' villagers and beat them with boards for an entire morning. I heard that over a dozen butts were bruised. It's said that these villagers are all 'crooked' in the Ma family's household. The county magistrate is trying to rectify the 'crooked' customs, coincidentally during the spring tax collection, perhaps he wants to collect more taxes."

  "So that's what it is! I've never heard that our county magistrate would care about this kind of thing, isn't he usually turning a blind eye?"

  "Who knows what this corrupt official is up to? Anyway, it's dog biting dog, one side has fur, neither side is a good person."

  "I've heard that the Ma family isn't all bad..."

  "Oh, that's right, the Ma family has two good men, one is Wang Er and the other is Zhu Ba. For their sake, I hope the Ma family can win this lawsuit..."

  "Shh... be quiet..."

  The onlookers were abuzz with discussion, the sedan chair of Second Master had already been carried to the front of the yamen, and it couldn't be carried any further. Second Master plucked up his courage and stepped out of the sedan chair, wanting to put on a haughty air, but unfortunately as soon as he got down, he saw the skinning shed next door, and his legs went weak at the knees.

  Luckily, Zhu Ba, who was walking behind him, took a step forward unnoticed and supported him with his hand, saying: "Second Master, be careful, there's a stone under your feet."

  The Second Master gave him a grateful glance, Zhu Ba was a man of his word, if he had fallen to the ground in front of so many people, his reputation would have been ruined. He took a deep breath, composed himself and hummed: "Let's go, into the yamen!"