Chapter 8: Getting into Trouble with the Authorities

  "Miss, this guqin is made of the finest ancient paulownia wood. Just this wood alone requires risking one's life to search for it in the deep mountains and old forests for who knows how long. And look at these strings, each one is wound with 36 strands of black gold silk. You get what you pay for, and twenty taels for such a high-quality guqin isn't expensive at all."

  The girl smiled silently, with a faint smile on her cheek, looking extremely charming. Her red lips were slightly parted, revealing pearly white teeth, and the beauty of this expression was enough to make Yang Ling, who was standing beside her, feel his heart skip a beat. The girl turned her head to glance at him, clearly aware that he had been stealing glances at her, but there was no sign of displeasure on her face.

  The girl smiled and turned her head to glance at her brother, then suddenly spoke a string of words that Yang Ling couldn't understand. The agile young man also responded with a similar pronunciation, and the girl shook her head and said to the boss: "Boss, I'm sincere in buying this qin from you. This Ji Ming Yi, apart from me, is probably not willing to spend so much money on this qin either. How about this? Fifteen taels, if you're willing, I'll do business with you."

  The old man with white hair nodded and said: "Alright, a good horse is sold to a connoisseur. Since you say so, Miss, this old man will sell the piano to you."

  The young girl smiled slightly, reached into her bosom and pulled out a purse, poured out a pearl from it, placed it on the palm of her delicate small hand, and presented it to the shopkeeper saying: "Here is an excellent Wupu pearl, even if sold in a small place, it's worth eighteen taels of silver. I'll exchange this pearl for your qin, you don't need to give me any change, just throw in a qin box."

  At that time, although gold and silver, as well as the Ming dynasty's currency were in circulation, bartering was still very popular among the people, so the girl's behavior wasn't strange. The old man took the pearl and looked at it with his eyes narrowed against the sunlight, and indeed it was a fine pearl. This girl had used such a good pearl to exchange for his zither, this deal was quite profitable.

  However, the old man greedily took another look at the pearl and secretly calculated: Although this Chicken Inn is very prosperous with merchants coming and going from all directions, it's not a good place to do musical instrument business. After opening the store for two years, he was still losing more than gaining, and was planning to sell the store and go to Datong to do business.

  As the year-end is approaching, this bead has to be sold as soon as possible. These two siblings don't know each other and are definitely not locals. Judging from their accent just now, they seem to be from outside the pass. Maybe they're just passing by here. If I cheat her out of this bead for nothing, my own business loss can still be made up somehow.

  The old man's eyes lit up with greed, and he quickly hid the pearl in his sleeve, chuckling: "Miss, I'll only sell this qin for cash. If you really want to buy it, bring out your silver."

  The girl pouted, thinking that the silver coins on her body were not enough for this amount. She hesitated for a moment and said: "You old boss, you're clearly giving me a good deal, but you still want to haggle, forget it, return my pearl, I don't want to buy it anymore".

  The old man winked and made a surprised expression, saying: "Pearl? What pearl? You came to my store to buy things, not to sell things. When did I ever see your pearl?"

  "What?" The girl's face suddenly turned bright red, and she slapped the counter angrily: "How can you be so unreasonable? Do you want to cheat me out of my pearl?"

  His brother was furious when he heard this, and with a grab of his hand, he grabbed the thin old man and pulled him out from behind the counter. He scolded loudly: "Damn it, how dare you cheat my sister's things? Do you think Ma Ang is easy to bully? Old dog, return the pearl quickly!"

  The boss immediately shouted loudly: "Thief! He hit me! Neighbors, come and see! I, Old Wang, have always been fair in business, never cheating the young or the old. Now an outsider is bullying me!"

  He thought Yang Ling was dressed as a local, at that time the concept of native soil was very heavy, typically helping relatives but not reason, thinking that this shout would make all the neighbors come running, and with this local person testifying, these outsiders could only swallow their anger and leave in silence. If things really got tough, he still had two sons, so what was there to fear from these outsiders?

  That young man who called himself Ma Ang was even more furious, he angrily raised his hand to hit him, cursing: "You treacherous old dog, you're really too much!"

  At this time, the curtain behind was lifted, and a sturdy man in his forties with a beard rushed out. Seeing this situation, he let out a loud roar and punched hard, saying viciously: "Let go of my father, you little rabbit, how dare you bully our Wang family!"

  This sturdy man seemed to have a few strengths, and this punch was quite powerful. Ma Ang saw it with a slight smile, raised his arm, and the big monkey-like old man was thrown off by him. He stood there motionless, only stretching out one hand, "slap" grasped the sturdy man's fist, five fingers closed slowly tightening, the sturdy man groaned in pain, was pinched on the wrist, and actually knelt down in pain.

  Ma Ang coldly laughed and said: "Want to pretend to be a bandit who blocks the road and robs people? Is this all the strength you have?"

  The old man was grabbed by the collar and slapped twice, after being shaken off, he pointed at Ma Ang and shouted louder, but only called out twice, suddenly his face turned red, panted heavily for a few breaths, and fell to the ground without any breath.

  Ma Ang was still holding the wrist of the strong man, trying to show off his strength, when the neighbors and passersby from nearby shops had already gathered around. Someone helped the old man up, and suddenly shouted: "Wang Saner, come quickly and take a look at your father, the old man is not doing well!"

  Ma Ang turned his head to look, and saw that the shopkeeper who had been tempted by wealth was pale and being held in someone's arms, motionless. He couldn't help but feel a shock in his heart, and his hands involuntarily loosened their grip.

  That sturdy man named Wang San'er hastily rushed over to hold his father, checked his breath, and found that he had no breath at all. He couldn't help but let out a loud wail, tears streaming down his face as he exclaimed: "Father! Oh, how pitiful you are! At such an old age, you were beaten to death by those bandits... Father..."

  At this time, another man of similar age jumped out from the back door, and a group of women and children followed behind, apparently all members of the Wang family who had rushed out upon hearing the noise. Ma Ang originally thought that this family was going to pretend to be dead again, so he just coldly smiled without speaking. But now seeing them surround him, calling out "dad" and "grandpa" nonstop, his face couldn't help but change color, and his heart also became fearful.

  He quietly pulled his sister's sleeve, gave her a wink, and took her wrist to go outside. But the Wang family wouldn't let them leave, and a group of people rushed over, shouting and pushing. In the chaos, someone went outside to call two patrolling police officers. When they heard it was a murder case, the two officers didn't dare to be slow and followed the crowd into the store, loudly asking: "Where is the murderer?"

  This Ji Ming Yi was originally a county because of the city, and it can't be counted as a county town. It's just that the military position is important here, plus this is an important relay station for merchants, with rich taxes, so there are also county government departments to manage the surrounding areas, but this county is relatively small, and the county magistrate is a seventh-grade official.

  Ma Ang saw the officer coming, he didn't have the guts to kill the officer and rebel, and at that moment he didn't dare to make another move. The son of the music store owner pointed at him and said: "It's him, it's this thief who killed my father."

  Ma Ang said somewhat weakly: "I didn't, this old master was advanced in years and mistakenly accused my family's pearl of being stolen by me. He was so ashamed that he became enraged and fainted, his blood and energy attacking his heart until he died. What does it have to do with me?"

  Is there a reason for a murderer to say that someone else is not the one who killed him and let him go? The two bailiffs didn't care what he shouted, one of them pulled out a thin iron chain from his waist and clanged it onto his head, tied his shoulders, wrists, and arms, binding him tightly. The other held a knife at his waist, if he dared to resist, he would be killed with a single blow to the head.

  "Alright, Ma Ang, untie the rope. Now, speak up! If you have anything to say, go tell His Honor. I'm telling you, old Wang's family, don't cry anymore. Take your father to the yamen and make a statement. Neighbors, please come along as witnesses."

  The girl was so anxious that her tears welled up in her eyes, and as she saw her brother about to be taken away, she hastily pointed at Yang Ling, who had been quietly observing with a cold expression: "My brother didn't kill anyone, this person has been here the whole time, he can testify."

  Yang Ling, on the other hand, had been watching clearly all along. Although Ma Ang was young and vigorous, that old man was indeed a cunning thief who had been deceiving people for their money and property. Judging from his condition just now, he probably had some kind of cerebral hemorrhage or heart disease. After being beaten and scolded by Ma Ang, he became angry and flustered, and in the heat of the moment, he swallowed a pearl and lost his life.

  The officer in charge of the case, who had already stepped halfway out of the store, turned back and said with a forced smile: "In that case, please come with us as a witness."

  As the beautiful girl cried with tears streaming down her face, her expression full of pleading, Yang Ling's heart softened and he nodded. The group arrived at the county government office, where Wang's eldest grandson went to beat the drum and proclaim their grievances. County Magistrate Min Wenjian hastily put on his official robes and ascended the platform to investigate the case.

  Don't look at the small size of a seventh-rank county magistrate on stage, it seems that anyone can kill him with just one finger, but in fact, the county magistrate has much more power than the current county party secretary. He is concurrently serving as the head of the county industrial and commercial bureau, finance bureau, tax bureau, court, public security bureau and many other positions.

  This county magistrate of Min is different from most Wen Guan who came from Jin Shi or Ju Ren, he was originally a General in the border army, because of the special geographical location of Ji Ming Yi, he was sent here to take charge of both civil and military affairs.

  Yang Ling was surprised to see that the county magistrate was a dark-faced man with a thick beard, which was truly unexpected. This military officer-turned-county magistrate had been in office for two years and understood some of the rules. As soon as he heard that Yang Ling was a scholar, he hastily ordered someone to show him his seat without bowing, then sat on the bench to hear the case.

  It turns out that this brother and sister are not just passing by, but the young master and lady of Magistrate Ma, who was newly appointed as the postal commissioner yesterday. The postal commissioner is also an official under the county magistrate, but Jī Míng Yì (Chicken Crowing Postal Station) has become a city due to its strategic location, and the local postal commissioner is in charge of over 100 people, belonging to the military postal system, which makes him practically on the same level as Magistrate Min.

  Last night, County Magistrate Min had just attended the banquet of Ma Yi Cheng, and at the table, he also saw this young master and miss. He wanted to help them get away with it, but killing someone is no small matter. Although a pearl was found on the corpse, which proved that he had stolen property, the fact remains that he died on the spot. County Magistrate Min wielding a big knife to kill people is still qualified, let him ask for the case... The Ming Dynasty law has not been memorized by the people yet.