Insufficient balance

  Yang Ling said what he had seen and heard in front of the temple, confirming that Ma Ang had never laid a heavy hand on Boss Wang. The old and young of the Wang family knelt there crying and talking about how good their father's health was usually, and it must have been Ma Ang who committed murder, making this county magistrate confused, sitting above with his two small round eyes completely lost.

  On the side of the low table sat Huang Xian Cheng, whose duty was to assist the county magistrate and who should have been consulted on all local matters. However, according to custom, in order to avoid suspicion of encroaching on the rights of his superior, the assistant magistrate was merely a deputy, and normally he remained as silent as a clay or wooden image in a temple.

  The county lieutenant, Huang, was a literary man and at that time scholars were respected while military men were looked down upon. He basically didn't think much of the county magistrate who came from a military background, so he continued to seriously play the role of Xu Shu beside him. The county magistrate, Min, had also long been accustomed to treating him as if he didn't exist and wouldn't even ask for his opinion.

  Min County Magistrate was stroking his beard when a bailiff leaned in and whispered something in his ear. Min County Magistrate flicked his sleeve and said loudly, "Take Ma Ang into temporary custody, and have Wu Zuo take charge of the corpse. The rest of you can go back for now, I'll investigate further before making a decision."

  Ma Ang was taken into the great prison, and everyone else left their names and addresses and were dismissed. Yang Ling also stood up to bid farewell to County Magistrate Min, and as he walked out of the main hall, Miss Ma hurriedly caught up with him, bowed and said: "Thank you, Mr. Yang, for speaking up for my brother."

  This girl is really born more delicate than a flower, in this great hall not like the outside cold, frozen face restored softness and luster, white and warm as beautiful jade, making her charming appearance even more captivating.

  Yang Ling heard her call herself Xiū Cái, and couldn't help but think of those poor, pedantic Confucians, feeling quite uncomfortable. He chuckled and said: "I'm just speaking the truth, I saw Miss Mǎ on the road earlier and she seemed like a heroic woman, why bother with such flowery language? Just call me by my name."

  Miss Ma forced a smile and said, "In that case, thank you, Mr. Yang. We'll need to trouble you again to testify when the court reopens." Just as she was saying this, an official with three strands of black whiskers under his chin, about fifty years old, rushed in from outside the door. The county magistrate, who had stepped down but not left, immediately went up to him and said, "Magistrate Ma, you've come just in time. This matter has really got me scratching my head - what do you think we should do?"

  He was quite pleased, but Magistrate Ma was more clever. As soon as he saw that there was a young man in the hall whom he did not recognize, apart from County Magistrate Min and his own daughter, he felt some apprehension and did not dare to mention the case. Seeing his daughter greet him, he simply waved his hand and asked Yang Ling with a puzzled expression: "Who is this..."

  Miss Ma hastily said, "Father, this scholar's name is Yang Ling. My brother and I went to buy things, and the owner of that shop cheated me out of my pearl. As a result, my brother scolded himself to death in shame. Fortunately, Mr. Yang stood up for my brother and spoke the truth, otherwise, we would have been convicted due to the testimony of the shopkeeper's relatives. Tomorrow at the trial, we will still need to trouble Mr. Yang."

  Magistrate Ma hastily bowed his head in gratitude, and after exchanging some pleasantries, County Magistrate Min, being a hot-headed person, couldn't wait to say: "Magistrate Ma, it's not that I don't want to help you, but the Wang family has many people and is very powerful, and they have the testimony of their neighbors, all of whom are saying the same thing. Although there is Yang Xiulang's testimony, this is a case involving a human life, and I dare not casually release someone."

  Seeing the county magistrate's personality, Yang Ling couldn't help but laugh. When he heard that the two were about to discuss something they didn't want him to hear, he quickly bid farewell. Miss Ma was a clever and astute person, and seeing Yang Ling shaking his head and laughing, she thought he seemed confident. Yesterday at the banquet, she had met County Magistrate Min, who like her father, was a military man, straightforward and not given to beating around the bush. Maybe this scholar Yang had a way to save them, after all, these scholars must have read the Ming Code.

  Thinking of this, Miss Ma hurriedly caught up with two steps and said in a soft voice: "Mr. Yang, judging from your expression, do you have a way to save my brother?"

  As soon as Miss Ma said this, Magistrate Min and Captain Ma were both invigorated, their four eyes fixed on him at once. Yang Ling was startled and hastily waved his hand, saying: "No, no, I'm just a witness, how can I presume to offer plans to Your Honor?"

  Min and Ma, the two officials, were immediately disappointed. Unexpectedly, Miss Ma was very clever and immediately asked: "So to speak, Mr. Yang is not without a way, but because of his identity, it's inconvenient for him to intervene in the case?"

  Yang Ling only needed to say that he didn't have any solution, and then he could leave and continue searching for a way to return to ancient times and get rich, in order to provide a thick inheritance for Han Youniang. Then he could return to the underworld and continue to make Ox-Headed Horse-Faced's head ache. But with a delicate beauty like Miss Ma, which man would dare admit his incompetence in front of her?

  Spurred on by her, Yang Ling blurted out: "Exactly, I'm just a humble scholar, and it so happens that I can serve as a personal witness to this matter. If I were to take the lead in solving the case for County Magistrate, wouldn't that be overstepping my bounds?"

  Miss Ma smiled and suddenly knelt down in front of him, saying: "Young Master Yang, my brother may be a bit rough, but he's not a bad person who does evil things. The owner of the Wang family store was greedy and forgot his conscience, and now he wants to drag my brother down with him to pay for his life? Can you bear to watch this happen?"

  County Magistrate and my father are both from a military background, straightforward in temperament, with little knowledge of the law. Since Master Yang is well-versed in the law, how can he stand by and do nothing?

  The sage has said: "What is the purpose of reading the books of sages?" It's just about taking responsibility. When encountering things, one only talks about having shame or not, without asking if there's disaster or not. If it's clear that something is unjust, but one makes excuses and can't uphold justice, this is called being shameless. What does Master Yang think?

  Yang Ling was tongue-tied, unable to believe that this little girl was so sharp-tongued. His face couldn't hold up, and he was frantically searching his memories of the two worlds merging in his mind, trying to think of a way out from the perspective of the Ming dynasty's laws and later generations' criminal judgments. At the same time, he helped her up and said: "Miss Ma, please get up quickly. In my opinion, the owner of the Wang family store probably had some hidden illness. Although your brother pushed him, it's unlikely that he would have died from that. However, now that the Wang family is in an uproar and everyone is saying the same thing, and your brother did indeed use force, whether or not he is guilty is not easy to clarify. Even if I had some ideas, it's not necessarily possible to save him."

  At that time, men and women were different, and they did not accept things directly from each other. Even if he didn't want to receive her gift and thought of helping her up, he could only float his hands a foot away, making a gesture, and the other party would also get up with the momentum, as if this helper was proficient in the Nine Yang Divine Skill, which could hurt people from a distance of several feet.

  Although Yang Ling knew these rules, he still followed the habits of later generations and actually reached out to hold Miss Ma's arm, pulling her up. The soft arm was supported in his hand, and that gentle and charming face was right in front of him. He smelled again the fragrance on her body like orchid and musk, which was more intense than when she rode past him on horseback.

  Miss Ma was embarrassed: "Looking at his appearance, I didn't expect him to be so lustful and take advantage of me", Marshal Ma also felt that he was a bit too forward in holding his daughter's hand, but at this time, saving his son from prison was the priority. He only had one son, and if something happened to him, he would even use his daughter as a substitute for his son, so he pretended not to see it and rushed over to say: "If you have any ideas, don't hesitate to share them, I won't hide from Mr. Yang that the county magistrate and I are both military men, this law... cough, if you have any methods, please share them, regardless of whether they're useful or not, Ma will be grateful for your kindness."

  Yang Ling was in a difficult situation, he looked at County Magistrate Min with a troubled expression. The county magistrate, feeling relieved, waved his hand generously and said: "Right, right, you scholars have many ideas, if you have any good solutions, just speak up. I'm most worried about the trial, if it were just Tartar soldiers, I'd just swing my knife and be done with it. What's annoying is that everyone has their own reason, the public says they're reasonable, the women say they're reasonable, but only I, the master, have no reason. It's really impossible for me to judge who's right, so whenever I hear the drumbeat, my heart starts racing."

  "Ah...ah...", Yang Ling said: "As the saying goes, know yourself and know your enemy, then you can win every battle. I witnessed the whole process of the case, so there's no need to repeat it. However, since the case is focused on whether that old man Wang was beaten to death or died naturally due to old age, we need to thoroughly understand his physical condition, including any previous medical history...then find a weakness and push the responsibility away, shut their mouths and make them speechless."

  "Good!" County Magistrate Min clapped his hands in excitement, startling Yang Ling with his loud voice. Marshal Ma also rubbed his palms together in delight and said: "Young Master Yang is indeed capable! I was worried and couldn't openly take my son out of prison. Now that you've spoken, it seems like a feasible plan. Since my son didn't hit him, this old man must have had a problem to begin with. Magistrate Min, please trouble yourself to send someone to investigate this matter thoroughly!"

  Magistrate Min nodded repeatedly: "Good, good, no problem. After all, you're a scholar. My old headache has been solved by your words, and it seems that scholars are indeed clever."

  Yang Ling secretly thought that he was ashamed, but he just used the delaying tactics he had used when doing insurance claims in the past. Everyone on earth knows that China's insurance industry is easy to insure but difficult to claim, and the system can make a master's graduate feel like they are illiterate. The number of relevant certificates required can drive even the most patient person crazy. Now it was just a small test.

  But as soon as he saw Miss Ma's gentle and admiring eyes, even Yang Ling couldn't help but feel a little proud, his vanity greatly satisfied.

  When I got home, the sky was again falling with thick white snow, and the weather became warmer as the snowflakes danced in the air. The snowflakes fell on my body and stuck to it.

  The young girl had already returned home and was standing at the door, looking out for his return. As soon as she saw his figure in the distance, she ran over to him. Seeing her, Yang Ling's heart warmed up, but he also felt a bit guilty. This morning, the young girl had gone out to work, and he had promised to stay home and study hard. But instead, he had been caught red-handed by her. If she were to scold him, Yang Ling would really be afraid of her.

  Unexpectedly, the young woman didn't mention it at all, but instead welcomed him in with a joyful face, brushing off the snow on his body and saying softly: "Master, you're back. I've already cooked dinner and was worried about where to find you."

  Yang Ling said with embarrassment: "Uh, I originally wanted to stay at home and read books in peace, but... ah, this... I remembered that a classmate lives here, so I came to visit him."

  The young lady smiled and said: "Master is a man, socializing and dealing with people are also indispensable. Ah, I know that today at the tailor's shop, I worked for an entire morning and mended ten robes, earning a total of ten cents. This tailor's shop takes orders from the postal station, where there are over a hundred messengers who travel all year round, their clothes wear out badly, so the tailor's business is booming. Who would have thought that working in the city is also quite good?"

  Yang Ling looked at her with a smile, his face flushing with excitement as he spoke. He couldn't help but gently pinch her cheek and chuckled: "Nong Nang is so skilled, it's all my illness that has troubled you. When I first saw your poor little appearance, I was truly heartbroken."

  Han Youniang was taken aback by his sudden intimate move, and her face turned bright red. She lowered her head shyly and said, "Husband, we are a couple, and we should support each other for life."

  Yang Ling's heart surged as he listened, and suddenly he couldn't help but wrap his arms around her, holding her tightly in his embrace. He gently stroked her soft hair, and Han Youniang was still reeling from the unprecedented intimacy of the gesture, leaning against his chest with a mix of dizziness, joy, and satisfaction.

  After a long while, Han Youniang gently pushed away his embrace, her face flushed with redness, but she didn't dare to look at him. She lowered her head and fiddled with the belt of her dress, saying in a bashful tone: "Master, the food is getting cold, please sit down quickly, I'll serve you rice."

  Although the dishes were simple, they were much better than when they were in the mountains. The owner of the oil factory also sent some oil residue to use for cooking. Although Yang Ling was not used to the smell of vegetable oil, he still ate more rice and dishes.

  Seeing him eat, Han Youniang was happier than anything else, with a smile in her eyebrows and eyes. After finishing the meal, Han Youniang cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks, tied up her apron and started washing, Yang Ling felt that he had become a dispensable waste, originally wanting to go forward to help her wash the dishes, unexpectedly Han Youniang was shocked and scolded: "How can men do these things? Husband, you'd better sit down, this is our women's business".