Twenty-fifth Section: Kuaiji County Government (Upper)

  Everyone followed the sound and looked over, only to see a middle-aged man wearing a linen shirt appear at the door. He had a square face, dark complexion, sharp eyes, tightly knitted eyebrows, and an extremely serious expression.

  Although he did not know Ma Dianshi, Ma Dianshi knew him. This person was the second master of the Shen family, a jinshi in the 17th year of Jiajing, Shen Lian and Shen Chunfu. Even Li County Magistrate would have to bow and address them as "Xuezhang".

  Ma Dian Shi hastily led the crowd in bowing their heads and paying respects, saying: "Greetings, Mr. Qingxia." Shen Lian was known as Qingxia, and others respectfully addressed him as Mr. Qingxia.

  "Get up, all of you! I'm no longer an official, what's the point of kneeling?"

  Knowing that Mr. Qingxia had a bad temper, Ma Dianshi still smiled and said: "Your old man's mourning period is over, and soon there will be a heavenly messenger to summon you back. At that time, with your prestige, at the very least, you should be appointed as a prefect, and then..."

  Shen Lian turned his head away, annoyed, and asked the gatekeeper, "Why are they here?" The gatekeeper hastily explained everything in detail, not daring to say an extra word, clearly very afraid of this Second Master.

  "Do you have any evidence?" Shen Lian turned his head, staring at Ma Dianshi: "Or do you want to take advantage of the situation to extort and blackmail?" He had been a county magistrate in several places before, so he naturally knew how vicious these people were.

  "We didn't come to arrest anyone." Ma Dian said with a smile, "But since such a big thing happened, Shen Shanggong is the master of the matter, and it's reasonable that he should go to the government office to clarify things."

  A gentleman can be deceived with a plan, Ma Dianshi just changed his words, Shen Lian sank into thought and after a while whispered: "Take him in." As he spoke, he glared at Ma Dianshi and said: "If you dare to play tricks, beware of me reporting your lordship."

  "How dare I, how dare I." Ma Dian Shi thanked him a thousand times and ten thousand times, then followed the servant who led him into Shen's mansion.

  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

  Through the layers of courtyards, Ma Dian Shi arrived at Wen Tao Yuan. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he smelled a medicinal scent. As Shen Fu's servant climbed up to the upper floor, the smell became increasingly strong.

  The Shen family's servant opened the door and revealed a handsome young face, asking strangely: "Who are you looking for?"

  Jia Ding hastily dodged to one side, leaving Ma Tian Shi to deal with it himself.

  Ma Dian Shi looked inside while explaining his intention, and the young man immediately became displeased, saying: "No way, my father is ill right now. Whatever it is, let's talk about it when he gets better." He then tried to close the door.

  But was held up by Ma Dian Shi, who smiled and said: "Don't be afraid, little brother, we just want to have a word with Mr. Shen, we won't tire him out." After that, he forcibly pushed open the door and squeezed in.

  All that could be seen was a middle-aged man with a sallow complexion and disheveled hair and beard, sleeping on the bed in the corner of the house. Ma Dian Shi, who had a background in law enforcement, looked at Shen Xiang Gong with a pair of sharp eyes, and found that he had bruises all over his body, and there were also some problems with his spine and pelvis.

  Ma Tian's gaze finally settled on Shen He's right hand, discovering that his wrist was swollen like a steamed bun, seemingly injured for over 20 hours.

  "It doesn't seem like him." Calculating the time in his mind, Matein thought: "At least it wasn't written by him."

  Hearing a noise, Shen He slowly opened his eyes and narrowed them, saying in a hoarse voice: "Who are you?"

  "Mr. Shen has been polite." Magistrate Ma casually cupped his hands: "I am Magistrate Ma Feng of Kuaiji Prefecture."

  "It was Lord Ma," Shen He said in a low voice: "Help me up..."

  Shenmo hastily stepped forward, reached out through Lao Die's brain, and with a burst of strength, made him lean sideways into his own arms.

  Listen to Ma Dian's explanation again, Shen He nodded slightly and said: "Maintaining the peace of this county is indeed everyone's responsibility. I'll go back with you... cough, cough..." As he spoke, he made a loud coughing sound, but in fact, Shen Mo was secretly pinching his back, causing Shen Xiangong to almost cry out in pain, and could only use coughing to cover it up.

  Chen Mo hastily patted his chest and helped him catch his breath, speaking in a tearful tone: "Father, please say less...". He said with red eyes: "This official also saw it, my father coughs with just one move, if we follow you back to the county government office, won't he even cough up his lung leaves?"

  Ma Tianci said: "How can this child talk like that?" Suppressing a smile, he said: "It doesn't matter, I'll call a sedan chair for Mr. Shen."

  "But he's coughing too," Silent Tears said, choking with sobs: "And besides, Father's hand is also broken. What's the use of taking back a scholar who can't speak or write?" Seeing Shen He was about to speak again, Silent Tears tightly hugged him and pinched his back hard, forcing Shen He to continue coughing.

  "Sir, you also saw that my father can't move at all." Shen He wiped away his tears and said: "I remember that for any disputes involving students from the county school, they don't need to go to court to file a lawsuit or respond to one. Family members can represent them instead, right? I didn't get it wrong, did I?"

  "No." Ma Dianshi nodded first and then shook his head: "But there's no other adult in your family who can act as an agent, right?"

  "I am." Shen Mo volunteered: "I am the son of my father, and I was also present that day. My father knows what I know, so it's no problem for me to replace him."

  "You... " Ma Tian looked at this half-sized kid with some disdain and said, "The Ming Code clearly states that one must be fourteen years old to file a lawsuit. Are you fourteen yet?"

  "Exactly fourteen." Shen Mo lied without batting an eye, putting his father back to bed and saying in a low voice: "Father, rest assured and recover from your illness, I'll be right back."

  Shen He's eyes moistened, he knew Shen Mo didn't let him speak up, it was because he wanted to go to the government office in his place.

  After all, this is Shen's territory, and Ma Dianshi can't be too arrogant, so he had to bare his teeth at Shen Xiuzai and follow Shen Mo downstairs.

  Looking at the two people leaving, two tears finally fell from Shen He's eyes: 'This child is afraid that I am too stupid and will suffer...' Since Shen Mo was bitten by a snake, he could strongly feel that his son's IQ had far surpassed his own, and in terms of handling things, he was much more mature and stable than himself. This made him, as the father, feel somewhat inferior, and from time to time, he would use 'the blue comes out of the blue and surpasses the blue' to comfort himself.

  But today's silent actions told him that no matter how big his son's affairs were, he always put his old man first and wholeheartedly protected this silly old man...

  "It's an honor to have you."

  Division line

  Happy Double Seventh Festival. The magpie bridge is set up, hehe, just one more vote to get on the list, everyone come on and cast your votes. Of course, if you have a date, then come back and talk about it later...