The boss smacked his mouth, which had almost lost all his teeth, and said," Miss, this zither is made of top-grade ancient paulownia wood. Just this paulownia wood alone would have to risk one's life to search deep in the mountains and forests for who knows how long. Look at these strings, each string is made of 36 black gold threads. You get what you pay for. For such a top-grade zither, 20 taels isn't much at all."
The young lady smiled silently, her cheeks revealing faint dimples, appearing extremely alluring. Her red lips parted slightly, and her pearly white teeth curved like arcs. Her beauty made even Yang Ling, who was standing at the side, feel his heart skip a beat. The young lady turned her head to look at him, obviously aware that he was peeking at her, but there was no displeasure on her face.
The young lady turned her head to look at her brother with a smile. Suddenly, she mumbled a string of words that Yang Ling did not understand. The vigorous young man replied with a similar pronunciation. The young lady shook her head and said to the boss,"" Boss, I sincerely want to buy your zither. Other than me, I'm afraid that no one else in Jiming Posthouse would be willing to spend so much money on this zither. How about this, fifteen taels. If you're willing, I'll do this business with you."
The white-haired old man smacked his lips again and nodded."" Alright, I'll sell the goods to you. Since Miss has said so, I'll sell Old Qin to you."
The girl smiled and reached into her pocket to take out a purse. She poured out a bead from it and placed it in her fair and tender palm. She held it in front of the boss and said," Alright, here's a top-quality Hepu Pearl. Even if it's placed in a small place, it's worth eighteen taels of silver. I'll use this pearl to exchange for your zither. You don't need to give me any change. Just give me a zither case."
At that time, although there was gold, silver, and Ming Dynasty banknotes in circulation, bartering was still very popular among the people, so the girl's behavior was not strange. The old man took the pearl and squinted his eyes to look at it under the sunlight. It was indeed a good pearl. This girl used such a good pearl to exchange for his zither. It was indeed a good deal.
However, the old man greedily looked at the pearl again and secretly calculated," Although Jiming Posthouse was bustling with merchants, it was not a good place to do musical instrument business. After opening the store here for two years, it still lost more than it earned. He was planning to sell the store and go to Datong to do business.
Seeing that the end of the year was approaching, he had to find a way to sell this bead. He did not recognize the siblings, so they were definitely not locals. From the accent they had just spoken, they seemed to be people from outside the pass. Perhaps they were passing by. If he could use the ground to hide her bead, he could still earn back some of his business losses.
Thinking of this, the old man's greed rose. With a flick of his finger, he slid the bead into his sleeve and chuckled," Miss, this zither of mine only needs to be traded in cash. If you really want to buy it, bring me some silver."
The girl pouted her lips when she heard that. She thought that the money she had on her was not enough for this amount. She paused and said," Boss, you're clearly giving you a cheap deal, yet you're still trying to push it away. Forget it, the bead is fine. I'm not buying it."
The old man blinked cunningly and made a shocked expression."Beads? What bead? You came to my shop to buy things, not to sell things. When have I ever seen your beads?”
"What?" The young girl's face flushed red. She slapped the counter angrily and said,"Why are you so unreasonable? Are you trying to cheat me of my pearls?"
When her brother heard this, he flew into a rage. He reached out and grabbed the skinny old man, pulling him out from behind the counter. He scolded angrily,"Motherf * cker, how dare you take my sister's things? Do you think I, Ma Ang, am easy to bully? Old dog, quickly return the bead."
The boss immediately shouted at the top of his lungs," Bandits, you're beating people up. All the neighbors have come to take a look. I, Old Wang, have always done business fairly and never cheat the old or the young. Outsiders are bullying us."
He saw that Yang Ling was dressed like a local. Back then, people had a very strong sense of country, and they were a classic example of helping relatives over reason. He thought that once they called for their neighbors to come over, and with this local as a witness, this pair of foreigners could only suffer in silence and leave with hatred. If they really couldn't do anything, they still had two sons. Why would they be afraid of foreigners like them?
The young man who called himself Ma Ang was even more furious. He raised his hand angrily and was about to hit him. He cursed,"Cunning old dog, you're really going too far!”
At this moment, the curtain behind him opened, and a bearded man in his forties rushed out. When he saw this, he roared and threw a punch. He said fiercely," Let go of my father. Where did this little brat come from? He's bullying my Wang Clan."
This strong man seemed to have some strength. This punch was fierce and powerful. Ma Ang saw it and smiled contemptuously. He raised his arm and threw away the old man who looked like a big horse and a monkey. He stood there without moving. He only stretched out one hand and grabbed the strong man's fist with a " pa " sound. His five fingers closed and slowly tightened. The strong man cried out in pain. He grabbed his wrist and knelt down in pain.
"You want to pretend to be a robber?" Ma Ang laughed coldly. Is this all you have?"
The old man had been slapped twice by him by his collar. Now that he was shaken off, he pointed at Ma Ang and shouted even louder. After shouting twice, his face suddenly turned red and he panted heavily. His body suddenly collapsed to the ground and he was no longer breathing.
Ma Ang was still holding the strong man's wrist and was about to show off when the neighbors of the shops around him had already surrounded him. Someone helped the old man up and suddenly shouted, Wang San 'er, come and see your father. The old man can't take it anymore."
Ma Ang turned his head and saw that the shopkeeper, who was greedy for money, had a pale face and was held in someone's arms without moving. He couldn't help but be shocked and couldn't help but let go.
The brawny man called Wang San 'er hurriedly grabbed his father and hugged him to check his breathing. He was actually not breathing at all. He could not help but wail, tears and snot flowing down his face as he said," Father, I pity you for being beaten to death by a thief at such an old age. Father."
At this moment, a man of similar age jumped out from the back door. Behind him, a group of women and children followed. It seemed that they were all from the Wang family. Ma Ang thought that this family was going to play dead again, so he just sneered and said nothing. At this time, he saw the whole family surrounding him, crying non-stop. His face couldn't help but change color, and his heart became timid.
He quietly tugged at his sister's sleeve and gave her a look. He held her wrist and was about to walk out. The Wang family members were unwilling to let go. They surrounded him and shouted, pushing and shoving. In the chaos, someone went outside and called for two yamen officers patrolling the street. When they heard that it was a big case of death, the two yamen officers did not dare to neglect it. They followed the neighbors and barged into the shop and shouted,"Where is the murderer?"
Jiming Posthouse was originally a city and not a county. It was just that the military position here was important. In addition, it was an important post station for merchants to transit. It was rich in taxes, so it also set up a county administration department to manage the area with a radius of dozens of miles. However, this county was relatively small. The county magistrate was a seventh-grade official.
When Ma Ang saw that the official had arrived, he did not have the courage to kill an official and rebel. He did not dare to act rashly anymore. The son of the musical instrument shop owner pointed at him and said," It's him. It's this thief who killed my father."
Ma Ang said weakly," I didn't. This boss is old. I exposed him for stealing my pearls. He fainted from embarrassment and anger, and his blood attacked his heart. What does it have to do with me?"”
How could a murderer let someone go just because he said that he didn't kill them? The two bailiffs did not care what he shouted. One of them pulled a thin iron chain from his waist and put it on his head with a clatter. He wrapped it around his shoulders and wiped his arms, binding him firmly. The other held a waist knife. If he dared to resist, he would definitely cut his head.
After tying Ma Ang up, the officer pulled the chain and shouted,""If you have something to say, say it to your grandfather. I say, Old Wang's family, don't cry. Bring your father to the yamen and tell them. I'll have to trouble all of you to be witnesses."
The young girl was so anxious that tears welled up in her eyes. Seeing that her brother was about to be kidnapped, she hurriedly pointed at Yang Ling, who had been watching from the side silently, and said," My brother didn't kill anyone. This person was there the whole time. He can testify."
Yang Ling, who was watching from the side, had a clear understanding of the situation. Even though this Maang was young and impetuous, that old fellow had stolen other people's belongings. He could be considered an old thief. Looking at his situation 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 the end, he lost a pearl and lost his life.
When the bailiff heard this, he was already halfway out of the shop, but he came back forcefully and said with a fake smile, Since that's the case, please come back with us as a witness."
Yang Ling's heart softened when he saw the beautiful girl crying her eyes out, her face full of pleading. He nodded. The group of people arrived at the county government office. The eldest grandson of the Wang family went up to beat the drum to voice his grievances. The county magistrate, Min Wenjian, hurriedly put on his official robe and went to the court to inquire about the case.
Although the seventh-grade county magistrate was usually the smallest official on the stage, it seemed that anyone could kill him with a finger. In fact, the county magistrate had much more power than the current county party secretary. He was also the county industry and commerce bureau chief, finance bureau chief, tax bureau chief, court president, police chief, and many other positions.
This County Magistrate Min was different from most civil officials who were scholars or juren. He was originally a guerrilla general in the border army. Because of the special geographical location of Jiming Posthouse, he was sent here to manage both civil and military affairs.
Yang Ling was surprised to see that the county magistrate was actually a dark-faced man with a full beard. This county magistrate, who had been a military officer, had been in the civil service for two years, so he more or less knew the rules. When he heard that Yang Ling was a scholar, he quickly asked someone to show him a seat and then sit down to question him.
With a glance, this pair of siblings were not passersby, but the son and daughter of the post deputy, Lord Ma, who had just taken office yesterday. The deputy was also an official under the county magistrate. However, Jiming Posthouse was a city built by the post station. The local deputy had over a hundred people under his command. Moreover, it was a military post station system, so it was actually on the same level as County Magistrate Min.
Last night, Magistrate Min had just attended Ma Yi Cheng's banquet. He had seen his son and daughter at the banquet. He wanted to help them get away with it, but killing someone was not a small matter. Although beads were found on the corpse and it was confirmed that he had stolen someone's property, it was also a fact that he died on the spot. Magistrate Min was qualified to cut someone with a big knife. He had not memorized the laws of the Ming Dynasty when he asked him to ask questions.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。