"This matter is easy to say and difficult to say." Magistrate Liu drank another cup of tea and softened his tone.
"I just got excited." He sighed.
"I really shouldn't expect you, a civilian, to do anything."
"Sir, I don't understand what you are talking about?" Xiao Mu looked confused.
"Then Xu Cai's family really has nothing to do with your family?" Magistrate Liu confirmed again.
"My lord, have you forgotten that the last time we went to court didn't last long?"
"That's all!" Magistrate Liu took the two pieces of letter paper back into his arms.
Then he said: "I know that both of you and your wife are good people, and I won't hide this from you."
"The Xu family father and son are indeed unjustly accused. The letters are all there, so this cannot be false. In my opinion, Xu Zhongyuan is the mastermind of selling private salt."
"Since you know this, why did you arrest Xu Cai?" Xiao Mu asked.
"That's not because he talked nonsense!" Speaking of this, the county magistrate became very angry.
"I just stopped him like that, but he kept nagging, if I really had the ability to arrest Xu Zhongyuan, would I still have to wait until now?"
Xiao Mu: "Since we have the evidence, why can't we arrest people?"
"Evidence?" Magistrate Liu said and drank the tea.
"Yesterday, I arrested Xu Zhongyuan, but guess what?"
He shook his head and sneered again:
"This morning, the prefect sent me an official document, ordering me to escort Xu Zishang to the prefectural government office within three days. If Xu Zhongyuan reports merit, he will be released immediately."
"Xu Zishang who was reported by Xu Zhongyuan?" Xiao Mu was very surprised.
"Didn't the letter say that he borrowed money from Xu Zishang for turnover, and that he also sold low-priced salt?"
"A letter? What letter?"
County Magistrate Liu waved his hand: "If I hadn't intercepted these two letters in time today, do you think these letters would still exist?"
Xiao Mu understood in his heart.
The state government office deliberately protected the Xu family.
If Magistrate Liu submits the letter, I am afraid it will be destroyed immediately.
When the time comes, it will be difficult for Xu Zhang to stand up if his words are empty.
"I wonder what the magistrate wants me to do when he just handed the letter to me?"
"You really have nothing to do with the Xu family?"
Magistrate Liu didn't know what he was thinking, so he asked again.
Xiao Mu was extremely speechless: Is Douhua in your mind?
How many times do you need to ask a sentence?
He took a sip of tea and suppressed his emotions: "It really doesn't matter."
Magistrate Liu rolled his eyes and said: "I'm afraid it will become relevant now even if it doesn't matter.
That Xu Cai has lived in your house for so long, all the villagers in Qingshan Village can prove it.
If Xu Zishang and his son are really found guilty, I'm afraid your Xiao family will also be implicated! "
"My lord has said so much, but you just want me to do something. Why don't you tell me first, what do you want me to do?"
Xiao Mu didn't want to go around in circles with him anymore and asked directly,
The county magistrate was happy when he heard this.
He took out the two letters again and placed them on the table:
"It is said that the imperial envoy Master Shen is on his way to Anchang Mansion. If he can submit these two letters to Master Shen before he arrives at Anchang Mansion and explain the reasons to him, I believe Master Shen will definitely investigate. Find out the truth and make the Xu family and his son innocent!"
"Shen Xiuyan?" Xiao Mu asked.
"How do you know?" The county magistrate was surprised at first, and then said to himself:
"Master Shen is a famous official in the court. He is decisive in killing and never shows favoritism. With Master Shen's reputation, it is not surprising for you to know."
Xiao Mu thought for a moment and stretched out his hand towards the county magistrate: "Okay, I can try this."
"real?"
The county magistrate was overjoyed and hurriedly handed the letter to Xiao Mu: "All you need to do is hand the letter into the hands of the imperial envoy. I will handle the rest."
Xiao Mu put the letter down and sat upright: "I will definitely deliver the letter, but I have two conditions."
"What conditions?"
"First of all, I won't do any errands for nothing. After the work is completed, your Excellency will give me one hundred taels of silver as a reward."
One hundred taels?
When the county magistrate heard this, he knew that Xiao Mu had never seen big money before, and he only needed a hundred taels of silver to do such a dangerous thing.
"Okay! I promise you!" the county magistrate responded, "What about one more thing?"
Xiao Mu: "We in the village don't want to cause trouble, we just want to live a peaceful life. If anyone asks about it in the future, I must not reveal that I was the one who sent the letter."
"It's a deal!" the county magistrate agreed happily.
The two drank tea instead of wine and clinked glasses to show their cooperation.
After drinking this cup of tea, Xiao Mu stood up and left the teahouse.
Magistrate Liu sat and drank for a while, then put on his curtain hat again and stood up to leave.
As soon as he walked out of the tea room, the waiter bowed and greeted him: "Has this guest finished his tea?"
"Yes." The county magistrate lowered his curtain hat for fear of being recognized.
He casually took out a small silver ingot from his pocket and placed it on the waiter's tray.
Keep the change, please.
After saying that, he lifted his feet and left.
With quick eyes and quick hands, the waiter ducked and stood in front of him again.
"This guest!"
"What's wrong? I didn't tell you not to look for it."
"Sir, the money you paid is not enough!" the waiter said in embarrassment.
"Not enough? I just gave you half a tael of silver, right?"
"Sir, what you just ordered is the top-quality Longjing in our store. It is our boss's treasure. A pot of tea costs ten taels of silver!"
"Ten taels?" Liu Mian was shocked.
He is a county magistrate, and the tea he usually drinks is only a few hundred pennies a pound.
This Xiao Mu ordered tea worth ten taels of silver as soon as he came up!
He really took himself as the enemy!
At this moment, the victim didn't have that much cash with him at all, so he asked others to pick it up, but he was afraid of exposing his identity, so he had to open his wallet, took out a golden melon seed, and carefully placed it in the waiter's hand.
There were only ten golden melon seeds in his purse.
This was a reward given by the emperor after he passed the Jinshi examination.
Now ten had turned into nine, and Liu Mian's distressed eyebrows were almost twisted into knots.
