Ma Xianxian entered the living room with the support of Bai Jia, and saluted with a pleasant expression: "Master Zhang, I really want to offend you when we say goodbye to the capital!"
Zhang Xiu stood up, held his hands, quickly returned the greeting, and asked with concern: "Ma Shangshu is so polite, is your son still lame?"
"It's still lame, it's still lame. The dog is incompetent, so I don't need to worry about it..."
Ma Xianxian smiled, but in his heart he was so angry that he gritted his teeth.
While his son Ma Wenbin was hunting in the Western Mountains, he was shot with an arrow by Zhang Xiu and was crippled. Almost all his planned career was cancelled.
Now when they met, Zhang Xiu revealed the scars in his heart, almost making him so angry that his years of training were broken on the spot.
Seeing the two people chatting and laughing, sitting down humbly, Bai Jia beside them was stunned.
Is the way of greeting in the official circles of the capital so strange? When meeting someone, you don’t ask if you are okay, but you ask if you are lame?
It seems that he still has a lot to learn before going to the capital to become an official!
Zhang Xiu glanced at Bai Jia, who had a look of astonishment on his face, and said with a smile, "Is this the magistrate of Hangzhou, Lord Bai Jia Bai?"
Bai Jia cupped his hands and was about to speak when he suddenly remembered that Ma Xianxian told him not to speak. When his words came to his lips, he turned into: "Abba, Abba!"
Zhang Xiudeng was stunned: "Master Bai is a mute?"
Bai Jia's expression froze: "Aba Aba."
A mute is a mute. In order to be promoted, Shangshu Ma must listen to his words!
Zhang Xiu looked at Ma Xianxian with a strange expression and said: "Master Bai, with his disabled body, never forgets the common people... ahem, never forgets to care about the common people. With such a disabled body and a strong will, he is really a role model for our generation!"
Ma Xianxian glanced at Bai Jia with a sullen expression, feeling like he was getting angry again, and said, "Prefect Bai, stop joking with Mr. Zhang and talk to him properly."
Bai Jia breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Zhang Xiu: "Master Zhang came to my Hangzhou mansion as a guest today. I don't know why?"
Zhang Xiu directly explained the purpose of his visit: "There is a Dianshi named Wang Er in your yamen. Sixteen years ago, he accepted a bribe of 300 cash from a thief, slandered Mei Nu's innocence, and forced her to hang herself from a beam."
"I am here this time just for this murder case!"
Bai Jia was speechless for a moment: "This...this old case is no longer necessary to be retried, right?"
Ma Xianxing said angrily: "Human life is as big as the sky, and an old case is also a case. How can it not be tried? In my opinion, this case must be retried, and it must be retried properly!"
"Master Zhang, this case will be handed over to you for trial! Prefect Bai, your transfer letter will be issued soon. Go pack up your belongings and follow me back to Beijing immediately!"
Bai Jia was stunned and said: "Ma Shangshu, why are you so anxious..."
Ma Xianxian glared and was so frightened that he quickly shut up and said goodbye to Zhang Xiu.
Zhang Xiu raised his hand slightly and said with a smile: "My lords, wait a minute. I accidentally picked up a hundred thousand taels of silver just now. I wonder which of the two lords lost it?"
As he said that, he took out ten ten thousand taels of silver notes from his sleeve.
Ma Xianxian's expression changed, he reached out and touched his arms, and found that there was nothing there. He suddenly felt a ball of anger rising in his chest.
Accidentally, the banknote in my arms can slip into your sleeve?
What a fool you are! !
At the same time, Bai Jia looked at the banknote in Zhang Xiu's hand and was confused for a moment, then suddenly lost his voice and said: "Oh, isn't this my banknote!"
Zhang Xiu looked at Bai Jia with a suspicious look on his face: "Is this banknote yours?"
Bai Jia quickly waved his hand and said: "No, it was before, but now it belongs to Ma Shangshu!"
Zhang Xiu said playfully: "That's really strange. How could your banknote become Ma Shangshu's? You made me confused."
Bai Jia opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Ma Xianxian said with a dark face: "Master Bai, don't talk nonsense and bribe an official, it's a serious crime!"
Bai Jia suddenly broke out in a cold sweat, and finally discovered that Mr. Zhang from Jinhua seemed to be a different person from Ma Shangshu!
Which sect does Zhang Xiu belong to that can make Ma Shangshu so afraid?
Are the emperor's confidants, Prime Minister Pang's people, or the people left by the late emperor?
Seeing Zhang Xiu's smiling expression, Bai Jia forced himself to apologize and said with a smile: "Sir Zhang, I made a mistake just now. This banknote was just lost by me and has nothing to do with Master Ma!"
Zhang Xiu smiled and said: "Oh, then I'm a little confused. The prefect's monthly salary is only a few dozen taels of silver. Where did you get such a huge sum of money?"
Bai Jia's cheek twitched slightly, and he couldn't think of a reasonable explanation for a while. He stared at the banknote in Zhang Xiu's hand, feeling tangled for a while.
Ma Xianxian glanced sideways at Bai Jia, slapped his hand heavily on his shoulder, and said calmly: "You idiot, Mr. Zhang has a witty nature, and he is joking with you. This banknote is not mine, nor is it yours. That was naturally brought by Mr. Zhang himself.”
Bai Jia reluctantly looked away from the banknote, with a smile that was uglier than crying, and nodded in agreement: "It turns out to be Mr. Zhang's banknote. I'm really stupid."
Zhang Xiu glanced at Ma Xianxian, an old cunning man, and silently inserted the half-drawn golden cudgel back in. He said with a smile, "Master Ma is really very discerning. This hundred thousand taels of silver is really brought by me."
"The official couldn't bear the floods in Hangzhou for many years and the people were displaced, so he brought a hundred thousand taels of banknotes to rebuild a dike for the Hangzhou government."
Ma Xianxian groaned and said with admiration: "Master Zhang cares about the people and is really a blessing to the people of Hangzhou. It's a pity that I am busy with business and can't see the beauty of Xindi."
"Don't worry, Sir Zhang. When I return to the capital, I will definitely report your achievements to the Holy One word for word!"
Zhang Xiu smiled slightly, waved his hand and said: "Now I have Lao Ma Shangshu, Yan Feng, to see you off!"
Ma Xianxian breathed a sigh of relief and quickly walked out of the office with Bai Jia. Looking at the busy street, he raised his sleeves and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Bai Jia felt distressed for a while, but finally regained his composure. He glared and said, "No, this seems to be my government office!"
Ma kicked Bai Jia to the ground first and said angrily: "You idiot, it would be great if you could save your life. You were talking nonsense inside and almost killed me!"
Bai Jia said with a look of disbelief: "Master Ma, you are the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel. Do you need to be so afraid of Zhang Xiu?"
Ma Xianxian took a deep breath and said: "He has the immunity gold medal and the iron rod given by the Queen Mother in his hand. If we accidentally got caught by him just now, do you believe or not he dared to make our heads explode on the spot!"
Bai Jia took a breath: "Ah, it turns out he is from the Queen Mother!"
Ma Xianxian calmed his breathing and said, "Don't bring anything with you. Follow me on the small road back to Beijing overnight to avoid any further changes."
Hearing this, Bai Jia said with some trepidation: "But sir, it's not safe to walk on the small roads. Many refugees in Hangzhou Prefecture have fallen into the trap of bandits. What if we encounter..."
Ma Xianxing snorted disdainfully and said: "They are just refugees. I am still afraid of them. There are so many of them. This time I have brought fifty Royal Guards with me. I will kill them along the way."
Bai Jia's face looked a little strange, and he hesitated to say: "It's not a lot, only...a mere hundred thousand."
Ma Xianxian: "What the hell..."
After kicking Bai Jia viciously several times, Ma Xianxian gritted his teeth and said, "It's better to take the small road back to Beijing. If we encounter hundreds of thousands of bandits, we still have a chance to escape. If it falls into Zhang Xiu's hands, we will die without any chance of survival!"
(End of chapter)
