Chapter 1205: Scam

Chapter 1205: Scam

When Fan Zijin entered the palace to complain, Xiao Ting had already run back to report the entire incident to Mu Yangling.

“I wonder who started the rumor that Prince An brought the four young masters to destroy the Dong family’s farmland and wanted to break off relations with the Left Prime Minister.” Xiao Ting wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Little Madam Xia nervously tugged at Mu Yangling’s hand. “Isn’t this matter blown up too much? Could the Left Prime Minister…”

“No.” Mu Yangling comforted her. Fan Zijin had watched Rong Xuan grow up. As long as Rong Xuan was still the same person as he was back then, she was certain he wouldn’t blame Fan Zijin. She turned around and asked Xiao Ting, “Are you sure it was Prince An who asked Third Young Master to beat up Dong Mao?”

Xiao Ting took a careful look at Queen Consort Rong and said softly, “It was too chaotic back then. I heard from the guards that Young Master Zijin ordered the beating. Later, when both sides stopped, Prince An again ordered Third Young Master to continue beating Dong Mao up…”

Little Madam Xia asked in surprise, “Has His Highness lost his mind from anger?”

If Qi Haoran couldn’t make him lose his mind from anger, what else was capable of making him so mad? Mu Yangling firmly believed that there was a deeper meaning behind it, so she comforted Little Madam Xia. “Don’t worry, there might be something fishy going on. We just have to sit here in peace. If there’s something that even Zijin can’t handle, it’s useless for us to worry.”

Even so, Little Madam Xia was still worried and specially got someone to keep an eye on the development of this matter.

Therefore, she was the first to know when the situation took a turn.

Little Madam Xia immediately abandoned what she was doing and ran to look for Mu Yangling. Mu Yangling’s eyes widened as well. “So this matter has already gone from Zijin destroying someone’s land and breaking off ties with Brother Rong to Brother Rong putting righteousness before family and enforcing the law impartially?”

Little Madam Xia nodded repeatedly. “That’s right, that’s right. Because that piece of land is in Lin’an, the case is being tried in the Lin’an county office. Prime Minister Rong is there now. Many people went to watch the commotion.”

Mu Yangling had a bad feeling. “Do you think Little An and the others will join in the fun?”

“I don’t think so?” Little Madam Xia said unconfidently, “Didn’t Master bring them into the palace?

Mu Yangling really wanted to laugh. Was that enough to stop those three brats?

Rong Xuan moved very quickly. He knew that the longer this matter dragged on, the more likely unforeseen events would happen. Therefore, after capturing Steward Ji, he sent him straight to the county office. Even without interrogating him, he could roughly guess what had happened.

Anyone who was involved in the armed battle and didn’t incur life-threatening injuries were all sent to the Lin’an county office.

The county magistrate of Lin’an almost cried.

As the county magistrate of Guo County in the capital, he was quite aggrieved. Any random person in the capital could easily have a higher official position than him. If Prime Minister Rong personally appeared, who knew who else was involved in this case?

He really wanted to shrink into a turtle, but that was impossible.

The Left Prime Minister had personally ordered a thorough investigation. This incident was too vile, and daring to engage in armed fighting on the outskirts of the capital was simply insane.

This incident was a fight between nobles and commoners. Prince An and the others, who were also nobles, heroically stopped the fight. Therefore, Little An and the others could “recuperate” and not appear in court.

However, Dong Mao, who was the leader of the fight, was carried over.

There had to be a reason for everything. Why were the completely unrelated nobles and commoners fighting?

Once investigation was carried out, the fact that Dong Wulang had set up a trap to deceive the commoners could no longer be kept under wraps. However, Dong Mao felt wronged because he really didn’t know about this!

He cried, “Steward Ji said that some commoners urgently need money for the new year, so it’s especially cheap to buy land at this time. Since the land only costs two taels per acre, I asked him to buy it. As for how he bought it, I had no idea.”

The county magistrate of Lin’an slammed the wooden block1 and looked at the bonded tenant kneeling at the side. He asked, “Is what he said true? You sold the land to Dong Wulang for two taels of silver per acre?”

The expressions of the bonded tenants changed drastically. They kowtowed and cried out, “Sir, please address our grievances. Our land is located in the suburbs of the capital and is of at least medium grade. How could it be sold for two taels of silver? At that time, Steward Ji only said that he would borrow our land deed and return it half a year later. Who knew that after he took the land deed away, he wouldn’t return it? And after we planted the land according to the rules, we became tenant farmers of the Dong family.”

“What did Steward Ji say he was going to do with your title deeds? What did you agree on back then?” The Lin’an County Magistrate’s face darkened. He already had a rough guess about the matter. He originally had some sympathy for the bonded tenants, but now, there was only fury left. He couldn’t help but slam the wooden block and ask, “Hurry up and tell me the truth!”

The bonded tenant gate jumped in fright and hesitated for a moment. In the end, he lowered his head and said, “He said that he would use it to fool his master. He lied to his master and said that the land in the suburbs of the capital can be bought for two taels of silver. He claimed that he would give us one to two taels of silver for lending him the title deed to show his master. After that, he would return the title deed to us. We would pretend to be his family’s tenant farmers and get free seeds, farming tools, and plowing oxen every year. When it’s time to harvest, we just have to hand over a portion of the grains. Steward Ji would tell the higher-ups that the fields are barren and the weather is unfavorable, thus harvest is poor.”

Dong Wulang, who was lying on the stretcher, widened his eyes and looked angrily at Steward Ji. He shouted, “Dog slave, how dare you lie to me!”

The bonded tenant continued, “Someone in the vicinity of our village did this. As expected, the title deed was returned to him half a year later. Hence, we agreed to ‘sell the land’ for two taels of silver. But who knew that the title deed would not be returned to us? After we planted the land, we really became tenant farmers of the Dong Family. Sir, we’re innocent! This is clearly a conspiracy between Dong Wulang and Steward Ji to deceive us. We went to the Dong Family to seek an explanation and were immediately given a beating and thrown out. They even said that they are in-laws with the Left Prime Minister, which means it’s useless even if we sue him in front of the Emperor.”

Rong Xuan, who was sitting in the back hall, took a sip of tea leisurely and sneered. “This person is quite eloquent.”

The butler of the Rong family, Steward Bai, lowered his head and did not dare to speak.

Rong Xuan said, “It’s been hard on you. To think you can find such an actor on such short notice.”

Steward Bai said in a low voice, “It’s not really an act. Most of what he said is the truth.”

“Unfortunately, it’s not very useful. If the culprits from the Rong family aren’t exposed, at the end of the day, it’ll only hurt the Dong family. Go and tell the Lin’an county magistrate to judge this matter according to the law. Set aside the undetermined aspects for the time being. I know that he won’t be able to uncover it nor will he be able to obtain evidence. I will let it go this time, but should incidents of ordinary civilians being oppressed arise again, I won’t be so easy to talk to.”

Steward Bai hurriedly agreed.

The people outside were already in an uproar because of the bonded tenant’s words. It was the first time they had seen such a scam.

Everyone looked at Dong Mao, who was lying in the hall, and suddenly felt that he was not so detestable. Although he was a profligate son, he was just a fool who had been fooled by a servant.

Little An and the others, who sneaked out to watch, looked at Dong Wulang sympathetically.

Tiger Head said with a sense of superiority, “Let’s see if you can still say that I’m stupid. At least I have general knowledge, whereas this guy doesn’t even have the most basic common knowledge.”

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