The magistrate of Ankang City was a little anxious when he heard that someone was blocking an imperial official in the street. He had never heard of any imperial official coming down to inspect the area recently.

In any case, since someone has come to report the case, they must be a colleague, so I should go there myself.

Generally speaking, these kinds of street-stage staged accidents can be resolved by sending a few police officers.

But since it involves his colleagues, he dared not be careless.

And so, the portly Lord Zhang Xianliang personally set off in a carriage.

When the onlookers saw that it was the county magistrate himself, they all knelt down and kowtowed.

Including the bloated woman who collapsed and couldn't get up.

The Zhao family and their entourage remained completely still, including the coachmen behind them.

The children in the carriage looked at the magistrate with curiosity, while the coachmen held the horses tightly to prevent any mishaps.

Seeing this, Zhang Xianliang was certain that the people who came today were no ordinary individuals.

Upon arriving at the scene of the incident,

"I am the magistrate of Ankang City. I have heard that kidnappers are roaming around here. Who reported this to me?"

Zhao Qingyan raised her hand, "I reported the case."

He then stepped down from the carriage. Xu Dongsheng followed closely behind.

Zhang Xianliang's eyes lit up when he saw Zhao Qingyan. He hadn't seen such a beautiful girl in a long time.

"What is your name, young lady? Whose daughter are you?"

Zhao Qingyan smiled and said, "She's my father's daughter."

When Zhang Xianliang heard this, he thought, "Isn't this just a joke?" He became a little unhappy, as it was really disrespectful to him.

"May I ask, young lady, do you possess an imperial decree? Why do you not kneel before me?"

Zhao Qingyan was stunned for a moment, then smiled.

"Are you sure you want me to kneel before you? Are you sure your status is higher than the current emperor's?"

As he spoke, he pointed upwards.

Zhang Xianliang was sweating profusely.

A battle raged within me between heaven and man.

"Who exactly is this girl? Is she trying to fool me? I've never heard of anyone who can stand before the Emperor without kneeling."

Thinking of this, he said, "Miss, please don't try to fool me. The laws of the court are not to be trifled with."

Zhao Qingyan really can't back down; if she does, she'll be showing no respect to the Emperor and Empress.

“Magistrate Zhang is right.”

However, this humble woman's knees really cannot bend, after all, this humble woman has received special permission from His Majesty not to kneel before him.

If Lord Zhang does not believe me, he can look at the imperial edict.

As she spoke, Zhao Qingyan turned to get back into the carriage, looking like a girl who was furious and throwing a tantrum.

Xu Dongsheng, naturally, couldn't bear to see his young wife unhappy, so he clasped his hands in greeting and said...

"Lord Zhang, I am Xu Dongsheng, the newly appointed magistrate of Kenqing City."

Sitting in that carriage is the newly appointed magistrate of Dawar City, who is also my father-in-law.

The elder next to me is a scholar who passed the imperial examinations, and he is also my father-in-law.

The two young men over there were also scholars who had passed the imperial examinations.

I forgot to mention, that kind old lady also received the imperial edict.

It is highly praised today for contributing high-yield crops such as potatoes and sweet potatoes.

Lord Zhang, do you still think my wife needs to kneel before you?

Lord Zhang was dumbfounded. What kind of family was this? Although none of them held high-ranking positions, they all had official titles.

He might not know about other people, but he couldn't possibly not know about potatoes and sweet potatoes.

The entire Northland is scrambling for potato and sweet potato seeds.

Unfortunately, the imperial court only has so many seeds, and they haven't been allocated to this area yet.

"No need, no need. What exactly happened here?" Magistrate Zhang quickly changed the subject.

He was eager to finish the matter quickly; Xu Dongsheng's gaze was truly terrifying.

Just as he changed the subject, Zhao Qingyan came over carrying a bright yellow scroll.

Tilting his head to look at Zhang Xianliang, Lord Zhang's knees buckled and he was about to kneel down when he saw the scroll.

Although Xu Dongsheng was dissatisfied with Magistrate Zhang's treatment of Zhao Qingyan, he knew the gravity of the situation.

Especially since they had just arrived in the North, and Ankang City might be a place they would have to pass through in the future, they couldn't afford to offend them too much.

He reached out and helped Zhang Xianliang up, straightening his bent knees with a surprising effort.

"Yan'er, you naughty girl, quickly put the imperial edict away. Let's deal with that woman's matter first; getting on our way is the priority."

Zhao Qingyan nonchalantly carried the imperial edict back to the carriage.

The onlookers felt like they had stumbled upon a huge juicy story; they had never seen so many officials before.

The bloated woman was now trembling all over.

She felt like she was having the worst luck ever, all because of that damn girl.

If it weren't for that jinx, she wouldn't have run into this mess today.

Xu Dongsheng recounted the whole story from beginning to end.

The conclusion was to ask Zhang Xianliang what should be done with the woman.

Zhang Xianliang naturally wanted to get to the bottom of things, and since he was unlucky today, he decided to have the case heard in the street.

The pressure is immense. He could feel a little better if his superiors were overseeing the audit.

Whatever judgment your superiors give is correct; obedience is the primary principle.

It's more difficult to handle cases at the same level; if the case is approved, it's only natural.

Not only will you be looked down upon if you don't handle the case well, but a single reversal could capsize your own career.

What kind of honor is it for the daughter of a county magistrate to be granted the privilege of not kneeling before the emperor?

“What crime should be punished for this audacious scoundrel who blocks an official of the imperial court in the street, speaks rudely, and extorts money from people?”

The obese woman was already trembling.

After thinking about it, I realized I hadn't done anything wrong; I was just unlucky to run into an official.

He immediately looked up.

"Your Excellency, I am Han Ruhua, the wife of the Wu family in Qing Shi Ban Lane."

Life at home is getting harder and harder; we no longer have enough food to feed this money-losing brat.

Hearing that human traffickers had arrived, they wanted to sell Nizi, hoping to get her a good home. That way, I, as her mother, would feel at ease.

"Holy crap. I've never heard anyone describe selling people in such a serene and elegant way. I've never seen anything like it before."

A young man dressed in a long gown, who considered himself a scholar, swore.

Han Ruhua was not actually Nizi's biological mother; she was her second wife.

But recently she discovered that this brat had been secretly having close ties with her maternal grandparents. They must be thinking of taking the brat over there.

In particular, Nizi developed feelings for her cousin.

How can this be allowed? We've raised them for years for nothing, how can we let them benefit someone else?

Besides, does this slut even deserve to marry into a respectable family?

The wicked Han Ruhua then conceived the idea of ​​selling people. However, the brokers in Ankang City didn't accept just anyone.

Someone like Nizi would only get two taels of silver at most.

Han Ruhua was naturally unwilling to give up and wanted to sell this girl for a high price.

But with such high prices, they're not so easy to sell. If you want to sell them, you need to find buyers.

So they went all over the world asking around, trying to find a broker.

I just heard someone say that a huge brokerage firm came to town, with a line of over a hundred children.

Anyone who dares to make such a grand entrance must be a broker.

So they teamed up with a few people who wanted to sell their children and blocked the road together.