It was the time of the setting sun, when farmers were preparing to leave the city and tourists were preparing to return. The city gate was the busiest time of the day.
The tired soldiers yawned and simply checked the baskets of the people with their scabbards, joking with each other from time to time, but no one was serious.
After all, the border was guarded by troops, so it couldn't be said that not even a fly could get in, but it was at least impregnable. And Tai'an was even more remote and poor, so any thief with a bit of sense wouldn't come here.
Inspections at the city gates are just a formality.
Even the soldiers couldn't get any benefits because the people were too poor...
But today is obviously an exception, and it is destined to be a big event.
On five or six carriages coming from afar, there were about a hundred farmers sitting crowded together, old and young, strong and weak, but they all stood with their heads held high and their chests puffed out, looking full of fighting spirit.
In contrast to them, there were more than twenty people following the carriage, all of them looked like servants, and among them was a nobleman.
These people had their hands tied and were stumbling along the way. Their heads and faces were covered with sweat and dust from exhaustion. They looked no better than mud monkeys and were in a very miserable state.
A soldier recognized Old Man Tai from the first car and asked loudly, "Uncle Tai, what's going on here today? Have you caught another bandit?"
He had meant it as a joke, but he hadn't expected Old Man Tai to respond so straightforwardly, "Little brother, you're absolutely right! Someone pretended to be a son of an official and brought thieves to our house to rob our cashmere workshop! Luckily, our clansmen united and fought tooth and nail to capture them! We're going to the county government office and beating the drum, waiting for the county magistrate to make a decision for us!"
"Oh, this guy is really brave! He actually tricked Uncle Tai!"
The soldiers were surprised and curious, and quickly looked at the tied people carefully.
When Prince Wang saw the soldiers, he was like seeing a savior, and shouted loudly, "Come quickly, untie me! Wuwu, I want to see my father! Kill all these untouchables!"
Unfortunately, he was as stupid as a pig, and his legs were too weak to walk on the road, so he fell countless times and now looked like a ball of mud.
Not to mention the soldiers guarding the gate, even if his own mother came, she might not be able to recognize him!
One soldier even kicked him with a smile, cursing, "How come you're still addicted to pretending? You really think you're a prince! Go to the county government office and get a beating!"
Soon, the convoy entered the city and headed towards the county government office.
A group of idle people who were craning their necks to watch the fun were talking about it.
"The Tai family is truly formidable. If you're a bandit, don't let them get you into trouble. Otherwise, you'll be gone forever."
"This group of people doesn't look very powerful, they must be a gang of scammers! I'm afraid that selling oneself to bury one's father is no longer effective now, so I've switched to the White Dragon Fish Service!"
"Hahaha, that's possible! These scammers are just too stupid. Whose noble son is as fat as a pig?"
Everyone was chatting and laughing, and some who had nothing to do even followed from a distance, intending to continue watching the excitement in front of the yamen and follow up on the follow-up.
Several soldiers continued to lazily "busy" themselves. Suddenly, the soldier who had kicked the "mud ball" dropped his sword. His eyes widened in fear, and he shouted helplessly, "It's over, it's over!"
"What's wrong? Why are you making such a fuss?" the other companions asked.
The soldier opened his mouth for a long moment before uttering a few words, "I heard County Magistrate Wang's youngest son just returned from the Southern Academy. He's ugly... and fat!"
Ugly and fat?
Everyone didn't react for a moment, and when they remembered the "liar" just now, they all choked on their saliva!
God!
It’s over!
It seems that the "mud ball" just now is really a son of an official!
At this moment, the convoy arrived in front of the county government office, and an officer came forward to ask, "What happened?"
Old Master Tai responded immediately, "Officer, we're here to report a crime! A charlatan, posing as a son of an official, has come to our home with the intention of breaking into our workshop and stealing our top-secret cashmere needlework! We villagers worked together to capture the swindler and have brought him to the county magistrate for justice!"
The officers were delighted when they heard this. They didn't need to contribute any manpower to this case, they just had to go to court and make a judgment. It was simply an achievement that was handed down to the county magistrate.
So someone immediately went to the back to report.
After a while, the officers came to the court. Old Master Tai and Third Master Tai were considered the plaintiff's representatives, and "Mud Ball" and the blue-clothed lackey were considered the defendant's representatives. They were brought to the court together.
Although the county magistrate did not care about the affairs of the rear house, he still knew about some of the interactions between his family and the Tai family.
Previously, my wife liked Mrs. Min's double-sided embroidered round fan, and Mrs. Min later specially sent one to me, which was the work of Tai's daughter-in-law.
The lion ice sculpture in front of the government office after the New Year and the colorful lanterns decorating the back garden are also masterpieces of the Tai family.
Even his wife had complained to him before, regretting not having a well-behaved little girl, and that was because she envied the chubby baby of the Tai family...
So at this moment, with the familiar Tai family on one side and the mud-ball master-servant duo whom even their own mother couldn't recognize on the other, he decisively chose to ask the Tai family first.
At the critical moment, Mr. Tai's words were not at all bad. He knelt down respectfully and said, "Your Excellency the County Magistrate, I am Tai Baocheng, a commoner, and I live in Taijia Village in the south of the city.
"About three months ago, my family happened to get some cashmere yarn. My eldest daughter-in-law, who was born in the south, knew some spinning skills. She spun the cashmere into yarn, dyed it, and figured out a new way to weave it into clothes and cushions. My youngest son took it south to sell, and it won the favor of southern merchants.
"A few days ago, merchants from the south came over and bought another batch at a high price. Originally, this was a good thing. My family and the entire clan worked together to buy cashmere, clean and spin it, and weave clothes. We thought life was going to get better, but we didn't expect this to attract bad people and cause them to have bad intentions.
"Just now, these people suddenly came to our house and said that they stole our knitting method from him, which he brought back from the south a few days ago! This is impossible because we started knitting three months ago, definitely much earlier than him. If they are stealing, they must have stolen our knitting method!
"But these people were completely unreasonable. They forced their way into the workshop to see if the weaving methods were the same. They were actually trying to steal our skills! Fortunately, our tribe united and worked together to capture them.
"Perhaps out of fear of being punished, these people kept shouting that they were sons of officials and that their family had the final say in all of Tai'an! Especially this fat kid, who was even shouting that he wanted his father to chop off the heads of us lowly people!
"We were so angry that we sent them here. We hope that the great Lord of Heaven will come to our rescue and severely punish these scammers!"
The county magistrate nodded after hearing this. The servant had already mentioned this when he reported it to him just now.
The whole city is currently buzzing about the huge profits made by the Tai family’s cashmere clothing, and everyone is “envious” of them.
It’s not surprising that someone came to your door and wanted to take the initiative!
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