Song Anxin quickly hid behind a corner. Her eyes darkened; this was the Fourth Master. After watching them walk away, she turned the corner and headed back in the direction the Fourth Master had come from.
She followed the path to a small courtyard, which was clearly the residence of the owner of the house. Song Anxin found her way to the Fourth Master's room and searched carefully inside. The backyard was cluttered and the fire was not easy to control, so she had enough time. She tried to calm herself down and not panic.
Finally, she found what she was looking for in a hidden compartment by the Fourth Master's bedside. That's right, she was looking for proof of his collusion with Zhang Jing. Since they said they would reward the Fourth Master after the deed was done, they must have a written agreement. They were all old foxes who would never let themselves be taken advantage of.
The contract was placed on top of the hidden compartment. She folded the paper and stuffed it into her bosom, preparing to leave, when she noticed that there seemed to be quite a few other papers that looked like contracts. She was just about to reach out and take them.
Suddenly, a voice rang out: "Who goes there!?"
A man rushed in, only to find the room empty. He scratched his head and said, "Could I have misheard?"
Someone outside called out to him, "Stop being paranoid. Maybe it's just a stray cat. Hurry up and go to the backyard to put out the fire. The fire there is too big. Fourth Master is calling all the brothers to go."
Song Anxin breathed a sigh of relief while hiding under the bed. She was confident she could fight back by herself, and if she alerted others, it would be difficult for her to escape.
"Mother, I'm here. Are you alright?" Lin Fengnian rushed over as soon as they arrived at the agreed-upon place, his eyes filled with concern as he checked his mother up and down to see if she was injured.
Song Anxin was covered in sweat from the shock of doing something like this for the first time. She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Mother is fine, everything went smoothly. Let's go back to the inn quickly."
After midnight, Song Anxin kept an eye on the inn's entrance from her room window, but as the fourth watch approached, she still hadn't seen the person. Song Anxin was getting anxious. Could the person have made a mistake?
After a while, a dark and thin figure walked towards them, and Song Anxin quickly went downstairs.
The man tossed the three contracts to her. At that moment, the moon was partially obscured by dark clouds. Song Anxin held up a tinderbox and examined them carefully. Once she confirmed that they were what she wanted, she felt relieved.
"Young Master Jiang is in a particularly good mood today, so he came out a little late. Once the items are confirmed, please take the money."
Song Anxin readily paid him the money. Fortunately, she had brought enough money with her on this trip, just in case.
She returned to the inn, lay down on the bed, and forced herself to fall asleep. There was another tough battle to fight tomorrow, and she needed to conserve her energy.
The next morning, Song Anxin took Lin Fengshou to the yamen. She had Lin Fengnian strike the grievance drum, and soon someone led them inside.
Song Anxin stood in the courtroom of the yamen, above her was a large plaque that read "A Clear Mirror Hangs High".
Soon the magistrate of Heyang County came out, followed by his clerk. The magistrate of Heyang County was surnamed Yan. He was a middle-aged man of about forty years old with a big belly. He looked righteous and dignified. He sat on the throne with a majestic expression.
The clerk beside him said, "Court is now in session!"
"mighty....."
Magistrate Yan slammed his gavel and asked, "Who is this person before you? And what grievance do you have?"
Song Anxin led Lin Fengnian to kneel down: "Greetings, Your Excellency Magistrate. I am from Linjia Village in Ningdu County, and my husband's family name is Lin. I want to sue the two eldest sons of the Jiang and Zhang families for conspiring with my fellow villager Lin Gangzi to frame my second son, Lin Fengshou. They first took advantage of my son's drunkenness to trick him into signing a huge compensation agreement and a debt settlement contract."
They then pretended to do business with my son, Lin Fengshou, and then sent people to steal my son's goods, causing my son Fengshou to be unable to deliver the goods.
After Song Anxin finished speaking, she heard a familiar voice coming from behind her.
"I didn't expect you to actually have some skills. Zhang Jing, you're right. You are indeed quite different from ordinary rural women. You have courage and you're also quite clever."
Jiang Liu and his companions walked into the courtroom with a nonchalant air and bowed to the county magistrate.
Lin Fengnian's eyes turned red as soon as he saw them: "Your Excellency, it was them, it was them who framed my second brother!"
The magistrate, sitting above, lowered his head and straightened his sleeves. When he looked up again, his expression was completely different from his previous righteous demeanor. His eyes were now filled with ruthlessness and impatience. He said, "Jiang Liu, be more clean in the future. Isn't it annoying to have trouble coming to me like this?"
Song Anxin's face immediately changed. She remembered what the Fourth Master had said when Lin Fengshou met him. She should have realized that the Fourth Master's arrogance must be related to the government. Jiang Liu and Zhang Jing were already involved in collusion between officials and businessmen. Judging from this, they must have done a lot of bad things before. With the government's protection, it's no wonder they dared to be so arrogant.
Lin Fengnian was stunned, his eyes wide. Even if he was stupid, he understood. Then he became extremely angry. He was about to jump up when the constables next to him pressed him down.
"What are you doing?! They are the bad guys, they are the ones who should be arrested! Your Honor, you are our magistrate, you should uphold justice..."
Seeing Lin Fengnian being forcefully pinned to the ground by the yamen runners, Song Anxin shouted:
"Who gave you permission to touch my son!"
She quickly got up and kicked the constable who was pinning Lin Fengnian down with a roundhouse kick.
All of this happened very quickly. No one expected that a country woman would actually possess martial arts skills. By the time they reacted, Lin Fengnian had already been pulled up and protected to the side.
Immediately, all the constables drew their swords and surrounded Song Anxin and Lin Fengnian.
"Aunt Lin, you actually know martial arts!?" Lin Gangzi said in disbelief.
"Hahaha, this is interesting, this is really interesting, Zhang Jing, this is so interesting, such a good show to watch first thing in the morning." Jiang Liu laughed loudly.
Zhang Jing looked somewhat surprised, and then he said, "Auntie, I advise you to take out the things as soon as possible and not put up a futile resistance. Even if you are skilled in martial arts, you are no match for so many of us. Even if you manage to escape, don't forget that Lin Fengshou is still in prison. As long as you obediently hand over the things, I guarantee you will be safe and sound."
“Zhang Jing, stop pretending to be a good guy. Originally, I wanted to be merciful and use some fair means, but it seems you're determined to make me the villain. Sigh, my father is probably going to be angry again, but he'll be happy when he sees what I got.” Jiang Liu smiled sinisterly, then turned to Magistrate Yan respectfully and said, “Sir, leave this to us. It was truly my fault for bothering you this time. The Jiang family will certainly offer you a generous gift as an apology, and we hope you will accept it.”
The magistrate's expression softened somewhat. "Hurry up, don't dirty my place."
The constables surrounding Song Anxin and her group began to press closer. Lin Fengnian tensed up, ready to rush forward and protect his mother at any moment. It was not that Song Anxin was not afraid; she was indeed no match for so many people on her own, especially since the other side had knives.
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