resourceful
"Then a bunch of thugs forced me to pay protection money and robbed me of all my money!"
"Outrageous!" Long Qian roared in fury. "Did you report this to the authorities?"
"Not yet. Those hooligans come to collect protection money every month," the boss said, choking back tears.
"But the leader of those hooligans, Ma Dao, is the younger brother of the Crown Prince's principal wife!"
The handsome scholar immediately chimed in, "Yes, people have reported this to the authorities before, but the magistrate always protects Ma Dao."
"Yes, yes, yes! After that, we didn't dare to report it to the authorities!"
The auntie selling tofu next to them also poured out her grievances to Xu Zhixun.
"If we report this to the authorities, we will be retaliated against immediately!"
"The next day he brought even more people to rob us of our money and belongings, and he even tried to beat us up!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding vendors were all indignant, each saying that Ma Dao had bullied them.
Xu Zhixun thought for a moment, then asked Long Qian with a complicated expression:
"Since Ma Dao is the First Prince's brother-in-law, is Ma Dao your enemy?"
Long Qian said calmly, "Yes, Ma Dao is my enemy."
After saying that, Long Qian said to the candied hawthorn vendor:
"I'll go with you to report this to the authorities! And for anyone else who's been bullied by Ma Dao, let's go together to report it to the authorities!"
The shopkeeper stood up from the ground, sobbing, "Young master, thank you, but... I'm afraid I'll retaliate against you soon..."
"It doesn't matter. Today we'll settle all our old and new scores with Ma Dao!" Long Qian said coldly.
A glimmer of hope rose in the boss's eyes.
He rallied the surrounding vendors to join him in reporting Ma Daoping to the authorities for arbitrarily collecting protection fees and oppressing the people.
Seeing that Xu Zhixun, Long Qian, and the others were dressed in fine clothes, the vendors mustered their courage and decided to go with Long Qian to report to the authorities.
In order to make a big fuss, Long Qian sent his guards to go door-to-door in every shop on Yanxia Street to ask if any merchants had been bullied by Ma Dao.
Just half an hour later, about 50 people arrived in front of the candied hawthorn stall in a large group.
Xu Zhixun was startled: "Why are there so many people? Were you all bullied by Ma Dao?"
"Yes, young lady, let's go report this to the authorities together!" the crowd said eagerly.
Long Qian glanced around at everyone and smiled knowingly:
"Today we're going to make sure they suffer a terrible fate! Let's go, let's go to the yamen and report this to the authorities!"
So, the crowd marched in a grand procession toward the government office.
Along the way, many curious people came to ask where everyone was going.
The candied hawthorn vendor and the handsome scholar explained to the crowd that they were going to sue Ma Dao for oppressing the people.
Upon hearing this, many people who wanted to watch the excitement joined the crowd.
Before long, more and more people gathered behind Xu Zhixun, numbering about 200.
Fifteen minutes later, the group arrived at the entrance of the yamen (government office).
Eight bailiffs stood at the entrance of the yamen.
One of the constables was taken aback when he saw the group:
"Who goes there? Are you all planning a rebellion?"
Xu Zhixun chuckled and whispered to Long Qian, "It seems a bit excessive for so many of us to come to the yamen!"
Long Qian couldn't help but chuckle: "The more people the better, today is definitely going to be a bad day for Ma Dao!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Uncle Wang, the candied hawthorn seller, stepped forward and respectfully said to the yamen runner:
"My lord, we commoners do not intend to rebel. We have been wronged and wish to report this to the authorities!"
The constable breathed a sigh of relief: "Then beat the drum and appeal your case!"
"Yes, sir!" Uncle Wang picked up the drumsticks and struck the grievance drum at the entrance of the yamen with all his might.
Before long, Uncle Wang and the handsome scholar were brought into the yamen.
Seeing this, Xu Zhixun and Long Qian followed.
"Wait! Who are you?" A constable stopped Xu Zhixun and his group.
"My lord, they are the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden and the Sixth Prince!" A slightly plump girl shouted from the crowd.
It turns out that Xu Zhixun and Long Qian appeared at the main gate of the capital city on the day they returned victorious from their attack on the Xia Kingdom.
The slightly chubby girl recognized Xu Zhixun and Long Qian and informed the yamen runners of their identities.
The yamen runner was skeptical upon hearing this.
Immediately afterwards, several people recognized Xu Zhixun and Long Qian.
So the people hurriedly knelt down to pay their respects to Xu Zhixun and Long Qian.
When the yamen runners saw that the people were all kneeling, they also knelt down.
Subsequently, Xu Zhixun and Long Qian successfully entered the courtroom.
The county magistrate in the capital was a middle-aged man with a mustache.
The bailiffs reported to the magistrate that the Sixth Prince and the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden had arrived.
The magistrate was immediately alarmed and, along with his constables, knelt down to pay his respects.
Immediately afterwards, the magistrate ordered his servants to bring two chairs for Xu Zhixun and Long Qian.
Xu Zhixun sat in a chair, listening to the magistrate's verdict.
The county magistrate usually protected Ma Dao because Ma Dao was the eldest prince's brother-in-law.
However, today the county magistrate saw that the Sixth Prince and the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden had personally led the people to appeal for justice, and he also saw that there were more than 200 people watching outside the court.
Therefore, the magistrate did not want to offend Long Qian and Xu Zhixun.
So the magistrate ordered someone to bring the horse.
Half an hour later, Ma Dao was brought into the courtroom.
Uncle Wang burst into tears and complained to the county magistrate that Ma Dao had robbed him of four taels of silver.
Immediately afterwards, Uncle Wang filed a lawsuit against Ma Dao, accusing him of illegally collecting protection money and oppressing the people.
Subsequently, the vendors and shop owners on Yanxia Street testified on behalf of Uncle Wang.
There were as many as 51 witnesses at the scene!
The magistrate was caught in a dilemma; he did not want to punish Ma Dao.
However, if the magistrate does not punish Ma Dao, he will lose his official position!
Therefore, the county magistrate was forced to announce that Ma Dao was sentenced to death, to be carried out six days later.
In addition, the magistrate ordered Ma Dao to return 4 taels of silver to Uncle Wang and compensate Uncle Wang and his son for medical expenses of 10 taels of silver.
In addition, Ma Dao returned all the silver he had previously robbed from the people, amounting to as much as 8,000 taels of silver...
At 9 p.m., the magistrate adjourned the court session.
The people cheered, believing that Ma Dao deserved his punishment.
Uncle Wang and his son were overjoyed and expressed their deepest gratitude to Xu Zhixun and Long Qian.
Afterwards, the group walked out of the government office.
At this time, the night was deep and the streets were brightly lit.
The eldest prince and his wife, accompanied by a group of servants, rushed over in a great hurry.
Upon seeing Long Qian, the eldest prince's face immediately turned ashen.
"Sixth Brother, I know you often have grievances against me, but we are family after all. How could you go to the yamen to sue Ma Dao?"
Long Qian smiled faintly: "Elder brother, Ma Dao has committed many evil deeds and has already aroused public indignation."
“I was afraid that Ma Dao would use your name to continue to harm the people, so I came to the yamen.”
Xu Zhixun said with a smile, "Yes, Your Highness, I know that Ma Dao is your brother-in-law, and you have a deep affection for him."
"But Ma Dao is a bully after all. You should put justice before family!"
Upon hearing this, the surrounding people echoed his sentiments.
The eldest prince was furious, but he couldn't say anything more.
Normally, Ma Dao would often devise schemes for the eldest prince to frame Long Qian.
Now that Ma Dao has been sentenced to death, the Crown Prince has essentially lost his right-hand man.
It won't be so easy for the eldest prince to deal with Long Qian in the future!
The First Princess also knew this.
Ma Dao is resourceful and wise, and has been helping the eldest prince in his quest for the throne.
Now that Ma Dao has been sentenced to death, the Grand Princess hates Long Qian and Xu Zhixun to the core.
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