In the flower hall of the county government.

"I am not an unreasonable person. Since the senior has asked, of course I have to give him some face." Zhao Hao took a sip of tea and said while holding the teacup: "How about this, I don't need money, I just want to go back to my own house."

After a pause, he looked at Magistrate Zhang and said with a smile, "If he feels guilty and is willing to pay more, my Zhao family will not take a penny and will donate all of it to the county to support education."

"Oh?" Magistrate Zhang's eyes lit up immediately, and he rubbed his hands vigorously and said, "Friend Zhao is so sensible. I will pat my chest and agree. You just go back and wait for good news!"

"Then I'll leave it to our elderly parents." Zhao Hao put down the teacup, stood up and clasped his fists.

"Don't worry a hundred times, even ten thousand times." County Magistrate Zhang sent Zhao Hao to the second gate.

Zhao Hao suddenly stopped, took out another pawn ticket from his sleeve and said, "There is one more thing I can do for you, old senior."

Magistrate Zhang took it and saw that it was another pawn ticket. He was overwhelmed at first, but he was relieved after reading the content on it. "I'll take care of this little thing!"

"Although it is not worth much, my father values ​​this jade pendant very much." Zhao Hao clasped his fists towards Magistrate Zhang and said, "As long as the jade pendant and the house are returned, my Zhao family will accept this loss."

"Okay, okay." Magistrate Zhang agreed immediately.

After seeing Zhao Hao off, he turned around and asked loudly, "Isn't that guy here yet? Do you have to refuse a toast and drink a penalty?"

~~

In fact, Mr. Zhang had been waiting outside the signing room for a long time. He knew that Zhao Hao was coming to report to the police, so why would he sit at home and wait for the police to come?

"Brother..." As soon as he saw County Magistrate Zhang coming, he hurriedly went up to him and saluted.

Deheng Pawnshop was located in Shangyuan County. Both of them had the surname Zhang. One was greedy for money and the other was capable of handling affairs. They had been brothers in private for a long time.

"Look carefully at where this place is!" Magistrate Zhang glared at him, disliking his mess. "Do you know the rules?!"

"Yes, yes, old parents." Mr. Zhang had to change his words dejectedly. He knew at a glance that the Zhao family had put pressure on the county magistrate.

"Come in and talk." Magistrate Zhang, with a gloomy face, led him into the inner detention room, sat down on the armchair, and did not let Mr. Zhang sit down, so he made him stand and answer.

"How did you offend the Zhao family? Why did you take over their house?"

"Ah, this, this..." Mr. Zhang had never expected that the Zhao family would go after him in this way. He could not help but complain, "Isn't it the incident with Minister Zhao in the early spring? At that time, he was detained in the Censorate and asked his family to pay back the money. I kindly paid the money and accepted the antiques and cultural relics from his family, but that house has nothing to do with me..."

"Don't try that on me," Magistrate Zhang, who knew him inside out, spat and said, "Can you give up the fat meat that's right in your mouth to someone else?"

"Uh..." Mr. Zhang's eyes rolled.

"If you talk nonsense to me again, get out of here and prepare to be sued." Magistrate Zhang's face turned pale, and he no longer looked like a wretched old man.

Even if Mr. Zhang had a talisman, the impoverished county magistrate had plenty of ways to clean up the pawnshops under his jurisdiction.

"I accepted it in the name of my brother-in-law for ten thousand taels." Mr. Zhang then told the truth.

It was for this reason that the buyer was reluctant to show up and allowed Zhao Hao's family to stay for a few more days.

It was not until the second half of the year when the rumors died down and Mr. Zhang started to renovate the house that Zhao Hao realized that he had bought the house...

~~

Inside the signing room, Magistrate Zhang was immediately delighted after hearing what Mr. Zhang said.

"What? You just accepted a damn 10,000 taels for a mansion with five entrances and three exits by the Qinhuai River. It would be strange if people don't hate you!"

"At that time, apart from me, no one was willing to lend him money..." Zhang Yuanwai defended in a low voice: "Besides, his two brothers are stupid. If I don't cheat them, someone else will."

"You guys did it all for your good deeds?" Magistrate Zhang sneered, "You did it on the first day, so don't blame others for doing it on the fifteenth. Just admit your defeat this time!"

"What do they want?" Mr. Zhang knew that Magistrate Zhang had already discussed the matter with the other party.

"Return the house and pay another 10,000 taels of silver, and the matter will be settled." Magistrate Zhang said lightly.

"What?!" Mr. Zhang jumped up and said, "Then I might as well just give him 25,000!"

Magistrate Zhang looked at him unhappily and said, "Don't make such a fuss. You originally sold the house for 10,000 taels. Now it only costs 20,000 taels, and I've spared you 5,000 taels."

"Can you take the price from the pawnshop seriously?" Mr. Zhang said excitedly, "Besides, I plan to live here myself, and the decoration cost several thousand taels. Now I can sell it for 20,000 taels!"

"Then go ahead and sell it." County Magistrate Zhang's face darkened and he picked up his pen to write the ticket.

"What is this for?" Mr. Zhang asked nervously.

"Close the store." Magistrate Zhang put down his pen and blew dry the ink on the ticket.

"We can't close the store. Deheng Pawnshop is not owned by me alone. There are also shares from Doctor Liu of the Southern Ministry of Revenue and Director Ma..." Mr. Zhang hurriedly raised the banner to cover up his own shortcomings.

"Haha, you want to put pressure on me?" Magistrate Zhang sneered and said, "Then I will sign a few more seals to seal up all your properties in this county."

"I wouldn't dare to threaten my parents even if I had the guts," Mr. Zhang's knees softened, and he knelt beside County Magistrate Zhang, crying, "I mean I can suppress the Zhao family..."

"Fuck your ancestors!" Magistrate Zhang put down his pen and spat, "Come, let me help you compare them. They now have three juren and a new jieyuan. Let's put aside the power of the Hua and Wang families. Just talk about his elder brother Zhao Jin. He was promoted to Taifusi Cheng before he went north, and he was promoted to Taichang Shaoqing when he arrived in Shandong. After entering Beijing and not taking office, he was promoted to Guanglu Qing. If it weren't for the support of his noble classmates, how could he have soared to the sky?"

After a pause, Magistrate Zhang said earnestly, "I heard that Zhao Hao gave away food and clothes when he was down and out, and the two of them were as close as brothers. Do you think he would let you bully his brother?"

"I can't swallow this..." Mr. Zhang was heard crying.

In fact, Mr. Zhang knew the news earlier than the county, otherwise he would not be so polite to Zhao Hao and his son. But he did not expect that this thief father and son would dig such a big hole for him. How could Mr. Zhang, who had been smooth sailing all these years, swallow this breath?

"You have to swallow it even if you can't!" Magistrate Zhang said in a softer tone, "A few days ago, I used the same words to persuade Mr. Liu here. He is the second-in-command of the Dongting Merchants' Clan, and he is more respectable than you, right? He also admitted his defeat? If he can swallow this breath, why can't you swallow it?"

After a pause, he said with a gloating look: "Who told you to be such a jerk, provoking others for no reason? If you had helped me in my time of need, wouldn't you have risen to prominence along with me now?"

"Alas, who has such foresight..." Mr. Zhang was so upset. He had put a lot of effort into currying favor with Zhao Liben. Unfortunately, when Zhao Liben got into trouble, he sided with the officials who were against him, not only adding insult to injury, but also taking advantage of the situation to rob.

But who could have thought that the Zhao family would rise again in the blink of an eye? ?

There is no medicine for regret in this world. You have to drink the bitter wine you brew yourself slowly.

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