Zhao Xian also knew the consequences of fighting. If Zhao Cheng were here, these problems would not exist. But now he had no choice. Lin Xi had rescued Ruan Fang, how could he let the Ma family take her away?
Just then, three soldiers from the farm came over, along with more than ten farmers. Li Guang, Zhao Xiaosheng, Chen Xiaoxiao, and the Qin Shiyu sisters also came over, each carrying furniture.
With so many people arriving all at once, the balance of power has shifted, but if a fight breaks out, bloodshed will be inevitable.
Zhao Xian was deeply moved. He had only intended to send three of his guards, but they all came, completely disregarding their own safety.
The two sides remained locked in a stalemate, and Butler Ma dared not make any rash moves. He knew that if he took action, although he could cause heavy losses to the villagers, they would definitely not be able to leave the village.
A wise man doesn't fight a losing battle. It's better to go back first, find an opportunity to bring more men, and catch them off guard.
Just as he was about to leave with his men, he suddenly saw a group of people entering the village. What was going on? Why were so many people coming all at once?
Everyone looked at the group, which numbered twenty or thirty people and had a very powerful aura, making people dare not make any rash moves.
"The Prefect has arrived..."
With a shout, the group of people arrived. They immediately saw seven or eight burly men with knives facing off against dozens of villagers, and a major battle seemed imminent.
Seeing this, Prefect Shen frowned. He understood most of the situation from the sight of the assembled men. He looked at Steward Ma and the burly men, and angrily rebuked them:
"Who are you, and why are you causing trouble here?"
Despite the Ma family's arrogant and fearless attitude in front of the villagers, they immediately wilted when they saw government officials, looking like eggplants that had been hit by frost.
Butler Ma immediately stepped forward, his face beaming with smiles.
"Your Excellency, we have come to find a maid from our Ma family who has escaped to Narcissus Village. We have come to take her back. This is all a misunderstanding. Please calm down, Your Excellency. We will leave immediately."
As soon as Butler Ma finished speaking, Ruan Fang ran out from the crowd and knelt down in front of Prefect Shen with a thud.
"I beg Your Excellency Prefect to uphold justice for me. I am not a maid of the Ma family. They tricked me into coming here to marry the deceased son of Master Ma. I only escaped when I learned that I was to marry a dead man."
The Ma family sent men everywhere to arrest me, insisting that I marry that dead man. The villagers confronted the Ma family to prevent me from being arrested. If the prefect hadn't arrived in time, this place would have been a river of blood.
At this moment, all the villagers at the scene knelt down and shouted loudly:
"Please, Your Excellency, we beseech you to make this decision."
Upon hearing this, Prefect Shen broke out in a cold sweat. If he had arrived even a moment later, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
In this era, ghost marriages were considered a barbaric custom, and the imperial court had long since explicitly banned them, but some powerful and influential people still openly promoted this practice.
Prefect Shen was furious. He looked at Steward Ma and asked angrily:
Is this true?
Steward Ma was so frightened that he immediately knelt down, knowing that he was in big trouble. He couldn't understand why the prefect had come here at this time.
"Your Excellency, this is all a misunderstanding. I will go back immediately and tell my master to reconsider this matter."
"Then it proves that this matter is true. Your Ma family dares to violate the imperial court's prohibition. Who gave you such great power?"
In fact, although ghost marriages were explicitly prohibited in this era, they were still prevalent in secret. Some poor families participated in ghost marriages to varying degrees in order to survive, and the government would not investigate as long as no one reported them.
But today the situation is different. He actually witnessed this, and these people are so audacious that they even targeted these innocent villagers in order to arrest people, committing a massacre. How could he tolerate this?
At this moment, Prefect Shen looked at a man next to him and said in a deep voice, "Magistrate Cao, this is your territory. You shall handle this matter. Report the results to Qing'an Prefecture later."
“Your humble servant obeys,” Magistrate Cao said, and immediately urged his horse forward.
"Men, take these men down."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Several fully armed guards immediately jumped off their horses, first disarmed the Ma family members of their large cleavers, and then tied them up. The Ma family members did not dare to resist and obediently surrendered.
Seeing that the troublemakers from the Ma family had all been captured, Prefect Shen breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at the villagers still kneeling on the ground and spoke gently:
"Villagers, you have been frightened. Please get up. The government will handle this matter seriously and seek justice for you."
"Thank you, Your Excellency." The villagers bowed in gratitude and stood up.
Seeing that Prefect Shen and Magistrate Cao had arrived, and looking at this lineup, Zhao Xian immediately understood what was going on: these people had come to read out the imperial edict.
Li Xue had said that the imperial edict would take two or three days to arrive, but unexpectedly it arrived the next day. He was planning to go to Xinkou County today, but he couldn't go because Li Xue and Lin Xi went hunting in the mountains.
Fortunately, I didn't leave, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to receive the imperial decree in person today.
Zhao Xian quickly stepped forward and bowed to Prefect Shen and Magistrate Cao.
"Thank you, Prefect, for arriving in time to avert the crisis and save the villagers from disaster."
“Young Master Zhao, there’s no need for you to be so polite. Do you know why we’ve come?” Prefect Shen asked with a smile.
"I don't know," Zhao Xian replied, naturally not revealing that he knew it was an imperial edict.
He pretended to be puzzled when he saw Prefect Shen and Magistrate Cao, both of whom were smiling.
"Young Master Zhao is overjoyed! These are imperial messengers from the Hanlin Academy. They have come all the way from the capital to read out the imperial edict."
After Prefect Shen finished speaking, he looked at the messenger behind him. The messenger nodded and then immediately jumped down.
"Zhao Xian, a villager of Shuixian Village, receive the imperial decree." The official's voice was loud and clear, echoing throughout the entire Shuixian Village.
Such a scene is rarely seen by ordinary people in their lifetime, but it happened today in Narcissus Village. Many villagers' legs were no longer under their control, and they knelt down involuntarily.
Zhao Xian knelt in front of the crowd, ready to receive the imperial decree.
"By the mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees..."
Words that were originally only heard in plays and by storytellers appeared in Narcissus Village today. The villagers felt as if they were dreaming. They never thought they would hear the imperial edict read aloud by someone sent by the court.
"Since I ascended the throne, I have been blessed by Heaven with favorable weather and abundant harvests, and the country is peaceful and prosperous. However, the northern border tribes have wolfish ambitions and have been harassing our borders for many years, causing instability on the frontier..."
However, our dynasty has many talented and ambitious people. I have heard that the villagers of Narcissus Village have developed a powerful bow and crossbow, which is extremely powerful and far surpasses the arrows of the barbarian soldiers...
With the army and the people united as one, we defeated the stubborn enemy, kept them at bay, and deeply comforted my heart…
Some time ago, Shuixian Village invented a waterwheel, solving the irrigation problem. This invention was quickly adopted, benefiting farmers across the country—a great blessing for the nation… Therefore, Shuixian Village is hereby granted 5,000 mu of fertile land.
The people at the scene were stunned. The area of Shuixian Village was only over 5,000 mu, but the imperial court suddenly bestowed fertile land, which immediately doubled the size of Shuixian Village.
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