“Manager Ruan is right. We have considered this situation as well, so we have not alerted Ruan Jin for the time being. We will continue to observe in secret and make sure to get to the bottom of this matter,” Magistrate Gao replied.
Ruan Zhenggang nodded. It seemed that Magistrate Gao had considered the matter very thoroughly. He had already cast a wide net and was ready to close it once things became clear.
Just then, a yamen runner came over, bowed to Magistrate Gao, and spoke.
"Reporting to the master, we have found out that the doctors that Ruan Jin invited to treat Manager Ruan were not miracle doctors, but fortune tellers from other places. They are not even qualified doctors."
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Gao immediately burst into laughter: "Just as I expected, Ruan Jin invited these people not to treat his illness, but clearly to slowly kill Manager Ruan. It's amazing that he could come up with such a thing."
"Please advise on how to deal with these people, sir."
"Manager Ruan has already left the Ruan residence. Ruan Jin no longer needs these people. Immediately and secretly detain them. Do not let the news leak out and let Ruan Jin find out. These are all witnesses, so you must keep a close watch on them."
The constables immediately went to carry out the order and began secretly arresting people.
Next, Magistrate Gao began to discuss the next steps with Zhao Xian. Zhao Xian also wanted to resolve the matter here as soon as possible so that he could return home quickly, since there were two important guests at home.
Just then, Li Xue and Lin Xi were playing with Xiao Hei and Yu Hong at the farm. They had been playing for more than an hour and were starting to get a little bored.
Li Xue sighed and said:
"If I had known yesterday that the Ma family's lackeys were causing trouble, I wouldn't have gone hunting. I would have given them a good beating instead. That would have been much more fun than hunting."
"Yes, beating up those lackeys was really satisfying. When I came here yesterday, I ran into four of the Ma family's lackeys on the road. Although these four looked like burly men, they were no match for me at all. It was really boring. I guess the seven or eight members of the Ma family who came yesterday were probably the same. They were no match for me."
Suddenly, Li Xue's eyes lit up. She whispered to Lin Xi, "Why don't we go to the Ma family now and avenge yesterday's attack? Let's see if they dare to cause trouble in Shuixian Village again."
“I think this is a good idea. Yesterday, Magistrate Cao brought Steward Ma and his lackeys to the county government office. I guess their house is in complete chaos by now. It’s the perfect time to teach that Master Ma a lesson. If we don’t go now, when will we?” Lin Xi immediately agreed.
"Then it's settled. Young Master Zhao isn't home right now, so no one will stop us."
After they finished speaking, they turned to look at Li Guang, who was reading a book beside them.
Li Guang had put down his book and was looking at them in surprise. He had overheard their conversation.
“You two can’t go. Brother Zhao’s task for me is to look after you, so I haven’t worked in the fields today. If you go to the Ma family and Brother Zhao finds out, he will definitely blame me.”
Li Xue and Lin Xi exchanged a smile, then said to Li Guang, "Li Guang, why don't you just not say anything? If Young Master Zhao asks about this, just say we went to town for a while, that's fine."
This time, the Ma family came to the village to arrest people and cause trouble. Fortunately, they were caught by Prefect Shen, and they didn't succeed. You think that's the end of them? The Ma family is very powerful. After this matter is over, they will definitely come to seek revenge.
Although Magistrate Cao took away the troublemakers from the Ma family, it didn't have much impact on the Ma family. The Ma family's practice of arranging a ghost marriage for their deceased son was just a bad custom, not a crime, and the government couldn't do anything to the Ma family. The Ma family just needed to find someone to take the blame.
In this incident, Master Ma was at most guilty of lax discipline, and the government could not punish him. The only ones who suffered were the servants of the Ma family.
The Ma family is a local tyrant who bullies and oppresses the villagers. The reason they dare to do this is probably because they have a powerful backer, perhaps a high-ranking official in the imperial court. Otherwise, they wouldn't dare to be so arrogant.
"The reason we're going to the Ma family this time is to reveal our identities. I am a princess, and Lin Xi is the granddaughter of General Lin. The Ma family cannot afford to offend us. If they want revenge on Young Master Zhao, I will wipe out the entire Ma family."
And so, the two girls kept talking in Li Guang's ear. Li Guang really had no choice. Perhaps they were right. They were trying to warn the Ma family so that they wouldn't dare to act rashly.
"Alright, go to the Ma family to issue a warning, try not to use force, and come back immediately after you've finished. Don't linger."
Seeing that Li Guang had agreed, the two girls were very excited and began to make preparations for their departure.
Li Guang counted the horses; three carriages could provide three horses, and he had two more horses at home, so he could send five people.
After discussing it, they decided to take two guards with better martial arts skills and Chen Daniu with them, and the five of them would ride off on horseback and return quickly.
The two girls couldn't wait any longer. They leaped onto their horses, spurred them on, and the five horses shot off like arrows from Narcissus Village.
At this time, the Ma family was indeed in a bit of chaos. Some time ago, Young Master Ma died of illness, which made Master Ma very sad. In order to make Young Master Ma feel at peace in the afterlife, he wanted to arrange a ghost marriage for him.
But these days, arranging a ghost marriage isn't easy, so Master Ma asked a friend of his in the underworld to help him.
This friend is the leader of a mountain stronghold named Hu Han. The people in the stronghold are different from bandits. They do not rob people on the road. Instead, they have their own businesses and mainly do escort services, which are somewhat like a security escort agency. Of course, they also take on some shady businesses, such as assassins.
When Master Ma asked him for help this time, Hu Han immediately agreed.
"Don't worry, Master Ma, you've come to the right person. I will definitely find a suitable match for your son."
"We don't have high requirements for ghost marriages, but it would be best if the families were of similar social standing. I wonder which family Chief Hu is referring to."
"He was one of my former clients, from the Ruan family in Xinkou County. Not long ago, I took on a business deal with him. He told me that there was a family business dispute in his family, and there was a girl who was in the way. He asked me to think of a solution."
There are rules in our line of work: we take people's money and do their jobs, but we can't take lives without cause. So we definitely have to take this job, but we haven't come up with a good way to do it yet.
"Master Ma just asked me to arrange a ghost marriage for the deceased Young Master Ma. It's a win-win situation for us. Once that girl marries Young Master Ma, she'll never be able to leave the Ma family again, let alone go home."
After a moment's consideration, Master Ma nodded in agreement and told Chief Hu.
"That's settled then, but we must consider everything carefully and make sure it's done flawlessly to avoid any mistakes or unnecessary trouble."
Upon hearing this, Chief Hu burst into laughter. He assured Master Ma that he had never made a mistake in all these years.
So Chief Hu and the Ma family began to make arrangements for this matter, and things went very smoothly. The girl who was to be arranged for a ghost marriage was also brought in.
To Ma Yuanwai's surprise, when he was preparing to hold the ghost marriage and had someone bring the girl over, he discovered that she had already escaped from the Ma mansion.
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