There was a doctor in the Ma family mansion whose medical skills were quite good. The dart on Chen Daniu's shoulder was quickly removed. The doctor treated the wound, and after finding that it was not poisonous, he applied some wound medicine and then bandaged it.
Li Xue picked up the dart, examined it carefully, then wrapped it up and handed it to the guard to keep safe.
“It’s getting late, we should go back now. Please take care of yourself, Master Ma,” Li Xue said.
"It's lunchtime now, Princess, why don't you have lunch before you leave?"
"No need, we can get home on horseback in no time, so we won't bother Master Ma any longer." After saying that, Li Xue led the group out of the Ma residence.
Master Ma saw the group off at the Ma residence. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them mount their horses and leave. By then, his clothes were already soaked through.
At this moment, Li Guang sat at the entrance of the village, extremely anxious. He regretted agreeing to let Li Xue and Lin Xi go to the Ma family. If something went wrong, he couldn't bear the responsibility.
He gazed into the distance, lost in thought, until finally he saw five horses galloping toward him, and a smile appeared on his face.
When the group arrived at the village entrance, they saw Li Guang standing there. Li Xue felt a pang of anxiety, knowing that Li Guang was worried about them.
Li Xue jumped off her horse, and the others followed suit.
"Li Guang, why are you waiting here? The matter has been settled, we're all back, don't worry," Li Xue said.
"Of course I know you won't have any problems, but I'm still a little anxious, so I'm waiting for you to come back. It's past noon now, so go back and have lunch."
After Li Guang finished speaking, he was startled to see that Chen Daniu's arm was bandaged.
"Da Niu, you're injured. What happened?"
Chen Daniu smiled and said, "It's just a minor injury, nothing serious."
Li Guang knew that Chen Daniu was born with superhuman strength. After training with Zhao Cheng, his strength increased greatly, and he was already at the level of a war god.
Under normal circumstances, it would be difficult for anyone to hurt him. Could it be that the Ma family really has such a powerful person?
Li Xue explained, "Da Niu was injured by a hidden weapon. They were from Wild Wolf Village. One of them was knocked down by Da Niu, and it's estimated that this person is completely crippled."
The other two escaped. I plan to go to Qing'an Prefecture to find Prefect Shen and have him lead troops to raze this mountain stronghold to the ground.
Li Guang seemed to understand something; the Ma family's arrogance stemmed from their connection with the forces in the mountain stronghold.
"Let's not talk about it now, let's go home for dinner, and we'll discuss this properly this afternoon," Li Xue said.
After lunch, Li Xue began to recount her experiences from the morning. Li Guang had not expected that going to the Ma family would be so risky. Fortunately, he had sent Chen Daniu; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.
"This is the dart that injured Da Niu," Li Xue said, handing the dart to Li Guang.
Li Guang took the dart and examined it carefully.
Meanwhile, in the county government office of Xinkou County, Magistrate Gao was discussing matters with a group of officials handling cases.
A constable handed a dart to Magistrate Gao:
"This is the dart that hit the horse's rump. Please take a look, sir."
Magistrate Gao took the dart and examined it carefully, but he couldn't understand it, so he handed it to Zhao Xian.
Zhao Xian took the dart and examined it carefully. The dart was very small, extremely sharp, and heavy in his hand.
This is an ancient hidden weapon, a standard tool for experts. Because using darts requires certain skills, ordinary people cannot use them, so darts are only used by experts.
Those who use concealed weapons will not reveal this secret, and outsiders rarely know about it. Therefore, it is extremely difficult for the government to trace the origin of this dart.
Zhao Xian looked at it for a long time but couldn't figure out what was going on, so he returned the dart to Magistrate Gao.
The key to this case right now is to find the owner of the dart. Once that person is found, the case will be basically solved.
At this time, Magistrate Gao felt that it was about time, so he arranged for several yamen runners to go to the Ruan residence and tell them that Ruan Zhenggang had died, and asked them to send someone to the county yamen to handle the funeral arrangements.
Several constables accepted the order and went to the Ma family.
At this moment, Ruan Jin was checking the account books, while Fang Shi was holding her youngest son in her arms, lost in thought. The little boy was very sensible and knew about the changes that had happened in the family, so he was very obedient and well-behaved.
Just then, several yamen runners burst in, startling Ruan Jin and Fang Shi.
"Are Ruan Zhenggang's family members here?"
Fang immediately tensed up and stood up shakily.
"Officer, I am a member of Ruan Zhenggang's family. What do you want with me? What happened to my master?"
"Ruan Zhenggang is dead. Please send someone to the county government immediately to handle Ruan Zhenggang's funeral arrangements."
Upon hearing this, Fang fainted immediately. Her maidservant stepped forward, supporting her chest and patting her back. After a long while, Fang finally woke up and burst into tears.
How did our master die?
“You are Ruan Zhenggang’s family member, you should know how he died. His condition was too serious. After being brought to the county government yesterday, he was basically beyond saving.”
Ruan Zhenggang committed a major murder two years ago. This has been verified, and he has already signed a confession. He will be beheaded sooner or later; this kind of death is a good thing for Ruan Zhenggang.
When handling Ruan Zhenggang's funeral arrangements, bring his son along so he can see his father off on his final journey.
Fang left the Ruan residence with her youngest son, weeping all the way. The head constable, seeing they were far from the Ruan residence, spoke softly:
"Madam Ruan need not be sad. Manager Ruan is not dead. His illness has been cured by my master, and he is having tea in the county government office."
Fang immediately stopped crying and looked at the yamen runner in surprise, not knowing what was going on.
"This is not the place to talk. You'll understand when you get to the county government office."
Ruan Zhenggang didn't die; his illness was even cured. How could this have happened? She wanted to see Ruan Zhenggang as soon as possible and find out the truth.
The group soon arrived at the county government office. The yamen runners led the mother and son into a room. As soon as Fang entered, she saw Ruan Zhenggang sitting in a chair, holding a medicine bowl, slowly drinking his medicine. His face was no longer dark.
Several servants were taking care of Ruan Zhenggang inside the house. To her surprise, her daughter Ruan Fang was also in the house. Wasn't her daughter married? Why was she here?
Fang stood there in shock, speechless. At that moment, Ruan Fang saw Fang, called out "Mother," and tears welled up in her eyes.
Ruan Fang rushed over and hugged Fang Shi. The mother and daughter embraced and wept bitterly.
Without experiencing the pain of separation or death, one cannot truly appreciate such a heart-wrenching scene. Those around them were all moved to tears, and the mother and daughter cried for quite some time before finally stopping.
"Fang'er, didn't you marry Young Master Ma? Why are you in the county government office?"
Upon hearing this, the bailiff standing nearby couldn't help but speak up:
“Young Master Ma, it seems your whole family has been deceived by that Ruan Jin. That Young Master Ma is already dead. Ruan Jin conspired with the Ma family to marry Miss Ruan to that dead man. Fortunately, Miss Ruan saw through the deception and escaped.”
Upon hearing this, Fang was greatly alarmed.
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