Upon hearing this, the magistrate of Pingyang County was immediately shocked and exclaimed:
"Oh dear, what kind of good-for-nothings are you doing your jobs? You're trying to kill me! That woman must be Princess Li Xue. Quickly take me out to pay my respects to them."
The magistrate of Pingyang County, accompanied by his clerk, almost ran into the main hall, just as Zhao Xian and the others arrived.
Seeing that the magistrate arrived in the hall so quickly and was dressed neatly, it was clear that he had not rested at noon and that the yamen runner was talking complete nonsense.
Seeing the magistrate's nervous expression, Zhao Xian stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said:
"I am Zhao Xian from Shuixian Village, here to pay my respects to Your Excellency the County Magistrate."
Isn't Zhao Xian from Shuixian Village the Marquis of Zhengyang? The magistrate of Pingyang County quickly bowed and paid his respects.
"I am Liang Shan, the magistrate of Pingyang County. Greetings to Marquis Zhengyang."
It turns out that the magistrate of Pingyang County was surnamed Liang, and he was quite young, so to speak, a promising young man.
"So this is Magistrate Liang. Let me introduce you. This is General Li Guang, and this is Princess Li Xue of the current dynasty."
He was right; these people had too much influence in the Great Northern Dynasty, and no one could afford to offend them.
"Greetings, General Li; greetings, Princess." Magistrate Liang bowed to the two.
Seeing Magistrate Liang's expression, Li Guang knew he was very nervous and said:
“Magistrate Liang, please don’t be so polite. We have come to the county office to discuss important matters. It is not convenient to talk here. Let’s find another place.”
"Your humble servant obeys. Gentlemen, please follow me to the inner hall."
After Magistrate Liang finished speaking, he led several people to the back hall of the county government office. After they sat down, someone served them tea.
At this moment, Magistrate Liang was still a little nervous. After all, his men were of great importance, and Magistrate Liang had never seen such a scene before.
To ease the tense atmosphere, Zhao Xian took a sip of tea and said:
“Magistrate Liang, there is a pawnshop in your county. I heard that a few days ago an old farmer brought a luminous pearl to pawn and got 10,000 taels of silver.”
It is said that this luminous pearl is extremely rare, worth at least 100,000 taels of silver. I wonder if Magistrate Liang has heard of this.
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Liang nodded and said, "I have heard of this matter."
Seeing that Magistrate Liang had already heard about this matter, Zhao Xian continued:
"I heard that the pawn period has expired today. If the old farmer cannot redeem the luminous pearl, starting tomorrow, the pawnshop will have the right to dispose of the luminous pearl."
Currently, many nobles and wealthy young men have taken a liking to this luminous pearl. Tomorrow, the pawnshop will auction it off, and the highest bidder will win it. The price of the luminous pearl will exceed 100,000 taels of silver.
Magistrate Liang must have felt something was amiss about this matter; how could an old farmer possess such a rare treasure?
Even if the luminous pearl belonged to the old farmer, didn't he know its value? Why did he sell it so cheaply?
Although the old farmer could only receive 10,000 taels of silver, it was an astronomical sum for him. He was a farmer; what would he need so much silver for?
Keeping so much silver around is too dangerous; it would easily attract thieves. Aren't you afraid of bringing disaster upon yourself?
"Lord Zhengyang, I really haven't considered what you've said. If someone dies, it will be a major case. However, I can't interfere too much in matters of trade among the common people."
“Magistrate Liang misunderstood me. Today, I was passing through Pingyang County and heard about this matter. I felt that it was related to a major case in the imperial court, so I came to the county office to find out the situation.”
Upon hearing that this matter was related to a major case in the capital, Magistrate Liang was greatly surprised and quickly stood up, saying:
"What major case could this luminous pearl have come from the palace?"
"We cannot be certain at the moment; this is merely our analysis. That is why we have come to pay our respects to Magistrate Liang and investigate this matter."
Next, Zhao Xian recounted how the barbarian Hamodi had given the Right Chancellor Zhang Debang a luminous pearl years ago.
It was because of this luminous pearl that Zhang Debang was dragged into the fold by the barbarians and became an outright traitor.
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Liang immediately became excited and said:
"I heard that Zhang Debang has not been brought to justice since he committed the crime. Does Marquis Zhengyang suspect that the old farmer is Zhang Debang?"
"Yes, we suspect that the old farmer is Zhang Debang in disguise. We want to use this luminous pearl as a breakthrough to find Zhang Debang's whereabouts and bring him to justice."
"So that's why you've come. I will cooperate fully and make sure to take advantage of this opportunity to capture Zhang Debang."
Magistrate Liang knew that if he could capture Zhang Debang this time, he would be credited with the greatest achievement and his future would be bright.
Zhao Xian nodded and said:
"Then I'll have to trouble Magistrate Liang. According to the agreement between the pawnshop and the old farmer, there's still half a day left on the pawn date. If Zhang Debang wants to redeem the luminous pearl, it must be this afternoon."
Magistrate Liang, please arrange for men to lie in ambush around the pawnshop. Once an old farmer comes to redeem the Night-Shining Pearl, regardless of whether he is Zhang Debang or not, he must be arrested.
However, we estimate that Zhang Debang will not come to the pawnshop again. He probably does not live in the county town, but in the surrounding rural areas. What the government needs to do is to find him quietly.
That luminous pearl is both stolen goods and physical evidence. The government must seize it as soon as possible and prevent the pawnshop from selling it.
If the pawnshop has sufficient evidence to prove that the luminous pearl is unrelated to the case, then the luminous pearl should be returned to the pawnshop.
The search for Zhang Debang must be conducted in secrecy; no one must know about it.
Zhang Debang was inherently suspicious; once he discovered the slightest clue, he would flee the area.
The group nodded and began discussing the matter of arresting Zhang Debang.
Due to the urgency of the situation, Magistrate Liang first arranged for two constables to disguise themselves as merchants and sell small items near the pawnshop.
There are so many street vendors that they walk through the alleys and streets that adding a couple more vendors won't attract any attention.
After the arrangements were made, Zhao Xian, Li Guang, and Li Xue disguised themselves as wealthy young men, while Magistrate Liang disguised himself as a steward.
Next, the four of them left the county government office and swaggered towards the pawnshop.
Since it was after lunch, there weren't many people at the pawnshop.
The four entered the pawnshop, and a clerk came over, looked them over, and said:
"Gentlemen, are you here to pawn your items?"
Upon hearing this, Magistrate Liang glared and said:
"Are you blind? Do we look like we're short of money? We're here to see your manager. Tell him to come out and see our young master."
Of the four, Magistrate Liang is the oldest, making him the most suitable person to dress up as the steward.
To make the disguise more convincing, Magistrate Liang perfectly portrayed the steward's arrogant and domineering character.
Seeing this, the others secretly rejoiced.
Seeing this, the waiter knew that these people were not to be trifled with, so he said, "Our manager is upstairs. I'll take you to see him."
"No need, I know your manager, let's go directly to him."
After Magistrate Liang finished speaking, he led several people upstairs.
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