Chapter Eighty-Seven: The Explanation

  Du Haoran glanced at him and raised his chin: "Hey, I won't starve you. Elegant words and emotions are first released."

  Nie Bowen looked in the direction of his chin and saw that the little second from the wine building had already brought over two food boxes and handed them to Nie Feng.

  "It'll take about an hour to get to the yamen, which is just enough time for you to have a meal in the carriage." Du Haoran patted Nie Bowen's shoulder and headed out the door. Xie Yunfeng saw this and quickly followed them out. Today was his treat for the two young masters, and now that Du Haoran had packed up the food, he must be planning to invite him to join them for dinner. This would be a great opportunity to deepen their relationship in the carriage, and get the two young masters to support him. By then, the Xie family's reputation would not only be unaffected but would even rise to a higher level.

  As for Wang Chengdong, Du Haoran's underling is keeping an eye on him, so the Ye family can't come up with any tricks.

  But unexpectedly, he followed them outside, Nie Bowen and Du Haoran got on the carriage by themselves, without even being polite to him. What's more, as soon as Du Haoran got on the carriage, he pulled down the curtain, blocking him out. His face turned beet red, standing in front of the Nie family's carriage for a while before getting on his own carriage with embarrassment.

  Ye Yiqi went downstairs, and with a bow to Yun Lao Yezi and Li Da Shu said: "This matter of Wang Chengdong, both of you have personally experienced it today. Now we still need to trouble you two to go to the government office with me again, so as to serve as witnesses for us."

  "Don't worry, we'll get County Master Ye to give the Ye family a fair deal." said Old Man Yun.

  Ye Yipian had originally wanted to ask Guan Shi and Zheng Shi to return home first, but the several women were not at ease with that. They refused to leave, dead or alive, so they all got into a carriage together and went to the yamen.

  And the people in those wine houses, seeing such a commotion and having watched the beginning, had no reason not to watch the end, so they also went in groups of three or five, some by carriage, others on foot, rushing towards the government office.

  Ye Yuqi believed in Ye Zhuo, but he was still uncertain at heart. He deliberately asked Ye Zhuo to ride with him in the same carriage. Once they were seated in the horse-drawn vehicle, he began to ask: "Zhuo, you had Wang Chengdong brought to the public hall. What's the reason for that?"

  "Grandfather, I had this Wei brother follow him as soon as Wang Chengdong left the Yu Zhuo Fang after the auction ended." Ye Zhu pointed to the figure of the car driver rushing forward, "Just now when you were arguing, I saw this Wei brother following Wang Chengdong into the De Yue Lou, so I asked Autumn Moon to secretly meet with him. Autumn Moon heard from Wei brother that Wang Chengdong first went to a small courtyard. This small courtyard, Wei brother had met several people from the Xie family going there before, it should be the Xie family's, so Wang Chengdong didn't lie. After entering, he changed his clothes and came out soon after, preparing to leave Nan Shan Town by carriage, but unexpectedly two others intercepted him halfway, took him to a corner and gave him a good beating. Then they talked to him for a while. Because he was afraid of being discovered, Wei brother didn't dare get close, but he saw Wang Chengdong nodding his head repeatedly. Then he changed direction and rushed straight to the De Yue Lou."

  She said, "You also know what Wang Chengdong said when he entered the De Yue Building. So I think that the person who beat him halfway must be helping us and must have used something to coerce Wang Chengdong into revealing the true face of the Xie family. Since there is such a capable person secretly helping us, Wang Chengdong will not change his statement even if threatened by the Xie family. We also have Brother Wei as a witness. Naturally, we should go to the government office and let more people see how the Xie family framed our Ye family."

  There was another reason she didn't say. Thinking of Wu Yu's affairs, plus the fact that Du Haoran, who didn't like to get involved in other people's business, actually intervened and told them to go to the government office, she suspected that all these things were done by someone sent by Du Haoran. Although her previous life was short, she had met countless people. In just a few encounters, she could feel that this man named Du Haoran, who appeared cold on the surface and seemed indifferent, was actually a kind-hearted person. Today, he came to the Yu Zuan Fang auction site, she didn't think it was because the young master of the Nie family was interested in this scene or her jade carving. It must have been Du Haoran's persistence.

  Of course, even if she guessed that all these things were done by Du Haoran, she didn't think about it in an emotional way. In her opinion, everything Du Haoran did was just a strong person's pity for the weak and small-minded. Probably in his heart, he thought it was just a trivial matter, but it could save the lives of the Ye family, who were full of old people, women and children, so why not? Just consider it as accumulating virtue and doing good deeds.

  She had thought and done so in her past life as well.

  "So this is the case, it's really done by the Xie family?" Ye Yuqi was shocked and widened his eyes, then frowned, "Why did they do this? When did our Ye family offend the Xie family, that they would want to put us to death!"

  Ye Zhuo let out a soft sigh and shook his head.

  She could have told Ye Yuxi about the gambling stone, but at this moment, with Autumn Moon inside and Wei Da Xiang outside, it was really not suitable to mention this matter.

  The carriage soon arrived at the gate of the yamen. Ye Yiqi didn't say a word, picked up the drumstick and beat the big drum in front of the yamen with "thump thump thump". In a moment, a man dressed as a yamen runner came out from the side door, asking Ye Yiqi what was going on. After listening to him finish speaking, he waved his hand to temporarily take Wang Chengdong into custody and wait until the next day for trial. Just then, Nie Bowen and Du Haoran finished eating and got off the carriage, which suddenly startled him. He hastily turned around and went back into the yamen to report to County Magistrate after confirming Nie Bowen's identity with Ye Yiqi.

  The eldest son of the Nie family came to Nanshan Town and personally inquired about a case. The county magistrate didn't dare to be slow, so he quickly put on his official uniform and rushed out to kneel down and pay his respects to Nie Bowen. Although the Nie family had no official position, they had been deeply entrenched in the imperial court for many years and had the support of Empress Dowager Nie in the palace, so their power was not to be underestimated. A single word from them could make someone rise through the ranks, and a single word could also cost someone their official hat, so the county magistrate didn't dare to slack off on etiquette.

  "No need to thank me." Nie Bowen was full and content, in a great mood; as Du Haoran's good brother, since Du Haoran had made up his mind to take care of this matter, he naturally had to help him handle it well. He then helped County Magistrate up with a smile and pointed at Wang Chengdong: "This man is called Wang Chengdong, who was instructed by someone else to frame the Ye family; he also said that it was the Xie family's instruction. The Ye and Xie families were deadlocked in their dispute, so they came to bother you, honorable father and mother, to make a judgment."

  "It's my duty to judge the case, I don't dare let you say 'you're working hard'." The county magistrate heard Nie Bowen's words and didn't dare tell him to wait until tomorrow to judge the case. He turned around and told the bailiff to open the gate of the public hall, bowed and smiled: "Mr. Nie please." Then he turned around and nodded to Du Haoran, "This gentleman please."

  Nie Bowen nodded slightly and walked in with his head held high. The county magistrate waited until Du Haoran went in, then followed him.

  Inside the yamen, County Magistrate Taigong ordered the yamen runner to bring over a taishi chair and asked Nie Bao Wen and Du Hao Ran to sit down. Only then did he take his own seat, slapping the wooden block: "Where is Wang Cheng Dong?"

  The original text is already in Chinese, so I will translate it into English:

  "Normally, when hearing a case, the first thing to do is to ask who the plaintiff is. The plaintiff would then present their complaint, and receive a severe scolding from the county magistrate before he would accept the case. But with Nie Bao Wen present, the county magistrate couldn't understand why this noble young master was bothering himself with such trivial matters, or whose side he wanted to help. Didn't you see that there's a beautiful young girl standing on the Ye family's side? If Mr. Nie has taken a liking to this young girl and wants to win her favor by meddling in these petty affairs, then it's somewhat understandable. But if I were to lose face and give the Ye family's elder a scolding, would I still be able to keep my position as an official?"

  And the Xie family, again, belongs to neither side. They are not the plaintiffs, nor do they seem to be the defendants. Moreover, the Xie family is wealthy and has always been generous with their gifts, so it's impossible to use this weak and timid young master Xie as a scapegoat. Therefore, County Magistrate had no choice but to bring in Wang Chengdong for questioning - since Nie Gongzi said it was his fault, killing him would be justified, wouldn't it?

  "Little... little man is here." Wang Chengdong also didn't know who had brainwashed him, and he behaved extremely obediently. After arguing with Xie Yunfeng for two sentences in the wine house, he stood aside and didn't make a sound; on the way, he was quite honest and didn't show any signs of wanting to escape. It wasn't until they arrived at this court, looking at the county magistrate wearing official robes sitting high above, and then glancing at the yamen runners holding their batons, that his legs softened, and he knelt down on the ground, not daring to lift his head.

  "What's the story behind this? Why did you frame the Ye family? And why did you say it was the Xie family's doing?" The county magistrate slammed his palm on the desk again. Earlier, he had been afraid of offending NIE Gongzi, so he had only raised the desk high and put it down lightly, making a faint sound that made the county magistrate feel uncomfortable all over, completely unlike his usual majestic demeanor. Later, seeing that NIE Gongzi didn't seem displeased, this time he slammed out the county magistrate's authority.

  Wang Chengdong was startled by this crisp sound, and with a trembling voice, he recounted the whole incident.

  It turned out that Wang Chengdong was indeed as Ye Yuzhang had said, and he had come from Nan Shui. On the day he went to the workshop to find work, he happened to meet Ye Yuzhang, who listened to his story without showing any particular interest. However, after a night's sleep, Ye Yuzhang came knocking on Wang Chengdong's door, asking if he was willing to marry into the Ye family. At that time, Wang Chengdong agreed. But later, Ye Yuzhang said that the main house of the Ye family was unwilling, and the matter of inviting him to work in the workshop was not even mentioned. Wang Chengdong had been treated coldly by others since he was young, and his temperament was somewhat biased. Upon hearing that the Ye family did not even want him as a son-in-law, he felt resentful and cursed them out loud while sitting idly by the river. Unexpectedly, someone overheard him and said they had a grudge against the main house of the Ye family and wanted to set a trap for them, asking Wang Chengdong if he was willing to do this thing.

  "I was blinded by greed at the time, and since I had spent all the money on my body and had no income, I would have to sleep on the streets. As soon as that person said they would give me ten taels of silver after the matter was settled, I agreed. Later, they gave me a piece of jade material and told me to go to Ye Jia Da Fang's jade carving workshop to find someone to carve it." Wang Chengdong said, and then recounted what happened after he arrived at the workshop.

  "Did you know Luo Jing Sheng, who deliberately damaged the jade?" County Magistrate asked again.

  Recommendation letter from Wenwen:

  Book title: "A Bride Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold"

  Author: San Tan

  She is a grassroots girl who can't find anyone to marry even if she offers a dowry of thousands.

  Having memories of two lifetimes, yet being a persona that everyone dislikes and is tired of.

  Without her mother's care, with a brother who deeply resents her, how can she survive in the depths of this corrupt and decadent mansion? How can the grievances of her past life be redressed?

  In this life, she must turn her hand into clouds and cover her hand with rain.