In this era, two hundred and eighty taels of silver is already a lot of money, and if it is used to buy a painting boat, it can almost buy two painting boats like the Sun and Moon Boat. Xiao Yiran couldn't be angry in his heart, and immediately beat the drum to complain and sue Sun Xiang to the county government.

Lin Shitong, the magistrate of Jiangning County, because of the snow for several days, the yamen was clean, and he was in the back hall accompanied by the master to eat and chat, at first glance he heard that the drum at the entrance of the yamen was beating, and he came to the lobby very reluctantly, and shouted to order the yamen to bring the drummer to the hall.

Xiao Yiran left in a hurry in the morning, and did not change into men's clothes as before, but still dressed in women's clothes, considering that he was going to the county office, when he left, he deliberately tied the jade pendant given by Zhu Di around his waist.

"Who's kneeling? But you beat the drum and cry out for grievances? ”

"Back to the county master, it is the little woman who beats the drum and complains."

"What's the matter? Is there a complaint? ”

"For the profiteer Sun Xiang to defraud the silver, because the matter was in a hurry, I had time to write a complaint in the future."

Listening to the little girl's eloquent and clear speech, Lin Shitong couldn't help but look at Xiao Yiran carefully.

"You can stand up and talk back."

Lin Shitong saw that the person who complained turned out to be a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, with picturesque eyebrows, a slender figure, and a beautiful and refined girl, and he couldn't help but be very puzzled. Don't ask the ins and outs of the matter first, first ask Xiao Yiran:

"Who are you girl, why don't you come?"

"Back to the county master, the little woman is the owner of the Sun and Moon Boat on the Qinhuai River, and there are no other relatives alive in the family."

"Oh?"

Lin Shitong was surprised, and habitually turned his head to look at the master beside him. It just so happened that the master had something to say to him, and he was bowing his head. Xiao Yiran had already discovered that the master beside Zhixian had been looking at him, especially the jade pendant tied around his waist, which seemed to take a few more looks. Because it was far away, I couldn't hear what the master said. It's just that when the master finished speaking, the county master also looked at the jade pendant on his waist.

"In that case, let's tell you what happened."

Xiao Yiran told the story as it was, and after listening to it, Lin Shitong summed it up in his heart, and then turned around and discussed with the master for a few more sentences, before shouting to the servant:

"Quickly bring Sun Xiang here, and what is there."

While waiting for the official to pick up someone, Lin Shitong specially ordered someone to bring a chair to Xiao Yiran and invited Xiao Yiran to sit under the hall.

"Xiao Yiran, right?"

"Back to the county master, exactly."

"Have you been in the boat since you were a child, or when did you get there?"

"Back to the master, when the little girl was three years old, her parents died, and she was adopted by Zhao Qian, the mother of the painting boat, and after her mother died last winter, she gave the painting boat to the little girl."

"Is the art boat's business okay?"

Xiao Yiran didn't expect that the county magistrate would ask her these words, but since she asked, there was nothing bad to answer.

"Because Sun Moon Fang only sells his art and does not sell his body, his business has been unsatisfactory."

"Do you always only sell your art and don't sell your body, or do you ......"

"Back to the master, it was after her mother died, and the little woman made her own initiative to change to now she only sells her art and does not sell herself."

Lin Shitong and Master glanced at each other, and then asked:

"Who are the guests who go to the painting boat?"

Xiao Yiran heard the taste a little, and it was estimated that when he saw the jade pendant on his waist, the magistrate would inquire about these things. So, I decided in my heart to simply reveal Zhu Di's identity, so that the magistrate could do his best to handle this case.

"There are very few regular visitors to the boat."

"Very few, that is, there are still some."

"Yes, there is only one person who frequents it, and that is the owner of this jade pendant."

Xiao Yiran pointed to the jade pendant on his waist.

"Do you know the identity of the owner of the jade pendant?"

"The little woman only learned about it the day before yesterday."

"Oh, who's who?"

"The immediate Four Princes, King Yan."

Hearing the word King Yan, Lin Shitong suddenly stood up from his seat and asked casually:

"The evening before yesterday, the four people who were sent to the prefect's yamen, but what did King Yan do on your painting boat?"

"Back to the master's words, exactly."

Lin Shitong let out a long breath, slowly sat back in the chair, looked at the master, and then looked at Xiao Yiran below, before saying:

"When did King Yan give you this jade pendant?"

"Back to the master's words, more than a month ago."

"Do you know that King Yan is still in the capital?"

"Back to the master, King Yan said the day before yesterday that he would leave for Zhongdu in five days. It's only been two days, and King Yan must still be in the capital. ”

"Miss Yiran, please talk in the back hall."

At this point, Lin Shitong, the magistrate of the county, no longer doubts what Xiao Yiran said about his relationship with Zhu Di. These officials all knew that the emperor wanted to let the princes who were about to return to China to experience the people's feelings, and they also knew that it was three days later when the princes would leave. Moreover, Lin Shitong was more aware of the fact that in the evening two days ago, King Yan's entourage sent a few people to the prefect's yamen. Now I understand that it is for the sake of the girl in front of him that King Yan did not hesitate to risk being reprimanded by the emperor and automatically exposed the secrets of his lingering on the Qinhuai River painting boat. There is no one in the capital who does not know that the emperor today strictly forbids the princes to mess around in the land of flowers and willows.

When he came to the back hall, Lin Shitong no longer put on the face of the magistrate, but became pleasant, as if receiving a friend, gossiping with Xiao Yiran with his master.

"Why did Miss Yiran have the idea of buying land?"

"The little woman has already planned to leave the painting boat and live in peace."

"Why did you fall in love with Song Jiatuan's place?"

"A month ago, the little woman went out for a stroll and strayed into Song's house because she got lost. I saw that the place was relatively remote and wasteland. I thought it should be a borderless land, and the price must not be high, so I had the intention of buying it. ”

No way, Xiao Yiran had to talk nonsense.

"Why don't you tell King Yan about this?"

"A little trivial, why bother the prince."

"How did the young lady meet Sun Xiang?"

"Sun Xiang's aunt is the Wang Ma on the painting boat, and she was also introduced by the Wang Ma."

"Isn't Wang Ma an accomplice?"

"Definitely not, if it weren't for Wang's mother reminding me, I'm afraid I won't find out that I was deceived by Sun Xiang until next spring."

Xiao Yiran repeated the words reminded by Wang Ma again.

"It's rare, it's really rare."

Xiao Yiran came to the back hall, but after most of the hour, there was a report from the officials:

"Master, Sun Xiang and Lizheng Liu Wen have been brought."

Lin Shitong ascended to the hall again, looked at the two kneeling in the hall, turned his head to look at Xiao Yiran sitting beside him and asked:

"Miss Yiran took a closer look, but these two people?"

"Back to the county master, the young man is Sun Xiang, but the older man is not Liu Wen who is the leader of that day."

At this time, Li Zheng, who heard Xiao Yiran say this, immediately shouted verbally:

"Master Zhixian, the villain is Liu Wen of the Song family, but he was brought to the hall for some reason."

"Miss Yiran are sure this person is not from that day?"

"Go back to the master, confirm that it is correct."

Li Zheng Liu Wen stood aside.

After speaking, Lin Shitong slapped the hall wood and asked Sun Xiang loudly:

"Bold thief, the Son of Heaven dares to openly deceive at his feet, just invite him honestly now, otherwise you will taste the taste of torture."

It's also Sun Xiang's deserved. It is true that Sun Xiang is a tooth man who does land trading, but Sun Xiang also has a hobby, that is, gambling. Recently, due to bad luck, he has lost money one after another, so that he owes a large amount of gambling debts. When he was desperate to borrow money and was chased by the creditor, his aunt sent a letter saying that the owner of the painting boat wanted to buy land and wanted to ask him for help. At first, Sun Xiang didn't have a bad heart, but after arriving at the painting boat, he saw that the owner was a teenage girl, and there was no man on the whole painting boat, Sun Xiang's heart became alive.

After some conversation, he saw that Xiao Yiran trusted him and was unsuspecting, and after leaving, he started to think crookedly. found the creditor, it was the old man with a goatee, and two helpers, discussed it together, and set up such a deception. It is difficult for Xiao Yiran, who is unsuspecting and has no experience in the world, not to be fooled.

Originally, Sun Xiang didn't think about going out to hide for a while, but he just felt that Xiao Yiran couldn't find out that he had been deceived so soon. Sun Xiang also thought that there was no man on the painting boat, and no one knew how to handle the real procedures for buying and selling land, and guessed that it would be the beginning of spring next year at the earliest, when Xiao Yiran was ready to start construction, he would find out that he had been deceived. Therefore, I didn't run away immediately. Today, I was sitting at home when I saw the official enter the door, and I knew that the matter had been revealed. Now that he has been brought to the court, he can't rely on it, otherwise he will suffer in vain, and he will immediately confess how he intended to cheat and so on.

"Let me ask you, what is the surname of the person pretending to be Liu Wen, and where is he now?"

"That person's name is Wu Fugui, and he lives exclusively in the major casinos in Beijing. After taking away the gambling debts owed to him by the villain yesterday, he disappeared. ”

"How much gambling debt do you owe him?" How much money is left from yesterday's defrauded taels? ”

"I owe him a total of 180 taels with interest, and I gave 10 taels to the two helpers, and the villain has 78 taels left, and the other 2 taels have bought wine and food."

"Where is the rest of the silver taels?"

"In the villain's house."

Lin Shitong didn't talk nonsense with him, and on the one hand, he arranged for the officials to escort Sun Xiang home to get the money, and on the other hand, he asked the officials to go to the major casinos in Yingtianfu to find that Wu Fugui.

Half an hour later, the official took Sun Xiang to retrieve the seventy-eight taels of silver hidden at home, but the official who went to find Wu Fugui had not returned. Seeing that it was almost noon, Lin Shitong left Xiao Yiran to eat at the mansion, but Xiao Yiran refused. Took Qingwen and Musk Moon back to the Sun Moon Boat, had lunch, and returned to the county office again.

At this time, Wu Fugui and the two helpers had already been brought back by the officials, and they also chased back the two hundred taels of silver they had taken yesterday.

Lin Shitong handed over the silver to Xiao Yiran, and did not immediately convict Sun Xiang and Wu Fugui of their crimes. After all, there is the shadow of King Yan in it, and it is necessary to ask for the meaning of King Yan. Xiao Yiran doesn't care what the magistrate sentences, as long as the silver is recovered.

"Thank you, Lord Zhixian."

"Miss Yiran doesn't need to be polite, that land is indeed a terra nullius, if Miss still wants it, send someone to the county government tomorrow, accompanied by the county office's clerk to measure the land, and go through a qiē procedure."

Of course, Xiao Yiran wanted to buy that piece of land, thanked Lin Shitong again, said that he would come back tomorrow, and then said goodbye and left.