Zhou Xuan brought Fu Lu to prepare and go to the prefecture government to take a look at the situation. At this time, a servant woman ran back in a hurry, calling out anxiously: "Madam, it's not good! Miss has also been caught!" This servant woman was the one who accompanied Qin Que to the prefecture government to gather information.

  Zhou Xuan was shocked and immediately understood: the fake marriage had been exposed, otherwise Qin would not have been caught together.

  Madam Qin's body slumped in the high-backed chair, shocked to the point of speechlessness. Xiao Di heard that even her sister was caught and burst into loud wailing.

  Lu An's face changed color and he hastily asked: "What has Que Mei done again?"

  As expected by Zhou Xuan, the servant woman said: "It was that Jiang assistant who reported to the master, saying that the master had a fake marriage to avoid the imperial examination, which is a serious crime of deceiving the emperor. Miss didn't know what was going on and went to ask, but she was also caught. It seems like they are coming to catch Master Zhou too."

  Before the words were finished, the shouts of the bailiffs and catchers came from outside the gate: "Arrest the criminal Zhou Xuan, one name, and the idle people retreated."

  Zhou Xuan hastily ordered Lai Fu to fetch the silver, and he himself strode out of the door, only to see five fierce bailiffs arriving with an air of menace, followed by a crowd of onlookers and children.

  Zhou Xuan smiled and said with a bow: "Everyone has worked hard, where are you all going on this hot day?"

  One of the catchers followed Wu Gongcao to "Mufeng Building" that day, recognized Zhou Xuan and said to those around him: "It's him, it's him who was caught."

  A bailiff shouted: "Arrest the criminal Zhou Xuan, take him away!"

  The two bailiffs behind him were about to pounce on Zhou Xuan with iron chains, but Zhou Xuan dodged them by jumping back and said, "Don't be in a hurry, I've already asked my servants to prepare gifts for you."

  The five bailiffs heard this and immediately stood still, stretching their necks to look inside the gate. Sure enough, they saw a large servant carrying a red wooden chest with great difficulty.

  Zhou Xuan took a look and felt helpless. This Lai Fu, although loyal, wasn't very clever. When asked to bring silver, he brought the entire silver chest, which contained over 700 taels of silver.

  Since they've already moved out, there's no need to hide anything. Zhou Xuan openly took out the silver and handed each of the attendants a tael of silver ingot, taking five taels in total.

  The greedy nature is more blatant on the faces of these corrupt officials, each weighing the silver ingots in their hands, staring at the treasure chest, swallowing hard with their Adam's apple moving up and down.

  The bailiff smiled and said: "Zhou Xuan, you know you've committed a serious crime? I think you're a sensible person..."

  Zhou Xuan didn't want to chat with these guys anymore, so he cut in and said: "You still want silver, huh? I'll have to go ask Miss Lin Er at the Du Hu Fu first."

  Several runners were stunned, and one of them asked: "What do you mean by that?"

  "There's no other meaning," Zhou Xuan said, lightly kicking the silver box with his toes. "This silver is the capital for me and Miss Lin Er to open a shop together, I need to discuss with her before using it."

  The bailiff who knew Zhou Xuan whispered a few words, no more than saying that Lin Heishan was Zhou Xuan's sworn brother or something. The several bailiffs immediately put away their greedy faces and assumed an official tone, saying: "Young Master Zhou, someone has accused you, please go to the provincial government's prison administration bureau for a trip."

  Zhou Xuan was taken to the provincial government office by the runners, who had accepted his silver and knew he had a powerful backer. They didn't dare put him in chains, instead surrounding him on all sides like attendants.

  The spinning needle rushed out and shouted: "Zhou sister's husband, I'll go with you."

  Zhou Xuan let the servants wait for a moment, then walked back and said: "Sister Zhēn is going to do what? Nothing, I can handle it."

  Zhen Needle said: "Zhen Needle used to know those two deputy envoys of the Imperial Selection in the palace, maybe they can help speak up for Yifu's younger sister and ask for a favor."

  Zhou Xuan then let the spinning wheel ride in the carriage, and Xiao Huixiang also followed, preparing to put the silver together in the carriage.

  Madam Qin supported by a maid walked out and said: "Son-in-law, this time it's all up to you. If I've ever been remiss in my words or actions, please don't take offense."

  "Please be at ease, Mother-in-law. When I first arrived in Jiangzhou, Father-in-law took me in and I have been grateful ever since. As a son-in-law, I am not an unfeeling person. Even if it were not for the sake of my wife, I would still do my utmost to rescue her."

  Madam Qin leaned against the door and watched Zhou Xuan walk away, then turned to see her nephew from her maiden family, Lu An, who had just cautiously emerged, having earlier been startled by the arrival of the bailiffs and hastily hiding in the inner courtyard.

  Madam Qin let out a long sigh.

  ****************************

  The provincial government office and the protectorate were separated by a long street, also located in the south of the city's Chaoyang Fang. Zhou Xuan arrived at the main hall of the Provincial Government Office, which was in charge of criminal cases, and saw Wu Kuan, who was fanning himself with a gold-decorated folding fan in the pavilion on the left, accompanied by two sturdy servants.

  When Zhou Xuan came over, Wu Pangzi whistled triumphantly and said to the servants on both sides: "Look, look, the fake son-in-law of the Qin family has arrived!"

  Zhou Xuan didn't bother him, standing under the corridor waiting for a summons, but saw Qin Que walking out with tears all over his face, and hurriedly went up to ask: "Qin Xiao - uh, Que'er, how is it?"

  Qin Que saw Zhou Xuan, Yan Zhen and Xiao Huixiang, and tears streamed down her face. After a while, she finally spoke out in complete sentences: "Father took everything on himself, he wants to bear the blame alone, I don't agree, I want to take the blame for Father, but Father scolded me for being foolish, saying that marriage is a matter of parental orders, not only can I not take the blame, but also both father and daughter will be punished together, then Mother will have no one to care for - it's all because Que Er is unfilial, implicating Father and Mother!"

  Zhou Xuan saw her pear-blossom-like face with tears and said comfortingly, "Don't be pessimistic, things will definitely take a turn for the better. First, let's assume this is a real marriage..."

  A bailiff came out and called Zhou Xuan up to the hall for trial.

  Qin Que looked at Zhou Xuan with a mix of sadness and guilt, calling out: "Young Master Zhou――"

  Zhou Xuan smiled softly and said: "In front of outsiders, you should call him husband." After that, she stepped up onto the green stone steps and entered the government office.

  There were three people sitting on the platform, with a big-eared man in the middle who looked very official. He was wearing a deep crimson official robe, but it was unclear what position he held. He must have been more senior than Wu Gongcao, as Wu stood at the side.

  On the right side was a round-headed and round-bellied eunuch, with no beard under his chin, looking harmless with a smiling face.

  The one on the left was surprisingly a woman, over 40 years old, dressed in a cheongsam, with beautiful eyebrows and eyes, but her cheeks were somewhat gaunt, giving people a feeling of being thin and stern.

  Zhou Xuan looked around, didn't see his father-in-law, nor did he see any bailiffs holding water fire clubs, ready to strike at any moment. The atmosphere in the public hall was not bad, and it wouldn't give people a sense of oppression that grievances were hard to express.

  "Are you Zhou Xuan?" asked the official with big ears.

  "Yes."

  "Where is your ancestral home and why have you come to Jiangzhou?"

  Zhou Xuan repeated what he had previously said to Dr. Qin, of course omitting the part about Wang Zi, and it's likely that Dr. Qin wouldn't mention this matter either.

  The official sneered, "Nonsense, what overseas returnee, I think you are just a rogue, greedy for Qin's commission, and you dare to substitute for someone's marriage, don't you know that this is also deceiving the king?"

  "Sir, what is your honorable surname?"

  On one side, Wu Gongcao shouted: "What are you pretending to be stupid about? Governor Xu, you can't tell?"

  Zhou Xuan said: "Mr. Xu, you say that I am a stubborn commoner, greedy for silver, what evidence do you have? Although I may not be a wealthy tycoon, I also have some assets, and in Laohe Tang Bàn Xiàn Street, there is a house worth several thousand taels of silver. Moreover, Wu Gong Cao's son Wu Kuan paid his respects to my artistic skills the other day and presented me with 3,000 taels of white silver. Do you think I am short of money to spend, sir?"