Chapter Fifty-One: Uncovering the Scam

  It's already hot enough today, and I still have to roast in the oven, it's really unbearable.

  "Little girl, you can eat whatever you want, but don't talk nonsense. It's clearly written on this contract that if the debt of 2,000 taels of gold is not repaid by the due date, the deed to the ancestral temple will be taken as collateral. How can you say I'm cheating you?" Ma Zi didn't take Qi Zhen'er's words seriously. He had been delayed for so long that his patience was almost exhausted, and he didn't have the energy to flirt with Qi Zhen'er at this moment.

  Qī Zhēnér took another close look at the IOU, confirming her suspicions and calming her mind by half. She thought about how Mázi had just hit Hǔzǐ and then pushed him towards Yè Lǎoyézi, and wanted to take down his arrogance a notch.

  "Do you remember what was written on the IOU when you signed it that day?" Qizhen asked, having someone bring a bucket of water to splash Yequn awake, and then asking directly.

  Ye Quan had just been knocked unconscious and didn't know what was happening. When he came to, he heard a clear, young girl's voice. Although he didn't understand what she was saying, he replied: "That day I lost money gambling and was complaining about my bad luck. I wanted to go home to get some more money to try and win it back. At the entrance of the gambling den, I ran into Ma Zi. He told me that when people lose, they're anxious, but their luck will return. I thought that if I went home to get money, maybe my luck would run away. Ma Zi said he could lend me some money first, and I could pay him back after I won. So I followed him into the inner room of the gambling den to sign an IOU. At the time, it was written that I borrowed 200 taels of silver from the Rich and Noble Gambling Den due to a lack of gambling funds, to be repaid within half a month. As for anything else, nothing was written. Since what was written seemed normal, I pressed my handprint." Ye Quan's breathing was weak due to being beaten badly, so he spoke slowly but clearly.

  "Can you read?"

  "How many people in the countryside can read?" Ye Quan sneered, saying: "I usually hang out in rich and noble gambling houses, also heard that his place is relatively fair, who would have thought that someone would cheat me." Ye Quan said, coughing up blood again.

  Qizhen'er saw him like this and knew that she couldn't force him to speak anymore, otherwise Mazi wouldn't have beaten him to death, he would have vomited blood to death.

  Zhen'er turned around, picked up the IOU on the table, and Ma Zi looked at her nervously with a defensive expression. Zhen'er smiled and said, "Why worry that I'll tear up the IOU? Don't worry, I won't. This is evidence after all."

  Ma Zi let out a breath after hearing her say so, but still felt that the word "evidence" had some implication.

  Zhen'er stared at the paper for half a day before she suddenly understood.

  Everyone looked at her tensely, and Zhen Er also didn't mince words, "This IOU of yours is fake!"

  Qizhen's tone was very firm, and Mazzi's eyes looked like a swindler. Mazzi was seen by her with a guilty conscience, fearing that she would really see some problems, wanting to take back the IOU, but was dodged by Zhen'er. The thugs behind him also started moving and began smashing things in the temple.

  The strong men at the gate were intimidated by Ma Zi's words and didn't dare to go see the official, but now that they saw Qi Zhen'er, they realized their mistake. They felt they had been taken advantage of and since Ma Zi's people had smashed their ancestral tablets, they charged into the temple and started fighting with Ma Zi's men.

  The villagers and several elderly uncles were afraid that they would damage the temple's belongings, shouting: "Stop fighting, stop fighting." But at this moment, they were in the midst of a heated fight, where could they stop?

  Zhen'er took Hu Zi to a safe place when the temple was in chaos, watching the chaotic scene in the center of the temple with a headache. Seeing Ye Lao Yezi trying to stop Ma Zi's people from smashing the plaque, he was pushed to the ground and couldn't move for half a day. He was shocked and quickly ran over to help him up.

  Ye Lao was supported by Zhen'er to the side of Hu Zi, and Qi Zhen'er saw Ye Lao injured his waist but still wanted to protect the ancestral hall, so she couldn't bear it and said to him: "Grandpa, you stay here with Hu Zi, I'll go take a look."

  The battle was chaotic, and even Qizhen'er's agility couldn't avoid being hit several times. Enduring the pain, Qizhen'er stood on the high bench in the ancestral hall, grabbed a cup and slammed it down with force.

  Everyone in the temple stopped moving due to this voice. The crowd saw that it was only Zhen'er, a little girl, and didn't take it seriously, wanting to continue fighting again.

  Qī Zhēnér certainly wouldn't give them this opportunity, taking advantage of the gap, said: "Mázi, you're being fooled by my words and are furious because of it, wanting to destroy the temple? I'm telling you, now we're kind-hearted and willing to return the money, let's end this matter. If you continue like this, we might not be so willing to let things go!"

  Ma Zi's face had some bloodstains on it, but he didn't know if they were his own or someone else's. He looked quite intimidating. Sneering twice, he said: "You say this IOU is fake, then it's fake. What evidence do you have? Do you think a little girl like you can scare me, Ma Zi, with just a couple of sentences?"

  "Evidence?" Zhen'er held up the IOU in her hand, saying: "The evidence is right here on this IOU. I just asked Ye Quan about it, and when I compared his words with the characters on the IOU, I knew that you were the one telling lies!"

  Ma Zi didn't believe a word she said, what could she possibly know? Could she see through such a brilliant technique?

  "The words on top, as Ye Quan said, were written with pine smoke ink, while the words behind were written with lampblack ink. How can two kinds of ink be used on the same piece of paper?"

  Ma Zi was shocked and frightened, never expecting such a small mistake. At first, he had written the letter and taken it to his master to read, who had found no problem with it and allowed them to add those words at the end. He thought that since it was in black and white, they couldn't deny it, but forgot that the ink used by his master was much better than the ink used in the gambling house. "How do you know which ones were written with pine smoke ink and which ones were written with lampblack ink? You're just a little servant girl speaking nonsense here, why should I believe you?"

  "The ink color of the pine smoke is blue-black, and the words written are dark and have no luster. The ink color of the tung oil smoke is black with a hint of purple, and the words written have luster." "Look," said Qi Zhen'er, taking the document to where there was sunlight for everyone to see.

  Everyone took a look and indeed saw an obvious difference. They all believed Qi Zhen'er's words and knew that Ma Zi and others had faked it.

  "Hmph, even if it's fake, what can you do? I've been here for so long and have never seen anyone try to welch on a debt like this. If you owe money, pay up! If you report me to the authorities, I'm not afraid. This temple is ours today, if you don't give it to us, then don't blame me for taking matters into my own hands." said Mazi.

  Qī Zhēn ér saw the people in the ancestral hall rubbing their fists and wiping their palms, with a tendency to come again, and hurriedly said: "Mázi you're right, debts need to be repaid, there are over 200 taels of silver here, consider it as repayment for the money borrowed from Yè Quán, and the rest will be used to treat the brothers to a drink."

  Look at Ma Zi's nonsense, Qi Zhen'er continued: "If you want to report to the officials, I think it's okay. I heard that the new County Magistrate Zhou is a fair and just official, and he even solved the secret case of the oil seller stealing money from the pig seller in the past. Do you think you can deceive them with your small trick of distinguishing between松烟墨 (pine smoke ink) and 油烟墨 (oil smoke ink)?"

  "Report to the official! Report to the official!" The people in the ancestral hall also came to their senses at this time, thinking that since it was on their own turf, if things were damaged, they would still be their own loss. It's better to resolve the matter without resorting to violence, so they all shouted in unison.

  Ma Zi was intimidated by their united front, and his henchmen also showed signs of fear. Ma Zi knew that if he continued to stalemate, he might not be able to gain an advantage, so he picked up the silver on the table, thinking that he couldn't lose face, and uttered a fierce warning: "You just wait, see how I'll deal with you later."

  "Oh, I forgot to tell you, I'm good friends with the daughter of County Magistrate Zhou. I'll let her know that I've left you alone at the Qi family's house in Jiyang County. If nothing happens to me or my brother, it's fine, but if something does happen, it will definitely be blamed on you. You'd better watch yourself." Qizhen shouted at Mazzi. As soon as she stuck her head out, she thought of a way to retreat and decided to take advantage of the good reputation of County Magistrate Zhou by delivering some goods to his house tomorrow.

  Ma Zi heard her shout and stumbled, almost falling to the ground, causing the people around her to burst into laughter. She herself also blushed with shame.

  Qizhen'er chased them away and saw that it was getting late, so she thought about finding some place to take Hu'er, lest they had nowhere to settle down.

  Helping Ye Lao Ye Zi up after he hurt his waist, Qi Zhen Er prepares to send him back to the Ye's house before they leave.

  Lotus sister woke up from the beginning of the fight in the temple, saw her poor son lying on the ground being kicked and trampled by others, and hurriedly ran over to protect him. Now that she sees Ma Zi and the others have left, she has regained her energy.

  "Qizhen'er, I'm telling you, you're stupid! We've already got the upper hand, why are you still giving those two hundred plus taels of silver to Mazai and his family? That's our entire fortune! Are you trying to drive me to death?" Liansister ran up to Qizhener and scolded her.

  Zi Zhen'er really has a feeling of being speechless. She helped her, but she didn't thank her, and instead scolded her, what's the point? Now that you have the ability to be arrogant at home, why didn't you go all out when someone was beating your son to death just now? Is this because you like to bully others?

  The people of the clan leader's family also thought that since the scam had already been exposed, they didn't have to give the more than 200 taels of silver. Relying on Zhen'er's relationship with the county magistrate's daughter, they weren't afraid of Ma Zi. But they also didn't think about how that relationship was Zhen'er's, why should she use it for them?

  It's really a case of people being ungrateful! Qizhen'er looked at the face of the clan leader's family, feeling somewhat disappointed and heartbroken. They were prepared to rely solely on one person, even if it meant offending others, right?

  "So you want to get rid of them without spending a single penny, and then let them harbor resentment in their hearts, waiting for an opportunity to take revenge on everyone? Don't forget, Mazi doesn't dare offend me, the friend of the county magistrate's daughter, but these people in the ancestral hall are all contributing money and effort. If Mazi suffers this loss, can he not seek revenge?" Zhen'er said with a glance at the robust man with scars inside the ancestral hall.

  Everyone else also understood the meaning of her words. They helped the head of the clan and his family, but instead of being grateful, they wanted to push them forward to take the blame, it's really chilling! It's almost summer harvest, everyone has suffered more or less, this will definitely affect the summer harvest, but the head of the clan didn't even say a word of thanks, only caring about money and wealth, it's really...

  The clan leader saw that the crowd had some disheartened eyes, and only then realized that he had been excessive just now. He hastily made a gesture to his own son. The clan leader's son went up and slapped his daughter-in-law, Lotus Sister, in the face, scolding: "I'll teach you, you foolish daughter-in-law! Zhen Er has helped us all, what nonsense are you spouting?"

  Lotus sister was suddenly stunned and reacted to fight with her husband to the death, and the two of them started fighting.

  Everyone else didn't have the heart to sort out their family's mess either, and they all began preparing to go back and take their medicine, rest for a bit.

  An old uncle in the village spoke up, "You all wait a minute, since the ancestral hall is open today, we can discuss things thoroughly and settle them once and for all."