The Farm Girl’s Charismatic Fortune

Chapter 30: Chapter 29: Seeking Justice Chapter 30: Chapter 29: Seeking Justice Lord County Magistrate ordered the yamen runners to hasten on horseback to arrest people and collect evidence of their crimes.

Ruo Xuan then suggested that they go to the gambling house in the city to make an arrest; when they passed by the gambling house on their way into town, she saw Madam Zhao still inside.

Madam Zhao was indeed there; after stealing the silver yesterday, she immediately went into the city planning to pay off her debt to the gambling house.

After paying off five taels of gambling debt, she still had one tael left in her hand, and could not resist the urge to try her luck again.

After all, if she won, she could quietly return the silver.

And then, she really did win in the first round!

She won the second round too!

So thrilling!

Good luck had arrived!

After that, she sat down and never left her seat.

By dawn, Madam Zhao walked out of the gambling house with her hair in disarray and a debt note for two hundred taels.

It’s over!

How could she lose so much?

She didn’t even know what was inside those brocade boxes in Madam Liu’s room, but if she stole and sold them, how much silver could she get?

This time, Madam Zhao was truly frightened; if she didn’t repay the silver she owed to the gambling house, her hands could be chopped off.

Two hundred taels, that was way too much!

Regardless, during the day the Ruo Family’s house was usually empty, with everyone out in the fields; she decided to first go back and steal everything, getting however much silver she could for them. Otherwise, where could she find two hundred taels?

Just as Madam Zhao ran down the street, she was arrested by Ruo Shui leading the yamen runners!

Atop the official hall
Madam Zhao knelt on the ground, her two elephant-like legs shaking like a sieve.

She had never seen such a spectacle before!

County Magistrate Zhang slapped the wooden bench, “Madam Zhao, your husband has accused you of intentionally designing a trap to ruin his reputation, pretending to be pregnant, and deceiving him into marriage! Have you also stolen the silver stored by your mother-in-law and abused your niece in the household?”

Ruo Xuan’s small finger quietly sent her a “Fairy Technique” that compelled truth-telling.

Madam Zhao hastily kowtowed and shouted, “Lord County Magistrate, I have been wronged! I did indeed do those things. I know that my husband cannot see at night, so I deliberately drugged his wine to render him unconscious, then pretended to have lost my virtue and to be pregnant to trick him into marrying me. But in reality, nothing happened.”

After speaking, Madam Zhao froze, terrified. How did she just blurt out the truth?

She hurriedly waved her hands, “No, no, Lord County Magistrate, I misspoke! I haven’t done any of those things! I only stole six taels of silver from home, and I had a share in that silver, it’s not really stealing! Xuanbao is really a simpleton, almost choking to death on a bite of zizania roll, what does that have to do with me? She is just an unlucky spirit, causing me to lose so much silver, yet what’s wrong with pinching her a few times? Isn’t it normal for children to be disciplined by their elders as they grow up? Who would coddle a simpleton as if they were a treasured pearl…”

As she spoke, Madam Zhao covered her mouth and nearly started crying!

No, why did she just blurt out everything that was on her mind?

Madam Zhao frantically waved her hands, “Lord Magistrate, you’ve wronged me! I’m innocent, I haven’t done anything I just said!”

The governor’s secretaries and runners all looked at her in astonishment. So was she here to confess or to claim innocence?

Ruo Shui and Ruo He were nearly beside themselves with anger, and knelt down simultaneously, “We beseech you, my lord, to uphold justice for us! With such a vile woman, our Ruo Family cannot dare to keep her!”

Madam Zhao was desperate, “No, my lord, I didn’t do it, I really didn’t, what I just said were my true thoughts, I don’t know how I ended up saying them, my lord, you’ve wronged me!”

Ruo He pleaded, “My lord, Madam Zhao has confessed the truth from her heart. She has abused my niece; please, my lord, uphold justice for her!”

“No, my lord, I didn’t! Those were just thoughts, I never did any of them! My lord, you’ve wronged me!”

Magistrate Zhang forcefully slapped the bench to enforce silence, “Silence!”

Madam Zhao frightened, stopped talking.

Magistrate Zhang turned to a doctor at the side, “Doctor Lin, take Madam Zhao’s pulse.”

This doctor, also a coroner at the Governor’s Office, was not only skilled in conducting autopsies but also in verifying virginity. He could determine from the pulse whether a person was a virgin or a youth, and could even discern how many children the person had borne.

Upon hearing this, Madam Zhao made a run for it, “I won’t take a pulse check! I won’t take a pulse check!”

However, she was quickly restrained by two governor’s officers.

Madam Zhao frantically resisted, “I won’t take the pulse…”

Doctor Lin grabbed her wrist, and after a moment said, “My lord, this woman is not with child, and remains chaste.”

Ruo Xuan looked curiously at Doctor Lin, “Huh, this person has something up his sleeve.”

Ruo He sighed with relief, he knew he hadn’t done anything.

Lord County Magistrate Zhang slammed the gavel, “Madam Zhao, you deceived in marriage first, stole later, and even abused the young child in your family. Your actions are despicable, your character venomous. The law cannot tolerate such behavior. You are to be punished with ten heavy strikes of the plank to serve as a warning to others! The court orders you to return the dowry and the stolen silver to the Ruo Family within ten days.”

Madam Zhao collapsed to the ground, “My lord, I have been wronged! I don’t have any silver to return!”

Ruo Shu pulled out two divorce papers from his bosom and tossed one onto Madam Zhao, “My lord, I wish to divorce Madam Zhao.”

“My lord, I don’t want to be divorced. Ruo He has seen my body, he should take responsibility… Mmm…” Madam Zhao was dragged away by the governor’s officers.

County Magistrate Zhang was indifferent to whether others divorced or not, “The matter of the divorce can be settled after the court is adjourned. Take the divorce papers and see the scribe to alter the household registration. Court adjourned!”

Having resolved this domestic dispute, Lord County Magistrate Zhang went behind the governor’s office to change his clothes.

He had just taken office and intended to visit the villages below, to assess the peoples’ conditions, and see how to improve the lives of the local citizens of the county.

Shaxi County is located in the southernmost part of Xuanyuan Country, with many mountains, miasma, and plenty of wetlands and wastelands. He wished to make use of these wastelands, but had not yet thought of a good solution.

Ruo He took the divorce paper and followed the scribe to change the household registry, removing Madam Zhao’s registration from the Ruo Family.

With that, Madam Zhao was finally divorced!

Ruo Shui and Xuanbao waited outside on the cart. Seeing Lord County Magistrate Zhang walk out in casual clothes, ready to mount his horse, Xuanbao called out to him in her baby voice, “Lord County Magistrate, please wait a moment!”

Madam Liu had waited on the cart and not entered the Governor’s Office, with several large sacks of Zizania on the cart.

Hearing Xuanbao’s words, she looked over and her eyes sparkled with surprised appreciation, “Is this the new County Magistrate? So young and handsome?”

Ruo Shui’s face darkened as he moved to block Madam Liu’s view.

Madam Liu: “…”

She was just appreciating a beautiful person, why block her view?

County Magistrate Zhang looked over and said with a gentle smile, “What is it, Xuanbao?”

Ruo Xuan patted the large sacks on the cart, “My lord, thank you for serving justice for our family. These are Zizania, they are very delicious. We offer them to you and to little brother Qian to enjoy.”

County Magistrate Zhang intended to refuse, but upon hearing a new culinary name and hearing Xuanbao mention his son, he recalled the books his son had bought yesterday, and the persimmons, dates, and chestnuts.

The annotations in the book left even him in awe, especially the insights on agriculture, which were absolutely refreshing.

And those persimmons, dates, and chestnuts… even his picky daughter couldn’t stop eating them.

Were they all sold by this very family?

It seemed like the Ruo Family and his own had quite the affinity.

He approached, “What is Zizania?”

Ruo Shui explained, “It’s the stem of the Geng Grass, my little sister discovered by chance that it can be eaten, and it tastes pretty good too.”

He knew if this County Magistrate Zhang was a good official, he would have surveyed the geography and peoples’ conditions of Shaxi County and would’ve found that many of the wetlands were covered with wild Geng Grass.

Ruo Shui had aspired to earn scholarly honors and pursue a career in public service. He knew that discovering the edibility of Zizania was an achievement in itself.

County Magistrate Zhang was taken aback for a moment. The stems of Geng Grass? The stems from the Geng Grass that filled the wetlands?

Madam Liu handed over a Zizania roll, “My lord, please try this. It’s a roll made from Zizania.”

Xuanbao nodded, “Yes, my mother’s Zizania rolls are delicious!”

Ruo Shui: “…”

Were this mother and daughter duo always this enthusiastic?

That was his Zizania roll that he had left uneaten!

As for the County Magistrate, this man in his thirties who grew a beard to look mature and reliable, how could he compare to his own gentle and elegant bearing, his natural grace and beauty?