Lin Ruoshan knew the benefits of gossip, so she paid a lot of money to a handsome escort. This person likes to drink too much, and often goes to the Lin family liquor store to buy wine and drink, but when Lin Ruoshan knows that his family has no permanent property, he is eager to marry a wife, and he doesn't look like someone who walks the right path. So Lin Ruoshan chose him, and the man agreed with one word, promising to do things properly.
Lin Ruoshan was wearing a hat when she looked for him, and she deliberately kept her voice low to not let him know who she was, but only said that there would be a reward for destroying Lin Ruonan.
The escort had just returned from escorting darts out of town, and after receiving Lin Ruoshan's banknote, he deliberately got drunk, and rushed over to find Lin Ruonan when the crowd was at its most.
"Ruonan... Ruonan..."
His strange appearance immediately attracted everyone's attention, Lin Ruonan frowned, seeing him looking at her in pain and saying, "You are really here, you are really married behind my back. We He clearly said that he would go to your house to propose marriage when I came back from the dart. I was in the wind and rain outside, so I didn't dare to spend an extra penny. I finally saved fifty taels of silver as a dowry, but when I came back, I heard that you were married. ? You... why are you? Did they force you to change relatives? Don't be afraid, I'm back, no one can force you."
After the bodyguard said that, he went to pull Lin Ruonan. Everyone exclaimed, and Lin Ruonan also stepped back in shock, "What are you doing? I don't know you!"
Xu Zifan stepped forward to block Lin Ruonan behind him, took the kettle next to him, and poured a pot of water on his head.
The bodyguard panicked: "What are you doing? I'm here to find Ruonan, not you."
Xu Zifan's sharp eyes stared at the escort and said solemnly: "Are you sober? If you are drunk and talk nonsense, let it be clear this time, but if you are sober and insist on what my wife has with you, I will take good care of you. Make sense."
When the guard met his eyes, he was terrified and almost turned around and ran away, but when he thought of the money that Lin Ruoshan had promised, he gritted his teeth and said, "I was a little drunk until I let it go, but the wine is so cowardly, if it wasn't for being drunk, this kind of I won't say any shameful things. Now that I've said it all, I want to ask more clearly, Ruonan, didn't you tell me to save up fifty taels of silver to marry you? You also said that if I don't save enough, this You eloped with me the next time you came back, why did you get married in a blink of an eye? Do you have something to hide? As long as you say it, I will forgive you!"
Lin Ruonan's face was ashen, and she grabbed Xu Zifan's sleeve tightly and shouted, "Where did you get that rascal? You falsely accused me of falsely accusing me. I've never seen you when I grew up, and I've never had a private life with anyone. Who asked you to harm me?"
The escort's eyes widened and became excited, "You don't admit it? You actually pretend you don't know me? I've kept the token of love you gave me. Where is the false accusation? Since you treat me like this, I will Take things out for everyone to see, and let everyone judge me. I have suffered so much for you, and I came back to marry you with joy, so why did you have to be so wronged?"
The escort looks very good, but his face is stained with some wind and frost when he walks darts. At this time, he looks wronged and sad, which is really convincing. Moreover, he swore that he had a token of love, which made the customers in the cloth shop have some doubts.
Xu Zifan held Lin Ruonan's hand soothingly, and said coldly, "No hurry, you can make sense wherever you have evidence, but the county magistrate is more authoritative when it comes to judgement."
Before the bodyguard could react, Xu Zifan winked at a boy at the door, "Go and report to the officer."
"Hey!" The boy responded and ran away in a flash.
The guard suddenly panicked, the people were afraid to enter the yamen, not to mention he had a ghost in his heart, "No need, I didn't want to do anything at all, I just wanted to ask Ruo Nan why he treated me like this and didn't want to hurt her. Years of feelings, I... Forget it, I'm leaving, just treat her like I haven't been here before, and you treat her well."
Xu Zifan raised his hand and pressed his shoulder, his voice was extremely cold, "This matter involves my wife's reputation and my Xu family's face, so it must be made clear. Otherwise, if everyone follows you, it will inexplicably wrongly accuse a woman of innocence and many innocent people. How does the woman survive? There is no result in this matter, it will definitely become a major problem in the town, and it cannot be easily exposed."
The customers just came back to their senses. It was really shocking just now. They all believed in the escort for a while, because no one would destroy people's innocence like this for no reason. Everyone was relatively simple in their bones, and their first reaction was There is no wind and no waves.
But as Xu Zifan said, what if the escort wronged people for no reason? If you don't figure it out, Lin Ruonan will be ruined! Furthermore, if others follow suit and do this, all the women in the town will have to live in fear, and the matter must be figured out.
Everyone gathered around to prevent the guards from leaving. The escort struggled hard but couldn't break Xu Zifan's palm. He clearly saw that Xu Zifan was quite thin, but the hand on his shoulder was like a thousand pieces of gold, and his face flushed red, and his heart gradually became flustered.
When everyone saw this, they couldn't help but look at Xu Zifan. They never thought that a person who was not in good health would be so terrifying. He doesn't speak loudly, or hit people, just make people panic. Report to the official, this kind of thing... If it was anyone else, they would immediately ask questions in anger, or close the door and solve it by themselves, so that outsiders would not know, how could family scandals be spread
But Xu Zifan actually reported to the official in an upright manner, and they suddenly felt that this was a big deal. Seeing that Lin Ruonan didn't seem guilty, the swaying scales in everyone's hearts leaned towards Lin Ruonan. After this girl married into the Xu family, she has been taking care of the cloth workshop with Xu Zifan. The two get along very well, and the girl's personality is also kind and lovable. No matter how you look at it, it doesn't look like someone who does such a thing. What about wronged people
The official came soon, Xu Zifan handed over the bodyguard to them, and solemnly said: "This person has ulterior motives, I suspect that he wants to use this method to slander many women, and when they are taken away and have nowhere to go, he will kidnap them and sell them for money. Big brother, don't tell him to run away, let's go to the yamen and check it out."
A peach-colored dispute was instantly turned into a bad incident of Paihuazi through Xu Zifan's mouth. The officials subconsciously grasped the escort, and everyone was even more vigilant. The escort hurriedly explained, "He is talking nonsense! Don't believe him, he has wronged me. !"
Xu Zifan said calmly, "Whoever wronged who, you will find out when you go to the yamen. If you didn't do anything wrong, what are you worried about?" He turned around and smiled at Lin Ruonan, comforting him warmly, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."
Lin Ruonan's eyes turned red in an instant, and she nodded heavily. She is not wronged when someone wrongs her, and she is not wronged when she is suspected, but seeing Xu Zifan's unshakable trust in her, she suddenly feels wronged. It's like a hedgehog who is ready to defend at any time, finally found a habitat, can put away the thorns all over the body, and hide in this harbor with peace of mind.
This is her husband, the closest person she can rely on to shelter her from the wind and rain. She had never realized this so clearly for a moment.
Xu Zifan took her hand and locked the shop, and followed the official clerk all the way to the yamen. There are not many disputes in the town on weekdays. It has been a long time since the people saw the official arresting people. They could not help but stop and watch on both sides of the road. The customers in the cloth workshop also followed behind, wanting to see the result of this matter.
And because these customers went all the way to explain to people who didn't know the inside story, when they entered the yamen, the whole street knew about it.
The bodyguard's heart almost jumped out. He said several times that he would not look for Lin Ruonan or mention it again. Xu Zifan suspected that he planned to sell women. already? Furthermore, Xu Zifan threw a lot of money into the hands of the two officials while others were not paying attention. The two naturally gave him face and escorted the escort along the way as unceremoniously as criminals parade the streets.
The escort saw three or two acquaintances in the crowd, and suddenly felt disgraced and full of regrets in his heart. Seeing the county magistrate, he gave a shocked shot, and he knelt on the ground even more regretful and afraid. But he knew that he would be really guilty if he told him that someone had given him money to instruct him.
Now he can only go out innocently if he insists that Lin Ruonan and him have a private life. Thinking of the "token of love" still in his arms, he felt a little more at ease, and his face also showed an innocent and annoyed look.
The county magistrate has dealt with all kinds of strange things, but this is the first time that he has been reported to the official by a cuckold. After listening to their speeches, he asked the escort to show evidence, "It is true that a woman's reputation cannot be easily slandered. If you have any physical evidence, submit it immediately."
The escort took out a handkerchief from his arms. There was a sharp-eyed woman at the entrance of the yamen, who exclaimed in a low voice, "Isn't this the same as the little boss's handkerchief?"
Lin Ruonan also frowned. She was usually busy in the cloth workshop. Occasionally, when it was hot, she would take out a handkerchief to wipe her sweat. Many people have seen it. The pattern was embroidered by her when she was married. This handkerchief and her handkerchief even have the same color scheme, which does not look like a coincidence.
The escort said calmly: "Master Qi, this handkerchief is a token of love that Lin Ruonan gave me, there are two in total, one for each of me and her, and she said that she will always carry it with her. Caomin is really wronged, and Caomin has no malicious intentions. It's just that it's hard for me to be abandoned, so I drank too much before I ran to question, Caomin really isn't the Huazi that Xu Zifan said!"
The county magistrate looked at Lin Ruonan, "Lin, is there something wrong?"
Lin Ruonan calmly took out the handkerchief: "Reporting to your lord, Minwomen do have such a handkerchief, but it was embroidered when the Minwomen embroidered their wedding gowns before they got married, and it is the same pair as my husband's handkerchief. Minwomen's grandfather Those who watched the embroidery of the women at home, as well as some girls and sisters-in-law who did embroidery work with me in Linxi Village, can all testify for the women.”
Xu Zifan took out a handkerchief, the pattern was a vigorous green pine, and it was very harmonious with Lin Ruonan's. He put the handkerchief up and said, "Sir, the names of the two of us are embroidered on the handkerchiefs of Caomin and my wife, and the materials and embroidery threads of these two handkerchiefs come from our cloth workshop, which is rare in the cloth workshop. The high-quality materials of my family are different from those of others.”
The county magistrate asked people to find Xiu Niang for identification. When Xiu Niang touched it, she said that Xu Zifan and Lin Ruonan's handkerchiefs were made of the same material, but not the same as the guard's handkerchief. The guard's handkerchief was only made of ordinary materials, while the handkerchiefs of Xu Zifan and Lin Ruonan, which seemed to be ordinary materials, were actually much softer and more delicate.