I played as an assistant in ancient times

Chapter 259 Steady

As soon as Shen Xiaoye entered the house, her plan to discuss the autumn harvest for Erniu's family with her family was disrupted. Although she knew that her grandfather and fourth uncle were already at the ferry, she still rode as fast as she could to the county town.

Huang, the eldest aunt, couldn't catch up with her with her child in her arms, so she said to her mother-in-law, "Mother, look how fast she is riding her donkey. I'll drive the cart to catch up with her."

"She knows what's going on. Don't worry." Grandma Lin turned around and said to Erniu, who was leading the mule cart to chase after her, "You don't have to go either. There are already several people in the village there."

Lin Erniu: "Aunt, she is alone..."

"Take the familiar route, there won't be any danger." Lin was not too worried. It was just that someone was jealous of her family. She had asked the head of the family to take a large sum of silver and go there in the morning.

"Eldest wife, come here." She called Huang to the kitchen and pointed to the kitchen cabinet and asked, "Have you used up all the things you brought back before?"

"I have run out of pickled fish and vegetables." Official salt is expensive, so the family would store some private salt when they saw someone selling it. The private salt was what Xiaoye touched before.

Huang said, "Mother, I am uneasy."

"Don't panic, stay calm." Lin was also worried, but she couldn't show it.

Her guess was correct. Although the cattle that Shen Xiaoye brought back were raised in Songfu Village, they were not traded in large quantities in the cattle and horse market.

But who can blame the price of one head, which is only three or four taels, or even cheaper, two and a half taels?

Anyone who heard the news would spontaneously go to Mr. Pan's farm with his neighbors to buy the cattle. As a result, the news spread more widely, so that more than fifty cattle were sold in just the few days when Shen Xiaoye went to the capital.

Even people from the neighboring Baohe County came to buy cows. The buyers came from far away, so there was no reason for Shen Shanyou not to sell them.

This made the two families who controlled the Niuma Market extremely dissatisfied. They started a business partnership under the name of Master Yi, but in reality they were trying to get close to County Magistrate Deng.

Seeing that the Shen family's cows were being sold one after another, and that he had asked someone to mediate but to no avail, he was so angry that he secretly sued Shen Changshou, who had just returned from buying cotton, saying that Shen Changshou had a large amount of contraband salt on his ship.

When Shen Xiaoye arrived, the people from the Inspection Office had already spread a boatload of cotton in an area of ​​the ferry, and my great-grandfather led the young and strong men in the village to guard it.

She ran closer and jumped off the donkey to get closer, but was stopped by the soldiers from the inspection department.

"Great-grandfather!" Shen Xiaoye had no choice but to shout from afar.

When Shen Shanxin saw that it was her, he hurried over and said, "Xiao Ye, your grandfather and uncle are in the inspection station now, they..."

He led the man aside and said, "It is said that a hundred kilograms of contraband salt were found on the ship.

These bastards are deliberately trying to kill people. How could Changshou engage in smuggling salt? "Smuggling salt is a serious crime, and you may be beheaded if you are not careful.

Many villagers followed in the morning. When they saw the salt in the cotton bags, many of them were so scared that their legs went limp. If Mr. Pan hadn't come, most of them would have been scared away.

Shen Xiaoye supported the old man and asked him if there was a boatman on the boat who went ashore to report to the police. She comforted her and asked, "Is this boat from Tianjin or Linghe?"

"The Li family in the county town." Shen Shanxin said, "Mr. Pan is guaranteeing your uncle right now."

"Did my fourth uncle come to the Li family?" Shen Xiaoye immediately thought of the key point.

Shen Shanxin shook his head: "It's useless to look for his family, the boatman has done a good deed by reporting it.

Unless it can be proved that the salt was not brought on board by Changshou.

I don't know who he went to look for, and he hasn't come back yet."

“Don’t worry, great grandpa, I’ll go to the inspection shop and take a look.

Please keep an eye on the cotton and let us pack it." The flammable materials were scattered all over the ground, which was too dangerous. Shen Xiaoye looked around, worried that a spark might fly from somewhere.

She would also give the loose change she received in the capital to her great grandfather, "to give those soldiers some benefits."

"I've given it to you, but it doesn't work." Shen Shanxin pushed it to her again and said, "I'll take care of it. Go to the inspection station quickly."

Shen Xiaoye rode on the donkey again and rushed to the inspection shop beside the warehouse.

This was the ferry inn built by County Magistrate Tan specifically for the Inspection Office. Although it only had a small courtyard, it was fully equipped.

The doors of the guard rooms on both sides of the main gate all opened outside to facilitate the entry and exit of soldiers on duty and merchants and villagers.

Shen Xiaoye paid the gatekeeper to ask, only to find out that his grandfather was not in the side rooms, but in the public housing inside.

Since the chief clerk and the registrar had been invited, she couldn't go in at the moment unless someone came to pick her up.

Haha, it’s interesting that the chief clerk in charge of taxes and grain would also show up.

She waited outside for a while, her mind wandering, when she saw Captain Lu and a few other people walking out.

Judging from their attires, they should be boatmen.

"Captain Lu." Shen Xiaoye called out quickly.

When Captain Lu saw that it was her, he ordered his runners to stop and motioned for Shen Xiaoye and himself to move away.

Without waiting for her to ask, he said, "Fifty kilograms of contraband salt were found in the cotton bales, and your uncle can't explain where it came from."

"Aren't they the people in there, stuffed in?" Shen Xiaoye glanced at the boatmen in the distance.

Captain Lu shook his head and said, "You can't be so arbitrary. Your uncle must be able to prove his innocence.

Mr. Pan’s words are no longer effective now, so he needs to be detained for further investigation.

Once the matter is investigated, it may affect your fourth uncle's participation in the college entrance examination."

Swish, Shen Xiaoye looked sternly at the boatman and laborers on the boat. She had not thought of this before.

So, he followed his heart and rushed towards them, scaring Captain Lu to chase after him: "Xiao Ye!"

The bailiffs also put their hands on the hilts of their knives and looked at her warily.

The boatmen and laborers didn't know who she was or why she was glaring at them.

Captain Lu forced her to take two steps back, but when he saw her take out a token from her body, he was shocked: "You?"

"This case will be taken over by the Guard Bureau. Captain Lu, please send these people back and no outsiders are allowed to approach." What Shen Xiaoye held in her hand was the temporary token issued to her by the Guard Bureau for the convenience of moving around in the border town before she left the country.

Since Guard Xia and she did not return to Beijing together, it was not taken away for the time being.

But Captain Lu didn't know. He looked back and forth between Shen Xiaoye and the token in surprise and doubt, "Even if it's the Tiqi, it should be his duty to avoid it, right?"

The latter laughed and said, "Captain Lu, have you ever seen the Guards need to avoid relatives when handling a case?

I am your Majesty's soldier, working for your Majesty." She couldn't let the so-called witness enter the county government office, so this patrol officer could temporarily detain the person.

Captain Lu felt a toothache when he heard this, but what she actually had was a real token with her name on it, and it was a position of a general flag. It was really weird.

Shen Xiaoye also said: "Someone will take over next. I am just a messenger."

Fourth Uncle also had a centurion token in his hand. She believed that he was seeking external assistance, so she had to delay time.

That is, we cannot let the witness go, and we cannot let the inspection office send my uncle to the county government.

Captain Lu waved his hand and signaled his men to take the men back to the inn. However, the boatmen were so frightened that they dared not leave because they heard the words "Gongweisi".