Proofread by Peter Gong
Wu Zhong was almost hopeless. He went to the house of Ma Tian’en without considering manner and went straight to the main hall in a hurry. The servants in the yard were very anxious and scared as if the world was over, which made Wu Zhong even more uneasy. He was even afraid of asking whether Ma Tian’en was caught because he feared that the answer would make him crazy.
When he got to the main hall, he didn’t see Ma Tian’en. The main hall was empty, which made Wu Zhong absolutely hopeless. Then he turned to the study. The study was close to the main hall and Wu Zhong ran fast but he felt it was an endless distance. When he went to the door of the study, he hesitated. He was afraid that when he opened the door, he could not see Ma Tian’en. At present, he realized how important Ma Tian’en was for him. At first he should have treated her better. She didn’t like writing, so he was not supposed to force her to write. She should do what she liked. “Ma Tian’en, may god bless you.” Wu Zhong thought in his mind.
Wu Zhong pushed the door open while praying in his mind. He saw that Ma Tian’en was pacing up and down the room anxiously. Ma Tian’en, who was anxious and worried, went for him as soon as she saw him.
Ma Tian’en held Wu Zhong tightly and cried. Ordinarily, he would push her away, but he wanted to comfort her by his warmth this time.
It seemed that Ma Tian’en wanted to blow off all her fear and discontentment. She started to cry as she said, “My dad was caught by them. What should I do ? They should catch me. It is all my fault that has caused my father’s arrest.”
Wu Zhong now understood why Ma Tian’en was still at home in safety. It turned out that Master Ma replaced Ma Tian’en. Wu Zhong understood why Ma Tian’en was so frightened. Her father was sick and it was a serious crime to sell the illegal salt. Thus Master Ma would not be set free until it was investigated clearly. If Master Ma was imprisoned, he could not bear the conditions in the prison for his physical ill health. At the same time, Wu Zhong understood what Mr. Ma thought about. If he was Master Ma, he would do as Master Ma did. Master Ma would rather be caught than see anything happen to Ma Tian’en.
After a long time, Ma Tian’en became calm gradually. Wu Zhong supported her to be seated and took a washcloth to clean her face.
“Don’t be worried. Let us discuss how to deal with it.” Wu Zhong looked at the swollen eyes of Ma Tian’en. She was like an injured fawn. It was indeed a challenge for her. She was just a young girl and Master Ma had long been her support. Whenever she made any mistakes, her father would help her. Even though Master Ma was injured, Ma Tian’en was fully assured as long as Master Ma was alive.
“Mr. Wu, come with me to the wharf. Although Ma Liande has been caught, other captains are still there. We can go there to investigate. Why the illegal salt was discovered in our boat? There must be a rat. If he is caught by me, I will throw it into the river to feed the fish.” Ma family was kind all the time. In addition, Ma Liande was a close relative of Ma family, so even though he siphoned off taels sometimes, Ma family just had a “wink-wink” attitude towards him and let him go of it. Ma Tian’en didn’t think that it was in Ma Liande’s boat where the illegal salt was found.
“OK. I will go with you. But we have to ask the butler to deal with Yamen.” Wu Zhong reminded Ma Tian’en and she nodded repeatedly.
The news that Ma Chaosheng was caught spread to the wharf. For a moment, everyone was frightened. Although Uncle Wu and other people had persuaded everyone to work and put their mind at ease, everyone started to become slack in work. The captain and other more relevant people of the boat were caught. Other people who were not involved in the case were monitored for the time being and were not allowed to go out.
When Ma Tian’en and other people arrived, Uncle Wu and Ma Dacheng came in a hurry. Everyone joined in the discussion about how to deal with it. According to Uncle Wu’s investigation, the police went to the boat of Ma Liande with the clear aim. They investigated in private and found that there was someone who reported secretly to Yamen. The informant reported to the top official straight so they didn’t know who he was.
“It must be Guo Qi. I will find him and ask him why he hates my family so badly.” Ma Tian’en was leaving, but Wu Zhong stopped her.
“Don’t be impetuous. You asked him without any preparation and he won’t admit that he created all. The most important thing now is to find the evidence. We can do that in three ways. On one hand, we should find a way to meet Ma Liande and ask some information from him. On other hand, we should ask the captain whether they have discovered some clues, after all it is not easy to take so much illegal salt to the boat. It is likely that any marks may be left in the boat. In addition, we should keep on investigating where Guo Qi comes from.” Wu Zhong was calm now. He knew that whenever they were in trouble, they should be calm rather than worried.
“I could arrange someone to meet Ma Liande. As for captains of boats, Uncle Wu could ask them in details. As for Guo Qi and Concubine Zhao, we can investigate it together. Ma Dacheng, you once monitored Guo Qi, you continue to tail after him and I will make my friends in Datong Gang to help you.” Ma Tian’en was calm gradually. And she felt that the key of the matter was Guo Qi. As long as they found out the secret of Guo Qi, the whole thing would be solved.
These people all agreed. Wu Zhong was more far-sighted. If it had something to do with Guo Qi, it must involve Duke Wu. At that time they could consult Scholar Qian and got rid of the crafty little man when they had the chance.
In the Wanjin Restaurant, Tian Ronghua , Guo Qi and Hu Chunqiu were drinking together happily to celebrate that Ma Chaosheng was caught.
“To begin with, I want to catch Ma Tian’en, but Ma Chaosheng was caught. Ma Tian’en is still in his home. This is not my intention.” Hu Chunqiu said with a little pity.
“It doesn’t matter. His father has already been caught. How long could he show off? Mr. Hu, Mr. Guo, the illegal salt is supposed to be taken back by its owner but now the salt has been confiscated by the official. What should we do now?” Tian Ronghua was not completely assured.
At first, someone found Tian Ronghua to help transport the salt by the boat of Tian family. When Guo Qi knew it, he came up with an idea. Part of the salt which was still in the warehouse of Tian family was going to be transported to the capital by boats of Tian family while another part was put in the boat of Ma. At the same time, someone reported to the official. Now the salt was taken away by the official and Ma Chaosheng was caught. But how could they take back the salt? Usually, the government would confiscate all the salt. But the family of Tian had to pay for the loss of the buyer. Moreover, the buyer they had to pay taels was none other than a member of party of Liu Jin.
“Mr. Tian, you needn’t be worried. The batch of rice is ordered by Duke Wu. If I go to take back the rice, the official will deal with it. At that time, I will give the official some money to let officials replace illegal salt with some crude salt. The rice of Duke Wu has been used to hide the illegal salt and we are the victims indeed, so it is reasonable for us to take back the rice. ” Guo Qi knew that the plan was very risky but he knew that the official dared not to have a further investigation about that.
“However, Mr. Hu, is the buyer of the salt reliable? “Guo Qi asked Hu Chunqiu. The one who bought the salt in the south was the man who worked for Hu Chunqiu and the people who came to contact with Ma Liande was also his men. Guo Qi was afraid that something would go wrong with it.
“It is no problem. They are sons of servants in my family. The salt was bought from Zhang Yulin who was the leader of the Salt Gang in South. Since Ma Liande was greedy, I promised that I would give him one hundred taels. What’s more, I gave him thirty taels as a deposit. Without the salt license, their charge of selling the illegal salt was confirmed. Take it easy. No none can exonerate them from blame.” Hu Chunqiu said complacently.
“I am afraid that Ma Chaosheng will try to lay it off on Ma Liande and insist that he does not know that at all.” Tian Ronghua knew that Ma Chongsheng was clever.
“I will talk with the Governor Liu. Even though it is a charge of lack of discipline, Ma Chaosheng would be fined heavily until they lose everything. Furthermore, Ma Chaosheng is not healthy. After staying in the prison for a month, he is likely to die there. Without Ma Chaoshen and money, Ma Tian’en is just a minor worry. At that time, it would be easy for us to kill him and we make him dead as what we like.” Guo Qi said very coldly. This time, the family of Ma was a doomed tragedy. In the name of Duke Wu, they didn’t need any perfect plan to frame up Ma family. Just an simple reason was enough. It was an accepted fact that they relied on force to bully others. Otherwise why would everyone dream to be an official?