USWHC -Chapter 388 The Mysterious Master (Part 8)

Seeing that the county magistrate had been in a gloomy mood ever since meeting those Imperial Guards, everyone in the yamen felt tense.

The magistrate lowered his head, his expression dark and uncertain as he scanned the crowd. Suddenly, he pointed at Constable Hao and asked, “You—what exactly is your relationship with the Ji family?”

What happened that day had been strange. The magistrate still remembered how Old Madam Ji had suddenly clutched Hao’s leg, pleading desperately, and the awkward look on Hao’s face—it all showed they weren’t strangers.

Caught off guard, Constable Hao replied, “No, no, sir! How could I have anything to do with a rustic village woman?”

Hearing this, the magistrate frowned even more. “Is that so? Then you know nothing about their family?”

“Their family?” Everyone was stunned. The adviser quietly leaned closer and asked, “Sir, what are the Imperial Guards here for? Why are they asking about some small farmer?”

“What else could it be but that matter with Consort Li?” the magistrate sighed. “I’m afraid that girl must have offended her somehow. Consort Li has sent people down to hold her accountable.”

“Is that so?” The adviser was surprised. “Then do you know how she offended Her Highness?”

How could the magistrate admit he had been slapped? That would be far too humiliating. But seeing the adviser staring at him, he knew he couldn’t avoid answering.

He sighed again. “Consort Li said we sent her a seductress. But those Imperial Guards kept asking about that family, even whether the girl was her mother’s biological daughter. Tell me, what does that have to do with Consort Li?”

“Wait, sir—I just remembered something,” Constable Hao suddenly said. “I heard that the Ji family’s youngest daughter, Ji Mei, is still at home!”

“What? Say that again?” The magistrate was shocked.

“It’s true. There’s even a matchmaker arranging marriages for her. Everyone in Xiangshui Village knows—the one who went wasn’t her, but her cousin, someone named Hua Feixue!”

“Hua Feixue? That name sounds familiar…” the magistrate muttered.

“Have you forgotten, sir? The girl who almost married into Grand Secretary Sun’s family—wasn’t she called Hua Feixue?” the adviser whispered.

At this, the magistrate’s eyes widened. “So they’ve been playing a ‘狸猫换太子’ (swapping the prince with a civet cat) trick on me? The Ji family is outrageous!”

His anger flared instantly. “How dare they toy with me! Are they tired of living?”

“Exactly, sir! That Ji family is full of despicable people!” Constable Hao chimed in eagerly. Hmph—stripping his pants in public—that was truly courting death!

The adviser hesitated. “Then, sir, should we report this to the Imperial Guards immediately? Say that Ji Mei was switched out?”

“Report to them for what? They didn’t ask us to investigate!” The magistrate had offered to dig into the Ji family’s secrets earlier, only to be flatly refused. Clearly, they didn’t trust him.

Thinking of this made him even angrier. “Hmph, let them investigate slowly. We’ll get ahead of them and send the girl to Consort Li ourselves—it’ll count as making up for our mistake!”

Hearing this, everyone nodded in agreement.

“Yes, we can’t let the Imperial Guards take the credit!”

“We have to send her off before they do!”

“But why would the Ji family suddenly switch people?” the magistrate muttered, still puzzled. Back then, Old Madam Ji had seemed so eager.

Constable Hao replied, “Probably couldn’t bear to send her own daughter. Sir, you may not know—this family is vicious! I’ve heard even their second son’s wife was abducted, and her parents were harmed. Tell me, isn’t that wicked?”

“Wicked—utterly wicked!” the magistrate ground out through clenched teeth.

Of course, it wasn’t really about abducting a wife that angered him most—it was that they had dragged him into trouble and jeopardized his future! He had even sacrificed his own sister just to curry favor with the Marquis of Wu’an and Consort Li. And now, the one task Consort Li had entrusted to him had been completely botched—weren’t they ruining him?