The beloved baby has a space

Chapter 127 They Colluded

The gatekeeper, having witnessed the close relationship between Old Madam Wang and their Lord Zhang, naturally dared not offend her. He abandoned his previous arrogant attitude and became as amiable as a close relative.

Has your Lord Zhang finished his duties at the yamen yet?

Old Mrs. Wang and her companions had traveled for four hours, and now it was late at night. There were only a few houses with lanterns lit on the streets, but the county government office must have lanterns lit up.

"Well... I'm afraid Lord Zhang has already taken his leave." The gatekeeper's eyes darted around. "Why don't you come back tomorrow morning?"

Grandma Wang didn't realize that Zhang Zhan was already asleep. Although their Hujia Village had recovered and was busily working, many surrounding villages were still suffering from the disaster.

This year's busy farming season has been disrupted. Zhang Zhan is now the highest-ranking official in the county government, and all the matters that should have been handled by the county magistrate have fallen into his hands.

At this time, they should still be busy.

Zhang Zhan was indeed busy. He had just finished reading a file when a servant brought in a bowl of chicken soup.

"My lord, it's late, you should rest."

"I feel like my ears are a little hot. Go outside and see if anyone's looking for me," Zhang Zhan said casually to his servant while rubbing his ears.

For some reason, these past few days, whenever there's something he has to handle, his ears always start to feel hot.

The servant acknowledged and quickly came back to report: "Sir, there are several people outside the second gate who claim to be from Hu Family Village and say they want to see you."

Upon hearing the words "Hu Family Village," Zhang Zhan felt his eyelids twitch.

Zhang Zhan always had bad memories of this village, especially since his little ancestor was still there.

It's been so long, and that little devil hasn't made a fuss about coming back. He must be doing quite well there.

"Call the person to the side hall and see if there are any tea or snacks left in the kitchen. Please serve them first, and I will go later."

"Yes."

Wang Chuanfu and his companions felt that it was too rash of their mother to bring them directly to the county government office.

The officials in the county government are all resting now. Even if they weren't, how could they possibly entertain a few peasants?
You know, those officials are all arrogant and haughty. Even the approachable kind wouldn't entertain guests this late.

Just then, a servant-like figure walked out from inside, a faint smile on his face.

Even a servant's clothes are much better than theirs.

"Gentlemen, the master invites you in."

Old Mrs. Wang said to the servant, "My good-for-nothing son can't get up. Please drive the donkey cart over there and leave it there so he can stay on it."

Wang Chuangui: "..." She's really my mother!

The servant's smile froze.

What's going on with this person? He's come to visit you, and he's brought along someone who's disabled.

You know, it's not right for me to push them into the livestock shed.

"I'll send someone to keep an eye on things, don't worry," the servant had no choice but to say.

Grandma Wang led Wang Chuanfu and Wang Chuanman into the county government office. Both sons were a little apprehensive. Although the buildings inside the county government office were not grand and magnificent, they were much better than the small houses in their village, and not even in the same league as the high-rise buildings on the street.

The servants led them to a side hall, served them tea and snacks, and then went to instruct people to make arrangements for Wang Chuangui.

"Please wait here for a moment, the master will be here later."

Grandma Wang: "Go ahead and do your work, don't worry about us."

She was tired from her journey and wanted to rest.

The servant smiled, turned, and left. "Mother, why don't we go back? We can find a few people and teach those matchmakers a lesson, and that'll be the end of it," Wang Chuanfu said in a low voice to Old Madam Wang, sounding a little apprehensive.

Grandma Wang ignored him.

Wang Chuanman was curious as to why Old Mrs. Wang was acting as if she were coming home when she arrived at the county government office.

"Mother, did you know that Lord Zhang before?"

Grandma Wang: "I didn't know you earlier than you did."

The villagers already knew that Zhang Zhan was the person they had saved before, but they only thought he was an ordinary government official.

They had no idea how high a position Zhang Zhan held.

Actually, Grandma Wang didn't know either, but she could roughly guess that at least now she had a say and could make decisions.

"When we meet Lord Zhang, what should we say? Should we tell him everything? But a matchmaker's job is just a matter of words; what can we do?" This was a question the brothers had been pondering for a long time.

In their view, those matchmakers didn't seem to do anything other than spouting nonsense. Why would the adults care what you said?

Going to the authorities to accuse the matchmaker of ruining someone's reputation seems like making a mountain out of a molehill.

Grandma Wang smiled wryly: "Don't underestimate the power of a mouth; so many people have been ruined by it."

Wang Chuanman wanted to ask more, but Old Madam Wang had already lowered her head to drink her tea. The tea in the county government office was much better than the honeysuckle tea they casually brewed, and it tasted better than mint leaves.

While Wang Chuanfu and Wang Chuanman were still pondering, Old Mrs. Wang had already eaten more than half of the tea and snacks.

They didn't bring much food with them when they went out, and the old lady is starving now.

Half an hour later, Zhang Zhan finally finished what he was doing and then remembered that someone was waiting for him, so he hurried to the side hall.

But what they found were two people sitting upright in the chairs, and an elderly woman with gray hair who had actually fallen asleep in the chair, her body tilted to one side and her head turned to the side.

When Zhang Zhan first saw it, he thought the person was dead and was so scared that his heart almost jumped out of his chest.

"Mother, the master is here." Wang Chuanfu saw Zhang Zhan and quickly woke up the old lady.

Zhang Zhan had assumed it was someone from the Wang family who had come, and sure enough, it was.

"Aunt Wang, what brings you here so late at night?"

Old Mrs. Wang stood up, her face extremely serious: "Lord Zhang, this is really something I shouldn't have troubled you with, but I thought this matter was of great importance, so I still wanted you to know."

“Recently, there have been many people in our Nanhe Town spreading rumors about evil spirits. After making inquiries from various sources, I found out that it was actually a group of matchmakers colluding with Taoist priests.”

Zhang Zhan looked surprised. A matchmaker colluding with a Taoist priest?

What is this?
Even Wang Chuanfu and Wang Chuanman couldn't help but open their mouths wide. What was their mother saying?

Grandma Wang continued, "Matchmakers aren't official; they're all from private organizations. Taoist priests are, of course, unregistered. They're not officially registered. Nowadays, even legitimate martial arts sects have to report to the imperial court, but these matchmakers and Taoist priests operate outside the law."

"People mostly have awe towards officials, but they trust matchmakers a lot. After all, matchmakers wield considerable power, and marriage arrangements depend entirely on their whims. Furthermore, people's respect for Taoist priests stems more from their reverence for the gods. If a Taoist priest were to commit evil deeds, wouldn't that be defaming the gods?"

"Ordinary people don't have much ability to distinguish right from wrong. I heard this once when I was fleeing famine: if the local matchmakers and Taoist priests really collude, they could really control everything!"

Wang Chuanfu and Wang Chuanman could understand the first few sentences, but they were completely confused by the rest.

But Zhang Zhan understood.

"Aunt Wang, are you saying that someone is exploiting public sentiment and keeping the people ignorant? That's outrageous!"

(End of this chapter)