Chapter 396: Confrontation in the Hall

County Magistrate Lai, who had spent a restless night in the county yamen, finally received Constable Bian returning to report on the morning of the second day.

As everyone had expected, Constable Bian had been unable to summon Master Xiong back. Still, Constable Bian could report back on this mission, because he had brought with him a subordinate sent by Xiong Dao to handle the court appearance.

Since someone had come, they might as well open court and hear the case. The helpless Magistrate Lai now only wanted this farce to be over quickly — every extra moment the farce dragged on was another blow to his personal prestige.

It should be known that Magistrate Lai had not been idle the previous night either. Whether it was friends he had privately invited to inquire about the inside story, or the various "friends" who had swaggered up to his door to "have a heart-to-heart" and work on Magistrate Lai, he had dealt with seven or eight of them in succession. Magistrate Lai had now thoroughly figured out the whole story of this farce from beginning to end, and because of this, his loathing for the Xu family, who had dragged him into the mire, grew ever stronger.

Because this case involved layers of dark secrets and various big shots, the county yamen had deliberately closed its main gate today, adopting the lower-profile method of a "closed-door trial."

However, while the closed-door trial tactic could shut out the common folk who had come to watch the excitement, it could not isolate certain people who had been waiting below in the hall since early morning.

These people, every one of them pot-bellied and dressed in silks and satins, were either the second steward of some mansion or the third butler of some residence, each carrying their master's calling card in their bosom, their arrogance so overbearing that mere yamen runners could hardly drive them away.

Those who came included accomplices of the accuser and backers of the accused. In the end, the yamen had no choice, and so a court hearing attended by privileged spectators began just like this.

Amid a chorus of classic bass voices calling "Awe... Inspiring...", Magistrate Lai, wearing the regular attire of a seventh-rank civil official with a River Egret embroidered on his rank badge, swayed out step by step from the rear hall.

After the "crack!" of the judgment block sounded, all fell silent. Then Magistrate Lai, following the routine, opened his mouth and asked the two parties below the bench: "Who stands before the court?"

A middle-aged man with a broad face and large ears, a pointed belly, dressed in a brocade robe and wearing an emerald-green ring on his hand, was the first to bow and then replied: "Reporting to Your Honor, I am Xu Zhong, steward of the Xu household."

At this, Steward Xu, the accuser's representative, straightened his back and cast a glance at the person beside him as if looking at a country bumpkin.

And the accused's representative standing beside him was a military officer wearing a brass bamboo-hat helmet, a crimson padded jacket with a front opening, and iron boots for treading on clouds.

This military officer was tall and stout, broad-waisted and round-bellied, his face like the bottom of a wok, his cheeks covered in whiskers, his face full of brutish flesh, reeking of a soldierly ruffian.

Sensing Steward Xu's disdainful look from beside him, the military officer immediately pulled a black lacquered wooden tablet from his bosom and then shouted in a loud voice tinged with a Fujian accent: "I am Yan Tiexia, Personal Soldier Squad Commander under Regional Commander Cao of Nan'ao, paying respects to the Grand Excellency."

After hearing both the accuser and the accused merely announce their names, Magistrate Lai grunted an acknowledgment and was about to mechanically proceed to the next step according to procedure.

However, before he could open his mouth, an incident occurred below the bench. Steward Xu pointed at the military officer and bellowed: "You insolent soldier-scum, why do you not kneel and perform obeisance before His Honor?"

"Ha ha ha!" Yan Tiexia first let out two loud laughs upon hearing this, then, weighing his official identity tablet in his hand, tilted his head back and said: "This officer is a dignified seventh-rank Squad Commander, a court-appointed official. Which article of the Great Ming Code says a seventh-rank must prostrate to a seventh-rank?"

At this moment, the lofty Magistrate Lai felt acid reflux in his stomach, his mouth full of bitterness — he wished he could drag this pig-stupid Steward Xu out and have him beaten to death with clubs.

Yes, through two centuries of unremitting effort by the Great Ming Dynasty's civil official system, the "prestige" of military officers had been gradually beaten down. By the late Ming period, military officers of the same rank were completely unable to speak up before civil officials, becoming de facto subordinates. Never mind seventh-rank, some fifth or sixth-rank battalion commanders who had inherited their posts through hereditary privilege would proactively kneel before a seventh-rank principal official with real power.

However, an unspoken rule is ultimately an unspoken rule. No matter how it was enforced in practice, this sort of thing could never be brought out into the open. Even the Emperor himself could at most feign ignorance and could not possibly express public support.

It should be known that back then, Zhu Baba had merely stipulated that subordinates reporting matters must kneel to superiors, but he had never stipulated that military officers of the same rank must kneel to civil officials.

So this was the reason Magistrate Lai hated the Xu family: the Regional Commander behind Xiong Dao was clearly intent on causing trouble and using force, even sending his personal squad commander. Yet at this juncture, the Xu family kept pushing him to the forefront — first demanding a summons, and now, upon arrival, raising the matter of kneeling... At this critical moment, which county magistrate would dare make this soldier-scum kneel?

Killing a chicken may not require an ox-cleaver, but to kill an ox, one must use an ox-cleaver.

The current situation was this: the Xu family did not want to pay the price of an ox-cleaver, yet repeatedly attempted to use that bit of scholar-official privilege to deal with Xiong Dao. However, privilege is meant for dealing with commoners. Now, to deal with a powerful general who commanded troops, Magistrate Lai, this cleaver, was simply not qualified... See, his blade chipped the moment it struck; the man did not give a damn about a seventh-rank county magistrate.

Seeing the silent and embarrassed Magistrate Lai, that officer Yan Tiexia circled the hall with a disdainful look and then loudly clamored again: "I just said, in this Great Ming court of law, who dares trample on the Great Ming Code? Is there no law and order left?"

After making these two pointed remarks, Yan Tiexia, who seemed like a crude soldier but was actually glib-tongued, circled around Steward Xu the next moment: "I say, my lord, may I ask what official rank you hold?"

Having been arrogant and domineering for half his life, Steward Xu was utterly incapable of sensing today's danger. He pointed accusingly and bellowed: "Insolence! I am the second steward of the Xu household. You piddling soldier-scum officer, don't you bother to inquire whether the Xu family is someone you can afford to offend?"

"So you're just a commoner." The next moment, after the brutish flesh on Yan Tiexia's face twitched in what seemed like a smile yet not a smile, he grabbed Steward Xu's two fingers and twisted them viciously.

In the hall, Steward Xu let out a miserable shriek and collapsed to his knees at Yan Tiexia's feet.

While keeping his grip on those two fingers, Yan Tiexia loudly shouted at the magistrate: "A mere commoner, roaring in court, insulting a seventh-rank official — may I ask Your Excellency, what crime should such a person be charged with?"

Magistrate Lai had already been numbed by the endless drama these two were putting on.

In just this brief moment, seeing how these two completely disregarded him, a certain person had thoroughly recognized the situation and decided to handle matters strictly by the book — only by handling matters strictly by the book could he minimize the damage this farce inflicted on his reputation, and ensure the figures behind those spies outside the hall could find no fault.

So Magistrate Lai struck the judgment block and said expressionlessly: "Officer, release Steward Xu."

Immediately after, he added: "Xu Zhong, a mere commoner, yet roaring in court and showing contempt for a superior officer, is hereby sentenced to twenty strokes of the Killing-Awe Rods, to be carried out after the case is concluded."

Hearing this, Yan Tiexia nodded with some satisfaction and released Steward Xu's fingers: "Your Excellency is truly a clear sky."

And Steward Xu, sitting on the ground clutching his right hand, upon hearing the verdict, immediately revealed an expression of utter disbelief, momentarily even forgetting the sharp pain in his fingers.

His mouth agape, he first glanced at the expressionless magistrate, then turned his head to look at the row of yamen runners standing motionless like puppets. After confirming that the Xu family's signboard was useless today, Steward Xu suddenly fell silent — a steward's basic skill was reading expressions and gauging situations. By this point, if he still could not see the situation clearly, he would not deserve to be the second steward.

After a bout of lively foreplay, seeing the scene quiet down, Magistrate Lai coughed once and finally began the formal trial.

"Today, the Xu clan accuses the merchant Xiong Dao of the two crimes of arson and assaulting commoners. Officer, where is your principal, Xiong Dao?"

At this, Yan Tiexia folded his arms across his chest, planted his legs apart, rolled his eyes upward, and addressed the ceiling beam: "Master Xiong left for Fuzhou days ago to visit his clan elder, Grand Coordinator Xiong. He has long since been absent from Jiading. The Xu family is making a false accusation!"

Magistrate Lai's eyelids flicked upward upon hearing this. Whether Xiong Dao was in Jiading or not didn't matter; anyway, everyone knew Xiong Dao would not show his face in court, so his question just now was merely going through the motions.

He had not expected that this question would also flush out Xiong Dao's clan elder, Xiong Wencan!

That Xiong Wencan had recommended Cao the Pirate was publicly issued in the court gazette, so that Xiong Dao, sent by Cao the Pirate to manage the private port, was actually a clansman of Xiong Wencan... this was very logical, was it not just the Ming Dynasty version of an exchange of interests?

Lai Fangwei, who instantly figured out the whole story, truly had a "MMP" to say at this moment: Those dog-fucking Xus have screwed me to death, now they've gone and offended a grand border official for me too!

After coughing once more, Magistrate Lai's attitude softened just a little: "Squad Commander Yan, the complaint accuses you of burning four mulberry gardens in the neighboring village the night before last. Is there any truth to this?"

"Absolutely no such thing!" Squad Commander Yan cupped his hands and made a bow toward the bench: "Your Excellency, the Xu family, without a shred of evidence, opens their mouth and slanders an innocent man's good name. I beseech Your Honor to render justice."

Hearing this, the magistrate turned his head to look at Steward Xu, who had already climbed up from the ground — if he had any evidence, now was the time to present it.

The Xu family had evidence my ass.

They had originally planned to play the power-crushing game, but after several exchanges, when Steward Xu discovered that one actually had to reason things out in court, he was caught somewhat off guard: "Your private port is right next to our estate. If you lot didn't set the fire, then who did?"

Yan Tiexia spread his hands helplessly toward the magistrate, revealing an awkward yet polite smile: "I did not expect to witness 'suspecting the neighbor of stealing an axe' firsthand today. Your Honor, I have often heard that this Xu clan, these evil gentry, habitually frame others and seize the property of good citizens; seeing it today, the rumors are indeed not false."

Magistrate Lai now had a face full of exasperation: "Xu Zhong, this official asks you again: are there any witnesses or material evidence?"

After stammering, Steward Xu figured he could only use stalling tactics: "This... presumably, someone must have seen the scoundrels setting the fire that night. Once I return and investigate, we will know."

"In that case, we shall wait until evidence is found before proceeding."

Saying this, Magistrate Lai struck the judgment block, conveniently shelving the arson case indefinitely.

The magistrate next inquired about the assault case: "... beating and injuring many tenant farmers of the Xu household — is there any truth to this?"

"Reporting to Your Excellency, there is indeed such a matter."

Yan Tiexia laughed heartily and nodded in acknowledgment.