Chapter 98

The fat man was overjoyed, and respectfully kowtowed to Xu Qinglian with a loud thud:

Great Heavenly Sir, I'm Jia Dewang, I live in Ten Li Slope South Gate Village, I have an eighty-year-old mother above me, and below me a pair of infants in swaddling clothes crying for food.

Xu Qinglian raised the court wooden clapper in his hand and slapped it down again with a pa!

Bold commoner, you dare to deceive this official? Looking at your appearance, you're only about twenty-seven or twenty-eight; how could you have an eighty-year-old mother? And how could you possibly have two infants both in swaddling clothes? Do you really think it's easy to fool this official?

A woman giving birth in her fifties is truly rare.

Jia Dewang cried out in misery: 'Sir, I'm wronged, every word I say is true. My mother was fifty-three when she conceived and gave birth to me; I still have seven older brothers and sisters, but sadly they all died young. My son and daughter are dragon-phoenix twins, so they're both in swaddling clothes. My family has fallen on hard times, my circumstances are difficult, I truly have a hard life!'

What he said was actually reasonable.

Xu Qinglian snorted and said: 'Just you dare to claim you gave birth to dragon-phoenix twins? Take him out and give him twenty heavy blows!'

Ordinary commoners who have dragon-phoenix twins wouldn't dare say it openly; the words 'dragon phoenix' are not to be used lightly. Jia Dewang inadvertently violated a taboo; he deserves the beating.

A group of bailiffs rushed forward like wolves and tigers, shoved Jia Dewang to the ground, dragged him out by his legs. Poor fellow, he hadn't even explained why today's incident happened before being dragged away and beaten with twenty heavy blows.

Murong Feiyan furrowed her brows, leaned close to Hu Xiaotian's ear, and whispered softly: 'Your strike was ruthless enough!'

Hu Xiaotian smiled faintly; actually, even now he still didn't understand what had happened, why the fat man and the thin man had come to file a lawsuit. Judging from the situation, this Xu Qinglian is probably a cruel official.

The skinny man saw the fat man being beaten, fear showing on his face; when Xu Qinglian's gaze turned toward him, this fellow blinked and shivered.

Xu Qinglian gave a heh-heh smile; it would have been better if he hadn't smiled, for this smile made people's flesh creep. Xu Qinglian said, "You say you're the aggrieved party? Where exactly does your suffering come from?"

The skinny man stared for a moment: "Sir, I am Jia Six, a resident of Monkey Mountain Hollow, Dewwater Town, Qingyun Xian, making a living by herding sheep. This goat is mine; after it went missing, it was hidden by someone surnamed Jia, and fortunately I discovered it…… so……"

Xu Qinglian said, "You say the goat is yours? Do you have any evidence?"

Jia Six bit his lip and said, "I raised the goat; I naturally recognize it."

Xu Qinglian said, "Does it recognize you?"

Xu Qinglian said, "All right, bring that goat over and call to it once to see if it responds."

Jia Six was completely stunned; at this moment the fat man Jia Dexiang had received twenty blows and been dragged back to the hall, this fellow could barely stand, lying on the ground wailing incessantly, no longer shouting 'wronged' but instead repeatedly calling Xu Qinglian a dog official, which instantly touched Xu Qinglian's reverse scale.

Xu Qinglian raised the gavel and slapped it down with a bang, shouting loudly, "Drag him out……"

At this moment, the clerk Xingshan hurried forward, leaned close to Xu Qinglian's ear and said something, fearing that Xu Qinglian might cause a death. After hearing him out, Xu Qinglian indeed changed his mind, coldly saying, "Bold rascal, clamoring in the hall, insulting a court official—you deserve to be beaten to death on the spot, but since this is your first offense, I will make an exception. Men, take Jia Dexiang into temporary custody to let him reflect." The constables on both sides rushed forward, seized Jia Dexiang, dragged him out again, and threw him straight into the jail.

Jia Dexiang now seemed wilted, not daring to scold Xu Qinglian any further, merely crying out 'wronged' over and over.

Jia Six's face turned white with fright; when Xu Qinglian looked at him again, this fellow was so scared he sneezed twice in succession—fear could even trigger allergies.

The goat had already been led onto the hall by the constables; Xu Qinglian said, "The goat is here now—call to it once and see if it responds."

Jia Six wore a bitter expression, shook his head hard and said, "Sir, I won't sue!" Everyone understood that a goat couldn't possibly understand human speech; Jia Six's decision to drop the case was wise, but it was already too late.

Xu Qinglian said, "You won't sue? Then that means the goat belongs to Jia Dexiang?"

Jia Six shook his head and said, "Not his!"

The skinny man swallowed saliva; at this point he dared not admit anything, he prostrated himself on the ground and knocked his head three times: "Sir, I was wrong, I won't sue."

Xu Qinglian gave a cold sneer: "You two scoundrels look like conspirators; who knows where you stole this goat from, and because the loot wasn't split evenly you've quarreled, yet you dare to come here to argue—heh, do you think I'm muddle-headed?" He seized the gavel and slammed it down, a motion now habitual. Xu Qinglian said, "Men, administer ten heavy blows, fine five taels of silver, and throw them out; confiscate the goat for the public! I will render a final judgment after I ascertain the truth."

Hu Xiaotian now saw clearly that Xu Qinglian's true aim was that goat; he feared not thieves stealing it but thieves taking a liking to it—if that fellow took a fancy to it, nothing good would come of it.

The skinny man also received ten blows, was finally fined ten taels of silver, and was thrown out of the hall.

The crowd of onlookers stared at each other, big eyes to small eyes; though they felt resentful, nobody dared speak more. When the case ended, the constables ushered the spectators out of the county office, and the lawsuit was considered finished.

Hu Xiaotian and his two companions followed the crowd out; he had originally wanted to take the opportunity to meet Xu Qinglian, but after seeing the whole process of this fellow's trial, he immediately dismissed the idea—this was nothing but a dog official! After beating the defendant and the plaintiff, he even confiscated the evidence; truly greedy beyond measure, lacking in integrity and shame.

After the commoners left the county office, they all muttered curses under their breath.

Hu Xiaotian saw a middle-aged man with an excited expression, so he walked over and initiated conversation: "Sir, I just can't make sense of this case!"

The middle-aged man said, "What's there to be confused about? Sir Xu Qinglian has taken a liking to that goat—the complainant wants to eat it, the defendant wants to eat it, and Sir Xu Qinglian also wants to eat it! He even wants to eat the silver!" After saying that, he finally noticed the stranger's face before him, sighed, and said, "Little brother, I hear your accent is from elsewhere, right? Don't you know that in Qingyun Xian hardly anyone voluntarily goes to law anymore, because everyone understands that no matter whether you're in the right or not, once you step into this eight-character government office, heh… you not only get beaten, you also have to pay compensation…" Having said that, he felt he'd said too much, so he chuckled and added, "It's best to say little about official affairs."

Because of this unexpected incident, Hu Xiaotian decided to temporarily delay reporting to the county office; with three days left before his appointment, he would first find an inn to rest and get acquainted with the situation in Qingyun Xian.

The three of them stayed at the Fulai Inn on East Main Street; the innkeeper was Su Guangju, a middle-aged man of honest appearance and pleasant demeanor. Fulai Inn is not luxurious, its frontage is small, with only eight rooms, but it is kept clean and tidy. More importantly, the innkeeper cooks excellent dishes.

After settling in, Hu Xiaotian took a comfortable hot bath, then came to the grape arbor in the courtyard where Liang Da Zhuang had already arranged the table, set out food and drink, with fragrance filling the air.

Seeing Hu Xiaotian enter, Liang Da Zhuang smiled and said, "Young master, eating and lodging here are quite cheap; our remaining silver is enough to let us stay comfortably for half a month."

Hu Xiaotian sat at the table and said, "It won't take that long; in two days we'll be going to work."

"Work?" Liang Da Zhuang was again left bewildered by this fresh term of his.

Hu Xiaotian smiled and lowered his voice: "It's just taking office; we must keep a low profile—I don't want anyone to know my identity these two days." This was all because of his father's instructions; otherwise, Hu Xiaotian would have long since brandished his father's official authority to crush these grassroots officials. However, he knew that long-term concealment of his identity was no easy task—at least Qiqi already knew his identity, as did the courtesans of the Xiezhou Ringed Color Pavilion. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but recall that he had written an IOU for a thousand taels of silver, stamped with an official seal, which really gave him a headache, and he had no idea what trouble it might yet bring.

Liang Da Zhuang nodded mysteriously and said, "Young master, I understand, I fully understand—you intend to go incognito to survey the people's conditions! Impressive, truly impressive!"

Hu Xiaotian gave a heh-heh smile, raised his index finger to his lips and whispered mysteriously; only then did he notice that Murong Feiyan still hadn't come over, and he said to Liang Da Zhuang, "Where is Miss Murong?"

Liang Da Zhuang looked around, then lowered his voice and said, "Just now I saw her go out."

Hu Xiaotian stared for a moment; Murong Feiyan had few acquaintances in Qingyun Xian, so her going out surely wasn't to visit relatives or friends—perhaps she was out shopping, after all women differ from men; in this era there are no instant communication tools like pagers, cell phones, or walkie-talkies; if you really want to find someone, you either spend money or use your legs, and Hu Xiaotian didn't want to shout his throat raw all over the street, so he told Liang Da Zhuang, "Go tell Innkeeper Su to hold off on the hot dishes for a moment; we'll drink while we wait for her."

Hu Xiaotian was taken aback for a moment; Murong Feiyan in Qingyun Xian also didn't have many acquaintances, she went out definitely not to look for relatives and friends, perhaps to buy something, after all women are different from men, in this era there are no instant communication tools like pagers, cell phones, or walkie-talkies, if you really want to find someone it's either shouting or running legs, Hu Xiaotian also didn't want to shout his throat out on the streets, he said to Liang Da Zhuang: "Go tell Boss Su, the hot dishes can be made later; we'll drink while we slowly wait for her."

Hu Xiaotian laughed, "Just as we were speaking of waiting for you, here you come."

Murong Feiyan said, "No need to wait for me; you go ahead and drink, I'll change my clothes and be right back."

Hu Xiaotian's gaze followed Murong Feiyan's charming back; unintentionally he noticed Liang Da Zhuang also staring fixedly at her lovely figure, whereupon he picked up his chopsticks, turned his head, and rapped them hard on this fellow's forehead; Liang Da Zhuang was struck so hard he winced, suppressing a cry, yet he also knew he was in the wrong—everyone loves beauty, after all he had merely glanced an extra time; young master, your mind is also too…, as the saying goes, good things should be shared? Just looking won't take away a piece of meat.

Murong Feiyan smiled faintly, turned and went back to her room to change. After a while she reappeared in a fresh set of clothes, her hair simply pinned up, her face still bearing a hint of shyness. She took her seat, picked up her chopsticks, and said, "Let's eat." The three of them clinked their cups and began to drink and chat, the atmosphere warm and relaxed.

Welcome all book friends to come and read, the newest, fastest, hottest serialized works are all in Original!