Chapter 198: Miao Chu Chapter Two Hundred: Remuneration

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

The visitor's speed was truly too fast; although Qian Zhongming was not exactly old, a veteran clerk who normally only practiced the Five Animal Frolics and lived a life of leisure, how could he dodge a young, strapping soldier who drilled day after day on the other side?

His mind had already reacted, but his body would not dodge; he was pounced upon and pinned down by the other party, landing buttocks-first in a head-over-heels tumble with a "thud," only feeling his tailbone slam hard against the ground, instantly crying out in agony, his vision going black, as if his soul had been yanked out of his brain, his whole body unable to move.

Seeing the official soldiers, and such brazen arrest, and seeing the master in such a wretched state, the attendants and concubines at his side all cried out in alarm and scattered.

It was Qian Zhongming who endured the pain, opening the only part of him that could move — his mouth — and angrily rebuked: "Where do you soldiers come from? Whose orders do you carry? Do you not know my identity? You dare plot to harm a court-appointed official! Who gave you the dog's gall?!"

That young soldier grinned, baring his teeth: "Laozi carries out orders to arrest people at the door; the gall of a leopard was given by the yamen!"

As he spoke, his hand twisted, and he wrenched the arms of the man pinned beneath his buttocks behind his back.

Qian Zhongming yelled "Let go!" in pain, while also shouting: "Punk! You come to the door to arrest someone — do you have an arrest warrant?!"

He still wanted to curse further, but then heard a voice from the front, even louder, answer: "The arrest warrant is right here!"

Before long, a group of soldiers surrounded them.

The leader held up a document bearing a large vermilion official seal before Qian Zhongming's eyes and snorted coldly: "Qian Kongmu, someone has reported you for forging official documents, accepting bribes to pervert justice, and instigating others to commit arson and murder. I act on the orders of my superior to arrest you — let's take a trip together!"

Speaking, he then told those behind him: "Surround this residence, front and back courtyards, tight as a drum — don't let a single one escape! And search carefully for stolen goods and evidence!"

Just now, pinned to the ground, although Qian Zhongming was in a sorry state, he was still in a condition of being startled but not panicked.

However, at this very moment, after being searched, having all his belongings taken off, a cangue placed on him and shackles put on, and being shoved outward, he discovered that not a single person came to ask after his injuries, nor was there the slightest bit of care; only then did he finally feel that this time things were not quite right.

It was not the first time he had been arrested, but before he was always politely invited to the yamen, whereas today's fierce, door-kicking, house-raiding approach — the difference was truly too great.

By the time he was stuffed into the carriage compartment, Qian Zhongming was already dizzy and swollen-headed; although he did not know what exactly was going on, he knew well that this time the incident had broken out suddenly, and he must make arrangements early.

At this moment not only were his clothes in disarray, his baozi headwrap had long since fallen who knows where, and his hair followed in a messy tangle, hanging down and sticking to his right cheek.

He shook his head several times, but could not exert force; he could not shake the hair away, but had no time to mind it further, for he heard the carriage start moving, saw three other people inside the compartment, forced himself to calm down, and tentatively said: "Three younger brothers, please deliver a message for me to the Peng family in Pan Tao Lane in the eastern city — just say I have been arrested on account of a matter, and have the people inside immediately go to the Capital — no need to do anything else, just bring this verbal message."

Speaking, he then pointed with his chin toward his waist and pursed his lips, saying: "Right now there is a jade button with a gold rim sewn into my belt; it can be taken as a reward. Once you reach the Peng family, they will give an additional heavy reward — just say I instructed it, and have one person take three hundred guan..."

Whether the jade button with gold rim or the three hundred guan, for ordinary soldiers they were both an extremely tempting sum, an amount they might not earn in half a lifetime.

Yet hearing such words, not a single person paid him any heed.

Qian Zhongming's heart sank further.

When he was brought into the interrogation room again, he saw the people opposite all wearing official robes, yet not a single familiar face — every pair of eyes strange — and from his tailbone all the way to his head, his whole body at this moment was practically trembling with pain.

Perfectly fine — just what on earth is this matter??

Cen Dezhang's concern was not superfluous; they arrested Dutou Ding — this man was Qian Zhongming's confidant and had vested interests; though he looked like a rough martial fellow, his mouth was like a living river clam — no matter how they pried, he refused to open.

But Han Li and the others held many cases found by Song Miao from the kitchen, and also turned up even more cases from the archives; the connections involved — how could they stop at Dutou Ding alone?

The surnamed Ding had no mouth; there were still the surnamed Zhou, the surnamed Wu, the surnamed Chu; the surnamed Chu lived up to his surname's two mouths — he spoke the fastest and the most; almost the moment he was caught, evidence laid out, a slight questioning, and he was so frightened he lost control of his bowels and bladder, spilling everything from the past in full detail.

This Chu-clerk exclusively managed the grain warehouse; he had always acted in the most timid and cautious manner, and was also prone to suspicion and paranoia; every time it was his turn to guard the warehouse, he clearly watched the main gate, the second gate, and the warehouse gate all locked tight, yet after returning to his room he still lacked confidence, to the point that even in the depths of winter, at midnight he could hardly sleep, and had to climb up, light a lantern, and verify each gate one by one again.

This man personally watched one familiar person after another being taken away; by the time it came to his turn, he had already thought through his posthumous affairs; now hearing the interrogator speak of "reduced sentences" and "meritorious service to atone for crimes," once questioned, he not only laid out everything — how his superiors had instructed him to turn a blind eye, how he subsequently watched outsiders top up with sand and chaff, and finally how they reported losses —

Even the exact year, month, and day, who relied on what chit to take away what grain — he could recount clearly, showing how many times he must have replayed it in his heart.

Clerk Chu even had evidence.

He listed in an account book all the irregular warehouse grain movements that had passed through his hands over the years.

When the official runners brought him back to his home and took out that account book pressed under the rice vat, along with a large bundle of bribe money that had not been touched, Clerk Chu actually wailed loudly right there, crying with snot and tears, asking at the top of his voice: "You — why didn't you come sooner!"

The Qian family's generations of operation in Hua Prefecture were like a banyan tree of one or two hundred years — not only were the branches and leaves flourishing above ground, but below the roots ran deep; to shake it, at first glance, was simply as hard as climbing to heaven.

But sometimes, as long as a single tear is ripped open, one discovers that the inside has already been hollowed out by insects and ants, leaving only what looks like a huge, dry bark; cut it with a knife, give a gentle push, and it will come crashing down with a boom all by itself.

Once the first person starts confessing, following the vine to get the melon, it will pull out countless people behind.

With physical evidence and witness testimony, re-examining the old archives, sure enough everything matched up; then finding the former relevant persons — the number of people confessing and accusing others grew larger and larger, the breach grew larger and larger; by the end, even whether Dutou Ding opened his mouth or not, whether Qian Zhongming confessed or not, was no longer that important.

And as time passed, when the onlookers discovered that this former Qian Kongmu, who had seemed impregnable, appeared not as terrifying as imagined, but the fields, shopfronts, and wealth under his name were so abundant and enticing, it was exactly like vultures seeing carrion — they swarmed up in a flock, fearing that a step too slow would mean everything was divided up empty.

In just half a month's time, many officials and clerks in the Hua Prefecture government office — some were reprimanded, some suspended with salary deducted, some dismissed, some sent to prison — and a batch of new people were transferred up from below; after just a few busy days, there was no longer any trace of that Kongmu — even his room had long been vacated, allocated for use by the remaining few new clerks.

This afternoon, when Song Miao returned to the official relay station from the river course, the mule cart stopped, and she had just stepped down from the carriage compartment when she saw, not far away, several people either squatting or standing, clearly having waited for a long time.

And when the crowd saw her, they all surrounded her.

"Is it Song Xiaoniangzi?"

"Song Niangzi?"

Song Miao saw that everyone before her had unfamiliar faces; she nodded first, said "It is I," then asked: "May I ask what guidance the various sirs seek?"

The one standing at the very front, not caring that this was a public street and alley, a broad crowd with people coming and going, went "putong" and knelt right down before Song Miao, then prostrated himself: "Song Xiaoniangzi, if not for your kind heart, my son would likely have died a wrongful death in prison by now!"

As he spoke, he actually moved to kowtow.

Song Miao was startled, hurriedly hauled the man up by force, urgently saying "It cannot be done," then ushered the crowd into the courtyard, and asked their origins.

After a round of questions and answers, she learned that these were all the victims of the grievances reported by the kitchen staff last time.

Some had ancestral property seized; some had mothers wronged and humiliated, falsely accused of adultery, eventually hanging themselves, their family lines exterminated; some had small shops run for many years seized, then falsely accused of theft; some were falsely accused of murder and assault.

The one urgently kowtowing was precisely that Yang family Old Lady — her son Yang Erlang had been falsely accused of killing his brother-in-law; this case was finally retried and settled; it turned out that the young master had indeed been provoked by words, flew into a rage, shoved the man to the ground — who knew the back of his head would strike squarely against a wine jar behind him; for some reason his luck was that bad, striking exactly that spot, and he died on the spot.

The young master was terrified in his heart; he waited a long while, saw Wei Jie had no breath left, his body gradually turning cold; scared out of his wits, fearing a life for a life, it just so happened that Yang Erlang was lying on the table sleeping with pig-like snores; a sudden impulse, he took a sharp weapon and randomly inflicted wounds, pushing all matters onto the latter.

Later, returning home and telling the family, the family knew this matter was no small thing; they hurried to find Dutou Ding, spent one thousand five hundred guan, threw in a shop, and also bribed the coroner, only then altering this case.

Now that Qian Zhongming has fallen, many former cases were naturally dug up again.

The dead cannot return to life, but the living had their grievances washed clean, and were finally released from prison.

Song Miao heard the whole story and felt truly moved; she then clarified: "This time it was a group of young masters from the Du Shui Jian who took the lead, and also many yamen runners in the office who worked day and night interrogating and handling cases, that the case was finally overturned; I really did nothing, merely organized everyone's words and submitted them."

"Without Xiaoniangzi helping to submit them, with so many cases in the yamen, they might not have been turned over to ours so quickly, and who knows if they could have been distinguished as wrongful cases; Erlang has suffered every hardship in prison, fortunately he was released early — if he had stayed a few more days, I fear he wouldn't have lasted until autumn, his life would have been gone!"

One after another, more bystanders came forward, each airing their own grievances, each voicing their own thanks.

That day Song Miao had submitted over twenty cases, and she had given detailed statements for a good six or seven of them; at this moment a good seven or eight people had come here, some speaking, some laughing, some weeping, and it made her heart turn sour.

After a round of thanks, that Old Lady Yang spoke up first: "The Young Lady is just about to be busy, so we won't delay you any longer!"

So the crowd, in twos and threes, took out many things from the side alley.

There were whole jars of home-brewed wine, home-grown vegetables, home-woven baskets and hampers and straw hats and straw cushions, also sun-dried vegetables, pickled vegetables, and the like; Old Lady Yang brought two bolts of cloth home-woven and home-dyed, and yet another person came carrying two large covered bamboo baskets.

This person set the bamboo baskets on the ground and said: "Song Xiaoniangzi, these are geese my old mother raised herself; they can't compare to the fat ones sold outside, but they walk all day long, so their meat isn't tough firewood-meat, it's very fragrant. I have no other good things to send, so I brought a few geese to express my sincerity!"

Song Miao declined several times, but the crowd refused to take them back.

Someone said: "The gifts have already been delivered; where is the reason to take them back?"

Another said: "Home-grown vegetables cost only a few coins; the Young Lady's grace is so great, yet you won't accept even a few small dishes — do you look down on me, think my vegetables aren't fit for the table?"

The crowd set down the things, relying on the fact that they could run away while the temple couldn't, each making eyes at the others, and all turned and ran at once, leaving a ground full of miscellaneous gifts.

Song Miao had no choice for the moment; she only felt this scene was strangely familiar, as if she had witnessed it many times not long ago.

And that Da Da at the back — when had he ever seen such a scene? Just now, because people learned he was Song Miao's attendant, they kept stuffing dried fruits and candied fruits into his pockets, scaring him into dodging and fleeing; only now that the people had left did he dare come forward. Seeing the ground full of things, he clicked his tongue incessantly and said: "Young Lady, these can't very well be returned, can they? Those fruits and leafy vegetables inside won't be fresh by tomorrow!"

Song Miao thought for a moment, swept a glance over everything, then said: "Put them away for now, make a record, then calculate the prices, and wait for me to send someone to the Zhou Ya to ask Young Master Han and the others how to handle it."

By the time the items were counted, Song Miao had drawn up a gift list, noted the origin of the items, and only then asked someone to make a trip to the Zhou Ya.

Not long after, the yamen sent back a familiar Xue Shi, bringing back a plate of silver ingots.

"Young Master Han says, please ask Song Xiaoniangzi to help find the corresponding aunts and young ladies from the kitchen to come out, and trouble them to send the money back these two days — it's from Cen Tongpan's private account — just say it's hush money from the Tongpan; surely they won't refuse."

Song Miao stepped forward to look, and sure enough on the tray were many large red packets, each packed with silver ingots, and every envelope had a name written on it.

That person also fished out a separate sealed packet from his sleeve; seeing no one on either side, he quietly handed it to Song Miao and said: "Song Xiaoniangzi, Young Master Han said this is what he and Cen Tongpan asked for, specially as remuneration for Song Xiaoniangzi. Please, when the Young Lady has spare time, arrange for someone to prepare some simple, convenient food. The brothers in the yamen have been staying up for many days because of the cases pulled out by Qian Zhongming's big case, and things on the He Dao haven't stopped either; now it's bitter summer, they're hungry and have no appetite."

Hearing it was Cen Dezhang's money, Song Miao accepted with incomparable readiness, agreed, gathered up those packets, and only then thanked the messenger.

She watched the other party leave, then carried the silver money back to the room and put it away, and only then went to the kitchen.

Before she even entered the door, from far away she could already hear Da Da's voice: "They all say they want to thank our Song Xiaoniangzi, but the Young Lady says she's just an ordinary craftsman whose hands and mouth stop together, just mutual help, nothing to thank for, just like everyone coming to help her manage the kitchen on the He Dao. Alas, I was already heartbroken listening to them speak, and hearing the Young Lady say that line, the tears just streamed straight down..."

Even without seeing the person, she could imagine what that person looked like right now, dancing hand and foot in the room.

Song Miao didn't know whether to laugh or cry, hurried inside, called out "Da Da," and then said with a smile: "How can you exaggerate so much, like a storyteller!"

"Da Da isn't talking nonsense! I just passed by and heard them talking too. Alas, fortunately we got your help, and finally got free!" But it was that Zhang Gongchu quietly turning half his body away, roughly wiping the tears from his eyes with one hand.

After he finished wiping, he turned back again, putting on an air of nothing having happened, pointing at the many things on the ground and asking: "All these vegetables are fine, but what about those few geese?"

Song Miao lowered her head to look, and saw four goose heads poking out from the bamboo basket lid, turning their heads, going ga-ga-ga.

?? Thank you Mu Weicheng for the He Shi Bi you gave me, Xiaoxiao for the Huang Yi you gave me, both of you spent a lot, thank you thank you thank you^_^

? Thank you Rang Xiang Bu Dao for the super large Peach Blossom Fan, Mai Dou Ai Xiao Du, Yellow Scorpion Palace, and Shi Orange Ya for each giving me a Sachet, thank you everyone mua mua=3=

? Many thanks to Lulu for four Peace Talismans, Special Mission Cat Cat for two Peace Talismans, Fengzi's White Eyes Has Four, Feng Yichi, and cucueku for one Peace Talisman each, everyone stay safe and sound together:)