Chapter 88

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Protagonist:

Song Miao

Song Miao thought for a moment, and instead of asking directly, she praised: "Er Niangzi's embroidery is truly exquisite!"

That Cheng Erniang hurriedly said: "I merely patched a few stitches here and there; before, I wanted to take some work from the shop, but when the shopkeeper saw my trial work, he wouldn't accept it—how could it be called good?"

Song Miao then pointed to that branch of bamboo and said: "Embroidered so beautifully, isn't that enough?"

Cheng Erniang came over to look, shaking her head repeatedly, and said: "This wasn't embroidered by me; the clothes were like this when washed, originally brought with them by the owner."

As she spoke, she turned over another piece of clothing drying at the side to show Song Miao the mended spots, saying: "This is my mending embroidery, truly not fit for the table."

Song Miao leaned in to look; indeed, it could only be called fine and dense stitches, with some needles not even walking evenly—fine for mending work, but absolutely incapable of embroidering that bamboo branch.

She then pointed back to that original bamboo branch and praised: "Truly beautiful; I want to find someone to do some embroidery work, and seeing this skill is outstanding, I don't know what price they charge—can I ask the owner of the clothes?"

"I fear it's Xu Da from the Jiangnan Xiangfang."

Cheng Erniang said as she glanced at the sleeve cuff of the clothes, smiling: "Guessed right on the first try; I've washed his clothes twice, and the cuffs have characters embroidered on them."

Song Miao responded by looking at the cuff; indeed, there was embroidered there a small "Xu" character.

Though only a single simple character, it looked newly embroidered—not simply horizontal and vertical, but flying needles and walking threads, already formed into a body, making this already rotten-torn-for-unknown-how-long clothes seem all the more pitiful.

"I don't know if this Xu Da is around these days?"

"I've only seen him twice when I came, and these past few days haven't seen him at all." Cheng Erniang volunteered: "Next time I run into him, I'll ask a word for you, young lady."

Song Miao smiled and thanked her, then took down the bamboo basket from behind her back, saying: "Coming over isn't for any matter; I just saw some fresh fruit on the road with a suitable price, and accidentally bought too much."

"I can't eat this much, thinking you live nearby, I brought it over to split between the two of us."

She took out a small rope bag of pears from that bamboo basket, not giving it to Cheng Erniang, but handing it to Xiao Lian.

The child saw fruit—who isn't greedy for it?

Especially Xiao Lian, who on the road even had to pick up scattered wheat fed to horses by others to eat; not having tasted fruit flavor for who knows how long, she wanted to take it but dared not, only timidly looking at her mother.

Cheng Erniang hurriedly reached out to stop her, saying: "Not allowed, not allowed! We have no gift to return—how can we accept the young lady's fruit!"

Song Miao said: "I am the one returning a gift; just a few pears, coarse flesh and sour, not worth money—the valuable ones I can't afford either; this is to thank Xiao Lian for giving me that stone last time."

As she spoke, she half-squatted on the ground, put that rope bag of pears on the ground, and again sent the rope end into Xiao Lian's hand, smiling: "Thank you; that stone is rounder than others, and also good-looking; I've been keeping it, and in a few days when I get fish, I'll put them together."

Xiao Lian shook her head without stopping, clutching the rope, but first swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then turned to look at Cheng Erniang.

Cheng Erniang saw her daughter like this, and glanced at Song Miao again, truly unable to speak words of refusal, so she said: "I have some lotus seeds brought from home..."

Song Miao smiled: "Truly no need to return a gift—I got a pack of dried lotus seeds just yesterday, and one person can't eat that many."

She added: "I won't disturb Er Niangzi any longer; if there's anything, I'll come find you for help."

She said no more, shouldered the basket and left Guangji Temple, first bought the ingredients she needed, went home to tidy up, calculated the time, took along the remaining three or two catties of pork jerky and that half piece of cloth, went straight out the door, and headed for the Capital Prefecture Office.

At the Capital Prefecture Office, within the Military Patrol Academy, the atmosphere was somewhat low.

Qin Jie summoned the Censors and several key Chai Guan who had followed along on this missing women and children case, originally just wanting them to give routine reports.

After everyone took turns introducing their interrogation situations, Qin Jie then spoke out, making a boastful promise that if anyone encountered trouble, they should all bring it up, and he would help solve it.

Others merely said a few formalities, but that Xin Feng went one, two, three, four, crackling and popping, speaking for half a day without stopping.

The matters he raised were all thorny; most could not be solved in a day or two; a few were somewhat simpler, but required all departments to work together, and inevitably they would have to go find Prefect Zheng.

Qin Jie listened until he had two big heads.

When he heard the last matter, that Xin Feng actually accused several Judges from the Tribunal of Justice who came to help of not interrogating carefully enough, the confessions obtained felt not quite proper, and proposed a retrial; he was also extremely annoyed.

Because this Censor Xin was senior in rank and had some ability, Qin Jie had to soothe him: "This matter will be discussed later; for now let's finish interrogating the suspects, and if there's anything improper at that time, we'll look back at it."

But this remark, in Qin Jie's own view, was meant to soothe; yet in Xin Feng's ears, it meant letting the matter drop.

Xin Feng toiled day and night without rest, already irritable; upon receiving this reply, he felt he had been given the cold shoulder, how could he accept it? Staring with wide eyes, in front of all the Censors he shouted: "It was the Judge himself who asked us to speak; how is it that when I spoke, you don't want to listen?"

Qin Jie frowned: "You must speak with reason before people will listen—these suspects have already pressed their fingerprints and confessed their crimes; now based solely on your one word, saying it just feels wrong, you want a retrial—where is the proper procedure?"

"Where did I say just one word?"

Xin Feng angrily said: "I, your subordinate, have run cases outside for decades; let me say something unpleasant: when I catch criminals, those officials of the Tribunal of Justice don't know where they're suckling milk! What reason do you want? I, an old experienced Censor, feel it's wrong—isn't that reason?!"

He added: "Their confessions before and after don't match in several places—isn't that reason?"

Being contradicted like this by his subordinate, Qin Jie also couldn't save face, and displeasedly said: "Just a few minor details; if you say so, then the confessions you interrogated will also have inconsistencies..."

"How can they be the same? Which confessions are important, which are not—don't the officials know? Do they need your subordinate to teach them?!"

This remark was simply like slapping Qin Jie in the face.

If it were in the past, he might have soothed with a few words; but both had been working nonstop for many days, and Qin Jie was also restless and irritable, feeling fire rising from head to toe, and his temper flared up.

"Wipe your own ass clean first!" Having long mixed with the Censors and Chai Guan of the Left and Right Military Patrol Academy, Qin Jie was no longer as before; he couldn't help but curse: "Have you finished interrogating your criminals?! Are they all done?! Your own business isn't finished, what business is it of yours to manage others?! All disperse, go do what you should do!"

Xin Feng heard this, his face sank, he suddenly stood up, kicked the chair behind him, and slammed the door as he left.

For a moment, everyone in the room dared not speak.

Seeing Xin Feng act this way and hearing the slamming door, veins burst on Qin Jie's hand; after serving as an official for several terms and cultivating some city depth, he did nothing, asked the people present a few questions, and then let everyone disperse.

As for Xin Feng, after going out, he had no mind to go to the interrogation room again; only stewing with a belly full of fire, he returned to his own room.

After a while, the roommates came back one after another, and inevitably they all came to advise him.

The more they advised Xin Feng, the more worked up he got; he only shouted: "You go interrogate the suspects yourselves; as for me, I've always been a troublemaker and I'm not afraid of the higher-ups giving me a hard time!"

The others had no choice and had to leave.

After the others had left for a while, Xin Feng was sitting there when he suddenly heard the sound of the door being pushed; he looked up and saw Han Li and Kong Fuyang coming together.

He coldly laughed: "What, you've also come to advise me?"

Kong Fuyang said: "Censor, why be so angry? I am also a straightforward person; from the bottom of my heart I feel the problems you raised are none at all—you are entirely wholeheartedly for the public good and want to get things done; only that Judge Qin is ultimately your superior, and it's really not good to do so in front of so many people..."

These words were like poking a hornet's nest.

Xin Feng snorted coldly: "Are you here to learn how to try cases from me, or from him Qin Jie? Whose side are you on? So these past two days, I've been teaching you for nothing?!"

Kong Fuyang stared with wide eyes and an open mouth, wanting to defend himself, but before he could open his mouth, he heard Xin Feng coldly say again: "I know, you great talents of the future want to hold a Cool Umbrella, so you must think I'm just a boor who understands nothing at all, right?"

"I..."

"I know what you want to say—you want to teach me how to conduct yourself in the world? You look at me, Xin Ye, have I been eating dry rice all these years?! Wanting a snot-nosed brat like you to teach me?!"

Seeing Xin Feng was in a rage, firing off sentence after sentence, practically like he'd swallowed firecrackers, Kong Fuyang had a belly full of arguments; given a chance to speak, he was confident he wouldn't lose to Zhang Yi by half, but who would have thought he could be so thoroughly blocked that he couldn't open his mouth.

Seeing this, Han Li gave Kong Fuyang a wink.

The latter hesitated for a moment, but still withdrew.

After Kong Fuyang left, Han Li said nothing and offered no advice; instead, he walked straight to the seat opposite Xin Feng, took up paper and brush, dipped them in the ready ink, and began writing.

He said nothing, so Xin Feng cursed under his breath by himself for a few sentences; seeing no one paid him any mind, finding it boring, he finally closed his mouth.

Xin Feng had been holding in a breath of anger, waiting for the person opposite to come and advise him, so he could immediately retort, but the other side acted this way—he couldn't curse, and he couldn't talk back.

Sitting idly for a long while, Xin Feng felt very stifled; seeing Han Li still not speaking, his butt felt like it was getting sharper and sharper on the chair, he could no longer stay seated, so he half-rose, leaned in to look, and asked: "Zheng Yan, you're not going back to do your own business, what are you writing here?"

At this moment Han Li had just finished writing the last sentence, first signed his name, then blew on the ink on several sheets of paper, stood up, walked to Xin Feng's side, placed the paper on the desk before him, pointed to the lower-left corner, and said: "Here—the Censor presses his seal."

"What is this?"

Xin Feng first went to find the ink pad, then honestly pressed his fingerprints one by one beside Han Li's name; after finishing, he seemed to realize something was wrong and asked.

Han Li turned the several sheets of paper over and pointed to the title: "Aren't you the one who wants to retry those suspects captured outside the Song Family Eatery? Zhang, Xu, Deng, Zeng—are these the four? I'll draft a memorandum with you, first retrieve the case files from their previous interrogation; when I have some free time later, I'll take a look too."

Xin Feng was stunned and said: "You have so many pressing matters, how can you find time to deal with this!"

"Others just treat it as handling a routine task, perhaps not very dedicated, merely following procedure, but the Censor is different—this is a case you personally dug up, so you must be familiar with it; though I only follow along in handling it, I also understand quite a bit. I looked at the confessions this morning, and indeed there's something not right."

Han Li said: "Official Qin looks at things only from the big picture and doesn't care about small details; our positions differ, so we can't say he's right or wrong, but we also won't waste words on him. Since you say there's a problem here, there must be a problem."

"I've already made time to come out; at noon I'll discuss it with the Censor, and in the afternoon I'll draft a document to apply for a retrial according to procedure."

In just a few sentences, cutting the tangled hemp with a sharp knife, the afternoon's affairs were already arranged.

This time it was Xin Feng's turn to stare with wide eyes and an open mouth.

He said: "According to procedure—how exactly do we go by procedure? The confessions have already been signed and sealed; wanting a retrial is truly troublesome! Who knows how many reply documents will have to be written afterward, and how many officials will have to be found to approve them..."

"It doesn't require you to write them." Han Li's one sentence shut him right back down.

Xin Feng had originally been full of anger, but now that anger had turned into helplessness.

"You really want a retrial?"

He couldn't help but say: "Those several judicial examiners were specially borrowed by Prefect Zheng from the Trial and Punishment Department; if we turn around and retry all the people they judged well, how will the Trial and Punishment Department think? How will they let people help us in the future?"

—Indeed, this Xin Feng had not been joking just now; he understood the principles here better than anyone.

"That's something Official Qin and Official Guan should worry about." Han Li didn't care at all, merely giving a cold smile: "How much salary do they get, and how much do we get? If they can't even handle this small matter, what are they here for? What kind of officials are they?"

Xin Feng was stunned for a moment.

These words sounded very familiar to him.

—"If you can't even handle this small matter, what are you here for?"

—"You can't even do this little thing right, what kind of post are you holding?!"

When he had previously been scolded by superiors pointing at his nose, he had only felt stifled in his heart; now hearing Han Li throw these words back at the higher-ups, he felt every pore on his body from head to toe was completely convinced.

No wonder superiors all liked to scold people with these words!

Indeed satisfying!

Xin Feng couldn't help but rub his hands together, but after feeling satisfied for only a short while, he worriedly asked again: "What if Official Qin presses down and refuses to approve?"

"If a real problem is found, we follow the memorandum format in the regulations—who dares not to sign? Such a major case; if something goes wrong, will he take responsibility himself?"

After saying this, Han Li's tone softened a bit, and he smiled: "The Censor is a man of action and can't be bothered with these twists and turns; this is something superiors should help resolve—but anyone with eyes here should support such a capable person. How is it that one or two of them are all like idiots? Do they even know how to be officials?!"

These few sentences scolded Qin Jie, scolded the officials from before who didn't recognize talent, and repeatedly praised Xin Feng, praising him so much he almost wanted to grow a tail to wag at Han Li in front of him; his eyes were truly hot, and he almost couldn't help but shed tears.

Having worked at the Capital Prefecture Office for so many years, he didn't know how many cases he had handled, but apart from accumulating seniority, when it came to promotion, his name was never attached; once scolded, once encountering dirty or hard work, his name was always attached.

How could Xin Feng not know that it was his own personality and mouth that had ruined things?

But he truly couldn't bend this waist.

Blinking his eyes hard several times, Xin Feng then turned back and said: "You go busy yourself with your own affairs; don't delay here. I'll deliver this memorandum, and once I find the problems inside, I'll come shout for you!"

Han Li secretly sighed.

A person's energy is limited.

The more one spends time scheming for position, the less one naturally works when it's time to work.

Who should do what is something officials should be able to distinguish.

If someone who knew how to use people were here, would it really have come to pushing someone to such an extent?

Thinking this, he took those few pages of documents and said: "You just wait; I'll go and come back right away."

Just as he was speaking, a knocking sound came from outside—someone asked softly through the door: "Is Young Master Han inside? I am a guard on duty at the Hou Ya today; Young Lady Song Xiaoniangzi is at the door, and I've come in to pass a message."