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Chapter 49
Originally, the Imperial Examination Hall and the county government were not far apart, and Zheng Ruqian's voice was loud. Even with the drumming of injustice, it could still reach the ears of the common people.
Immediately, those who had not gone far and were watching the fun, as well as those who cared about the fairness of the imperial examinations, all gathered around.
The drumming did not stop, and the whispers did not cease either.
In the backyard of the county government, the magistrate of Xieyang County pinched the bridge of his nose.
Previously, his nephew Gao Hu would have handled such matters, and he would not have had to do anything to resolve all troubles.
Now Gao Hu was locked up, so he could only take care of it himself.
The magistrate's wife was even more furious. She slapped the table and said, "How dare they! How dare they come to drum and proclaim injustice. My tiger has been persecuted to such an extent by them. How dare they!"
The magistrate of Xieyang County had a gloomy expression.
He knew why these beggars were drumming and proclaiming injustice - it was to force him to deal with the perpetrators in the Imperial Examination Hall, and also to blow up the matter to the point where it could not be contained.
And they did indeed succeed.
The magistrate of Xieyang County stood up and looked at the prison warden who was hurrying over.
The so-called prison warden was a position established by the founding emperor of the Dayu Dynasty to specifically oversee the Imperial Examination Hall.
The rank was not high, but he only received orders from the emperor and was not under the jurisdiction of any local officials.
Xieyang County's prison warden was a scholar in his thirties with a pale, beardless face and short stature. He looked at the magistrate with some dissatisfaction and said, "Sir, you should provide an explanation for this matter."
The magistrate of Xieyang County forced a smile. "Of course."
Soon after, he appeared in the grand hall.
Above his head hung the "Mirror of Clarity", before him sat the bench of justice, and kneeling below was a teenager - none other than Xu Mo.
With a bang from the bench, the call came: "Who is in the hall, and what injustice do you proclaim? Speak now!"
"In response, Your Honor," Xu Mo stood up, "I am here to accuse the Imperial Examination Hall of lax supervision and allowing the beating and harming of students."
The entire hall fell silent.
The magistrate's heart lurched.
What? This is not right. He should be accusing... accusing me, right?
But on second thought, who would accuse their own county magistrate, the parent official of their county? That would be cursing at one's own dog.
So after discussing with his younger siblings, Xu Mo chose to directly accuse the Imperial Examination Hall.
The wrongly implicated prison warden of the Examination Hall: "..."
"Your Honor, I was beaten and had my exam scroll destroyed, which was witnessed by the proctor and two yamen runners. The perpetrator has also been arrested. I implore Your Honor to investigate this matter fully and restore a sense of security to the people of Xieyang County," Xu Mo said.
After finishing, he solemnly bowed down without kowtowing.
At the entrance of the grand hall, Zheng Ruqian quickly echoed, "Please, Your Honor, restore a sense of security to the people of Xieyang!"
"Please restore a sense of security to the people of Xieyang!"
"Please restore a sense of security to the people of Xieyang!"
When everyone willingly shouted the slogan, the hearts of the people were united.
The magistrate's hand shook, and he slammed down the bench of justice. He had no choice but to shout, "Summon the proctor and the yamen runners involved!"
Kneeling below, the corners of Xu Mo's mouth ticked up slightly.
He knew he had succeeded.
The magistrate's methods were vicious, and each time he struck, he could ruin someone's future.
But he should not, absolutely should not, have implicated the Imperial Examination Hall.
The prison warden was an independent official not under any local magistrate's jurisdiction, so naturally he would not take the fall.
Struggling against each other, if the magistrate wanted to slip away, he could only sever his own arm.
At the end of the trial, the magistrate of Xieyang decreed, "The perpetrator shall receive 50 heavy strokes of the rod and be imprisoned in the dungeons for 5 years without going outside."
That should have been the end of it.
But Xu Mo was crafty. He kowtowed silently again and said, "In response to Your Honor, I still have one matter I do not understand."
The magistrate's hand shook as he was about to throw down the verdict. A bad premonition arose in his heart.
In the next moment, Xu Mo spoke again, "Your Honor, the perpetrator had no grudge against me. Why did he attack me? I implore Your Honor to investigate this clearly."
In all of Xieyang County, the only one who held a grudge against Xu Mo was the magistrate's family.
But how could the magistrate expose himself?
So the only one he could expose was the one who had clashed with Xu Mo's siblings multiple times and was now locked up in Yunshui County for the next seven years - Gao Hu.
Thanks to the cumulative penalties of the Dayu Dynasty's laws.
The yamen runner waiting in Yunshui County for his sister and brother-in-law to come rescue him was awarded 50 heavy strokes of the rod and an additional 3 years in prison.
It is said that when the magistrate's wife heard the news, she fainted on the spot.
On the donkey cart,
Fang Heng somewhat disapproved, "By recklessly drumming today, we're already provoking the magistrate. And now forcing him to increase the punishment on Gao Hu, he will surely resent us to the bone."
Fang Heng was afraid he wouldn't be able to protect everyone if the magistrate disregarded his reputation and struck them down in secret. "Brother Three, that's where you've got it wrong," Zheng Ruqian shook his head. "Even without this, would the magistrate have spared us?"
Fang Heng fell silent.
From the moment they brought Gao Hu to justice, they were destined to be resented by the magistrate couple.
So why make an enemy of Gao Hu?
Because they did not respectfully hand over the tiger whip and tiger skin, and the 50 taels of silver.
How absurd. They had done nothing wrong, yet had become a thorn in the side of the county's magistrate.
"I do not regret forcing his hand today," Xu Mo murmured. "At least in the future, he would not dare cause trouble in the Examination Hall, and I can fairly walk the path of the examinations."
But it could also be expected that the magistrate couple would surely scheme in new ways.
Chang Yan was adept at reverse thinking, yet after much thought could not come up with anywhere the magistrate could sabotage them without leaving a trace.
Zheng Ruqian's business was located at You Ran House, which was the Jiang Family's property, so the magistrate could not interfere there.
The Examination Hall had become off limits, so he could no longer sabotage the examinations.
As for the others, whether it was Fang Heng, Wen Zhiyun, Chang Yan or Jiang Sheng, they were all beyond reproach.
They rarely even went out, having holed up to hibernate through the winter.
It wasn't until the siblings returned to the dilapidated temple and saw several yamen runners standing at the gate.
Xu Mo's eyes went wide.
Chang Yan's brows furrowed tightly.
"Who are you?" Fang Heng hurried over after parking the donkey cart. "What, we've just left the grand hall and you've already come to silence us?"
The dilapidated temple was located at the village entrance, with commoners coming and going.
At Fang Heng's words, the yamen runners were all shocked. "You can't say things like that. The magistrate treats the people like his children, he would never do such a thing."
"We are here today on the magistrate's orders to clean up and repair all the temples in Xieyang County's jurisdiction. It has nothing to do with you all."
After saying this clearly and sonorously, he did not wait for the siblings to react before kicking open the door of the dilapidated temple. With a wave of his long spear, everything inside was smashed and thrown out.