Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 83 Who is kneeling in the hall

Old Man Fan and Aunt Deng were beaten up at the entrance of the "Shuiyunjian" restaurant by a group of vicious officials, and more than half of them ran away on the spot.

Those constables are the ones who know how to beat people the best. They can beat you so hard that you feel excruciating pain and your face is covered in blood, but none of them will be seriously injured.

In the end, only five or six people escaped to Jijia Bridge, and then they stopped in panic.

"Is there still law? Ah? Is there still law?" Aunt Deng shouted to the sky in grief and indignation.

Fan Dong, who ran the fastest and received the least beatings, became energetic again and shouted angrily, "Mom, let's go to Lin'an Prefecture to file a complaint!

"I just don't believe that they can be so rampant under the emperor's feet!"

Uncle Fan immediately showed off his common sense again: "You can't appeal to a higher level. Even if we go there, Lin'an Prefecture won't accept it.

"This place is under the jurisdiction of Qiantang County. If we want to sue, we have to go to the Qiantang County Office to file a complaint and appeal for justice."

A relative nearby wiped the blood from his nose, and his face was immediately painted into a clown face.

He said dejectedly: "Second Uncle, why don't we just forget it? As the saying goes, a strong dragon won't fight a local snake..."

Uncle Fan said sinisterly, "If she is unkind, don't blame us for being unjust.

"Sister, if you ask me, we shouldn't expect to get any benefits from her.

"Since she is so heartless and ruthless, let's go to Qiantang County and sue her for marrying two men, and make her lose everything!"

Father Fan said worriedly: "Can the lawsuit be successful? Her lover is an official, will he be an official..."

Aunt Deng sneered, "Haven't we already inquired about it? Her lover isn't an official official.

"How can he have any face in front of the county magistrate?
"Besides, even if they want to protect each other, won't the little bitch have to pay to bribe them?"

Fan Dong shouted angrily, "That's right! Even if we don't get any good results, we can't let her have an easy life. We have to make her bleed!"

Several relatives nearby looked at each other in bewilderment.

If we sue her and nothing comes of it, then what are we going to do?

Several relatives immediately backed out, made a few excuses to them and left in dejection.

Soon, only Father Fan, Aunt Deng, Second Uncle Fan, Fan Dong and Uncle Deng were left at the bridge.

"If they don't want to go, then forget it. Let's go!"

Aunt Deng cursed the relatives who had left in fear and led these loyal followers straight to the Qiantang County Government Office.

In Qiantang County, General Liu was sitting side by side with Qiantang County Lieutenant Chen Yibao at the head of the table, chatting and drinking tea across a small table.

County Magistrate Chen was in charge of the judicial and public security of Qiantang County, so General Liu naturally came directly to greet him.

Such a small matter is not worth going beyond the county lieutenant to report to the magistrate.

Both of them were officials in Lin'an, and were corresponding officials in the upper and lower government offices, so they had a very close relationship.

As soon as General Liu asked him to look after the "Shui Yun Jian" restaurant, Chen Yi Bo immediately thought of the drowning incident of the owner Fang of the "Shui Yun Jian" restaurant two months ago.

He was in charge of the investigation and trial of that case, and it was finally determined that the death was accidental due to drowning due to drunkenness and had nothing to do with anyone else.

At that time, he also met Dan Niang, who had become a young widow just after getting married. He still had some impression of her and remembered that she was very charming and indeed had great charm.

The judicial officer of the prefectural government came to him specially and asked him to take care of the young lady from the restaurant "Shuiyunjian"...

Here...

County Lieutenant Chen smiled slightly, as if he had discovered a little secret of General Liu.

However, it is a romantic and elegant thing, so there is no need to reveal it.

County Magistrate Chen agreed with a smile.

The two were chatting and laughing when Old Man Fan and his family arrived at the county government office.

In fact, even if it is the county magistrate's office, you cannot file a complaint there whenever you want.

Do you think that the county government only deals with trials and judgments all day long?

The government office had to deal with a lot of civil, agricultural, and commercial matters, which were very complicated.

Unless your case is a serious criminal case, such as a brawl in the street or a dead body found somewhere, you can go to the county government to file a complaint at any time.

For other civil disputes, you have to wait until the government announces the date for filing a lawsuit.

A county government only "opens the door to complaints" for about thirty to fifty days each year, and does not accept complaints at other times.

Many civil disputes cannot be delayed and are pushed to clan leaders and gentry for arbitration.

However, Qiantang County is under the emperor's feet, and no one who serves here wants to see a big mess. Therefore, there is an unwritten rule in the Qiantang County government:

If there are many people filing complaints, we will accept them at any time and clarify the situation in a timely manner to prevent the situation from escalating.

In fact, people do not need to beat the drum to complain, but they must have a complaint.

Opposite the county government office there are some poor scholars who specialize in writing petitions for others.

Aunt Deng paid a dozen coins and asked someone to write a petition for her. Without waiting for the ink to dry, she went to the yamen in a rage.

A gray-robed clerk saw that the group included both men and women, old and young, all with bruised faces and ragged clothes, so he reported them in.

County Magistrate Chen was trying to get close to Army Officer Liu, and when he heard what the clerk said, he became a little displeased.

But the person had already been brought in, so we couldn’t just ignore him, so we asked someone to bring the person who made the complaint here.

He planned to deal with it casually and send the person away first.

It was almost time for dinner, so he had to invite the county magistrate, the county magistrate, and the chief clerk to have a drink with General Liu.

After a while, Old Man Fan, Aunt Deng and their group were brought in.

When they arrived at such a place, they became much more well-behaved, not daring to raise their heads or even breathe.

The yamen runners on both sides stood solemnly with sticks in their hands, which made them tremble with fear, and they knelt down in a hurry.

In the Song Dynasty, there was no need to kneel when meeting an official, but they didn't understand this and were very nervous, fearing that something might go wrong.

County Lieutenant Chen cleared his throat, sat up straight, held the table with one hand, and was about to inquire about the case.

General Liu suddenly reached out and patted his arm.

Military Officer Liu suddenly reached out and patted his arm gently. County Captain Chen looked at Military Officer Liu in surprise.

General Liu smiled at him, shook his head, stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked forward slowly.

When Father Fan and Aunt Deng saw a pair of official boots coming towards them, they quickly lowered their heads.

Then I heard a clear and cool voice coming from above my head: "Who is kneeling in the hall, and why are you suing me?"

……

A boat was sailing slowly, with Old Man Fan and Aunt Deng lying at the bow, and Second Uncle Fan and Fan Dong lying at the stern.

Uncle Fan was curled up in the cabin.

The small boat was filled with these five people.

The boatman had to stand at the stern to row the boat, with his two big feet stepping between Uncle Fan Er and Fan Dong.

The two of them could only turn their heads away from the boat in disgust, or else they would have to kiss the boatman's stinky, muddy feet.

When Lieutenant Liu told County Captain Chen that these country roughnecks had come to Lin'an City to extort money from the daughter who had been sold, and that the daughter who had been sold was the manager of the "Shuiyunjian" restaurant, County Captain Chen knew what he should do.

County Magistrate Chen gave Mr. Fan and his family a profound legal education.

Extortion, twenty lashes of the cane.

Disrupting other people’s business will result in twenty lashes of the board.

Falsely accusing an official will result in twenty lashes of the cane.

what?
Danniang marries one daughter and two?
Does it have anything to do with you?

Are you the victim?

No?

Come on, come on, you should also learn more about the crime of provoking disturbances, which is punishable by twenty lashes of the cane.

So, they became what they are now.

Even Aunt Deng, who had always been the most arrogant, was silent now.

I won’t sue anymore. I will never sue again. I will just pretend that I never gave birth to this conscienceless daughter!
A sampan came leisurely from the opposite side.

Yang Yuan stood at the bow of the boat, holding a kitten in his arms.

It is true that those who cannot do it will find it difficult, but those who can do it will not find it difficult.

I don’t know what kind of potion Master Xiao Jiu used but he put a little bit of it in the kitten’s ear, and a black mole appeared.

The two ships passed each other without either of them noticing the other.

(End of this chapter)