I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 204: The Xu-Ji Imperial Examinations Produced a Great Number of Talented Individuals

Inside the yamen, the county magistrate sat at the head of the hall, with the imperial censor to his left sitting upright, exuding an air of authority without anger. The old eunuch in charge of the Mirror Bureau held a teacup in one hand and used his delicate fingers to lift the lid of the teacup with the other, blowing away the foam inside.

This year's jury is quite different from previous years. If other prefectural or county officials were to encounter this situation, they would be terrified, or at least sweat more than usual.

But Chen Guangrui was different. He was the third-ranked scholar in the previous imperial examination and served as an editor in the Hanlin Academy for two years before being transferred to Linjiang by the imperial court.

When he was an editor, Chen Guangrui was not afraid of trouble. As the saying goes, "A straight body casts a straight shadow." At this moment, let alone a senior eunuch and an inspector, even if the emperor were to listen in, he wouldn't break a sweat!
Otherwise, the merchant's daughter wouldn't have taken a liking to him, much less insisted on marrying him.

Compared to Magistrate Chen Guangrui, the county clerk on the right was clearly somewhat timid, each of them busy wiping away sweat, afraid that something might go wrong in court today.

For them, whether or not a case is heard is not important; what matters most is not seeking merit, but avoiding mistakes.

Chen Feng, the shopkeeper, was still pressing Jin's wife for an answer. The kind-hearted peasant woman never lost her temper. Instead, she blamed herself for taking in the child but not thinking to look for her upstream. She thought that if she had found the person searching for her child, she might not have been so anxious and upset.

Chen Feng was a muddle-headed fellow. Even though he now felt that his wife's tragic death was not Jin's fault, he still wouldn't let it go.

Not for anything else, just for face.

When the court session was in session, he scolded that woman, Jin, so harshly. With so many people watching outside, if he suddenly softened his tone, how embarrassing would that be!

When Chen Guangrui held court last time, he didn't question Chen Feng, and he didn't question him this time either.

"Mrs. Yin, I am asking you a question. You must answer truthfully."

"Let me ask you, this child is not even a year old yet. Since you are the child's biological mother, why weren't you by his side to take care of him at all times? Instead, you only rushed to look for him after he was lost?"

Holding her child, Chen's concubine, on the verge of tears, said, "The day the child went missing, the head maid found me early in the morning and asked me to deliver two bolts of silk to the cloth shop, saying that a customer urgently needed them. I originally intended to have a servant deliver them, but the head maid said that the customer had a cleanliness problem, and those servants were not clean; if the cloth were soiled, the customer might be displeased. She insisted that I go myself. Helpless, I had no choice but to entrust the child to the foster mother's care."

Chen Feng and the others below were puzzled. Why was the county magistrate asking about these things instead of how the first wife died and investigating the cause of death?
Chen Guangrui summoned the foster mother to the court and then asked, "Madam Yin entrusted you with the care of the child. How could you allow the child to be lost? Tell the truth!"

The foster mother said tremblingly, "What do you mean by that? No sooner had the young lady left than the eldest lady found me and asked me to go to the Baosheng Niangniang Temple on Ziyun Mountain to snatch a stick of incense to pray for a child on behalf of the eldest lady."

“Because I have to take care of the young master, it is inconvenient for me to go. I thought I would go the next day, or have someone else go in place of the eldest lady. But the eldest lady refused, saying that this is a woman’s private matter. She also said that I have given birth to children and can bring her good fortune. I must go.”

Xu Qing raised an eyebrow.

It was bad enough that Madam Chen drowned her own child and killed the infant, but she even considered him a part of her scheme. Fortunately, Madam Chen died in time, otherwise, when Manager Chen returned, he might have twisted the truth and framed many innocent people.

At the head of the courtroom, Chen Guangrui, having asked this question, suddenly shouted, "Guards, bring the culprit Yuan Hu into the courtroom!"

Yuan Hu, disheveled and dressed in prison clothes, was struck by two constables who placed their fire-and-water sticks against his knees, but he did not budge.

The two constables gritted their teeth and strained with all their might, their faces turning a deep purplish-red, but they still couldn't budge it an inch.

Liao Jinzhong, the eunuch who was drinking tea and watching the commotion at the head of the table, glanced sideways down and flicked the tea lid lightly with his orchid-like finger.

It was as if it were a small snack that it flicked the knob on the teapot lid off.

Below the court, the two constables were still arguing when suddenly they felt the sticks loosen. The criminal, who had been stubborn and defiant, suddenly knelt on the ground.

There were many yamen runners in the hall, including Wu Tingwei and the county magistrate, both of whom were martial arts practitioners. Zhao Zhonghe, the head constable of the yamen, was also a martial arts master who had reached the meridians. However, no one in the hall understood what was going on.

Xu Qing, with his sharp eyes, was the only one who saw it clearly: Eunuch Liao's movements were incredibly fast.

Of all the living people Xu Qing had ever seen before, this old eunuch had the highest level of martial arts cultivation.

An expert will know if there is one as soon as he takes action.

Lou Xiaowu has one foot in the Grandmaster realm, which is quite impressive, but the opponent's attack speed is far inferior to that of the old eunuch in front of him.

Liao Jinzhong's casual flick of his finger had already returned to simplicity. Anyone below the level of a grandmaster would have to treat it as if he had just flicked it casually.

Yuan Hu groaned and knelt on the ground, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

Zhao Zhonghe and the others only realized this belatedly upon closer inspection, and discovered that Yuan Hu's knee was covered in a wet, red patch, as if it had been pierced by some hidden weapon.

"We dislike people who lack manners the most," Liao Jinzhong said with a sinister smile. "We're in a good mood today, so we'll teach you a lesson this time. But if there's a next time..."

With a cold snort, the unruly Yuan Hu was so intimidated that he dared not move.

Taking advantage of the situation, Chen Guangrui slammed his gavel and shouted, "Yuan Hu! I ask you, why did you kill innocent women when you were in Qushui Township!"

In the course of history, when officials tried cases, in addition to the conventional five-hearing trial method, they would also use some underhanded tricks, such as deception, enticement, and fraud.

These clever tricks cannot be used indiscriminately; knowing how to control their degree is also a skill, otherwise it is very easy to cause wrongful convictions.

Chen Guangrui had no direct evidence that Yuan Hu was the murderer of Chen's eldest daughter-in-law. His questioning of Yuan Hu based on his conjecture was a form of extortion.

Having been emboldened by Liao Jinzhong, Yuan Hugang dared not conceal anything when questioned by Chen Guangrui, and thus spoke frankly:
“I have committed many murders and know that I cannot escape death. If I tell the truth, I hope that you will give me a quick death. I will accept being beheaded. I only ask that you do not torture me. Only then will I speak.”

Chen Guangrui said ambiguously, "If you confess truthfully, I will not do anything that violates the law. But if you conceal anything, I will not tolerate it!"

Yuan Hu glanced at the smiling Liao Jinzhong with considerable apprehension, and said in a deep voice, "I killed that Chen family woman with a wooden stick. It was because she returned home and happened to run into me in the house. This was her fate, not my intention."

Chen Feng, who had been almost ignored by everyone, spoke up again: "You killed the person, so did you steal my child and give him to the Jin family?"

Yuan Hu frowned and said, "What child? What Jin Shi? I don't recognize her!"

Chen Guangrui was very relieved that no children's cries disturbed the courtroom today, but the father was rather tactless.

"Silence!" Chen Guangrui's gaze fell on Chen's foster mother, and he asked, "You are Chen's foster mother, so you must know the Chen family very well. I ask you, what is the relationship between Chen's first wife and Madam Yin?"

The Chen family's maidservant truthfully said, "The eldest daughter-in-law and the master have been married for many years but have not had a son. Later, the master took Yin Xiaoniang as a concubine. The eldest daughter-in-law made a big fuss about it for a long time. If the master hadn't threatened to use the continuation of the clan's lineage as leverage, Yin Xiaoniang probably wouldn't have been able to even enter the door."

"When the master was at home, the eldest mistress treated Consort Yin like her own family, but when the master was not at home, the eldest mistress often made things difficult for her. After Consort Yin gave birth to a son, the eldest mistress naturally became even more dissatisfied."

Chen Guangrui said in a deep voice, "It is a serious crime for a servant to speak ill of the emperor. I ask you, did you see these things with your own eyes, or are you just making wild guesses?"

“I dare not lie. I saw with my own eyes that the eldest daughter-in-law was about to strangle the young master. Apart from the master, everyone else knows about this to some extent.”

Chen Guangrui ordered the other servants and relatives of the Chen family to come forward for questioning. Just as the foster mother had said, the eldest wife of the Chen family had no tolerance whatsoever. Upon hearing this, Chen Feng's face turned pale and then red, feeling utterly humiliated.

At the head of the table, Chen Guangrui's gaze swept over everyone as he said, "The case has now been solved. Out of jealousy and hatred, Madam Chen threw her concubine's newborn child into the Qu River. Fortunately, the child was not destined to die; he was seen by Jin, who was washing clothes by the river, and she rescued him and took him home to raise him."

In the courtroom, the imperial censor stroked his beard and nodded, but just as the case was about to be concluded, Jin, who was kneeling in the hall, suddenly spoke up: "Your Honor, that child was not saved by this humble woman, but by the divine intervention of the Goddess, who used her jade scepter to drag the child to the shore."

This woman really doesn't know her place. Who doesn't know that he funded the construction of the Baosheng Temple? Regardless of whether the Goddess Baosheng has actually performed miracles, saying it in public, even if people don't believe it or not, might make them think he's just making a fuss to gain fame, which is never a good thing.

Chen Guangrui frowned slightly and interrupted, saying, "I am only here to find out the truth of this case. Whether or not you saved the child is irrelevant to this case."

After speaking, Chen Guangrui ordered the constables to take Yuan Hu back to the prison. Once everyone had left the courtroom, the case would be considered closed.

However, at that very moment, the sound of a court drum suddenly rang out from outside the yamen.

Chen Guangrui had barely lifted half a hand's breadth off the chair when he sat back down.

He really couldn't sit in this chair. Normally, he would have brought his own mahogany armchair, which was more comfortable.

Unfortunately, no matter how much you guard against it, it's hard to guard against a thief within your own ranks.

Such a nice chair, and that carefree brat Shang Shaoyang actually took it away.

"There are quite a few cases under the jurisdiction of Magistrate Chen," the censor suddenly remarked.

Upon hearing this, both Master Tang and the County Magistrate began to sweat again.

In the past, the yamen never had so many cases. I don't know what's going on today. The old case has just been closed, and the gong is being beaten again. Is that something that can be beaten casually?
Without a great injustice, who would dare to beat that drum?

Upon hearing the inspector's words, Chen Guangrui knew that the inspector was deliberately implying that he was incompetent in governing, otherwise, how could there have been a series of cases?
Xu Qing, who was mingling among the coroners and clerks, perked up. The real show was finally about to begin!

In the courtroom, the old case had just been closed when a new one arrived.

"Who is beating the drum? Bring them to the hall!"

The Wu brothers were dressed in ordinary cloth shirts, looking no different from ordinary people on the street.

Besides the two brothers, Madam Wu, Wu Zhiyuan's wife Zhang Wan, also came to the hall.

“Wu Zhiyuan (Wu Wencai), a scholar of the Xuji year, greets Your Excellency.”

The scholar's academic record sounded familiar. Chen Guangrui, a former third-ranked scholar, possessed a photographic memory. Upon hearing this, he thought for a moment and realized that Xu Qing, whom he had met a few days ago, was a scholar from the Xu-Ji academic year!

Why are all these people from the Xu-Ji generation so unusual?
If Chen Guangrui's memory serves him right, Tian Shegong, who caused quite a stir back then, passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty-nine, took the exam fourteen times, and finally passed the county-level examination at the age of seventy, was also a candidate of the Xu-Ji year.

However, Tian Shegong was granted the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the imperial examinations) through special permission from the then Crown Prince and with the guarantee of the Prefect.

To be honest, this title was bestowed upon us.

Chen Guangrui couldn't help but feel curious. One of the scholars from the Xu-Ji cohort did nothing but mess around with his family's funeral business all day long, while the other had failed the imperial examinations repeatedly and only managed to obtain the title of scholar in a time when it was extremely rare. So what was going on with these two scholars from the Xu-Ji cohort in front of him?

Being able to strike the alarm drum, regardless of the size of the matter, meant that Chen Guangrui had already placed the two of them on the same side as Xu Qing and Tian Shegong.

“Tell us your grievances in detail.”

"Your Honor, I am the second son-in-law of the Zhang family in Baisha County. The Zhang family has two daughters. However, because my sister-in-law Zhang Yao and her husband Yang Hong wanted to seize the family business, they plotted to frame my father and imprison him. Later, they instructed officials from Tianjin to collude with the river bandits Zhang Da and Yuan Hu to throw my brother and me into the river."

They threw it into the river again.

Not only Chen Guangrui looked surprised, but even the inspecting censor and Liao Jinzhong, who had been resting with his eyes closed, looked over.

We're saying that besides drowning, can't you come up with some other new tricks?
It's really no one's fault but Tianjin's well-developed water transport and famous commercial port make it easy to deal with murders. If it happened elsewhere, one would have to go to great lengths to cover up the evidence, but throwing the body into the water is much simpler.

The Baisha River in Linjiang and the Baishuibu River in Jinmen are both incredibly turbulent. If you tie the man up and throw him into the water, any trace of him should be gone.

Wu Zhiyuan recounted in detail how his brother-in-law Yang Hong bribed the Tianxin Sect thieves to frame Wu Yaoxing, as well as the events that followed in Tianjin, and how his wife Zhang Wan almost committed suicide.

The only thing not mentioned was what happened to the two brothers after they escaped the calamity.

After hearing the details of the case, the censor frowned and said, "Although there is a miscarriage of justice in this case, you all escaped unharmed and your lives were not lost. Why did you have to beat the court drum and cause such a commotion?"

Since the previous dynasty, the gong has become a mere decoration. Apart from being used for court sessions, no one dares to strike it at other times.

The reason was nothing more than that when the gong was first set up, many people would run to the yamen and beat the gong if they had a fight or lost something. Over time, the local authorities became annoyed by this and simply established a rule that you could only beat the gong if you had a serious injustice, otherwise you would be punished with a beating or forced labor.

After this regulation was introduced, the number of times the court drum was struck during the two reigns combined was very few.

People preferred to honestly submit their complaints rather than go through the trouble of testing the temperament of their superiors.

Fortunately, Wu Wencai was prepared. When the inspector began to question him, he said something surprising: "Your Excellency is unaware that the Zhang family is not an ordinary family, but the family of Zhang Yong, the magistrate of Baisha County. Yang Hong is not an ordinary person either, but the magistrate of Wanshou County."

When suing an official of the imperial court, what else can you do besides beat the drum?
Upon hearing this, both Master Tang and Magistrate He were stunned. They hadn't thought much of the case when they first heard about it, but now that they heard the defendant's identity, they couldn't even utter a sound of despair.

There's no need to worry about having too many lice; since things have already blown up, let them blow.

Anyway, they still have the county magistrate above them to protect them.

Upon hearing this, the imperial inspector's eyes lit up.

What is the purpose of inspection tours? Isn't it to investigate local political conditions, examine the conduct of officials, and impeach officials who violate laws and regulations?

Below the courtroom, Wu Wencai had just finished recounting his grievances when Wu Zhiyuan handed over a written petition, which was then placed on the table.

Chen Guangrui glanced at it and thought it was indeed a fine piece of calligraphy!
People say that one's handwriting reflects one's character. Now, seeing this handwriting and then looking at the appearance of the Wu brothers below, one can see the truth.

Neither humble nor arrogant, he was like a pine tree rising above the bushes, or white jade reflecting the dust and sand. His heroic spirit was truly outstanding!
If the two men hadn't both said they were scholars from the Xu-Ji year, he would have thought they were officials like himself.

(End of this chapter)