Transmigrated into a minor official in a county government, with children at home waiting for rice t

Zhang Sanlang paused, his voice becoming more stern, "If someone hadn't instructed you, would you have dared to submit this complaint? Tell me honestly, who told you to submit this complaint? If you tell them you were being used, Clerk Kong won't make things difficult for you."

"If you don't speak up, you'll be charged with false accusation and wrongful imprisonment. Your two daughters were sold, and if you go to jail, you'll never see them again."

Ma Dashou's body trembled violently, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead and dripping onto the brick floor. He opened his mouth, but trembled and could not utter a word.

Zhang Sanlang looked at him and softened his tone, "Uncle Ma, think about it. You filed a lawsuit to get your daughter back. Now that the lawsuit is filed, has your daughter been returned? No."

"They're lying to you. You're submitting their complaint on their behalf, while they're just watching the show from behind. Even if the allegations are proven true, you'll be punished with caning for further complaints. If the allegations aren't proven true, you'll go to jail. Either way, you're the one who'll suffer, not the one who instigated it."

Ma Dashou's voice was squeezed out from his throat, "Steward Chen asked me to submit the petition. He said that as long as I submitted it, he would give me fifteen strings of cash. I can't read, he wrote the petition, and I just put my fingerprint on it."

Ma Dashou burst into tears, "Sir, I have no choice. My two daughters were kidnapped and sold by Master Chen's men. When I went to ask for money, the gatekeeper wouldn't let me in."

"Steward Chen said that as long as I file a complaint against Zhang Qianxing, Master Chen would be happy and help me get my daughter back, or give me the money. I thought filing a complaint wouldn't cost me anything..."

His voice grew softer and softer until it turned into a sob. "I didn't know that reporting to the authorities would land me in jail. Butler Chen didn't say that."

Zhang Sanlang looked at him and asked, "Who did you sell your two daughters to?"

"The Sun family in the north of the city. When the old lady of the Sun family was celebrating her birthday, she wanted to buy two maids to serve her, so Master Chen sent his youngest daughter. He said he was buying her, but he didn't give her a single penny."

"The Sun family sent someone and said they had given me fifteen strings of cash. When I went to ask for the money back, Steward Chen said that the fifteen strings of cash were for taxes that I had paid on my behalf, and he simply withheld them."

Zhang Sanlang turned to Kong Youan and said, "Kong, the petition against Ma Dashou was written at the behest of Steward Chen. He is illiterate and knows nothing about the contents of the petition."

"Whether Chen Youde forced him to sell his daughter or it was voluntary, it has nothing to do with my demand for tax collection. This is the Chen family using their power to intimidate people and force the tenant to make a false accusation."

Kong Youan picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Ma Dashou, do you have any evidence for what you're saying?"

Ma Dashou raised his head, his face streaked with tears, a hint of despair in his cloudy old eyes. "Sir, I'm just a farmer, what evidence do I have? Steward Chen's words aren't written down."

Zhang Sanlang took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and placed it on the table. "Kong Yashi, this is a copy of the land tax register under Ma Dashou's name. In the past five years, the Household Department has never asked him to pay a single grain of rice."

He pulled out a few more sheets of paper. "These are the land tax affiliation records for seven tenant households in Chenjiazhuang. The taxes owed by these seven households are all recorded under Chen Youde's name, and have nothing to do with the tenant households themselves. This is the household registration archive."

Kong Youan picked up the papers, looked at them one by one, and placed them on the table.

Tao Cheng picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Kong Yashi, although Ma Dashou is the plaintiff, he is actually being used. He's just an old farmer whose two daughters were sold by Chen Youde without him receiving any money, and he's being forced to file this lawsuit."

Kong Youan did not reply, but tapped his fingers lightly twice on the table.

Zhang Sanlang looked at him. "Clerk Kong, there's another initial complaint, alleging that I'm demanding extortion. May I ask who filed the complaint? Do you have any evidence?"

Kong Youan's face darkened. "The person who first reported this cannot be named. But some people say that Zhang Qianxing returned from Chenjiazhuang with several bushels of flour and several taels of silver."

"The five bushels of wheat were a tax payment incentive approved by Clerk Tao; the county granary has records of it, and it was handled by Clerk Yan. As for the silver..."

Zhang Sanlang smirked. "Chen Youde did try to give me ten taels of silver that day, but I didn't accept it. Wu Dutou was there at the time, and he's in the county office now; he can be summoned to testify at any time."

"The person who filed the initial complaint didn't even see the silver with his own eyes, and he refuses to come forward as a witness, yet he dares to submit a complaint? Clerk Kong, this man is falsely accusing me with baseless accusations; what should his punishment be?"

Kong Youan was silent for a moment, then picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Zhang Qianxing is right. Since there is no evidence and no witnesses, the criminal investigation department will not file a case."

He set down his teacup. "Since Ma Dashou's complaint was filed under duress, I, the clerk, find him innocent and release him immediately. The Chen family steward instigated the false accusation; that will be handled separately by the criminal division. As for the initial accuser, I will investigate and find out who it was."

Zhang Sanlang stood up, cupped his hands in greeting to Kong You'an, and said, "Thank you, Clerk Kong."

Tao Cheng also stood up, pursed his lips at Kong Youan, and turned to walk out.

Zhang Sanlang followed behind him. When they reached the door, Kong Youan's voice came from behind, "Zhang Qianxing, since those few bushels of white powder are a prize for urging the collection of taxes, make a copy of the records and send it to the torture chamber for filing."

Zhang Sanlang stopped in his tracks without turning around. "I'll have someone deliver it this afternoon."

He pushed open the door and went out.

The wind blowing through the corridor slammed the door of the signing room shut with a bang.

Not long after, Ma Dashou came out of the signing room, his legs were weak, and he had to lean against the wall to stand up.

He saw Zhang Sanlang standing under the eaves, paused for a moment, then knelt down with a thud. "Zhang Qianxing, I'm so sorry."

Zhang Sanlang looked down at him and said, "Get up and speak."

Ma Dashou wouldn't get up, his forehead slamming against the blue brick floor. "I was foolish, I shouldn't have listened to Steward Chen. My two daughters are still with the Sun family, I don't know if we can get them back. If we can't get them back, could you perhaps...?"

His voice grew softer and softer until it became a mumble.

He didn't look up and couldn't see Zhang Sanlang's face, but he could feel Zhang Sanlang's gaze on his head, cold and like icy rain in winter.

"It's not that I necessarily want my daughter to come back... They have enough to eat and wear at the Sun family's house, which is better than starving to death with me. It's just that those fifteen strings of cash, Steward Chen said it was to cover my taxes, but I haven't seen it..."

Zhang Sanlang looked down at Ma Dashou's back of the head. "Uncle Ma, your two daughters are working as maids in the Sun family. Don't you want them to come back?"

Ma Dashou shrugged. "It's not that I don't want to. It's just that even if I came back, I wouldn't be able to support them. Two girls, food and clothing both cost money. I can't even support myself."

Zhang Sanlang stood up, dusted off his knees, and said, "Old Zhao, take Uncle Ma back."

Old Zhao responded and came over to help Ma Dashou.

He got up, but his legs were still weak and he could barely stand. He had to hold onto Lao Zhao's arm to stay upright.

He glanced at Zhang Sanlang, then lowered his head and muttered something under his breath, but no one could hear him.

Old Zhao helped him walk. The two walked to the end of the corridor, turned a corner, and disappeared from sight.

Wu Yan, who had already settled the matter and was preparing to act as a witness for Zhang Sanlang, walked over, looked at the end of the corridor, and then at Zhang Sanlang. "Sanlang, this old bastard is no good either. He doesn't want his daughter, he only wants money."

"He's terrified of poverty," Zhang Sanlang said, turning and walking towards the household.