Chapter 13#

Holding Court (Part Three)#

Le Wuya knew that Jiang He was unmatched in skill but regrettably a bit dense.

The deeper meaning behind his own actions would take him a while to figure out.

After temporarily sending Aunt Su and the others away to be settled, the courtroom suddenly felt empty.

“For the time being, the people from Xiaofu Coal Mine won’t be arriving anytime soon,” Le Wuya said. “Isn’t there also some reckless fool who dared to rob someone right under my nose today? Bring him up.”

The two remaining yamen runners followed the order and soon dragged Ge Erzi, limp as a dead dog, between them and hauled him up.

Ge Erzi didn’t seem to have hurt his leg—rather, it was as if his spine had been pulled out, and he collapsed onto the ground like mud, gasping and pretending to be dead.

Seeing this man brazenly playing rogue, the secretary silently glanced at Le Wuya.

The magistrate didn’t seem in a rush to question him. He simply tucked his hands into his sleeves and watched with a faint smile as Ge Erzi writhed on the ground.

The secretary glanced again at Sun, the assistant county magistrate.

He remained silent, his eyelids half-closed, as if he had already checked out some time ago.

Seeing no sign of intervention from the two of them, the secretary lowered his head and began intently plucking fine hairs off his brush.

…Tonight was going to be a long night.

Ge Erzi had been making a scene in court for quite a while, but not a single scolding came his way. He grew more uneasy by the minute but dared not open his eyes, so he whimpered increasingly weakly, as if the breath in his chest was about to run out.

Soon, he heard Le Wuya slap something down. “Give him ten strikes to sober him up.”

Ge Erzi: “…”

He gasped sharply, opened his eyes, and was revived.

“Awake?” Le Wuya propped his chin on his hand and looked at him. “But I’ve already tossed the tally. You’ve been showing contempt for this court for so long—if I don’t give you a beating, wouldn’t that be improper?”

Le Wuya waved his hand lazily. “Strike.”

With Jiang He out of the way, Le Wuya felt much more at ease.

The yamen runners knew Ge Erzi still had to face trial, so they deliberately held back their strength. But even so, a round of wake-up strikes sent Ge Erzi howling like a ghost.

After the ten strikes were done, Le Wuya said, “I’ll ask, and you’ll answer. You committed daylight robbery and were caught red-handed by me—what’s the punishment? Oh, right: a hundred strokes of the cane and three years of hard labor. You still owe me ninety strokes, enough to beat you into a pulp.”

A burst of laughter came from the crowd.

Ge Erzi lay on the ground, opening his mouth with a slick tone of defiance: “Your Honor, I didn’t rob just anyone—it was the Jixiang gambling den!”

Le Wuya raised an eyebrow. “Oh? And what about the Jixiang gambling den?”

Ge Erzi’s neck was thin, and his head seemed too heavy, always tilted to one side, like a big steamed bun perched on a toothpick.

He argued plausibly, “The laws of the Great Yu forbid gambling. Money from gambling is ill-gotten, all considered stolen goods. And mine was still an attempted crime—that reduces the penalty by one degree!”

Le Wuya laughed, resting his arms on the table. “You seem to know the law quite well. Let me ask you: knowingly breaking the law—what’s the multiplier on the penalty?”

Ge Erzi laughed along ingratiatingly, shaking his head in a way that made him look odious. “One degree harsher. But it’s not really my fault, Your Honor. Don’t take offense, but I’m nothing but a lowlife. Whenever I have a bit of money, I head straight to gamble. When Your Honor went to Jixiang, I had just placed a bet. I figured I’d definitely win this time, so I bet big. But then the yamen suddenly started arresting people. I don’t have eyes in the back of my head—I thought the Jixiang owner was trying to flip the table and cheat me out of my money. I don’t come by money easily, and I couldn’t bear to just let it be taken away for nothing. I wanted to grab my silver and get back what I could. But when I rushed out the door with the silver, I ran into Your Honor. I really didn’t know—if I’d known the government was raiding the place, I wouldn’t have dared to offend Your Honor even with a hundred guts. Getting hit by an arrow? Serves me right. But calling it daylight robbery? That’s a gross injustice—”

Ge Erzi had a silver tongue, glossing over the heavy charges and playing up the light ones. He put on quite a performance, even shedding tears when he reached the emotional climax.

With a few words, he turned “daylight robbery” into “running off with my own money.”

He was quite satisfied with his spiel.

When the gambling den was in chaos, only a fool wouldn’t seize the chance to grab something.

If the magistrate tried to argue about the ownership of the silver, he had a whole basket of retorts ready.

Silver doesn’t have the owner’s name written on it. If he said it was his, then it was his.

Then the magistrate wouldn’t be able to convict him—he’d even have to return the silver that Erzi had snatched from the den.

Otherwise, he’d lie in front of the yamen gate every day, claiming the magistrate had harmed a commoner without cause and ruined his leg.

Even if it didn’t completely destroy the magistrate’s reputation, it would be enough to disgust him thoroughly.

If it were another refined scholar, they’d probably be driven to recite Buddhist scriptures by such a shameless rogue as Ge Erzi.

Just as Ge Erzi had imagined, the magistrate on the bench seemed at a loss for words. After a pause, he said, “Then let me ask you another question: charging at government officials and refusing to heed a summons—how is that punished under the law?”

Still testing him?

Ge Erzi sobbed miserably, “I was scared out of my wits and ran around recklessly. I didn’t hurt any officer, so it’s thirty strokes. I know I was wrong—I’ll accept the punishment!”

Le Wuya’s voice suddenly turned cold. “And what about enticing innocent people and trafficking persons? What’s the punishment for that?”

…Ge Erzi’s stiff neck froze.

Amid the sudden buzz of the crowd, Le Wuya’s clear voice rang out: “…Take him away, find a room, lock him up, and leave one person to guard him.”

Ge Erzi, reeling from this unexpected blow, hadn’t recovered before he was seized again and dragged off the court.

After being dragged a few feet, he snapped awake and howled, “Your Honor! Injustice! Injustice!”

Le Wuya waved his hand, and the yamen runners stopped.

As Ge Erzi was about to start his slick talk again, Le Wuya cut him off: “Earlier, you didn’t confess, and I didn’t force you. Now, even if you want to confess, I’m not interested in hearing it. I’ll try others first. If someone else confesses faster than you, then there’s no helping it.”

He gave a bright smile. “‘Among co-defendants colluding on testimony, the first to confess shall have their penalty reduced by one degree’—you know this rule, don’t you?”

That said, he ignored Ge Erzi’s pleading eyes, waved his hand, and said, “Gag him. Drag him away.”

At this moment, the first group of yamen runners sent to Xiaofu Coal Mine had returned.

The courtroom, which had just emptied, filled up again.

Le Wuya looked around and frowned. “Bringing them all up at once—how am I supposed to try them? Do you think this is a marketplace? Keep the accountant and manager; send the rest to the east wing for holding, then bring them to me one by one.”

In an instant, only one person remained in the court: the accountant Chen Fu’er.

Le Wuya was quite polite. “You’re the accountant at Xiaofu Coal Mine?”

The accountant, a sallow-faced, dejected man, answered weakly, “Yes, I’m Chen Fu’er.”

“Good. ‘Xiaofu’ and ‘Fu’er’—two blessings in one name—that’s a promising omen.” Le Wuya changed tack. “How much does Xiaofu Coal Mine earn per day?”

On the way here, the managers and others from Xiaofu Coal Mine had probed around and learned that the magistrate intended to retry the case of Chang Xiaohu. They were not completely unprepared.

But Chen Fu’er hadn’t expected Le Wuya to skip asking about Chang Xiaohu altogether. He felt even more uncertain. “…Not much. Income and expenses just about break even.”

Le Wuya hummed and asked, “Can you draw?”

Chen Fu’er: “…” This magistrate’s line of questioning was far too erratic.

He shook his head. “No, I can’t.”

Le Wuya acted as if he hadn’t heard clearly. “Good. Bring paper and brush.”

In no time, paper and brush were set before Chen Fu’er.

Le Wuya: “Do you still remember Chang Xiaohu?”

Chen Fu’er’s heart trembled: here it comes.

He shook his head. “It’s been a while. I don’t remember him well.”

Le Wuya: “What a pity. ‘One day as teacher, a lifetime as father.’ You’ve been an unqualified father.”

Chen Fu’er lowered his head deeply. “I’m ashamed.”

“Don’t be so quick to be ashamed. Draw the river where your beloved apprentice drowned.” Le Wuya added, “…It doesn’t matter if it’s ugly.”

Chen Fu’er swallowed.

At least he wasn’t being asked to draw Chang Xiaohu’s face. That wasn’t too hard.

Facing the blank paper, he reluctantly drew a wavy line in the center.

Le Wuya: “How many mine shafts are there? Mark their locations.”

Chen Fu’er drew several circles not far from the river.

“What about the location of the accountant’s office?”

This time, Chen Fu’er was even more hesitant. He thought for a long while before hastily drawing a square next to the curve.

Le Wuya leaned in to look. “That close? You spend all year indoors with your abacuses—aren’t you afraid of rheumatism?”

Chen Fu’er: “…My drawing is poor. Your Honor, please forgive me.”

“How far is the accountant’s office from Nanting River? If you can’t count, I’ll send someone to measure it.”

Faced with Le Wuya’s jibe, Chen Fu’er replied dryly, “I never paid attention to that.”

“How long does it take to walk to the river?”

“Your Honor, I don’t like to stroll.”

“Chang Xiaohu was always weak. Did you know that?”

“I know.”

“That day, it was raining heavily. Why did he go to the river?”

“I don’t know.”

“He didn’t drown—he was killed. Did you know that?”

Chen Fu’er paused.

But still, his face was like an old well—empty and numb. “I don’t know.”

He was sparing with his words, not even adding an extra sentence of questioning.

Faced with such a stubborn, immovable blockhead, Le Wuya was very good-natured. “Alright, take him down. Keep him in solitary confinement.”

Next, each foreman brought up underwent the same procedure.

Given a brush to draw, they were asked to sketch the layout of Xiaofu Coal Mine.

When they came, each had prepared a script in their minds, but they never expected Le Wuya to avoid the topic of Chang Xiaohu entirely, just rambling about the mine itself.

They could claim not to be familiar with Chang Xiaohu, but they couldn’t say they weren’t familiar with the mine.

With the others, Le Wuya didn’t mention Chang Xiaohu at all. Instead, he chatted loosely, getting every detail about Xiaofu Coal Mine out of them.

Each person brought in spent at least the time it takes to burn an incense stick before Le Wuya was satisfied and sent them off for separate confinement.

None of these people dared to show they knew the magistrate was interrogating them about the Chang Xiaohu case, so they had to pretend ignorance.

As for how anxious they were inside, Le Wuya didn’t care.

The last to be questioned was the chief manager of the mine, Lu Dajiu.

Before he was taken away, Le Wuya said, “Bring up Ge Erzi.”

A moment later, he corrected himself: “No, don’t ‘bring’ him—‘drag’ him up.”

As Ge Erzi was dragged onto the court like a torn sack, he happened to pass Lu Dajiu.

After being left in suspense for a long time, Ge Erzi was burning with anxiety. He had prepared a stomachful of cries of injustice, vowing to sing a tragic aria to the magistrate.

But to his surprise, the men who came to fetch him were extremely rough, grabbing his collar and pulling him out without a word.

Even more unexpected, he saw Lu Dajiu from Xiaofu Coal Mine in the court.

Lu Dajiu had dealt with Ge Erzi before.

To avoid raising suspicion, he deliberately put on a stern face, acting as if he didn’t recognize him, and walked right past Ge Erzi.

Little did he know, this made Ge Erzi even more unsettled.

When he was forced to his knees, his eyes fixed on the ground, his pupils darting frantically, the speech he had rehearsed was completely forgotten.

The county magistrate invited the people from Xiaofu Coal Mine politely, but treated him so…

Le Wuya reached out his hand. “Secretary, present their testimonies.”

Secretary: ?

None of these people had confessed anything useful; they’d just wasted time drawing a stack of pictures.

But since the magistrate asked him to present something, he had to present something.

So he presented the just-finished testimony of Coroner Shang.

Le Wuya unrolled the file, carefully reviewed it from beginning to end, then raised his eyes and gave Ge Erzi a deep, penetrating look.

Ge Erzi felt his whole body go numb, and his arms propping him up began to tremble.

In the agonizing silence, Le Wuya suddenly called out coldly, “Ge Erzi.”

Ge Erzi shuddered. “Here!”

“For years, you have acted as a broker, using the pretext of introducing workers to entice and sell innocent people into slavery. You have trafficked over twenty people. Worse still, you sold your nephew’s son, Chang Xiaohu, into the mine, leading to his death. By this, you intended to seize your sister-in-law’s meager property. According to the law…”

Le Wuya’s gaze moved from top to bottom and right to left, as though he were truly reading a complete indictment.

When he reached this point, he looked up and gave a sly smile:

“…You know, right? What’s the penalty for this crime?”