Chapter 203

Chapter 203

About a quarter of an hour later, Ding Qi was carried in.

On the way, a servant had already briefed him on what had happened at the yamen, so Ding Qi knew very well that as long as he kept denying it, those Qiang people would have no way to deal with him.

Once he entered the main hall, he immediately began his act, kneeling and kowtowing as he said, “This humble commoner, Ding Qi, pays his respects to Your Honor.”

Ding Changsheng spoke first, “These Qiang people claim that you bullied others in the market and extorted money. Is this true?”

“I’ve been wronged! Although I haven’t studied for many days, I still know right from wrong and would never do such despicable things! Besides, County Magistrate Ding is my uncle. If I really did such things, wouldn’t I be bringing shame to my uncle?”

Ding Changsheng nodded with a smile, “This child is indeed like that. Although he can be a bit flamboyant, he would never do such evil deeds. These Qiang people are making baseless accusations. I beg Your Honor to see the truth!”

Chen Qingyan snorted, “Ding boy, lift your head and see who I am.”

Ding Qi was stunned. He hadn’t dared to lift his head since entering, so he naturally didn’t know that the person sitting above him was the very man who had intervened that day and whom he had tried to stop.

He cautiously raised his head. The moment he saw Chen Qingyan’s face, he let out a strange cry and scrambled back, falling to the ground. “H-how… how is it you?!”

“Ding Qi, how dare you be rude! This is the newly appointed Vice-Prefect, sir!”

“No, Uncle, he… he… he…” Ding Qi was so terrified he was beside himself, pointing at Chen Qingyan, unable to form words.

Chen Qingyan stood up and said, “Let me explain. That day, your nephew and his men were demanding money from the Qiang people. When they refused, they beat them badly. I happened to come upon it, so I had my men step in to help.”

“But your fine nephew, thinking he'd been wronged, actually brought constables and yamen runners to block my carriage. They even injured my coachman who was guiding me, saying that even the Emperor himself would have to pay a price to pass. Such nerve!”

Ding Changsheng’s face turned pale, cold sweat pouring down his temples. Ding Qi had never told him about this incident.

Ding Qi, kneeling on the ground, was so frightened he hardly dared to breathe, feeling as if the sky had fallen and he was finished...

Chen Qingyan came down from the bench, helped Mai Lian and Elder Mai up from the ground, and continued, “Fortunately, these people are grateful. To ensure I could leave the city safely, they risked their entire tribe to protect me.”

“But who would have thought that even after all this time, you still wouldn’t let them go? You actually accused them of burning, killing, and looting, and mobilized troops from the prefecture to suppress them!”

By now, Mai Anming and Mai Lian were crying hard. If they hadn’t encountered Vice-Prefect Chen, their entire tribe might have been wiped out.

Deputy General Cai, who had been watching all this from the side, coughed and said, “County Magistrate Ding, what do you think should be done now?” His tone was full of pressure, making it clear that unless a satisfactory explanation was given, no one would be leaving.

Ding Changsheng knelt shaking and said, “I truly knew nothing about this! This nephew of mine always seemed good in front of me. I never imagined he would do such things behind my back. This is truly unforgivable!”

Chen Qingyan said, “Do you dare claim you knew nothing?”

“Your Honor, I truly knew nothing! If I had known he was doing such terrible things, how could I have let him off lightly?” With that, he grabbed a staff from a nearby yamen runner and began hitting Ding Qi.

He struck with such force that the blows landed hard, causing Ding Qi to writhe on the ground in pain, begging for mercy, “Uncle! Uncle, I was wrong! I won’t dare do it again, never again...”

“How could you do such a thing? How can I ever show my face again?”

Chen Qingyan frowned and said, “That's enough! If you want to discipline him, do it after this case is settled. I have no time to watch this performance!”

Ding Changsheng gulped, holding the rod, not knowing whether to keep hitting him or stop.

“In this raid, thirty-seven Qiang people were arrested, seven severely injured, and twenty-nine lightly injured. Due to your personal grievances, you mobilized a thousand prefectural troops for this operation. The total cost of the mobilization and compensation amounts to 3,700 silver taels. This sum will come out of your own pocket.”

“As for Ding Qi, who relied on his status as the county magistrate’s nephew to throw his weight around in the city, pushing people around and extorting money, his crimes are unforgivable. According to the laws of the Wu Dynasty, he is sentenced to one hundred strokes of the rod and exile to Cangzhou.”

Upon hearing this, Ding Qi, who was lying on the ground, passed out in fear. After one hundred strokes, he would be unlikely to survive.

Ding Changsheng knelt and kowtowed, pleading for mercy, “Your Honor, my nephew is still young. I beg you to be merciful and spare his life. I will do whatever I can to compensate!”

“You should plead for yourself first.” Chen Qingyan waved his hand, and Huang Qianguan and Huang Baiguan brought in two accountants. These two were responsible for keeping County Magistrate Ding’s books and usually handled the wealth he extorted from the people.

Chen Qingyan had long been prepared to deal with the Sitong County Magistrate. After arriving in Shanzhou, he had sent people to investigate secretly. Originally, he planned to address the matter after the New Year, but the Sitong County Magistrate had brought it upon himself, saving Chen Qingyan a lot of trouble.

The two accountants were scared easily. After some questioning by the Huang brothers, they revealed the account books.

Over the years, Ding Changsheng had stolen a huge amount of wealth. A small county magistrate’s annual salary was only sixty strings of coins, yet his private accounts showed a sum of 300,000 silver taels!

Truly, even a three-year term as a county magistrate could make him rich!

Ding Changsheng, who had been pleading for his nephew, now collapsed completely. Grabbing Chen Qingyan’s robe, he wept and begged, “Vice-Prefect, you can take all the silver. Think of it as my gift to you. I beg you to spare my life!”

Chen Qingyan pushed him away in disgust and said, “Save your words for the Prefect. Men, arrest this man and escort him to Shanzhou!” As a sixth-rank Vice-Prefect, he had no authority to directly dispose of the case and could only send Ding Changsheng to Shanzhou for judgment.

“Yes, sir!”

The chains that had been on the Qiang people were now fastened onto the Ding uncle and nephew. The Qiang people, kneeling on the ground, wept excitedly, kowtowing repeatedly to Chen Qingyan while speaking in their unintelligible language.

“Please rise, Elder Mai. Ask your people to rise.”

Mai Anming said a few words in Qiang, and the people stopped kowtowing, wiping their tears as they stood up.

“I have already sent for a physician. Do not rush to leave. Let the physician treat your injuries before you go.”

“Thank you, Vice-Prefect.” Mai Anming was about to kneel and kowtow again.

Chen Qingyan held his arm and said, “I owe it to your help that I safely reached Shanzhou to assume my post. Punishing evil and upholding justice is my duty. There is no need for thanks.”

Mai Anming held Chen Qingyan’s hand, his face showing a grateful and relieved smile. After so many years, Sitong County had finally welcomed a good official!

Since the Sitong County Magistrate had been arrested, Chen Qingyan needed to stay behind to handle the aftermath. Deputy General Cai was to return to Shanzhou with his troops first, and Chen Qingyan would follow once matters were settled.

As for the 300,000 silver taels seized, part of it was allocated to the county treasury for public works such as building bridges and roads, while the remainder was taken to Shanzhou to be added to the prefectural treasury.

The arrest of Ding Changsheng was a great relief to the people. On the day he was escorted to Shanzhou, despite the freezing weather, the citizens of the county town turned out in large numbers to watch. The streets were packed with onlookers.

The man in the cart, once arrogant and domineering, now disheveled and haggard, shrank inside the wooden cart. The crowd spat at him and cursed, calling him deserving of his fate!

“This beast has finally been arrested! He took a fancy to my young daughter and forced her to become his concubine. She became pregnant but miscarried. She was only thirteen when she died in childbirth...” An old woman wiped her tears, her heart filled with hatred for Ding Changsheng. For years, she had no way to seek justice for her daughter.

A ragged beggar nearby also laughed, “Well done! My family was once wealthy in Sitong County. When he coveted our land, he framed my father for theft, had him arrested and tortured to death, then drove my mother and me away and seized our land and house.”

“My mother and I became homeless beggars. She fell ill, but we had no money for treatment. In the end... she died miserably in a dilapidated temple...” The man choked up, unable to continue.

Others had also suffered at the hands of Ding Qi, who had extorted all their hard-earned money over the years, leaving their families in dire poverty. Now that his protector had fallen, how could they not rejoice?

Ding Changsheng’s crimes were too numerous to list. For seventeen years, under his oppression, the people of Sitong County had lived in misery. Finally, evil had met its retribution. The common people spread the news, happier than if it were New Year.

*

That evening, in the experimental field, Chen Qingyan recounted the day’s events to Wang Ying.

“I never imagined County Magistrate Ding had committed so many evil deeds! Fortunately, we encountered him, or who knows how long he would have continued to harm others!”

“Indeed, I arrived just in time to save the Mai father and son. Mai Anming fell seriously ill and is still recovering at the yamen. His son also suffered internal injuries and will need time to recuperate. I’m afraid I’ll have to stay here for a while to arrange everything before returning.”

Wang Ying stroked his cheek and said, “That’s necessary. Not only must you appease the local people, but you must also appease the Qiang people. Thankfully, no one died in this incident. If there had been deaths, it might have sown lasting hatred, making future relations between the locals and the Qiang even more difficult.”

“I think so too. Once Elder Mai has recovered, I will discuss with him about registering the Qiang people in Sitong County. This will make it easier to manage them in the future.”

"Go on, don't worry about the family—I'm here."

The husbands needed no words; a single glance was enough to understand each other.

"By the way, you left in such a hurry the other day that I forgot to show you the letters." Wang Ying brought the letters from outside and handed them to him.

Chen Qingyan first read Qing Huai's letter, then opened the one from his fourth uncle.

The letter mentioned that his fourth uncle hadn't expected him to choose Shanzhou in the end, but considered it a form of experience nonetheless.

His fourth uncle provided a detailed introduction to the relationships between several major families in Shanzhou and the capital, helping Chen Qingyan understand the intricacies involved. He advised him to build good relations where possible and avoid provoking conflicts unless necessary.

He also recommended several reliable individuals, all of whom had previously worked under him, including a certain Clerk Cao and an official named Zhang Wei.

Additionally, he provided an exhaustive overview of all eleven counties, detailing which were poorly managed and which had development strategies, filling nearly seven or eight pages.

The letter also mentioned that the current Prefect Xu was amiable and easy to get along with, encouraging Chen Qingyan to build a good relationship with him. As for the Governor, while his character wasn't bad, his temper was too volatile to easily befriend. He advised Qingyan not to offend him and to show respect instead.

Chen Qingyan couldn't help but laugh. Who would have thought that this hot-tempered Governor was now his brother-in-law through marriage? After reading the letter, he felt a warmth in his heart—having the support of elders certainly made the government career smoother.