Chapter 7 Turning the Tables (III)

Chapter 7 Turning the Tables (III)

Deputy Magistrate Sun's skin crawled. He put on a brave face and played dumb: "The law is clear; this case is closed. It is a long-standing rule that a case cannot be retried. I really can't do what you're asking, Your Honor."

Le Wuya said nothing. He walked into the pavilion behind him, adjusted his robes, and sat down.

He did not need to speak; an air of natural authority emanated from him effortlessly.

Deputy Magistrate Sun's knees turned to jelly. It took all his willpower not to kneel as his instincts demanded.

He lowered his head and suddenly recalled the spooky, eerie folk tales his grandmother had told him as a child.

It was like the Magistrate had been taken over by someone else.

But now he had no time to dwell on that, because Wenren Yue directly called him out on his scheme: "Deputy Magistrate, you are so hesitant, scared of making enemies. Don't tell me Master Chen has dirt on you?"

That really ripped off the last fig leaf.

Since it had come to this, there was no longer any point for Sun Ru to continue playing dumb.

Sun Ru and Master Chen had been thick as thieves, but no hard evidence like letters left around; they usually just drank and talked together, and matters were settled.

After all, Master Chen was a juren degree holder, and had the natural reserve of a scholar.

It was Sun Ru, worried about his career, who did all the fawning and flattering.

Gritting his teeth, Deputy Magistrate Sun replied: "No, not at all..."

Le Wuya went, "Oh?": "Then are you related to him by marriage?"

"...Your Honor, please don't joke."

"I'm not joking with you." Le Wuya remained relaxed. "You want to discuss the law, Deputy Magistrate? Then I'll discuss the law with you. Under the laws of this dynasty, if someone is found to have framed someone else, the penalty for that false accusation is rebellion—the same crime."

"This time, because the Chen family wanted to cover up their own mistakes and falsely accused someone of rebellion, the penalty is rebellion itself. The Chen family will have their entire estate confiscated; accomplices exiled, and the ringleader beheaded... Ah, no, the person he tried to frame was a scholar. His Majesty values talent above all."

Le Wuya stroked his chin: "...Even death by a thousand cuts is possible."

He shot a smiling look at Deputy Magistrate Sun, whose face was ashen: "If you're related or connected to them and throw away your career, what a waste that would be."

Deputy Magistrate Sun: "Your Honor, what exactly... do you want to do?"

Le Wuya casually laid out his plan: "Those who deserve death will die, those who deserve exile will be exiled; it's not like the coal mine will sprout legs and run off, will it?"

Le Wuya knew that if he wanted to reverse Wenren Yue's case, a pure heart and righteous blood alone wouldn't do a thing.

What he needed most was help.

Wenren Yue had no helpers of his own, so the simplest way was to coax someone who could order around plenty of underlings.

For example, Deputy Magistrate Sun.

But to win over someone like Deputy Magistrate Sun, he couldn't just say "I want justice and to clear his name." Because that gave Sun no benefit at all.

This guy only believed in power and cash, so it was better to make him believe that Magistrate Wenren was cut from the same cloth.

Fortunately, Le Wuya knew the game well.

At this moment, Sun Ru's shock was beyond description.

Since when had Wenren Yue had his eye on the Chen family's Xiaofu Mine?

His mind raced, rewound to six months ago.

If Magistrate Wenren had been gunning for the Xiaofu Mine all along...

Then, half a year ago, the case of Chang Xiaohu would have been the perfect chance for him to use as an excuse to snatch the mine.

But Master Chen had tricks up his sleeve; he made the case appear accidental and got Chang's mother to drop the case. Then he played along, letting Scholar Ming cling to the Xiaofu Mine issue.

...That's right, Scholar Ming had likely been in cahoots with the Magistrate all along!

Otherwise, why would Scholar Ming refuse to let go of Chang Xiaohu's case, and why would he so smoothly change his testimony at the last moment!

Scholar Ming's pestering eventually forced Master Chen to play dirty and frame him for rebellion, which played right into the Magistrate's hands. The Magistrate then pretended to be upright and refused to sign and submit the case files, stalling for time—all to delay until the Prefect became angry and time was tight, forcing the submission of the case. Only then did he produce this pre-prepared false evidence, which was entirely fabricated and closely tied to Sun's own future.

Everything, everything, was to force him to join the Magistrate's side!

And perhaps, the Magistrate's earlier feigned weakness, allowing officials to bully him, was actually to observe Sun—watching him jump around arrogantly, but never getting angry, only laughing inwardly, waiting for this moment to turn the tables!

Sun Ru's heart pounded wildly as he thought this, completely missing Le Wuya's half-smiling gaze.

Sun Ru's mouth was bitter and dry, sweat pouring like water, and finally his knees gave way uncontrollably, and he knelt before Le Wuya.

Le Wuya accepted this bow without any hesitation: "Mm, this bow of yours, Deputy Magistrate Sun, is the most sincere one you've made since we met."

He no longer needed to address him as "Deputy Magistrate."

Deputy Magistrate Sun's mind was now active, but he still couldn't bear to give up his previous investments.

Besides...

He knocked his head on the ground: "I have offended you greatly in the past. Please, Your Honor, be generous with your guidance... I did have some dealings with Chen Yuanwei in the past, and I am worried... that if he is cornered, he might..."

He stammered, unwilling to speak plainly, but Le Wuya, who had been immersed in officialdom for many years, automatically filled in the subtext.

Le Wuya held the arrow level before his eyes: "Deputy Magistrate Sun, how foolish."

Sun Ru dared not speak; he listened attentively for instruction.

"Now, you are an official and he is a commoner. When the time comes, you will still be an official and he will be a convict. He has no solid evidence; if he groundlessly accuses an official, his crime will be compounded."

Sun Ru ventured: "But Chen Yuanwei is, after all, a juren..."

Le Wuya laughed: "I am also a juren, yet I don't see you being so wary of me."

Sun Ru's scalp prickled again. Before he could speak to defend himself, he heard Le Wuya say slowly: "Oh, you're worried he has connections at court."

Sun Ru: "...Yes."

Le Wuya said slowly:

"Are you saying that it was Chen Yuanwei's court connections that forced him to kill people?"

"Deputy Magistrate Sun, you worry too much. He is not at court but in the countryside; those favors are not worth much. When times are peaceful, they might add icing on the cake, but if he falls from grace, those people will distance themselves from him as fast as they can."

At this point, Le Wuya paused appropriately.

"Besides, if he's got people at court, don't I have my own?"

Sun Ru lifted his head slightly, casting a suggestive glance at Le Wuya.

He had just visited the Chen residence, probing and confirming. It confirmed what the magistrate had said—Lord Ji was indeed stubborn and had a fondness for bamboo.

But officials' preferences were hardly secret; perhaps the magistrate had learned of it from somewhere.

If the magistrate truly had such strong connections, he wouldn't have stayed in Nanting for so long—a promotion would be imminent.

Then... perhaps he himself could still climb the ranks.

With a glint of greed, Sun Ru fixed his eyes on Le Wuya.

He only needed the final piece of reassurance.

Once he had it, he could switch allegiances without hesitation.

Le Wuya remained silent.

It wasn't that he didn't want to answer.

Ever since he had awakened again in Wen Renyue's body, he had deliberately avoided thinking about familiar people and familiar matters.

Those ties, those feelings—they should have all dissipated with his death.

Though a thousand emotions stirred within, he did not let them show on his face.

This was a skill he'd trained since childhood.

To Sun Ru, the magistrate's expression was unremarkable, merely softening slightly, as if touched by some distant memory.

After a long pause, he said in a slow, casual tone: "Deputy Magistrate Sun must have looked into my background thoroughly. I never attended any academy; I hired a tutor to teach me at home. Hence, I have only fellow graduates, no close classmates or relatives in officialdom."

Deputy Magistrate Sun had a thick skin, and merely gave an awkward laugh.

"As it happens, the person I know is not a colleague in officialdom, but a personal friend. Moreover, he is not a civil official—so the deputy magistrate wasted his effort."

Not a civil official, then a military officer?

A flicker of doubt arose in Sun Ru's mind.

Though he was single-mindedly scheming for promotion, he knew very little about military officers.

"That was about ten years ago. He was still young then, traveling alone to Suzhou and Hangzhou in search of medicine, rode two horses to death to save the life of a dear friend. My family happened to have ten fine ginseng roots, which he bought, and thus we became acquainted—a friendship that continues to this day."

Sun Ru was still lost in thought.

Based on his limited knowledge of the dynasty's military officers, he knew only two.

One was the Le family, who had kept a low profile in recent years due to a well-known reason, but the entire family not being implicated by that person was already a sign of imperial favor.

The other was...

"He is surnamed Pei," Le Wuya said leisurely. "Do you know him?"

"Pei—"

Sun Ru gasped: "You mean... the one stationed at Qingyuan County... Pei Mingqi... General Pei Fengyou?"

Le Wuya twitched the corner of his mouth: "..."

He had originally intended to use Little Phoenix's name to intimidate.

Far from the court's reach, the two were completely unrelated—there was no way Sun would ever go ask Little Phoenix if he knew him.

But then...

Couldn't Pei have stationed himself anywhere else?

Qingyuan County was right next to Nanting!

While Le Wuya was inwardly gnashing his teeth and cursing Pei under his breath, Sun Ru was growing more convinced by the moment.

No wonder, no wonder!

Nanting County wasn't a bad post—not a fat one, but hardly a hardship post—and it shouldn't have fallen to Wen Renyue, who had bought his official position.

Earlier, for certain reasons, Sun Ru had assumed Wen Renyue was sent to Nanting because he had no background and was disliked. But now he realized—could this have been orchestrated by Young General Pei, to have him stationed closer?

Besides, the magistrate had Jing tribe blood, and his appearance was indeed attractive.

Rumor had it that Pei Fengyou was an odd one—though he had a bright future and was no longer young, he had never married or taken a concubine...

Sun Ru promptly cut off his inappropriate thoughts, put his heart at ease, and said respectfully: "Your Excellency, I understand now. Whatever your orders, please speak."

Le Wuya's turbulent thoughts also calmed.

"Who originally reported Scholar Ming?"

Sun Ru dared not be evasive: "A local thug, who overheard by chance while drinking at a tavern."

"Is he still around?"

"The case isn't closed yet. I've ordered him to stay in town, ready to be summoned."

Le Wuya said, "Oh. And the person who took Chang Xiaohu into the coal mine back then..."

Sun Ru quickly replied: "His surname is Ge, nickname 'Erzi.'"

Le Wuya: "Is he dead yet?"

Sun Ru, feeling a pang of guilt at how casually Le Wuya mentioned death, replied timidly: "...No."

Le Wuya had been prepared for the man's death and was about to ask if Chang Xiaohu had some distant relative. Hearing that Ge Erzi was still alive, he was somewhat surprised: "Why not kill him to silence him?"

Le Wuya came from a military background, had been on battlefields, and was used to seeing death. He did not shy away from discussing matters of life and death.

Sun Ru, though fond of political maneuvering, was ultimately a civil official.

He got goosebumps from Le Wuya's calm yet eerie question: "...It wasn't worth it. The case was already closed. If that rogue were to suddenly die, it would only create unnecessary complications."

Le Wuya said, "Oh."

True.

Even Qin Hui had three friends. This kind of lowlife was probably accustomed to doing dirty work.

If we were to eliminate them root and branch every time, the next time we needed such people, they'd prioritize saving their own skins—that would make many things much harder.

"So he's still in the city, huh?"

Deputy Magistrate Sun glanced at the sun, carefully choosing his words: "Yes. Half a year after the case was settled, he laid low for a few months, then returned when the weather turned cold. These lowlifes always get up after noon, spend the afternoon gambling. If they win, they hit the brothels and drink at night; if they lose, they sleep or wander, trying to mooch off some familiar shops to scrounge up cash."

Deputy Magistrate Sun might be ruthless, but no one knew Nanting better than he did.

Le Wuya's eyes lit up—"Who runs the gambling house? Not Master Chen, right?"

Deputy Magistrate Sun laid it all out: "Master Chen enjoys backgammon and dominoes in private, but he's careful about his reputation. He wouldn't touch a gambling den—too squalid. … There are three gambling houses in the city—all owned by the Li family."

"The Li family?"

"Butcher shop owners. The boss is Li Asi—pretty wealthy, used to be one of the richest in Jincheng, but always into shady stuff…"

Le Wuya saw right through it: "So the Chens and the Lis don't get along, huh?"

Deputy Magistrate Sun gave an embarrassed laugh and said nothing.

Le Wuya: Oh, looks like they really don't.

Anyone else learning how tangled things were in this little Nanting County would be scratching their head in frustration.

But Le Wuya's spirits lifted instead.

Chaos?

The more, the merrier!

Le Wuya stood up, spinning the arrow he hadn't thrown: "Call in the constables on duty."

Deputy Magistrate Sun was quick to comply: "Yes, Your Honor. Who do you want arrested? I'll take the men right now."

Le Wuya: "No need. Which gambling den does Ge Erzi hang out at? I'll go grab him myself."

Deputy Magistrate Sun swallowed hard.

By now, he dared not question Le Wuya's capability to his face, so he said half-jokingly, half-seriously: "Does Your Honor not trust me? I swear I'll handle this perfect—won't breathe a word."

Le Wuya gave a little smile.

Sun was a smooth operator. While currying favor with Master Chen, he probably kept in with Li Asi too.

In fact, if Wenren Yue hadn't been such a blockhead, overly upright—and his post was bought, no future in sight—he probably wouldn't have been shoved aside so badly by this "diplomatic" Deputy Magistrate.

Sun offering to go get Ge Erzi himself was probably to use his own connections and favors to bring him back peacefully.

But Le Wuya had something else entirely in mind.

"I'm going to raid the gambling den. You shouldn't come along, Deputy Magistrate."

Deputy Magistrate Sun: "…"

Sun: "A gambling raid?!?"

His voice shot up.

Le Wuya said, all righteous indignation: "Dayu Law bans gambling. You haven't read it carefully, have you, Deputy Magistrate?"

Deputy Magistrate Sun: "…"

Everybody knows gambling's illegal!

But if it weren't illegal, why would Li Asi pack up silver and dutifully send it to the yamen every year?

Sun's eyes darted around, but he didn't try to talk him out of it: "There are plenty of rough characters in gambling dens. You better be careful, Your Honor, and not get hurt…"

Le Wuya cut him off: "I'll be careful. But tell me, Sun—while I'm rounding up men for the raid, you won't "accidentally" sneak off to warn him, will you?"

Deputy Magistrate Sun: "…"

Seen through, he just put on a helpless look: "Your Honor, why must you provoke him again?"

"Me? I'm not trying to offend him." Le Wuya dropped another one. "It's just that someone reported him for hiding seditious writings. I'll search the place, and while I'm at it, clean out the gambling den and grab a nice haul. Sounds good?"

Sun nearly fell over.

Another batch of seditious writings?

Is this magistrate addicted to finding evidence or what?

Trembling, he asked: "Who… reported it?"

Le Wuya smiled: "You did."

As Sun's face changed colors, Le Wuya drawled: "But if you keep your mouth shut tight enough, then Master Chen reported it. … How 'bout that?"

Deputy Magistrate Sun fell silent.

He finally got it: this magistrate was as hard to read as the sky, as fast as lightning. And he could wait, bide his time, then strike a killing blow.

If he didn't want to get played, he'd better steer clear.

He never imagined this fearsome magistrate had only been here half a day.

Sun bowed again: "Assign me something else, Your Honor."

Le Wuya agreed fast: "Fine. Bring me Chang Xiaohu."

Sun's mind was going blank: "But Chang Xiaohu has been dead for half a year…"

Le Wuya said casually: "If he's dead, dig him up."

Sun was shocked: "He's long since rotted away…"

Le Wuya countered: "But bones don't rot that fast, do they?"

"But…" Sun struggled to say, "His mother, Su, is still alive."

She was the victim's family. They already bullied her into swallowing her grief. If she saw her son's corpse dug up and taken away, she'd go mad!

Le Wuya looked at him in bewilderment: "Deputy Magistrate Sun, how could you be so dense? What did you just say?"

…What?

"You said, 'The case is closed, and cases cannot be retried—that's the long-standing rule.'" Le Wuya mimicked his tone exactly. "If I want to reopen Chang Xiaohu's case, I need a pretext. If Su doesn't come forward, who will be the plaintiff?"

Deputy Magistrate Sun: "…"

His hair stood on end.

How deep and far did this man plan?

...Aunt Su had been treated with great care by the magistrate during the trial, his attitude gentle, clearly favoring her. In the end, she had no choice but to withdraw the lawsuit, having run out of options.

Back then, Wenren Yue repeatedly confirmed whether she truly wanted to withdraw, appearing to be a truly competent parent-official.

So, when it came to digging up the corpse, Aunt Su would never suspect the magistrate; she would only think... it was her own doing.

Deputy Magistrate Sun gnashed his teeth.

What a cunning scheme! He did all the good deeds himself, refusing to bear even a hint of a bad reputation!

But this matter left him no room to refuse.

If the magistrate didn't want to be splashed with this dirty water of making enemies, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and bear it himself.

Moreover...

Sure enough, the next moment, he heard Le Wuya's soft voice: "Deputy Magistrate Sun, this is our first collaboration. If it goes well, there will be a future."

Deputy Magistrate Sun rose with difficulty. "...Yes. I will go prepare it immediately."

"Once the person is exhumed, take it to the ice room at the funeral parlor for temporary storage," Le Wuya reminded him. "Remember, keep your mouth shut."

Deputy Magistrate Sun had felt stifled for too long, and at these words, a surge of indignation welled up within him.

What he was leading people to do was the immoral act of grave robbing. If he didn't keep it well hidden and follow up with bribes and reassurance, no court runner would agree to go with him!

By then, he, as the County Vice Magistrate, would have to wield a shovel and dig up the grave himself—a disgrace to scholarly decorum!

He gave a low reply in assent, turned, and walked out of the pavilion.

Before he knew it, Deputy Magistrate Sun was again drenched in sweat.

As he walked, wiping his sweat with his sleeve, a faint whistling sound came from behind.

With a thud, Le Wuya's arrow didn't even touch the mouth of the pot, yet landed straight into the center.

"...Also, please prepare a bow and horse for me, Deputy Magistrate Sun. A light bow, about thirty pounds, will do."

...

At Sihai Tower, the finest restaurant in Nanting County, the Sixth Prince and the Seventh Prince, dressed in plain clothes, like elegant young gentlemen from aristocratic families, overlooked the dirt-paved street.

Each had a guard standing beside them, clad in ordinary coarse cloth, but exuding a clean, sharp martial aura that kept others at a distance.

At the end of the street came the sound of hoofbeats.

The Seventh Prince turned to look, seeming quite interested: "Sixth Brother, they're about to make an arrest."

Since hearing the news that morning, the Sixth Prince had been silent.

But his silence was his norm, so it never struck anyone as strange.

The Sixth Prince followed the direction of the sound.

Once he looked, he couldn't tear his eyes away.

The official riding in front was dressed in purple robes with plain silver accents. Seen from above, only half his face was visible, but the flamboyant and unrestrained aura emanating from within was exceptionally striking.

The Seventh Prince also froze, leaning on the railing.

He called out, "...Sixth Brother."

The Sixth Prince raised his teacup. "Hmm."

Though they never got along, perhaps because they were born of the same mother, there was always some annoying mind-reading between them.

At this moment, they were thinking the same thing:

The slyness in the brow of this county magistrate was a bit like him.

But they had never seen him so flamboyant and swaggering.