Chapter 13: Court Session (3)

Chapter 13: Court Session (3)

Le Wuya knew that Jiang He had extraordinary skills, but unfortunately, he was a bit slow on the uptake.

The deeper meaning of his own move would take him a while to figure out.

After temporarily taking Aunt Su and the others away to settle them, the courtroom suddenly felt empty.

"It'll be a while before the people from Xiaofu Coal Mine arrive," Le Wuya said. "Isn't there someone who wasn't afraid to die, who robbed in plain sight of the county magistrate today? Bring him up."

The remaining two yamen runners obeyed and soon dragged Ge Erzi, limp as a dead dog, between them into the hall.

Ge Erzi didn't seem to have injured his leg; rather, it was as if his spine had been pulled out. He collapsed onto the ground like mud, panting and pretending to be dead.

Seeing him brazenly act like a rogue, the secretary quietly glanced at Le Wuya.

The magistrate didn't seem in a hurry to interrogate him; he merely clasped his hands and watched him writhe on the floor with a smile.

The secretary glanced again at Deputy Magistrate Sun.

He remained silent, his eyelids half-closed, as if he had already drifted off.

Seeing that the two had no intention of intervening, the secretary lowered his head and began focusing on plucking fine hairs from his brush.

...Tonight was going to be a long night.

Ge Erzi threw a tantrum in the hall for a long time without hearing a single reprimand. Growing increasingly uneasy, he didn't dare open his eyes, so his moans grew weaker and weaker, as if his last breath was about to give out.

Soon, he heard Le Wuya slap something down: "Give him ten strokes to sober him up."

Ge Erzi: "..."

He took a deep breath, opened his eyes, and regained his vitality.

"Awake?" Le Wuya rested his chin on his hand, looking at him. "But I've already thrown the tally. You've been contemptuous of the court for so long. It wouldn't be right if I didn't give you a beating, would it?"

Le Wuya waved leisurely: "Strike."

With Jiang He sent away, Le Wuya felt much more at ease.

The yamen runners knew Ge Erzi still had to be tried later, so they deliberately held back their strength, but the wake-up beating still left Ge Erzi howling in agony.

After ten strokes, Le Wuya said, "Answer whatever I ask. You committed robbery in broad daylight and were caught red-handed by me. What's the penalty? Oh, a hundred strokes and three years of hard labor. You still owe me ninety strokes, enough to beat you into a pulp."

A burst of laughter rose from the crowd.

Ge Erzi crawled on the ground, his opening words slick and defiant: "Your Honor, I didn't rob anyone else—I only robbed Jixiang Fang!"

Le Wuya asked curiously, "Oh? What's so special about Jixiang Fang?"

Ge Erzi's neck was thin, and his head seemed to tilt to one side like a toothpick piercing a big steamed bun.

He argued plausibly, "The laws of the Great Yu prohibit gambling. Gambling money is ill-gotten gains, all considered stolen property. Besides, I didn't succeed, so the punishment should be reduced by one degree!"

Le Wuya laughed, resting his arms on the desk: "You know the law quite well. Let me ask you, if you knowingly break the law, how many degrees does the punishment increase?"

He laughed, and Ge Erzi laughed along with him, shaking his head in a way that made people dislike him on sight: "One degree increase. But this really can't be blamed on me. Your Honor, don't take offense. I'm just a worthless wretch—whenever I have money, I gamble it away. When Your Honor went to Jixiang Fang, I had just placed a bet. I thought I'd definitely win this time, so I bet big. I didn't expect the yamen to suddenly start arresting people. I don't have eyes in the back of my head; I thought the boss of Jixiang Fang was going to flip the table and cheat me out of my money. I worked hard for that money, and I couldn't bear to let it be taken away for nothing. So I wanted to take back my silver, just a little bit. I didn't know! If I had known the government was raiding the place, I wouldn't have dared to offend Your Honor even if I had a hundred guts. Getting shot with an arrow was my own fault, but calling it daytime robbery—that's a huge injustice..."

Ge Erzi had a glib tongue, skirting the real issues and putting on a magnificent performance. At the emotional peak, he even shed tears.

With a few words, he turned the incident from "daytime robbery" into "taking back his own money and running away."

Ge Erzi was quite satisfied with his own argument.

After all, the gambling den was in chaos—only a fool wouldn't try to grab something while they could.

If the magistrate wanted to argue about the ownership of the silver, he had a basketful of words ready.

The silver didn't have the owner's name written on it. If he said it was his, it was his.

Then the magistrate wouldn't be able to convict him and would even have to return the silver he had taken from Jixiang Fang.

If not, he would lie in front of the yamen gate all day and claim that the magistrate had unjustly injured a commoner and ruined his leg.

That way, even if he couldn't completely destroy the magistrate's reputation, he could disgust him thoroughly.

If it had been a different, scholarly magistrate, he might have been so infuriated by Ge Erzi's shameless thuggery that he would have started reciting Buddhist scriptures.

Just as Ge Erzi had expected, the magistrate in the hall seemed at a loss for words. After a pause, he said, "Then let me ask you again: how does the law punish those who resist the authorities and refuse to heed a summons?"

Still testing him?

Ge Erzi answered tearfully, "I was scared out of my wits and ran around randomly. Fortunately, I didn't hurt any officers. Thirty strokes would suffice. I admit my mistake and accept the punishment!"

Le Wuya's voice turned abruptly cold: "Then how should the law punish those who trick innocent people and traffic in human beings?"

...Ge Erzi's stiff neck froze.

Amid the rising clamor of the common people, Le Wuya's voice rang out clearly: "...Take him down, find a room, lock him up, and leave one guard."

Ge Erzi, stunned by this sudden blow, hadn't even recovered before he was grabbed again and dragged off the hall.

After being dragged a few feet, he woke up as if from a dream and screamed, "Your Honor, injustice! Injustice!"

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

Just as Ge Erzi was about to unleash his clever tongue, Le Wuya cut him off: "Earlier, you refused to confess, and I didn't force you; now, you want to confess, but I don't want to hear it. I'll try someone else first. If they confess faster than you, well, there's nothing to be done about it."

He gave a bright smile: "'Among co-defendants, the first to confess gets a reduction of one degree in punishment.' I don't need to tell you that, do I?"

With that, ignoring Ge Erzi's pleading eyes, he waved his hand and said, "Gag him. Take him away."

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

The hall, which had just emptied, was filled again.

Le Wuya looked around and frowned: "Bringing them all up at once—how am I supposed to interrogate them? Do you think this is a vegetable market? Leave the accountant and manager behind; take the rest to the east hall and bring them to me one by one."

In an instant, only the accountant, Chen Fuer, remained in the hall.

Le Wuya was quite polite: "So you're the accountant from Xiaofu Coal Mine?"

The accountant was a sallow-faced, dispirited man who answered weakly, "Yes, I'm Chen Fuer."

"Good, Chen Fuer from Xiaofu Coal Mine—a double blessing." Le Wuya changed the subject sharply: "How much profit does Xiaofu Coal Mine make each day?"

On the way here, the managers and others from the mine had gathered hints that the magistrate intended to retry Chang Xiaohu's case, so they weren't entirely unprepared.

But Chen Fuer hadn't expected him to skip Chang Xiaohu entirely, and he felt uneasy: "...Not much, just breaking even."

Le Wuya grunted in acknowledgment and then asked, "Can you draw?"

Chen Fu'er: "..." This magistrate's way of doing things was way too erratic.

He shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't, sir."

Le Wuya, acting as if he hadn't heard, said, "Alright. Bring paper and brush."

In no time, paper and brush were placed before Chen Fu'er.

Le Wuya: "Do you still remember Chang Xiaohu?"

Chen Fu'er's heart jolted slightly: Here it comes.

He shook his head. "It's been a long time; I barely remember him."

Le Wuya: "What a pity. 'A teacher for a day is a father for life.' You've been a poor excuse for a father."

Chen Fu'er lowered his head deeply. "I am ashamed."

"No time for shame. Draw the river where your beloved disciple drowned," Le Wuya added, "...It's fine if it's ugly."

Chen Fu'er swallowed hard.

It wasn't a portrait of Chang Xiaohu anyway, so it shouldn't be too hard.

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

Le Wuya: "How many mine shafts? Mark their positions."

Chen Fu'er drew several circles a little ways from the river.

"And the accounting office?"

This time, Chen Fu'er hesitated even more, thought it over for a while, then quickly sketched a square next to the curve.

Le Wuya leaned in to look. "So close? You sit in there doing accounts all year round—aren't you worried about getting rheumatism?"

Chen Fu'er: "...My drawing skills are poor; please excuse my poor skill, Magistrate."

"How far exactly is the accounting office from Nanting River? If you can't count, I'll send someone to measure."

Faced with Le Wuya's teasing, Chen Fu'er replied dryly, "I never noticed that."

"How long does it take to walk to the river?"

"Your Honor, I don't really go for walks."

"Chang Xiaohu was always frail. Did you know that?"

"Yes."

"On that heavy rain day, what was he doing by the river?"

"I don't know."

"He didn't drown, did you know that?"

Chen Fu'er paused.

But his face remained impassive, stony-faced. "I don't know, sir."

He was stingy with his words, without even asking one extra question.

Facing such an impossible blockhead, Le Wuya remained good-humored: "Alright, take him down. Keep him in solitary confinement."

Next, each manager was brought in following the same routine.

They were given a brush and told to draw, and asked to mark several locations to sketch a rough map of Xiaofu Coal Mine.

When they arrived, each had prepared their own mental script, never expecting he wouldn't ask about Chang Xiaohu at all, but would instead ask random questions about the coal mine.

They could say they didn't know Chang Xiaohu well, but they couldn't very well say they were unfamiliar with the mine.

With the others, Le Wuya never once mentioned Chang Xiaohu; instead, he asked random questions and got a clear understanding of the mine's situation.

Each manager who came before the court was kept for about the time it takes to burn one incense stick before Le Wuya, satisfied, had them led away and held separately.

These men didn't dare show that they knew the magistrate was interrogating them for Chang Xiaohu's case, so they acted like they didn't understand.

As for how anxious they were inside, Le Wuya couldn't care less.

The last to be interrogated was Manager Lu of the mine.

Before having him led away, Le Wuya said, "Bring Ge Erzi up."

Then he corrected himself: "No, don't 'bring' him—'drag' him up."

When Ge Erzi was dragged into the hall like a sack of potatoes, he passed right by Manager Lu.

Ge Erzi had been left waiting for a long time, anxiety unbearable, and had prepared a whole speech pleading his innocence, vowing to put on a show of injustice before the magistrate.

Unexpectedly, the men who came for him were especially rough; without a word, they grabbed him by the collar and dragged him out.

Even more unexpected was seeing Manager Lu of Xiaofu Coal Mine in the courtroom.

This Manager Lu had dealt with Ge Erzi in the past.

To avoid arousing suspicion, he deliberately put on a stern expression, acted like he didn't know him, and walked right past Ge Erzi.

What he didn't know was that this made Ge Erzi even more nervous.

When he was forced to kneel, his eyes fixed on the ground, his pupils darting rapidly, all his carefully prepared speech went to waste.

The county magistrate had invited the Xiaofu Coal Mine people politely, yet treated him so harshly...

Le Wuya extended his hand: "Clerk, present their testimonies."

Clerk looked puzzled: ?

These people hadn't given any useful information just now; after all that time, all they'd done was draw a stack of pictures.

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

So he presented the testimony of Coroner Shang from earlier.

Le Wuya opened the case file, read it carefully from beginning to end, then looked up and gave Ge Erzi a deep, penetrating stare.

Ge Erzi felt a chill run through him from that stare, and his arms propping him up on the ground began to tremble.

In the oppressive silence, Le Wuya suddenly called out coldly, "Ge Erzi."

Ge Erzi jumped: "Present!"

"You have long acted as a broker, using the guise of introducing employment to scheme to sell innocent people into slavery, trafficking over twenty individuals. Moreover, in a monstrous act, you sold your nephew Chang Xiaohu into the mine, leading to his death or injury, and thereby sought to seize your widowed sister-in-law's meager assets. According to the law..."

Le Wuya's gaze swept from top to bottom and right to left, as if he were actually reading a whole case file.

"Reading" to this point, he looked up and gave a sly smile:

"...You know, according to the law, what's the penalty for that?"