Chapter 353 Jiayu County Magistrate

The seat of Yunzhou, which is also the location of the main city of Yunzhou, belongs to Jiayu County under its jurisdiction.

The county magistrate of Jiayu County was named Liao. He was at the same level as Liang Zhou, the magistrate of Yingcang County next door. The two had met before.

Liang Zhou and Ding Xiaoqiu wore straw hats and chose a different route from Murong Jing and the others to go to the county government office.

When they arrived, there were already quite a few people gathered at the gate of the county government office. Liang Zhou passed through the crowd and saw Murong Jing and Gongsun Yushu in front of him.

He lowered his head and pulled Ding Xiaoqiu to the other side of the crowd to make sure that the two of them would not be noticed.

The county government hall was solemn and dignified, with yamen runners standing on both sides holding water and fire sticks, with expressionless faces.

County Magistrate Liao sat on a high chair, examining the people standing below with deep eyes.

They were Manager Zhou of Yongye Tea House, the steward of Ning'an Marquis's Mansion, and the yamen runner who had dared to stand up before.

County Magistrate Liao slammed the gavel and asked the two men why they did not kneel.

Manager Zhou was so frightened by the voice that he trembled and immediately knelt down, shouting that the magistrate would make the decision for him.

The manager snorted coldly and turned away.

County Magistrate Liao looked angry and asked him to give his name.

"The purchasing manager of the Ning'an Marquis's Mansion, Qian Liu." Qian Liu said, looking at County Magistrate Liao with his nose raised.

County Magistrate Liao was angered by his arrogant attitude and sneered.

"Qian Liu, right? Do you have any honors or official titles?"

"No." Qian Liu was not justified but was still confident.

"How dare you kneel down and answer me!"

County Magistrate Liao raised his eyebrows, and several yamen runners surrounded him, as if they were about to kneel down to help Qian Liu.

"I, I am from the Ning Anbo Mansion!"

Qian Liu was obviously panicked, but when he saw that County Magistrate Liao was not intimidated by him, he finally lost his arrogance.

He pouted and knelt down reluctantly.

"The magistrate of Jiayu County is quite upright." Murong Jing couldn't help but admire him.

She has always been too lazy to deal with official social events, so she is not familiar with the officials of Yunzhou.

Seeing that this small county magistrate was not afraid of the pressure from the Earl's Mansion and dared to uphold justice for the people, Murong Jing couldn't help but feel a little admiration in her heart.

As the superiors lead by example, the subordinates follow suit. Magistrate Jiayu set an example himself. No wonder those yamen runners did not fear power and dared to directly arrest the manager of the Ning'an Earl's Mansion and bring him to the yamen for interrogation.

The people around also expressed admiration, but some of them also expressed concern.

"Our county magistrate has only been in office for a short time, so I'm afraid he doesn't know how powerful the Ning'an Marquis' Mansion is."

"If Lord Bo blames me, I'm afraid I'll be in trouble..."

"I hope Lord Liao can work here for a few more years. With a county magistrate like him, our people can live in peace!"

"The county magistrate is very decisive and efficient, much better than our last county magistrate."

Murong Jing listened to the discussions nearby and couldn't help but look at Gongsun Yushu again.

Judging from the tone of the people, it seems that the Ning'an Marquis' Mansion in Yunzhou City... is quite domineering?

Gongsun Yushu was not stupid. When he caught her gaze, he naturally understood what Murong Jing was thinking.

He sighed helplessly:

"Princess, you are also from the palace. You know that the common people are in awe of people like us."

"The Ning'an Marquis's Mansion is so large, and the number of servants is innumerable. If one or two servants are not well disciplined and bring shame to the Marquis' Mansion, the common people will blame the Marquis' Mansion for all the mistakes."

"We work diligently and faithfully for the imperial court, but the common people don't take us seriously. No matter what benefits we get, the common people still envy us.

Forget about these. If you are in a high position and you make a mistake, the people below you will say that you are bullying others and taking advantage of the weak, and you can't do anything about it."

"Ah, so... we are the weak ones!"

Murong Jing frowned slightly, but did not dare to agree with what Gongsun Yushu said.

While Gongsun Yushu was speaking, County Magistrate Liao had already roughly understood what had happened.

He asked Qian Liu:

"Shopkeeper Zhou said that when you picked up the goods from Yongye Tea House yesterday, you opened the box and inspected the goods before leaving. Is that true?"

Qian Liu nodded, "Yes, I did, but——"

County Magistrate Liao did not listen to his excuses and went straight to the next question:

“You said that you found out that there was something wrong with the tea after you brought the boxes back to the Ning’an Marquis’s Mansion, so you thought that Shopkeeper Zhou had tampered with it.

I want to ask you, do you have evidence to prove that when Manager Zhou gave you the tea leaves, there were crumbs underneath them?"

"Or let me ask you this in a different way. Can you prove that you did not tamper with the tea leaves after leaving Yongye Tea House, replacing the original tea leaves with broken leaves, and then slander Shopkeeper Zhou?"

Qian Liu opened his mouth and was stunned for a moment before he argued:

"I was not the only one who picked up the goods. There were other servants in the mansion as well. They can all testify!"

County Magistrate Liao shook his head. "You are all members of the Bo family. You may have colluded with each other to profit from it. Your testimony is not convincing. In addition to them, are there any other witnesses?"

"That's... that's it."

Qian Liu was immediately deflated.

County Magistrate Liao calmly announced the result of his trial on the case - naturally, Manager Zhou of Yongye Tea Shop won the case.

After all, according to the agreement between the two parties, Manager Zhou and the Ning'an Earl's Mansion settled the payment and goods, and the people from the Earl's Mansion confirmed that they were correct during the inspection, so the transaction was completed.

After all, it was Qian Liu who was too perfunctory when inspecting the goods, which resulted in the current situation being unclear.

Whoever questions must provide evidence. Qian Liu has slandered Boss Zhou without any evidence, causing great damage to the reputation of Yongye Tea House.

County Magistrate Liao ordered his men to drag Qian Liu away and give him twenty strokes of the cane as a punishment.

Qian Liu was so frightened that his face turned pale. He could not resist the guards who grabbed him and dragged him backwards.

Gongsun Yushu watched coldly, with no intention of stepping forward.

Qian Liu was dragged by the yamen runners to the open space in front of the steps. Just as he was about to lie on a stool to be punished, he suddenly raised his head.

It was too late for Gongsun Yushu to hide.

"Prince, Prince, save me, Prince--!" Qian Liu shouted at him as if he had seen a life-saving straw.

Everyone's eyes fell on Gongsun Yushu.

Gongsun Yushu's face was as black as charcoal. He moved his lips and cursed silently.

His identity was exposed, so he had to walk out from the crowd.

When County Magistrate Liao saw him, he immediately stood up with a strange look on his face, but he still bowed and said:

"Young uncle."

Gongsun Yushu smiled at him somewhat awkwardly.

When Qian Liu saw his own prince coming, he immediately gained confidence. He rolled over and stood behind Gongsun Yushu, glaring at County Magistrate Liao provocatively.

County Magistrate Liao had a gloomy face, as if he was thinking about how to deal with the situation.

Murong Jing stayed in the crowd, wanting to see how Gongsun Yushu would handle the matter.

In the end, Gongsun Yushu hesitated for a moment, but still spoke up and pleaded for mercy on behalf of the steward.

"Lord Liao, can you please give me the face of the Bo's Mansion..."

"Young Master." County Magistrate Liao's tone was firm and left no room for negotiation.

"The law is like a mountain, and I just want to do my job fairly."

The people outside the county government looked at the county magistrate with even more admiration in their eyes.

Ding Xiaoqiu in the crowd let out a soft "eh".

"Just now he stood in the crowd without saying a word.

Why did you start begging for mercy only after being recognized by the steward?"