In the main hall of Suiyang County Government, Magistrate Ge Fanghai sat behind his desk, inviting Su Wan to the court to plead her case.

As soon as Su Wan entered the main hall, the bailiffs on both sides shouted in unison, "Majesty!" meaning they were urging Su Wan to kneel down immediately.

Su Wan had no intention of kneeling before Ge Fanghai. Not only did he collude with Su Heng, helping him seize Baohe Hall, but he also conspired with an insider in the General's Mansion to harm the mansion.

She stood in the center of the hall and said to Ge Fanghai, "Sir, I have been wronged."

Normally, Ge Fanghai would have pursued the matter of Su Wan for disrespecting officials. But he was in a hurry to get rid of her so he could deal with the Crown Prince of Xirong, so he didn't care about her kneeling and directly asked, "Woman standing below, where are you from? What is your name? Whom do you want to sue? Do you have a complaint?"

Su Wan was stunned.

She didn't know that in ancient times, appeals required a written complaint to state one's grievances or accuse someone, and she came empty-handed.

There was something even more important: just now, in the county government office, the Western Rong prince and Ge Fanghai were about to fight, and she was busy trying to defuse the situation, so she hadn't yet figured out her own identity.

“Sir, I am from Linyuan Village, and my name is Dalan.”

In a moment of inspiration, she remembered the village girl, Dalan, whom she had rescued on the road.

"Linyuan Village?" Ge Fanghai slammed his gavel. "Linyuan Village is not under the jurisdiction of this county, are you aware of that? Guards!"

In fact, Linyuan Village was under the jurisdiction of Suiyang County, but he wanted to get rid of Su Wan as soon as possible, so he made up a reason to drive Su Wan out of the hall.

Unexpectedly, the county clerk was awakened by Su Wan's drumming and came to the main hall.

The advisor was over fifty years old, a scholar from Suiyang County. He was a heavy sleeper and had no experience with swordsmanship. Ge Fanghai felt he couldn't be of much help when negotiating with the Western Rong prince, so he didn't call on him.

Su Wan struck the drum, and the clerk, who was particularly sensitive to the sound, quickly got up and dressed. When he arrived at the main hall, he was shocked to find his master, who usually didn't get up until late morning, sitting there fully dressed, with all the yamen runners present.

When did everyone get up? Why didn't anyone tell him? Doesn't that make him look like the laziest person in the county government?

He rushed into the main hall in a panic, just in time to hear Ge Fanghai say, "Linyuan Village is not under the jurisdiction of this county." He quickly raised his hand and shouted, "Sir, please wait! You've made a mistake!"

Ge Fanghai turned around and saw the clerk enter. Knowing that the clerk wanted to correct him for deliberately misrepresenting something, he quickly stood up and said, "No..."

The clerk jogged up to him and said with a smile, "Sir, you must have a bad memory. Linyuan Village is under the jurisdiction of our county, sir."

Ge Fanghai almost raised his hand to slap the advisor across the face.

Su Wan shared the same idea.

She saw Ge Fanghai raise his hand to summon the yamen runners, realizing they wanted to drive her out of the main hall, which was exactly what she wanted. Unexpectedly, an old man rushed in through a side door and disrupted the situation. She had no choice but to quickly think of a solution.

Ge Fanghai clenched his fists behind his back twice and said to his clerk, "Yes, I forgot. Linyuan Village was originally a place specifically for exiling criminals wanted by the imperial court, and very few people came here specifically to seek justice..."

The clerk, still eager to curry favor, said to Ge Fanghai, "Master, you must be tired from getting up late to attend to this case. I will question this woman myself."

Ge Fanghai said, "No need, you can just listen in."

Ge Fanghai turned to Su Wan: "Da Lan, who are you going to sue? Where is your complaint?"

Su Wan pretended to wipe the corner of her eye and said, "Sir, I am illiterate and do not know how to write a complaint."

Seeing that she refused to kneel, the clerk said, "Bold woman, how dare you not kneel before the magistrate! Guards, drag her away and give her three strokes of the cane as punishment!"

As soon as the clerk finished speaking, the onlookers at the entrance of the hall shouted, "This woman has pleaded for justice, and the magistrate is going to beat her without asking any questions. It's outrageous!"

Ge Fanghai was annoyed by the clerk and said, "She's a woman coming to seek justice, so if she doesn't want to kneel, then she doesn't have to."

The clerk said, "Sir, this won't do. According to the laws of the Great Jin Dynasty, only those who have passed the imperial examinations and become scholars are allowed to stand before the county magistrate without kneeling. This woman is clearly just a commoner, yet she actually..."

Ge Fanghai was getting annoyed by this bookworm, but had no reason to get angry, so he could only say softly, "Master, you are getting on in years, please go down from the court and rest. This case will be handled by me..."

The clerk turned pale upon hearing this, thinking to himself that the magistrate was indeed indignant and intended to dismiss him.

Just as he was about to defend himself, a yamen runner rushed in from outside the main hall, parted the people gathered at the entrance, and rushed past Su Wan to Ge Fanghai.

When Ge Fanghai saw that this constable was the one he had sent to block the city gates, he was startled and grabbed the constable's hand, asking, "How is it?"

Seeing that there were people all around, the constable couldn't say anything openly, so he could only wave his hand at Ge Fanghai to indicate that he had failed.

Ge Fanghai was furious and slammed his hand on the table, saying, "I'm so angry! You bunch of useless trash! What are you standing here for? Go after them!"

The constables all looked at Ge Fanghai, and one of them asked, "Sir, what about this case?"

"Go quickly, go quickly!" Ge Fanghai stamped his feet repeatedly, shaking off his official hat.

Seeing that the magistrate was furious, the bailiffs quickly threw down their fire sticks and ran out of the county government office.

The advisor picked up the official hat that had fallen to the ground with a fawning expression and said to Ge Fanghai, "Master, what's wrong? Is there a notorious thief we need to apprehend?"

Ge Fanghai raised his hand and slapped the clerk across the face: "It's the notorious thief! The master is chasing this notorious thief!"

Ignoring the clerk who stood there dumbfounded, he ran down from the main hall. Upon reaching the outside of the yamen, a constable led over a fast horse. Ge Fanghai mounted and said to the constables following him, "Quick, follow me!"

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