Cao Zhenguo interrupted, "Did Mr. Huang's cow die?"

Mai Sui shook his head and said, "It was the rich man Huang who killed the cow and insisted that my brother was fed to death. My brother was so angry that he sneaked into the Huang family in the middle of the night to steal the millet. But my brother was a little stupid and only grabbed less than two taels of millet from the Huang family's kitchen. Unfortunately, he was discovered by the Huang family, so the rich man Huang hung my brother on the beam and beat him to death!" At this point, Mai Sui burst into tears.

Zhao Huan and Nangong Lian'er looked at each other. It turned out that such a thing had happened in Mai Sui's family.

Cao Zhenguo slammed the table and said, "Since that wealthy man Huang killed your own brother, why didn't you report it to the authorities? Besides, you have no evidence. How can you say that it was wealthy man Huang who killed your son?"

Mai Sui's father, Guan Daming, pulled out a petition from his pocket: "Sir! After my son died, I went to the Bo County government office to beat the drum and appeal for justice. I never expected that the Bo County Magistrate, Gu Zhihe, had accepted bribes from the wealthy Huang and accused my son of stealing and deserved to be beaten to death. This is the petition!"

The yamen runner took the petition and mailed it up. Cao Zhenguo opened it and casually put it aside. "I've read the petition, and it does bear the official seal of the Bo County magistrate. However, Bo County is under the jurisdiction of Haizhou, not under my jurisdiction. It seems that the Haizhou magistrate, Han Tiexin, is not a regular official. I will report your petition to the court and see if I can give you justice!"

Guan Daming was overjoyed: "Thank you, Lord Justice, for redressing my grievances!"

"However," Cao Zhenguo changed the subject, "You said that the wealthy Huang asked you to return the two taels of millet at the market. Although Huang Shiren was at fault, you still violated the imperial law by beating him to death. I must handle this impartially!"