Dusk fell and in the noisy chaos, Pei Wenfeng was given a headache. He wanted to go back to the county government office to inquire about the reason. As soon as he turned around, he was insulted by the woman and someone grabbed his sleeve, leaving him defenseless and staggering.
"You..." Pei Wenfeng was stunned, his face changed and he looked very unhappy.
"Hey, young lady, in front of so many people, do you have any shame? Do you know how to let go?" The trusted servant was always by his side, but he couldn't prevent the nimble woman from blocking his way. He hurriedly pulled back Pei Wenfeng's sleeve and opened his arms to stop her. He said displeasedly, "How dare you insult an official in public?"
"Go! Go! Go"
"Move aside, move aside immediately! Our young master is in a hurry to take up his post at the government office. The Chujie case is not under his jurisdiction. You should go and ask Magistrate Nie for help."
"I'm sorry, I, I was so anxious that I lost my mind. I didn't mean to scold you." The woman in blue was in a state of panic and embarrassment.
Pei Wenfeng brushed his sleeves, his face expressionless.
The common people blocked the road to complain and the carriage was stopped. He was a newcomer and had no idea about the case. Seeing the noise was outrageous, he got off the carriage and asked about the accident out of curiosity.
As a result, the master and his two servants were surrounded by a group of bodyguards.
He was in charge of patrolling and arresting thieves. Because he said, "This case should be handled by the local Magistrate Nie. You all should step down and do not interfere with official business," he was harassed and insulted by the defendant's brother and sister.
"Master Pei, my elder brother has been wrongfully imprisoned for over a month. His life or death remains unknown. Magistrate Nie has not yet opened a court hearing and has not allowed us to visit him." The woman in blue was worried about her elder brother's safety and was extremely anxious. Her face was full of pleading. She spoke quickly but was suddenly interrupted.
"presumptuous"
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"These bold and unruly people dare to openly despise and insult the imperial officials. Come on, arrest this group of lawless and unruly people and put them in jail." The Chujie County Magistrate, whose surname was Nie, was furious and glared.
"Yes..." More than ten yamen runners obeyed the order, drew their swords and pointed them at the escort, and shouted, "Unruly people, put down your weapons immediately and kneel down honestly!"
"You are so audacious! You have offended the two adults. Why don't you kneel down immediately?"
"Hand over your weapons, kneel down, and if you continue to cause trouble, you will be severely punished later."
There were more than ten escorts, all of them were strong and loyal. Without the young master's order, no one moved. They looked at each other and remained in a stalemate.
The Chujie County Magistrate saw this and became even more furious. He shouted, "Du Laosi, are you so bold? Tell your men to stop immediately!"
The young man nicknamed Du Laosi, dressed in black, with a long sword hanging from his waist, stiffened his neck and replied, "From the beginning to the end, we didn't do anything. Why should we stop? My eldest brother has been wrongly accused. Please judge fairly and impartially."
"Whether Boss Du has been wronged is currently under investigation by the government, and this county will render a fair judgment. The government is investigating a case, so how can you dictate?" The Chujie County Magistrate, his face dark, angrily ordered, "Put down your weapons and kneel down, otherwise, don't blame me for arresting you for assaulting an official with weapons."
Du Laosi's younger sister, Du Feiyan, was sixteen years old, tall and slender, with light honey-colored skin, beautiful eyes, and well-defined eyebrows. She also carried a sword. Her face was pale and panicked. She unsheathed her sword and threw it to the ground. Then, grabbing her brother, she urgently urged, "Fourth Brother, calm down. We're here to beg for mercy. We must not resort to violence. Since they asked us to put down our weapons, we should do so, lest we be accused of crimes again."
"Hmph, officials protect each other, snakes and rats are all from the same nest." Du Laosi was young and full of energy, and was furious.
The next moment, Guo Honglei arrived with his men.
He held the hilt of the knife, looked around in surprise, and asked with concern, "Brother Pei, I didn't expect to meet you here. What's going on? Do you need my help?"
Pei Wenfeng was stunned, frowning in confusion. Instead of answering, he asked, "Aren't you in Heqinwei? Why did you come to Yongzhou?" He took the time to observe the surroundings and took a quick look. "Who are those ragged people?"
"Rotation of guard." Guo Honglei approached and briefly explained, "At the end of last month, I was ordered to rush to Yongzhou to garrison Tuningwei. Those are all convicts, new recruits I just recruited."
"So that's how it is." Pei Wenfeng nodded suddenly. The scene was so chaotic that he didn't notice the two carriages a hundred meters away.
The Chujie County Magistrate was watching from the side. Seeing Guo Honglei in his neatly dressed military uniform and with an extraordinary bearing, he bowed and politely asked, "Nie is the Chujie County Magistrate. I wonder how I should address you, Your Excellency?"
"This is Captain Guo from our Tu Ning Guard." The personal guard informed.
"Oh, it turns out to be Captain Guo." The magistrate of Chujie County was not as good as him. His face was full of smiles and enthusiasm. He said with a bow, "Excuse me, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Guo Honglei returned the greeting, "Nice to meet you. Sorry to interrupt you two while you're at work."
"Alas, I, Nie, am ashamed of myself. My poor governance has led to such a mess at the city gate. I'm sorry to have embarrassed you." The Chujie County Magistrate smiled helplessly and took the initiative to explain, "This group of unruly people are escorts. While escorting an convoy, they had a dispute with their employer over money and were sued by their employer. Dissatisfied with the case not being decided, they surrounded and insulted the court officials with weapons. They were reckless and arrogant, and refused to lay down their weapons."
Pei Wenfeng calmed down, stared at Du Laosi, and asked in a deep voice, "I have tolerated you repeatedly, but you are still pushing your limits, blocking the way with swords and knives. What is your intention? Are you trying to assassinate an official appointed by the court?"
"We are here to ask you to uphold justice. We have never shown any intention to assassinate us. How can you fabricate charges and wrongly accuse innocent people?" Du Laosi was reckless and had a bad temper.
Du Feiyan was protected by her brother. She had just come of age, had been spoiled from childhood, and lacked experience in dealing with people. She looked at her handsome "official accomplice" and explained, "I carry weapons on escort missions for self-defense, not for any other reason. Please don't misunderstand me."
Guo Honglei frowned, his demeanor dignified as he asked loudly, "The escorts have their own rules, and the government has its own rules. We're all busy with our own business on weekdays, but according to the law, when it comes to lawsuits, the public must obey the government's rules. You two have repeatedly ordered us to surrender our weapons, so why didn't you do so?"
"Do you want to give up on your own initiative, or do you want us to help you?" Guo Honglei stood as steady as a pine tree, surrounded by his men. The personal soldiers were fierce and scolded
"Just put it down when I tell you to. Why are you nagging me?"
"Who are you trying to scare, you're carrying a sword and a saber? Do you want to challenge me to a duel?"
"You are all deaf, do you know what the consequences of disobeying orders are?"
"Fourth brother, calm down and give me the sword, please. We are outnumbered. At this critical moment, the wisest man can be a hero." Du Feiyan glanced at the tall and mighty border soldiers, frightened and terrified. She snatched her brother's sword and threw it on the ground, running back and forth to urge him.
"Everyone, put down your weapons quickly. If we don't rescue our brother, we will be thrown into prison."
After a moment, there were sounds of "ding-ling-dang-clang". The angry escorts endured the humiliation and handed over their swords one after another.
Upon seeing this, the county yamen runners hurriedly took away the weapons of the troublemakers.
Du Feiyan's face turned pale, and the courage she had mustered completely disappeared. She was afraid of the black-faced county magistrate and the majestic military generals. She hesitated for a moment, then took aim at the elegant and handsome prefect, tried her best to remain calm, and knelt down in front of Pei Wenfeng, looking up and saying, "Master Pei, all the masters, please be magnanimous and forgive us, the foolish people. We know we were wrong. We should never have offended the officials of the court." After she finished speaking, she gritted her teeth and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Please, gentlemen, forgive us this time. We will never do it again."
"Sister" Du Laosi was stunned and bent down to support her. "You, what are you doing?"
Du Feiyan broke free and continued to kowtow, "Please forgive me, gentlemen."
Pei Wenfeng looked down at the "female troublemaker" and found that her face was pale with fear. She was obviously afraid, but she was holding back and did not shed a single tear. He could not help but think that she had some backbone.
In just a short moment, Guo Honglei quickly calmed the situation and no one dared to shout anymore.
More than a hundred meters away, Jiang Yushu, Wei Xu and others were a step late. When they arrived, they saw only a young girl kowtowing and begging for mercy, and they were all confused and puzzled.
It was almost dark, and the evening breeze was chilly. Jiang Yushu wrapped herself tightly in her cloak, the hood of which was loose and blew away by the wind. She raised her hand to press it, then peered closely, but in the dim light she couldn't make out the stranger's face.
Guo Honglei turned his head when he heard the sound, stepped sideways, and made room for him. "I'm sorry for scaring you."
Jiang Yushu approached, stood shoulder to shoulder, and shook her head. "What's going on? What's all the commotion?" She looked at her cousin. "Cousin, it really is you. Just now in the carriage, I thought I had misheard."
"You heard it right." Pei Wenfeng sighed, "These people are just scolding me."
Jiang Yushu hesitated to speak, and consoled him, "You just arrived in Yongzhou and haven't started investigating the case yet, right? There must be some misunderstanding."
"The nonsense of the unruly people is not worth your attention, Lord Pei." Wei Xu bowed in greeting.
Pei Wenfeng returned the greeting and asked in surprise, "You got the travel documents re-issued so quickly?"
"Actually, the things were not lost, they just stayed in Liu Village." Wei Xu was quite embarrassed.
"oh."
Du Feiyan was dizzy from the knock, and her forehead was red and swollen. She looked up anxiously, looking at the gentle Pei Wenfeng, and then at the dignified and beautiful Jiang Yushu, thinking quickly. When she was about to give up the governor and ask for his cousin, she heard the Chujie County Magistrate order
"Come here, take these troublemakers away and put them in jail for trial tomorrow."
Then, the county magistrate bowed and warmly invited, "It's getting late, gentlemen, please follow me into the city. Yongzhou is in ruins and the inn is very run-down. If you don't mind, there are many guest rooms in the back hall. How about you stay here?"
Before anyone could answer, Du Feiyan's eyes went dark when she heard "put them all in jail". The sixteen-year-old girl was extremely afraid of jail. Once in jail, her reputation would be ruined.
Thinking of this, Du Feiyan was terrified. Regardless of anything else, she crawled towards Jiang Yushu on her knees as if she was rushing to a life-saving driftwood, begging incoherently and tremblingly.
"I beg you, kind sister. I, we have done nothing illegal. Please have mercy on us and intercede for us. We will do our best to repay your kindness."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
