Nothing happened that night. Early the next morning, the dull sound of drums broke the usual tranquility of Kunshan County Court.

"What's that sound?" The runners of the soap squad were having breakfast. Thanks to the master, the food in the county government was very good and everyone had gained a lot of weight.

"It sounds like the Dengwen Drum..." someone said uncertainly. After all, no one had ever struck that thing, and no one was sure what sound it would make.

"What do you mean by 'seemingly'? It's absolutely true!" Wang Bantou was the most experienced. He dropped his bowl of rice, grabbed his corrugated hat, and put it on properly, saying, "Hurry up, get ready for the court session!"

"Hey, okay..." The yamen runners quickly grabbed the meat-filled buns, stuffed two of them into their mouths, and rushed out of the cafeteria like Kang Hui.

In the back hall, Master Zhao had just gotten up. With dark circles under his eyes and yawning, he sat down in the main seat when he heard the drumbeats.

"Hey, performing opera so early in the morning? Do you have any sense of public morality?" Zhao Shouzheng took the scallop and cuttlefish porridge served by the maid. This thing is very nutritious.

"Father, are you sure it's not the drum for reporting?" Young Master Zhao had something on his mind, so he naturally did not sleep in. He got up early and sat in the hall reading the newspaper. When he heard the drum, he knew that it was Zheng Ruozeng who came to complain as promised.

"What? Really?!" Mr. Zhao immediately became alert and said excitedly, "Hey, go to the front and see if this is the case!"

"Uh, father, that guy stopped being your servant last year and has been working with me a long time ago." Young Master Zhao coughed lightly.

"Oh, really? Haha, no wonder I always feel like something is missing, but I can't remember where it is." Mr. Zhao said awkwardly, "So that guy is missing. Really, he left without even saying hello to me."

"I think we said hello, right?" Young Master Zhao scratched his head and said, "I don't remember clearly."

"I have no impression of him at all." Zhao Shouzheng shook his head and said, "Forget it. It doesn't matter if he's there or not."

He quickly asked the fat Fan Datong to go and have a look. After a while, Fan Datong came back panting and said, "Yes, that's right, it was Mr. Kaiyang who beat the drum to complain, Mr. Wu, please come to court quickly."

"He's not going to do it for me?" Zhao Shouzheng blinked and looked at Zhao Hao.

"According to the ancestral system of the country, the court must be immediately summoned after the drum is struck." Zhao Hao couldn't help but secretly reflect on whether he and Mr. Wu were meddling too much. Why was his father so cautious in everything he did?

"Aha, that's great." Zhao Shouzheng was overjoyed when he heard that, and he clapped his hands and laughed, "I've been the county magistrate for two years, and I haven't had the chance to try a case yet. Now it's finally my turn to show off!"

"Hurry, hurry and dress me, the master." He didn't even eat his meal and quickly asked the maids to get him a new set of official robes to change into.

It’s the first time in life, so there should always be a sense of ceremony.

Zhao Shouzheng was sitting in front of a floor-length dressing mirror. Two maids were kneeling on the ground helping him put on his boots, while one maid was re-combing his hair so that he could put on a new, slightly tight black gauze hat.

"I don't know whether my head is too big or this hat is too small." Mr. Zhao complained casually.

"The hat must be too small." Zhao Hao said with a smile.

"Good luck." The father and son looked at each other and couldn't help laughing.

"This Old Zheng is really formal. Why can't we talk about it face to face? Why does he have to make it so grand?" Zhao Shouzheng said again.

Not only did Zhao Hao avoid showing up in the court to avoid suspicion, but in order to avoid appearing to be performing too much, he did not even inform his father in advance.

But this was by no means an impromptu performance without rehearsal. Zhao Hao had already discussed it with Wu Chengen yesterday afternoon. Wu Chengen knew exactly how to handle this case. He even visited Chu Liuxiang in the classroom and told him what he should and should not say today.

As for Mr. Zhao, why does he know so much? He just needs to be handsome... He is not a puppet, serious face.

"Mr. Kaiyang has always been prudent in his actions. He must have his reasons." Zhao Hao said.

"Yeah, that's true." Zhao Shouzheng agreed with him. He stood up with great interest, pointed his hand forward, and said in a monologue: "Today, I am ordered by the emperor to leave the imperial capital to investigate bullies and unruly people. No matter whether they are royal relatives or relatives of the emperor, the word king's law is merciless!"

As he said this, he was about to pace out.

"Master, you haven't fastened your belt yet." The maid quickly reminded him.

"Uh..." Mr. Zhao had no choice but to stand there awkwardly, and asked nervously, "Son, I won't make any trouble, will I?"

After all, it’s the first time in my life, so I can’t help feeling nervous.

"Come on, father." Zhao Hao smiled and raised his arm to cheer him up, "You are already a mature county magistrate. You will definitely be able to do it."

At least it looks great, is supplied exclusively to the royal family, and is carefully selected and certified by the eldest princess.

~~

The rare sound of drums also alarmed the pedestrians on Yaqian Street, and the people of Kunshan flocked to the county government office to watch the excitement.

It's not that Kunshan is a harmonious society without disputes, but it's that ordinary people would hardly resort to radical methods like beating the drum to file a lawsuit. It's not that they don't want to, people always want to make the biggest noise possible when filing a complaint.

But just like there was a special Dengwen Drum Court outside the palace to prevent random people from beating drums, the county also had a gate in front of the eight-character wall, and ordinary people couldn't get in at all, so how could they beat the drums? So if they had any grievances, they could only submit their petitions through the gate, and of course, no drums were heard in the government office for several years.

Yu Men had received instructions to open the gate today and let the common people in to attend the trial. Before long, the platform in front of the hall was already crowded with people who came to watch the excitement.

As the cloud board in the back hall sounded and Fan Datong sang "The master has arrived", Master Zhao, wearing a black gauze hat and a sixth-rank official robe, with his hands on his black horn belt, accompanied by Gongsun Ce... Oh no, Wu Cheng'en, walked onto the stage in a majestic manner and sat behind the big desk.

"Kowtow to our elderly parents!" Without waiting for the official to shout, the people knelt down in unison and greeted loudly their beloved Master Zhao.

"Okay, okay, everyone, get up quickly." Mr. Zhao, who loves his people like his own children, had a kind smile on his face and started chatting with them out of habit. "Why are you free to come here today? Have you had breakfast?"

"Ahem..." Wu Chengen, who was standing behind him, coughed quickly and reminded him in a low voice: "Sir, the court is in session."

"Oh, let's talk about it another day. I'm going to take care of my business first." Zhao Shouzheng retracted his gaze, looked for the gavel on the big case, twisted his sleeve with one hand, and tentatively knocked it with the other hand.

"Too light..." Wu Cheng'en was sweating and thought to himself, what a small piece of tofu you are.

There was a loud bang, and Mr. Zhao shouted, "Open the court!"

The yamen runners, who were divided into two groups, pounded the water and fire sticks on the ground together, "Mighty... Powerful..."

The sound of the wooden sticks hitting the ground was like raindrops and was very creepy. Soon you could hear a pin drop in the hall.

"Who's beating the drum in the hall?!" Mr. Zhao finally shouted out the line he had practiced many times in his dreams.

"My lord, it's Mr. Zheng Ruozeng, an old gentleman from our county." The bailiff hurriedly bowed and reported.

"Oh, it's him, please come in." Zhao Shouzheng raised his hand.

"Please invite Mr. Zheng to the court." The bailiff sang loudly, and Zheng Ruozeng came to the court tremblingly, leaning on a crutch and supported by his son.

"It is rude and impolite for a student to visit his elderly parents. He deserves death!" Zheng Ruozeng said as he was about to kneel down.

"No, no, Yiluan, quickly support your father." Zhao Shouzheng hurriedly asked for a seat.

Not to mention that Zheng Ruozeng had the honor of being a student and was exempted from kneeling when meeting officials, just the fact that he assisted Hu Zongxian in fighting against the Japanese pirates and made great contributions, and after returning home he was enthusiastic about his hometown and dragged his old body to work for the county's disaster relief work, so Master Zhao had to show him courtesy.

Zheng Ruoceng thanked his old parents and sat down on the stool they had brought.

Zhao Shouzheng then asked, "I wonder why Mr. Kaiyang is beating the drum?"

"Go back to my old parents and redress my grievances!" Zheng Ruozeng said with emotion.

"What injustice have you suffered?" Zhao Shouzheng asked seriously.

"This is not my injustice. I am speaking up for a brave man named Chu!" Zheng Ruozeng said as he took out the complaint and asked his son to present it on his behalf, and then recounted the case.

"Oh, is this true?" Zhao Shouzheng was indeed unaware of this and turned around to look at his assistant.

"My Lord, there is such a case." Wu Cheng'en hurriedly bowed and said, "But didn't you announce that due to the tight schedule of the river project, all lawsuits would be postponed and will be heard next month? So the case was temporarily suppressed."

After a pause, the writer apologized and said, "Because this is a major case of collusion with the Japanese, that Chu was temporarily detained in the detention room awaiting trial to prevent him from escaping."

"Hmm." Zhao Shouzheng nodded, as if the county was right.

"Does the Master want to bring him to court?" Wu Cheng'en quickly asked, "And the plaintiff in the case of collusion with the Japanese, the county student Xue Xiaoren?"

"Of course." Zhao Shouzheng slammed the gavel and said, "Bring them up together."

"Fire sign." Wu Chengen quickly reminded in a low voice.

Zhao Shouzheng then quickly pulled out a stick from the stick box and threw it on the ground.

Wang Bantou quickly picked up the fire stick and went downstairs to pass it on.

Taking advantage of this short period of time, Wu Cheng'en briefly explained the case to the master.

After a while, Chu Liuxiang was brought in. His brocade robe was dirty and torn, but fortunately he was intact and looked healthy.

He had a scruffy beard and stood in the hall with his head held high, looking like a real outlaw. No wonder the police didn't dare to let him go...

"How dare you! You don't even kneel before the county magistrate?" Fan Datong, who served as the chief attendant, shouted.

This shout really worked. Chu Liuxiang woke up as if from a dream and remembered that the "dog official" in the hall was the young master's father. He quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed hard.

"Please judge for me, I am innocent!"

"Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense. No one can say that they are not wronged." Mr. Zhao said in a deep voice: "Stand up and answer."

"Hey." Chu Liu responded and quickly stood up obediently.

"You said you were wronged, then explain where the two hundred silver dollars for the betrothal gift came from?" Zhao Shouzheng pointed at the file he had just brought and said, "The neighbors all say that your family is rich and you have made a fortune. How did you make this fortune? If you explain it clearly, won't everything be alright?"

"This..." Chu Liuxiang said in embarrassment: "We have rules and cannot say it."

"Look at you, you asked for this, didn't you?!" Mr. Zhao was so angry that he slammed the gavel and said, "Tell the truth!"