Chapter 1169: Upgrading to a Cannon
It can be said that Xue Xiaoren was unlucky. Relying on his family's small amount of land, he did not look for a job after failing the imperial examination. He just idled around all day, hanging out in teahouses and gambling houses in the county town, working as a gossipmonger and eating the food of a hanger-on.
That day he was having breakfast in a teahouse on Xitang Street. When he heard that the county magistrate was going to court to try a case, he hurried over to watch the fun so that he could brag about it to his friends.
As he was rushing towards Yaqian Street excitedly, he ran into Wang Bantou and his group.
These hangers-on are all very friendly, so Xue Xiaoren greeted the team leader Wang cordially, "Good morning, Your Majesty. Where are you going on business?"
Even though Wang Bantou is like a dog in the yamen, his status in the county is not low at all. It is equivalent to the captain of the county criminal police brigade, a person respected by both the black and white worlds.
He was walking along with a sad face, when he heard someone greet him. He looked over and saw a slick-haired, powdered-faced idler, so he asked, "Who are you?"
I thought to myself that I happened to meet such a guy, so I asked him if he knew where Xue Xiaoren was.
Xue Xiaoren didn't expect Wang Bantou to respond. He felt his bones soften when he heard his question. He quickly approached and said shamelessly, "You are really a noble man who forgets things easily. My dear Xue Xiaoren, we had a drink together at Cuihua Tower last time."
"Oh, really?" Wang Bantou responded casually, then his eyes widened and he asked, "What's your name?"
"Xue Xiaoren? Not the 'villain' of a mean person, but the Xiaoren who 'enlightens people with benevolence and righteousness'..."
"I don't care what kind of villain you are." Wang Bantou gave a wink to the policeman behind him.
The constable stepped forward calmly and flanked him from both sides.
"Let me ask you, were you the one who reported the case of Chu Liuxiang colluding with the Japanese?" Wang Bantou asked him with a grin.
"Yes, yes..." Xue Xiaoren felt something was wrong and wanted to retreat, but he was caught by two constables with their grappling hands. How could he move? "What's wrong? Your Majesty, why are you arresting me?"
"Nothing." Wang Bantou laughed loudly and said, "It's really easy to get it. Take it back!"
The two constables did not give any time for explanation and dragged Xue Xiaoren back to the county government office like a bag of flour and threw him in front of the chief judge's hall.
~~
After verifying his identity, Mr. Zhao slammed the gavel and shouted, "Xue Xiaoren, do you have any evidence to prove that Chu Liuxiang is colluding with the Japanese?"
"My dear parents, I have the list of betrothal gifts he gave as proof. He was a poor old man from Shandong, but he disappeared for a year and came back rich overnight. How could he have made so much money if he hadn't colluded with the Japanese?" Xue Xiaoren leaned over and answered quickly. He hung out in the county all day, and his performance when meeting officials was much better than that of ordinary people.
"However, there is a local gentry named Zheng Ruozeng who was commissioned by the Jiangnan Group to testify for Chu Liuxiang. He is a hero who fought against the Japanese invaders, not a traitor who colluded with the Japanese invaders. What do you think of this?" Mr. Zhao asked coldly:
"Even the heroes who fought against the Japanese pirates couldn't earn that much money." Xue Xiaoren naturally insisted on being stubborn.
"Don't be so self-righteous, open your eyes and take a look!" Mr. Zhao said as he waved his hand, and the bailiff placed a salary slip from the Jiangnan Group in front of him.
Xue Xiaoren's eyes widened as he saw that the Jiangnan Group paid Chu Liuxiang a total of 350 taels of silver in salary in the third year of the Longqing reign. He was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth for a long time.
"Bah, disgusting!"
"False accusation!"
"Sit back, sit back!" The people who were watching the excitement shouted indignantly. After the hero was cleared of his name, the highlight was naturally to catch the bad guys.
With a 'bang' sound, Mr. Zhao slammed the gavel again and shouted majestically:
"Hey Xue Xiaoren, since you are a scholar, you should know that false accusations should be punished according to your crime!"
The so-called "false accusation" means punishing the accuser with the crime of false accusation. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, my country has always had a system of severely punishing false accusations in order to eliminate evil spirits and improve people's morals. The Guo Dynasty is no exception.
Xue Xiaoren was frightened, but since he dared to report it, he had of course considered how to get away with it if the report failed.
He immediately kowtowed and cried out, "Please forgive me, dear parents. I am just an enthusiastic citizen who hates the Japanese pirates. I am reporting out of anger and have no intention of making a false accusation! At most, it can only be considered a 'false accusation'..."
The so-called "false accusation" means that if you accuse someone of a crime that is not true, but not intentional, it is not considered a false accusation. Although you will be punished, it is much lighter than the false accusation, basically just drinking three cups of wine as a punishment.
"You said you didn't do it on purpose?" Zhao Shouzheng smiled evilly, which made him shudder again.
"Yes, it was definitely not intentional." Xue Xiaoren quickly clarified: "I have no grudges against Chu Zhuangshi in the past or in the present. What good will it do me to falsely accuse him?"
Zhao Shouzheng sneered and said, "Of course you have benefits, because you have an affair with Chu Liuxiang's unmarried wife!"
"Wow..." The people were in an uproar, happy to hear it, oh no, they immediately cursed the adulterer, and rags and smelly straw sandals rained down on him.
"It's unfair, it's unfair!" Xue Xiaoren twisted his body to dodge and cried out loudly. "We are just cousins."
"You still dare to quibble!" Master Zhao slammed the table and shouted, "Bring a witness!"
The bailiff then brought up the old scholar Wang.
"Uncle..." Xue Xiaoren still held on to the last glimmer of hope. As the saying goes, family disgrace should not be made public, especially since his uncle was so poor that he only had his face left.
"Bah, I don't have a nephew like you!" Unexpectedly, Mr. Wang picked up his crutch and started hitting him, looking extremely furious, as if he had just found out that his daughter and nephew were having an affair.
"You beast, you actually dared to seduce your own cousin, are you still a human being? I'm going to castrate you!" Old Wang hit Xue Xiaoren on the head with his crutch, causing a bloody mess. If the yamen runners hadn't quickly pulled him back, he would have had his head cut open.
"Uncle, have you lost your mind?" Xue Xiaoren was stunned, not knowing what was wrong with this old man.
"That evil creature has confessed everything. It's useless for you to deny it!" Old Scholar Wang kowtowed to the master, tears streaming down his face, "I have failed to teach my daughter well and look after the family properly. I am guilty! I know I have let down the hero Chu and have hanged myself out of shame. Please punish this evil creature who killed my daughter severely!"
"Uh..." Mr. Zhao was stunned. He didn't expect it to be so tragic. He thought, isn't it just a slut? What's the big deal? Who hasn't done it? The county won't blame you...
"Is your daughter dead?" Zhao Shouzheng asked sadly.
"Well...luckily he was rescued in time..." Mr. Wang said in a voice as soft as a mosquito: "He saved a dog's life."
In fact, Wang Laoxiucai didn't want to do this, but how could he bear the pressure from Jiangnan Group? Zheng Ruozeng didn't even need to come forward and send someone to tell him to do it. Otherwise, his whole family would have no chance of staying in Kunshan.
"Oh, that's okay, that's okay." Zhao Shouzheng breathed a sigh of relief.
~~
Mr. Zhao asked Mr. Wang to leave for the time being, and then he slammed the gavel heavily with a "bang".
"You might as well confess the truth and avoid physical pain!"
The yamen runners on both sides quickly took their water and fire sticks and pounded them on the ground, making creepy thumping sounds.
Xue Xiaoren had completely given up on cursing, knowing that if he continued to deny, he would be beaten. He was not even a scholar, so the county magistrate could naturally beat him however he wanted.
He had no choice but to confess everything. He did not want to lose his cousin, who was his free lover, and he also wanted the Chu family's money... According to the law, the informant would get half of the stolen money... He falsely accused Chu Liuxiang of colluding with the Japanese, and then signed his name dejectedly amid the people's curses.
"Silence, silence!" Master Zhao slammed the gavel, asking the people to be quiet, and then he announced the verdict in court.
"According to the Great Ming Code, anyone who falsely accuses someone of a crime of flogging shall have the second degree of the crime he falsely accused of committing shall be punished; anyone who is convicted of a crime of exile, imprisonment, or caning shall have the third degree of the crime he falsely accused of committing shall be punished, with each crime limited to 100 canings and exile 3,000 miles. If the person falsely accused of a capital crime has been convicted, he shall be sentenced to death; if the person is not convicted, he shall be punished with 100 canings, exile 3,000 miles, and an additional three years of hard labor!"
Master Zhao recited the law fluently, and then said in a deep voice: "Therefore, this county sentences Xue Xiaoren to 100 strokes of the cane, exile 3,000 miles, and an additional three years of hard labor!"
Xue Xiaoren immediately collapsed to the ground. Well, this is more than just physical pain. After a hundred blows, it's hard to say whether the skin and flesh are still there?
"It was found that Chu Liuxiang was falsely accused. He was acquitted and given a plaque of 'Anti-Japanese Artillery King' to honor his merits!" Zhao Shouzheng looked at Chu Liuxiang kindly and said, "In addition, because Xue Xiaoren committed adultery first and falsely accused you of the disaster, your marriage was ruined and you were wrongly imprisoned for more than a month, his property was confiscated and all compensation is given to you as a consolation."
"Ah ah..." Chu Liuxiang opened his mouth wide, so excited that he didn't know what to say.
"What are you talking about, silly boy? Why don't you kowtow to thank the Lord of Heaven?" Zheng Ruozeng laughed and poked him with his crutch.
"Oh, I bow to thank the great Lord of Heaven for his grace!" Chu Liuxiang quickly knelt down and kowtowed hard.
Seeing how decisively Mr. Zhao handled the case, the people were very happy and started shouting, "Great Judge Zhao!"
"Don't say that, don't say that, I haven't done enough..." Mr. Zhao was falsely modest, and felt like he was about to fly. "The Honest Lord" was definitely one of the top three words he wanted to hear in his life.
"Keep going, it's not over yet." Seeing that he was about to twist his seat again, Wu Cheng'en quickly reminded him in a low voice.
"Oh oh." Zhao Shouzheng came back to his senses and asked Chu Liuxiang, "Do you need me to help you cancel your engagement with the Wang family?"
"Remove it!" Chu Liuxiang's eyes immediately turned red and he said, "I won't wear a green hat!"
"Hey, you haven't gotten married yet, so you can't be cheated on." Zhao Shouzheng waved his hand to comfort him, and then said to Wang Xiucai: "Go back and return the betrothal gift, and give you a generous gift to apologize. Did you hear me?"
"I heard it, I heard it." Mr. Wang nodded hurriedly, secretly groaning in his heart. He had lost everything, and lost a lot.
"Don't be sad, this is a good thing, better than finding out after getting married. Besides, a real man will have no trouble finding a wife. From today on, with your reputation as the King of Kunshan, matchmakers will definitely come to your house!" Zhao Shouzheng comforted Chu Liuxiang again.
"Hey, hey." Chu Liuxiang nodded repeatedly, saying what he meant naturally.
"Since my parents said so, I will shamelessly intercept them." Zheng Ruozeng suddenly interrupted and said with a smile: "Don't look at my age. I still have a daughter who is waiting to be married. Although she is not the daughter of the first wife, she is a treasure of love and treasure. Her character and appearance are acceptable. I wonder if I can dare to ask my parents to be a matchmaker and introduce her to Chu Zhuangshi."
"Haha, Cannon King, you've upgraded your musket to a cannon. I think that's a good idea!" Zhao Shouzheng was overjoyed when he heard that. He slammed the table and said, "It's settled. Dismiss!"
ps. I must have caught a cold. I had a headache and stayed in bed all day. I felt better at night. I got up to write a chapter and then went to bed quickly, hoping to feel better tomorrow.
(End of this chapter)