Time passed day by day, and finally on September 18th, Fatty Tang came to pick up Zhao Hao from the mountain.

It was already late autumn, and the air in the mountains was extremely chilly, so Zhao Hao put on a brocade cloak.

"I heard that Li Jiutian's butt is about to be beaten to pieces." In the luxurious carriage, Fatty Tang said with a bit of gloating: "It seems that the lesson that the young master has taught him is deep enough. Even in this state, he still dares not go up the mountain to find the young master."

"Don't talk about him." Zhao Hao glanced at Tang Youde and said, "Aren't you fine too?"

"Don't look at me like this, Old Tang. I am an eighth-rank assistant lawyer!" Tang Youde smiled proudly, patted the black horn belt wrapped around his waist, and said with a smile: "Although this donation class is usually useless, if you want to arrest me, you have to ask the Southern Ministry of Personnel to dismiss me first, but they may not agree to it."

"I see." Zhao Hao made a disdainful gesture and said, "I thought you donated money to fight against the Japanese."

"Of course we are sincere in fighting against the Japanese!" Tang Youde said with a sly smile, "Of course, if we can bring some benefits along the way, our intentions will naturally be more sincere."

Zhao Hao teased him a bit and then said to his two disciples, "Today is the day when the results are announced. You don't need to follow me to the county government office later."

"The list is not as important as the master!" The two said in unison, shaking their heads, "Besides, there are people watching over there, and they will come to inform us as soon as the list is released."

"Okay." Zhao Hao nodded and didn't stop him.

"Ah, you really want to go to the county government?" Hearing this, Tang Youde couldn't help but worry about Zhao Hao and said, "I heard that County Magistrate Zhang is angry about your neglect and has prepared a full set of weapons. He is ready to give you a beating as soon as you arrive!"

"Tsk..." Zhao Hao sneered contemptuously, stroked his cloak and said, "He's dreaming."

"Sir, please tell me what's your plan?" Tang Youde asked, scratching his head. "Don't hide it now."

"Just wait and see." Zhao Hao made up his mind and kept the secret.

~~

At noon, the carriage stopped at Yaqian Street.

Wang Wuyang straightened Zhao Hao's cloak, Hua Shuyang arranged the brocade cushion, and helped the teacher get off the carriage.

Zhao Hao just happened to see Mr. Liu with flaming eyes.

In preparation for today's court hearing, Mr. Liu specially put on his official hat and belt and came to the county government office early in the morning. He happened to meet Zhao Hao getting off the carriage surrounded by a crowd of people.

At this point, Mr. Liu couldn't see clearly that this young thief was the real mastermind. And the fat man Tang who used his shoulder as a handrail for him was just an errand boy!

"You little thief, I'll make you pay today!" When enemies meet, they are extremely jealous of each other. Mr. Liu glared at Zhao Hao, wishing he could eat him alive.

"Oh, Mr. Liu is so angry." Zhao Hao didn't care and asked with a smile: "Could it be that the silk price has dropped again..."

"Puff..." Liu Yuanwai's eyes went dark and he almost vomited blood. If it weren't for the support of his long-time attendant, he would have fallen headfirst to the ground.

"That's right, it's the perfect time for the autumn silkworm harvest." Fatty Tang, who was playing the supporting role, was still rubbing salt into Mr. Liu's wounds. "When the market closed yesterday, the price had already dropped to one tael of silver per pound of silk. I'm afraid it won't hold even at one tael today..."

"Oh, it's such a horrible drop?" Zhao Hao asked with sympathy, "I wonder how many of Mr. Liu's hundreds of thousands of kilograms of silk were sold?"

"I guess they sold a lot of them, otherwise they wouldn't have the energy to sue us." Tang Youde said with a smile.

"I'm going to fight you!" Mr. Liu was squeezed by the two men, his face turned blue, and he was ready to pounce on them with his teeth and claws.

He has lost nearly two hundred thousand taels of silver in this period of time. If he hadn't transferred his hatred to these two people, he would have gone crazy.

Gao Wu and several fierce-looking strong men rubbed their fists and stood in front of Zhao Hao.

"This is the gate of the county government office, are you going to act wild too?" Zhao Shouzheng, accompanied by Fan Datong, came out from behind the screen wall. He looked at Liu Yuanwai coldly and said, "Even if you wear a yellow robe, you are not a prince, you are just a dog meat bun that cannot be served at a banquet!"

"You, you..." Mr. Liu was immediately hurt, but seeing those black men who looked like iron towers, he dared not go forward. This is the bad thing about donating money to become an official. You are inferior to others everywhere, and even a poor student dares to laugh at you.

Not only him, but even Fatty Tang beside Zhao Hao had his smile choked, apparently he was injured by mistake.

"Relax, my father didn't say anything to you, he just has the habit of making fun of people." Zhao Hao patted Tang Youde's shoulder to comfort him.

At this time, Mr. Liu retorted, "You are a useless second-generation ancestor, and you gave birth to a scoundrel and a liar. It was the best decision I made not to marry you."

Zhao Shouzheng was furious when he heard this, and he also pointed at Liu Yuanwai and cursed: "Who do you say is a scoundrel and liar? Your whole family is a scoundrel and liar! Your lousy daughter almost became my daughter-in-law, I'm scared just thinking about it..."

Zhao Hao couldn't bear to watch it any longer, so he stepped forward and pulled Zhao Shouzheng over, asking, "Didn't you ask your father to wait at home?"

"What are you talking about? How can I sit at home while you are here?" Zhao Shouzheng winked at Zhao Hao and pointed behind him, saying, "Not only can I not sit still, everyone in Caijia Lane is here."

Zhao Hao looked in the direction he pointed and couldn't help but gasp. My goodness, Gao the blacksmith, Yu Jiachang, Fang the shopkeeper, Qiaoqiao's mother, Wu Yu and his wife, the kitchen staff of Weijixian, and the men, women, and children of Caijia Lane had packed the entrance of the county government office.

Even Qiaoqiao and Ma Xianglan were in the crowd, looking at him with concern.

Is this a full-scale mobilization?

"Everyone is not working anymore?" Zhao Hao was both touched and amused.

"If you hadn't encountered any trouble, you wouldn't have known your prestige in the hearts of the people in Caijia Lane." Zhao Shouzheng laughed softly, "We are here to cheer you up. If the county magistrate makes an unfair judgment, we will all make a fuss together and put pressure on the county magistrate."

This is the basic configuration and inherent routine for prestigious gentry when they are involved in lawsuits. Unexpectedly, Zhao Hao has only been in Caijia Lane for half a year and he has already enjoyed this kind of treatment.

Seeing that Zhao Hao's side had a lot of people and power, Mr. Liu dared not say any more words. He hurried in first and went to complain to the master.

Zhao Hao bowed to the neighbors in gratitude, and was about to walk into the yamen with Tang Youde in high spirits.

Li Jiutian was limping at the door. When he saw Zhao Hao coming in, he said with a sense of relief, "The little ancestor is finally here. If he had delayed for another two days, Jiutian would have been beaten to death."

"Thank you for your hard work." Zhao Hao thanked him with a smile.

"Let's not talk about anything else for now," Li Jiutian whispered in his ear, "Young Master, you have to control your temper. Our master has been left out by you for so many days, and he is furious. He has even prepared his weapons... We are good men and we will not suffer a loss in the face of difficulties."

"Thank you, Jiutian." Zhao Hao nodded. Not knowing whether he had listened to Li Jiutian's advice or not, he walked towards the lobby under the guidance of the yamen runner.

Normally, this kind of civil dispute is usually heard in the second court, and there is no need to solemnly open the court to hear the case. But County Magistrate Zhang was paid to do his job, so he wanted the plaintiff to feel that the money he spent was worth it. And more importantly, he had to severely destroy the defendant's prestige and let the people of Shangyuan County see what the consequences would be if they dared to despise the government and the county magistrate!

Since they were killing a chicken to scare the monkey, they naturally had to let the monkey in. Therefore, the people were allowed to watch the trial today. Li Jiutian led people to set up a fence outside the hall and ordered the people who swarmed in to watch from outside the fence.

"Don't cross this white line!"

But today there were so many onlookers that they almost overturned the fence, and the police had to shout to maintain order. The hall was in chaos, like a market.

How could Wu Kangyuan, Zhao Shouzheng, Eryang and other people with great achievements squeeze in with the common people? Naturally, they were put inside the white line and stood in the hall to watch.

In the lobby at this moment.

Magistrate Zhang, wearing court robes, sat behind a desk with a seal, a tube of lottery tickets and a gavel. Behind him was a picture of sea water and the rising sun, which meant "clear as sea water, bright as the rising sun". Above his head hung a plaque with the words "a bright mirror hanging high". Three shifts of yamen runners lined up neatly in the hall.

When the plaintiff and the defendant arrived, Magistrate Zhang, with a sullen face, slammed the gavel heavily and shouted:

"Go to court!"

"mighty……"

The yamen runners shouted in unison and pounded the ground rhythmically with the water and fire sticks in their hands, making creepy knocking sounds.

Under normal circumstances, upon hearing this terrifying command from the leader, everyone in the hall would be frightened and kneel down.

But today, no matter the plaintiff or the defendant, they all just stood there, with no intention of kneeling down.

"Who are you in the hall? Why don't you kneel before the official?" the clerk on duty in the court shouted loudly.

"Your humble servant, Deputy Yuanwailang Liu Zhengqi, is honored to meet your parents." Then Yuanwai Liu bowed towards the hall.

"I'm Tang Youde, the alternate assistant lawyer of music. I'm here to pay my respects to my elderly parents." Tang Youde also bowed to Magistrate Zhang.

Everyone in the hall looked at Zhao Hao, thinking, you little brat, you don't have an official position anymore, do you? Do you still want to muddle through?

But Zhao Hao remained calm and showed no intention of kneeling.

"This beast has been unable to come to court for a long time and has shown contempt for the court. Let's beat him with twenty killing sticks first!" Magistrate Zhang picked up the fire stick and was about to throw it down.

But Zhao Hao smiled faintly, took off his cloak, revealing a brand new black silk round-necked robe.

Then he bowed to County Magistrate Zhang.

"Student Zhao Hao, a student of the Imperial Academy, pays homage to his elderly parents!"

ps. For the fifth update, please give me monthly tickets and recommendation tickets~~~