The June sun is scorching, and it's only mid-June, but it's already the winter wheat harvest season in Suijin Town.
Golden wheat covered the land outside the town, and the busy summer harvest overshadowed the events of capturing the Di bandits from the mountains a few days earlier.
The Song family didn't grow wheat. Song Zhenping had also made friends with several grain-growing families in town and would help them with their work. Xiao An no longer stayed home making paper boxes; instead, he went to the fields every day with a basket to pick up wheat ears.
In Suijin Town, wheat was being harvested, and so were other places. The Song family had already announced their intention to buy wheat straw, and firewood that was originally intended only for starting fires was being delivered from all around.
The town of Suijin was filled with carts of wheat straw, stretching from the riverbank to the outskirts of town, where oxcarts waited to unload.
Despite her injuries, Song Liyun stayed at the cardboard box factory every day, helping Manager Mu weigh and record the orders.
Seeing that the cardboard box factory was too busy, Hu Qing and his team simply freed up some manpower from the acorn processing plant to take care of this first.
Just when she was so busy that she barely had time to rest, the trial of the case in Qili County began, and Song Liyun was required to appear in court to testify.
This was Song Liyun's first time experiencing a court hearing in her two lifetimes, and she couldn't help but feel a little flustered.
Fortunately, she didn't go alone; Xue Zhuang, Han Ming, and Grandpa Zhang accompanied her.
Fearing the scorching sun, the group set off from Suijin Town at dawn and arrived in Qili County at 7:00 AM, an hour before the court session was to begin.
When we arrived at Yaqian Street, there were already small groups of people gathered there, presumably to watch the court hearing.
There were still many breakfast stalls on Yaqian Street. Song Liyun led everyone to a small stall a little further away that sold steamed buns and dried biscuits. Each person had a bowl of mung bean porridge, two large meat buns, and a few side dishes, preparing to eat and drink their fill before going to court.
Besides them, there were other people eating at the breakfast stall, all looking excited and whispering to each other, as if they were waiting for something big to happen.
Song Liyun and the others had traveled dozens of miles, and since it was still early for class, they weren't in a hurry to leave and took a break during their meal.
Han Ming and Xue Zhuang had big appetites; after finishing their meat buns, they asked the vendor for some flatbread, while Grandpa Zhang slowly drank his mung bean porridge.
While busy with business, the stall owner kept glancing towards the government office, nearly knocking over the stove several times.
The stall owners on Yaqian Street are all seasoned people, and it's rare for them to be in such a state of panic.
Seeing his reaction, Xue Zhuang wanted to find out beforehand, so he called out loudly, "Hey! Stall owner, what case is being heard today? Why are so many people gathered around watching?"
His voice was loud, and the stall owner seemed to have heard something terrible. He turned around and gestured to Xue Zhuang, telling him to be quiet: "Sir, could you please keep your voice down? Can't you see that bunch of hooligans in front of the yamen looking for someone?"
"Looking for someone? Who are you looking for?" Xue Zhuang asked, feigning surprise.
Seeing that he had almost sold out, the stall owner, unable to contain his gossip any longer, pulled up a stool and sat down to the side, whispering, "I heard that these tattered leather goods are waiting for the military households from Broken Gold Town to come over."
Why?
Grandpa Zhang also leaned over. He was wearing a coarse gray cloth shirt. Although it was simple, he had shed his previous lifelessness and looked like a well-off old man from the countryside.
The stall owner blinked his small eyes and said, "I heard that the military households in Suijin Town are powerful. They defeated the rice shopkeeper of Tianxianglou and now they have captured the Di bandits. Now that the market has opened in Suijin Town, they want to follow those military households to make a living."
Xue Zhuang was dumbfounded: "What kind of livelihood do you want to make by following the military households? You want to work in the garrison too?"
He had just heard people praising the military households of Suijin Town and was feeling quite proud, but he hadn't yet realized what was happening.
Upon hearing that they would be working at the garrison, the stall owner immediately shook his head with a smile: "How could that be! These young masters can't stand being idle. I'm afraid we can't afford to hire them to work."
Why is that?
Han Ming also became curious. He wanted to make a living by following the military households, but he was unwilling to register as a garrison officer. What was he planning to do?
The stall owner, with an air of "you're all ignorant," said, "Now that Suijin Town is a military town, military households are in charge. When the market opens, these hangers-on think of going to town to collect fees and such, so of course they have to maintain good relations with the military households."
"As long as they establish a proper shrine, and with the town relatively quiet right now, it's the perfect time for them to carve out their territory."
Xue Zhuang's face froze instantly: Here to collect payment?
Before he had even seen any profit, someone was already eyeing the meager gains in Broken Gold Town.
"cough!"
Song Liyun almost choked on her water and looked at Xue Zhuang.
It's no exaggeration to say that the town of Shattered Silver is what it is today, thanks to the hard work and struggle of myself and Xue Zhuang.
Xue Zhuang had been on the edge of a knife several times.
Now that Xue Zhuang is in charge of public security, it's what he deserves.
Those people also want to collect protection money; they're trying to take his livelihood away from him.
Before Song Liyun could even laugh, the stall owner's next words made her face darken.
"They also heard that the Blushing Tiger who captured Mickey in Broken Gold Town was coming, so they wanted to see if she was the rumored shrew with a face as black as the bottom of a pot, broad shoulders and a thick waist, and a full beard."
"cough!"
"cough!"
"cough!"
Everyone at the table started coughing.
The news of Song Liyun grabbing Yang Kaiquan with a knife in the Suijin Guild Hall quickly spread after tax collector Sun Wuming and the two yamen runners returned to the county government.
Most people would just be surprised by these words, say a few words about how bold the woman was, and then forget about it.
But these idle men who waited outside the county government office every day and made a living by selling information were interested and wanted to see the woman's true face.
At the end of Chen Shi (7-9 AM), the gates of the Eight Characters Yamen (a government office) opened wide, and a group of yamen runners lined up in shifts. By this time, the street in front of the yamen was already crowded with onlookers.
The cases we've been handling in the past few days have all involved petty, insignificant people. This time, we're dealing with the case of Mickey from Tianxianglou impersonating an official and causing trouble in Suijin Town, resulting in ten people having their legs broken.
In addition to Mickey, who had been detained in jail for more than two months, Hong Jingtian, who had just been brought to justice, was also apprehended.
Mickey and the others had their legs broken for two months, and their families probably spent money to bribe officials, so they received medical treatment even while in jail.
However, due to improper care, its two legs are now strangely crossed, and it needs to hold onto the ground to walk.
Hong Jingtian has had a tough time these past few days; he is guilty of the serious crime of colluding with the barbarians.
Once the heavy wooden cangue, weighing eighty pounds, was put on, he couldn't even lift his head. He could only support himself on the ground with the cangue and kneel with his back bent.
Magistrate Jiang Feng sat in the hall, and first the clerk read out the details of the case.
Tianxianglou has done a lot of things in secret, and now that they've been exposed, the long booklet took an hour to read.
Even the clerks had to be changed three times before they finished reading the list. The cases ranged from major offenses like bullying men and women and murder for money, to minor offenses like substituting inferior goods for superior ones and cutting corners on the portions. There were hundreds of cases, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that they were too numerous to list.
These are all things that Jiang Daren has found out over the past two months. He doesn't know how much of it is true, how much is false, or how much is just kicking someone when they're down.
Finally, the story turns to the case of Mickey and his gang, acting on orders from Hong Jingtian, kidnapping people in Broken Gold Town.
Song Liyun and her party had already entered the second room next to the courthouse from the side and were waiting. At this time, they were summoned to the main hall by the yamen runners.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
