Zhang Feijiao immediately begged with a mournful face: "Master Ye, Xiao Ke is really afraid that this mother and daughter will cause trouble to Chen Tongpan on the grand day when he takes office today, so he said some careless words, and begged Master Ye to treat it as a child." But forget it!"
Ye Duzheng smoothed the short beard under his chin with his hand, nodded slightly and said: "Zhang Degui, I will pretend that I didn't hear you this time, but there will never be another time!"
Zhang Feiqi quickly raised his hands: "Definitely, definitely, thank you Master Ye!"
"Okay, no need to be polite!" Ye Duzheng waved his hand: "You go to the court to prepare for the court. Grandma Ji and Miss Yu will be handed over to me to take them to the dining room to see Lord Tongpan!"
In the dining hall of the government office, Su Xingchen had already left. Chen Xiaomu was chatting with a group of unfamiliar faces, saying some polite words to each other. In the huge dining hall, five round tables were placed like stars over the moon. Among them, there was The round table in the middle is the main table. Chen Xiaomu, Zhuang Tongzhi, Jiang Xundao, Jin Shoubei and others are sitting on this table. After Su Xingchen leaves, regardless of rank or official position, Zhuang Tongzhi will be the biggest in the dining hall. However, Zhuang Tongzhi had already worshiped Wei Wen and became Wei Wen's disciple. Naturally, he knew Chen Xiaomu's origins clearly, so he refused to sit on the main seat at the main table no matter what. The two argued for a long time, and finally Zhuang Tongzhi came up with a compromise. He put another chair on the main seat, and the two of them sat side by side. It was a bit crowded, but at least everyone didn't have to waste time on etiquette. , start eating early!
Chen Xiaomu returned to the new capital in less than five days, and he only attended one court meeting. At this time, he could not even recognize a few officials in the court, let alone the local officials below. It was like a black eye. He didn't know any of them, so every time an official came over to toast, Zhuang Tongzhi would give Chen Xiaomu a brief introduction, saying, "This is Wang Tuanlian, this is Mr. Li's arrest." Forgot to say a few more compliments casually.
After going through this circle, even though the alcohol content of this wine is similar to that of beer in later generations, it can't stand up to the dozens of people in the dining room toasting one by one! At this moment, Chen Xiaomu was starting to feel dizzy. What made him even more uncomfortable was that the wine had a strong aftertaste and was still on his head. He saw the officials lining up to propose a toast. It was hard for him to refuse as a newbie, so he was in a dilemma. At that time, the savior came. Ye Duzheng took Granny Ji and her daughter into the dining room. When Granny Ji saw so many officials in official uniforms eating there, she didn't want to miss this opportunity. She immediately knelt down in the dining room with her daughter Yu Yingnan. Shouting injustice in front of the hall door!
As a result, I am afraid that these officials in the dining hall will not be able to eat anymore no matter how good their appetites are. Chen Xiaomu took the opportunity to push the wine glass to the side, stood up from the table top-heavy, clasped his hands and said to everyone in the dining hall: "Dear colleagues, If someone comes to complain, I have to go to court to investigate the case!"
After Chen Xiaomu finished speaking, he said hello to Zhuang Tongzhi alone, and then staggered out. Zhuang Tongzhi also drank a lot at this time. This drink was said to be for Chen Xiaomu and Su Xingchen to catch up with each other, but Su Xingchen left early. Zhuang Tongzhi is the de facto second-in-command in the government office. The key is that the two of them are still sitting together. When an official from the government office comes to propose a toast, they will definitely do so together!
Seeing Chen Xiaomu get up and walk out, Zhuang Tongzhi realized what he was doing. He quickly got up and staggered after him, grabbed him and stuttered: "Chen...Chen Tongpan, you must not...no, court." …The imperial court has a clear rule that drunken people are not allowed to go to court for trial!”
Chen Xiaomu pulled Zhuang Tongzhi's hand away and said indifferently: "It's okay, I'm not drunk. We are all the parents and officials of the people now. How can we ignore the people's complaints of injustice?"
"This...!" Zhuang Tongzhi was speechless for a moment. Chen Xiaomu turned to Ye Duzheng and said, "Master Ye, take Mother Ji and her daughter to the front court to wait for me."
Looking at the retreating figures of several people, Li Jiange, the head of the Xinjing government office, walked up to Zhuang Tongzhi and said thoughtfully: "Master Tongzhi, I'm afraid this stupid young man is going to cause trouble for us!"
Zhuang Tongzhi snorted coldly from his nose and said: "If he causes trouble, someone will come out to wipe his ass. What does it have to do with me?"
Li Jiange nodded: "That's what I said, but I heard that Lieutenant Zhuge has now become a popular person in front of the emperor. Even the affairs that were previously in charge of the Ministry of War were handed over to him. Yu Chengwen's rape case has become a It was a sure thing that even Jia Tongjian was unable to overturn the case. Now this stupid young man wants to focus his first fire on this case after taking office. I think he is really looking in the wrong place! He might not be able to get rid of him. You can fit in!"
Zhuang Tongzhi glanced at him and said meaningfully: "Jiange! Do you, the chief arrester of the Xinjing government office, think about solving cases all day long? Don't you care about the affairs of the court at all?"
Li Jiange was stunned for a moment, then he quickly bowed and said, "Master Zhuang, please enlighten me!"
Zhuang Tongzhi waved his sleeves and said, "Forget it, you'd better understand it yourself!" After saying that, he turned around and left.
Li Jiange hurriedly chased after him, took out a banknote from his body and stuffed it into Zhuang Tongzhi's hand, and said with a smile: "Mr. Zhuang, I have wanted to invite you to come out for a long time and ask for advice on some things. Look, What a coincidence today!”
"Alas!" Zhuang Tongzhi pretended to sigh, and quietly hid the banknote that Li Jiange handed over into his sleeve, and then sighed: "Jiange! You and I have worked together for many years, and even if we don't have friendship, we still have feelings. Today I won’t sit down with you, but I still want to remind you, do you know who the emperor’s consort is today? Where is he now?”
Li Jiange was a smart man. When he heard this, he slapped his head and said, "Ouch!" How could I have forgotten this? At first, I only heard that this consort was the sixth prince of the Chen Kingdom, and no one had ever mentioned his name. Now it seems that This is our judge Chen Tong! "
Zhuang Tongzhi smiled slightly and said: "Li Captou, let's talk about this. Don't let it be spread outside. Our government office is small. It was already a big deal if a princess from the current dynasty came to be the magistrate. Now here comes a consort." As a general judge, if those unscrupulous people who complained knew about it, wouldn't they break through the gate of the government office? "
Li Jiange nodded repeatedly and assured: "Don't worry, Mr. Zhuang, I will definitely keep this matter secret!"
At this time, Chen Xiaomu had already sat down on the Taishi's chair behind the public case table in the government hall. On the beam about five feet high above his head, there hung a mirror-like plaque with gold letters on a blue background. On the left side of the public case table was He picked up a piece of gavel, and there was a sign tube in the corner of the table on his right hand. There were more than a dozen wooden fire signs one finger wide and one foot long, divided into red and black ends. The master Ye Duzheng was in the corner next to him. There was a small desk with two inkstones, one red and one black, that had been ground with ink, and a wooden pen stand with two red and black brushes. Ye Du was sitting on a wooden stool behind the table, with two inkstones in front of him. There was a stack of white blank official papers, and looking at the front of the court, there were four sturdy government officials standing on each side, wearing black uniforms and holding water and fire sticks.
The two women kneeling in the middle of the courtroom were none other than Granny Ji and her daughter who were complaining in the dining hall today. The mother and daughter had been kneeling down for a long time without hearing Chen Xiaomu's question. They wanted to raise their heads to see what was going on, but were afraid of offending these people. Sir, even the master Ye Duzheng felt that something was wrong at this time, and secretly turned his head to take a look, okay, our Lord Tongpan just drank too much wine, and when he left the dining room, he was blown by the cold wind again. Jin turned over and was leaning on the Taishi chair to take a nap! Even the futou official hat on his head was crooked, and his venerable appearance made even the government officials standing below couldn't help but snicker!
Ye Duzheng didn't know whether to laugh or cry for a moment. He stood up and quietly walked to Chen Xiaomu, lowered his body and put his mouth to his ear, and whispered: "Master Tongpan, the person who complained has been kneeling down below for a long time. Why don't you adjourn the court for now?"
Chen Xiaomu was drifting into sleep when he suddenly heard someone talking in his ear. He didn't want to pay attention to it. Unexpectedly, he felt anxious and had to open his sleepy eyes. Before he could speak, he heard two people coming from the door of the courtroom. There was a quarrel, and then a fat middle-aged man wearing a fur coat, a dog-skin hat, and a few rat whiskers on his mouth walked into the court holding a skinny, black and wrinkled countryman in his hand.
Chen Xiaomu was suffering from internal anxiety at this time, and had no choice but to say to Ye Duzheng: "Master Ye, you can make the hall for me, and I will go and solve the internal crisis!"
When Ye Duzheng heard this, he quickly waved his hands and refused: "Master Tongpan, I don't dare to do this. You are in the sixth rank of the main hall, and I am a staff member who does not even have a rank. If this is passed on to someone who is interested, I will overstep this. The crime will definitely not escape!"
Chen Xiaomu had no choice but to pick up the gavel and slap it on the public case, and said angrily to the fat man in the hall: "What are you arguing about? Talk about something!"
When the fat man heard the sound, he quickly let go of the country man's clothes, knelt down under the court, pointed at the country man and said: "Please, Mr. Qingtian, make the decision for this villain. I am the owner of Lao Yang Duck Food Restaurant on Zhuque Street. I was in the shop just now. At the door of the store, I was preparing to feed the two cages of ducks I had just collected with bran. But when I turned around and went into the house to get the bran, this country bumpkin picked up my two cages of ducks and left. I happened to come out of the house and caught him. He still refuses to return it to me. He insists on saying that he picked these two cages of ducks from the countryside and brought them to the capital to sell! Please tell me, Mr. Qingtian."
Chen Xiaomu turned around and asked the countryman: "This fat man said you stole two cages of ducks from him. Is this true?"
The countryman was startled, and kowtowed to Chen Xiaomu in a panic, saying, "Master, I am wronged! Those two cages of ducks were obviously mine from the countryside. I raised more than a dozen ducks at home because I was sick and had no money to get medicine." The ducks were caught and sold in the city for money and used for medicinal purposes. After I entered the city in the morning, I picked up the ducks and walked around, but I didn't sell the last one. Later, I heard someone said that the duck restaurant here accepts ducks. So I picked it up to try my luck. I happened to see this fat man standing in front of the duck restaurant, so I went up to him and asked him if the duck restaurant still accepted ducks. The fat man told me at that time that he was the duck restaurant. There was a man who collected ducks. Then he negotiated a price with Xiao Min and asked Xiao Min to wait for him at the door. He went in and gave Xiao Min the money. Unexpectedly, Xiao Min waited at the door for a long time before the fat man came out again. Xiao Min So he went up to him and asked for money for the duck. Unexpectedly, the fat man rolled his eyes and came over to ask Xiaomin, when did he buy my duck? At this point, Xiaomin had nothing to say, so he planned to provoke the duck to walk. Unexpectedly, this At this time, the fat man became reluctant to Xiao Min. He called a few shopkeepers in the store to come out and snatched the duck cage back from my pick stick. Xiao Min immediately argued with them at the door of the duck restaurant. The fat man said that Xiaomin was deliberately ruining his reputation, so he took Xiaomin to see the official! Xiaomin asked the official to make a decision."
After listening to what the two said, Chen Xiaomu thought for a moment and asked, "Do you two have anyone else to testify?"
The fat man immediately raised his hand and said: "Master Qingtian, I have witnesses to testify. Several shopkeepers in the duck restaurant can testify for me."
Chen Xiaomu nodded, turned to the countryman and asked, "Do you have anyone willing to testify for you?"
The countryman said with a bitter face: "Master, I just come from the countryside to sell ducks, and I am unfamiliar with the place here. I really can't find anyone willing to testify for me."
