Chapter 87： Interrogation (Thanks to the babies for their monthly votes for additional updates)

Liao Qilin came outside the court and shouted loudly: "Who is playing drums here?"

“It’s the common people beating drums to express their grievances.” Jiang Sanlang stepped forward and saluted.

Liao Qilin looked at the man in front of him: "If you have a grievance, why don't you write a pleading and submit it to me first? Why are you playing the drum?"

Jiang Sanlang: "Xiaomin has written a petition and submitted it, but there has been no news for several days. Xiaomin is worried about the safety of his little girl and is anxious. He happened to catch a kidnapper and brought him to the Yamen today."

Liao Qilin: “Who did you give the petition to?”

“Sun Lizheng from our township submitted it, and the Yamen gave us a receipt.” Jiang Sanlang handed over the receipt of the petition.

Liao Qilin took it and looked at it, and couldn't help but frown.

The signature on the receipt is Lin Huaisheng, the chief clerk of the Yamen.

Liao Qilin thought for a while, and when he was about to return to the inner hall with the receipt, Jiang Sanlang stepped forward and stopped him, "Please Sir, please return the receipt to Xiaomin."

This thing is evidence of the petition you submitted. How could it be taken away by a scholar-like person?

That's right, this Liao Qilin was a scholar. Because he had no hope of passing the examination, he worked as an aide under the magistrate of Mei County, helping the magistrate with suggestions and handling some less important official affairs.

Liao Qilin's face darkened, "What? Do you think someone will ignore your reply?"

“Don’t dare.”

Jiang Sanlang said he didn't dare, but he still insisted: "If Xiaomin doesn't have the receipt in his hand, the official will ignore Xiaomin's complaint and ask Mr. Lang to return the receipt to Xiaomin."

Liao Qilin looked unhappy. He looked around and saw dozens of pairs of eyes staring at him outside, so he had to hand the receipt back to Jiang Sanlang.

Back in the inner hall, Liao Qilin said to Magistrate Meixian: "The drummer outside had submitted the petition, and the forest owner Bo received it. He also signed a receipt and the receipt was stamped with the official seal."

Magistrate Mei became angry when he heard this, and slapped the table: "You bastard! Since you have received the petition, why don't you show it to me? Call the forest owner Bo!"

The complaint that has been recorded is the case that belongs to him. If he hands it over to the next person without authorization, his performance evaluation will definitely be flawed. How can Magistrate Mei not be angry.

After a while, the forest owner walked in with his neck hunched.

Magistrate Mei sat behind the desk and asked coldly: "Did you accept the complaint from the man outside?"

Lin Zhu Bo knew that he couldn't hide it, so he directly admitted: "It was indeed accepted by my subordinates, but didn't you say that the lawsuit and other matters were temporarily postponed, so my subordinates..."

“That’s enough! Don’t blame your dereliction of duty on this official!”

Magistrate Mei was furious, "Where is the petition?"

 He ​​is about to step down from office, and this **** actually caused such a thing for himself, and it was known to the superiors. Then wouldn’t all his hard work for so many years be completely negated because of a small incident?

You should know that after local officials resign, they need to go to the next higher level state government to renew their posts, wait for the supervisory censor to assess their merits, and then the results of the assessment will determine whether they will be removed from office.

The assessment content is divided into four virtues and three virtues.

The four virtues are virtue, prudence, publicity, and diligence; the third is the three aspects of managing affairs, admonishing lessons, and raising children.

As long as a person is found to be seriously unqualified in some aspect, his career in this life will be almost over.

Lin Master Bo silently took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and presented it to him.

The staff took it and handed it over to Magistrate Mei County.

Magistrate Mei County took a closer look, and the more he looked at it, the angrier he became.

"Who are these Han sisters? Go get them quickly! And Chen Ergou. If you can't catch him, call the rest of his family for questioning!"

Mei County Magistrate threw down two green picks.

The head catcher on the side had been waiting for a long time, and he quickly took it and hugged his fist, "Yes! I will do it now!"

This arresting people is a good job. When you get to the countryside, you can not only eat and hold it, but you may also receive some profits.

Subsequently, the magistrate of Mei County immediately ordered people to go to the hall, and then asked people to bring the Jiang family into the Qinmin Hall. Sitting behind the public case, Magistrate Mei was shocked and asked: "Name the plaintiff!"

A government official pulled Jiang Sanlang to the plaintiff's stone and asked him to present himself to the county magistrate.

“Jiang Sanlang, a small citizen, has met a high-ranking official.” Jiang Sanlang paid a courtesy visit to the county magistrate.

Magistrate Mei County: "Who did you accuse and what did you do? Tell me one by one."

So Jiang Sanlang told the story of his daughter who was suddenly drugged and taken away.

"Xiaomin has captured a kidnapper named Zhang Mazi. He has admitted that he and his father-in-law Chen Ergou did it together because someone paid them to rob people and said they would be given a sum of money afterwards. ”

When Magistrate Mei heard that one of the criminals had been caught, he felt relieved and ordered the defendant to be brought up.

Zhang Mazi was pushed by two government officials to kneel on the defendant's stone.

At this time, Zhang Mazi was frightened. It was the first time for him to see an official in his twenties. He shook his head and kowtowed to the official above. He didn't master the strength well and almost broke his head. "Great official!" Man, little man, he was deceived by his father-in-law.”

I agreed to give him a regular amount of money, but ended up giving him a hundred coins. It was really not worth it for me to hide in Tibet these days and not be able to reunite with my wife and children.

Magistrate Mei was shocked: "I will punish you for all the things you have committed. If you make a mistake or miss a word, the criminal law will take care of you!"

So, Zhang Mazi told everything he knew like pouring beans out of a bamboo tube. At the end, he sobbed and said that he had been hungry all day and saw a child at the entrance of the alley holding half a piece of rice cake, so he grabbed it and ate it.

Magistrate Mei’s documents were recorded one by one, and not a word was left behind.

In the end, Zhang Mazi signed and stamped the confession and was beaten thirty times before being dragged to the county prison cell.

The next step is to wait for the police to bring the person back.

Of course Magistrate Mei would not wait in the courtroom. He retreated to the inner room to discuss with his staff how to settle the case.

The preliminary hearing of this case went well. Magistrate Mei was in a very good mood and asked a staff member to prepare questions for the next court hearing.

When Jiang Sanlang came out of the court, he asked his wife to take Ying Bao and his parents back to his eldest sister's house to rest. He took several villagers to a nearby restaurant for dinner.

Unexpectedly, before the meal was finished, the second brother Jiang Erlang and two villagers took Chen Ergou back.

“Sanlang, we caught him over there and chased him for two streets before we caught up with him.” Jiang Erlang kicked Chen Ergou, “Do you want to send him to prison now?”

Jiang Sanlang narrowed his eyes, "Let's ask him first who his employer is. If he dares to tell lies, I will cut out his tongue."

Chen Ergou was gagged and screamed when he heard this.

“Be honest!” Jiang Erlang kicked him again and took out the rag from his mouth.

Chen Ergou spat, spit out the rags in his mouth, and shouted: "Jiang Sanlang, how dare you!"

"Why don't I dare?" Jiang Sanlang put one foot on the bench, slapped him, and sneered: "If you dare to touch my child, I will make you pay with your life!"

“Yo, your tone is not small!”

Suddenly, several government officials rushed in, and the leader turned out to be Chen Guanglu.

 I saw Chen Guanglu winking at the government officials, who rushed forward, and Chen Ergou fell into their hands.

Jiang Sanlang's face darkened, knowing that he couldn't fight with the government officials, let alone compete with Chen Guanglu for people at this time.

 Chen Ergou saw Chen Guanglu coming and said with a smile: "Chen Guanren is here to save me, right..."

He recognized this official as Xiao Han's husband. He had been to Xichen Village before and even talked to him.

Before he finished speaking, Chen Guanglu had already received a slap in the face.

“Take them back to the Yamen!” Chen Guanglu glanced at Jiang Sanlang and others coldly, and directed the Yamen servants to take Chen Ergou away.