As soon as Liu Qi’an stepped into the county office, he heard a voice tinged with tears: “Big Brother…”
It was Liu Lingyue, standing gracefully in her light cyan gauze dress. Her beautiful, fair face bore traces of tears, with swollen eyes, resembling a pitiful little flower.
Liu Lingyin was not by her side, probably kept in the side hall.
Liu Qi’an nodded slightly, giving her a reassuring look.
Magistrate Zhu, who had already received the news, sat at his desk. Seeing the group of yamen runners escorting people in, he recognized the angry young man in brocade clothes.
Old Zhu was startled and hurriedly rose to greet him.
“Oh my, isn’t this Young Master Zhou? How is Vice Minister Zhou?”
The young man in brocade clothes angrily waved his sleeve, pushing Magistrate Zhu away, and pointed at Liu Qi’an, snarling, “This man committed violence in the street and tried to kill me. Arrest him immediately.”
“That’s too harsh, too harsh…” Magistrate Zhu said with a forced smile. He then turned, his face full of anger, and shouted, “Constable Liu Qi’an, get over here now.”
Liu Qi’an reluctantly approached.
“You fool, how dare you hit the son of Vice Minister Zhou from the Ministry of Revenue? How many brains do you have?” Magistrate Zhu kicked Liu Qi’an, then turned back with a sycophantic smile:
“Young Master Zhou, this is just a misunderstanding between our own people. You’re a big person, don’t bother with such a nobody.”
Outside the crowd, Liu Lingyue watched her cousin being scolded because of her. Tears rolled down her cheeks, and her delicate nose, more upturned and refined than ordinary girls’, turned red from crying.
The son of the Vice Minister of Revenue… Liu Qi’an’s heart sank.
In the Great Feng Dynasty’s officialdom, an official’s influence wasn’t determined by rank, but by background and power.
There were many first and second-rank officials, but only a handful truly stood at the pinnacle of power.
The ministers and vice ministers of the Six Departments were among them.
Hitting the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue – this matter had escalated.
“Stop this bullshit. If you won’t arrest him, I’ll do it myself,” Young Master Zhou waved his hand, ordering his followers: “Seize this boy.”
He didn’t believe that in the county office, this kid would dare to resist violently.
Magistrate Zhu shouted, “Anyone who dares to use violence in the county office will be killed without mercy.”
The yamen runners rushed out, drawing their swords and holding them to the necks of the followers who were about to act.
The civilian runners stood ready with their sticks.
“Zhu, you dare to touch my men?” Young Master Zhou pointed at Magistrate Zhu’s nose and cursed loudly.
“Young Master Zhou, please don’t misunderstand. I’m an official appointed by the court, just following the rules,” Magistrate Zhu still wore a sycophantic smile, wiping the spittle from his face.
“I have a complaint here, accusing you, Young Master, of reckless horseback riding and bullying an innocent girl. The complainant is Liu Lingyue.”
This was a tactic Magistrate Zhu had prepared in advance. If the offender had been an ordinary young master, Zhu would have found a way to downplay the incident.
He just never expected the culprit to be the son of the Vice Minister of Revenue.
Young Master Zhou snorted, “Reckless horseback riding? Who got hurt? Bullying an innocent girl? Zhu, go ask around the street, did I touch a single hair on that woman?”
“Perhaps the girl mistook someone else for you,” Magistrate Zhu said with a smile, tucking the complaint back into his sleeve.
This is bad. Magistrate Zhu can’t handle this. I need to find a way to save myself. If worse comes to worst, I’ll have to flee… but that would implicate Second Uncle’s family, Liu Qi’an thought anxiously. In this era, only the children of officials could deal with other officials’ children. He was way out of his league.
Not just him, even his Second Uncle, a captain of the Imperial Knife Guards, was nothing before the Vice Minister of Revenue.
Nothing at all.
As for regret, he had none. With a knife at his throat, should he have just let himself be slaughtered?
As these thoughts raced through his mind, he saw one of Young Master Zhou’s followers leave the county office, and Magistrate Zhu didn’t stop him.
Liu Qi’an’s heart sank further. He walked to Captain Wang’s side and whispered, “Captain, I’m in deep trouble today. There’s something I want to ask of you.”
Captain Wang was silent for a moment, then said quietly, “Go on.”
Over the past month, his relationship with Liu Qi’an had improved rapidly. They went to brothels together every day, drinking and enjoying themselves, forming a deep friendship.
“First, lend me one tael of silver.”
Captain Wang felt around in his pocket and pulled out some loose silver, not quite a tael.
Liu Qi’an took the silver and pocketed it, then said, “Captain, please ride quickly to my home. In the cabinet by my bed, there’s a book, a blue-covered book. Remember, don’t take the wrong one.”
The diary had a light yellow cover.
“After you get the book, go immediately to the Astronomical Bureau and find a girl named Caiwei. Help me pass on a message: Liu Qi’an is in trouble, come quickly to save him.”
The Astronomical Bureau?! Captain Wang looked hesitant. “That’s not a place someone like me can go to.”
Asking him to enter the Astronomical Bureau was like asking a commoner to enter the imperial palace. He didn’t even dare to approach it.
Liu Qi’an knew this would happen and said quietly, “If something happens to me, there’ll be no one to pay you back this silver.”
Captain Wang’s eyes widened.
“If you can do this for me, next month’s salary is all yours.”
“Damn you, Liu Qi’an,” Captain Wang cursed as he rushed out of the county office.
…
Liu Pingzhi received the news and borrowed a horse from a colleague, galloping to the Langle County office.
Stepping over the threshold into the main hall, he first saw his daughter crying and trembling uncontrollably, then the tense standoff between the yamen runners and the followers.
Liu Pingzhi looked away and approached his daughter, asking sternly, “What happened?”
Liu Lingyue looked at him as if seeing a savior and cried even harder, sobbing as she told her father what had happened.
When he heard that the son of Vice Minister Zhou had raised his horse’s hooves to trample on a young girl, his eye twitched and his expression grew even darker.
“If it wasn’t for Big Brother, Lingyin would be gone, wuuu…”
Ning Yan… Liu Pingzhi looked at his nephew’s figure, closed his eyes for a few seconds to calm himself, then said quietly, “Go to the side hall and look after Lingyin. Don’t come out.”
Watching his daughter’s small figure disappear, Liu Pingzhi silently stepped forward and stared at the young man in brocade clothes: “Young Master Zhou, can this matter be settled?”
The young master in brocade clothes met his eyes and seemed to feel a tangible killing intent. He remembered what Liu Qi’an had said on the street.
The wild words he wanted to say got stuck in his throat.
“Captain Liu, what impressive official authority. What, if my young master doesn’t let this go, you’re going to spill blood?”
An old man wearing a blue robe with gold trim on the cuffs and collar, a jade pendant hanging at his waist, entered through the county office gate.
His hair was more white than black, his face lean, his gaze as sharp as if hiding needles.
When he first spoke, he was still at the door, but by the time he finished, he was already in the main hall.
“Uncle Chen.” The young master in brocade clothes was overjoyed.
“How did the young master get hurt like this? Which damned beast did this? I’ve watched the young master grow up, and it pains me to see even the slightest injury on him,” the old man said, both pained and angry at seeing the young master’s earlobe crusted with dried blood.
“I’ve told the master several times to assign a Qi Refining realm expert to protect you, but he always refuses, saying you like to cause trouble.
“So what if you cause trouble? Others should suffer than for you to get hurt, young master.”
Feeling himself locked onto by a powerful aura, Liu Pingzhi felt as if he’d fallen into an ice cave. His spine felt like snakes were crawling over it, and he had the sensation of hovering on the edge of life and death.
He often had similar feelings when fighting on the battlefield, which made him afraid to move an inch.
This old man was a master of the Spirit Refining realm.
Magistrate Zhu coughed, “You are…?”
“I wouldn’t dare!” the old man interrupted indifferently. “I’m just an old servant of the Zhou family, not worthy of your ‘you’, Magistrate Zhu.”
“Elder, you’re too modest,” said Magistrate Zhu with a smile. As a seasoned official, he knew well the saying ‘A seventh-rank official at the prime minister’s door’. “Look at this mess, it’s all a misunderstanding. The imperial examination is approaching, let’s all be harmonious. What do you think, Elder?”
The old man sneered, “A few insignificant nobodies can’t affect the master’s imperial examination. The Zhou family has always won people over with virtue and handles everything according to court rules and regulations.”
At first, no one understood his words, until moments later when chaotic and loud footsteps were heard from outside the yamen.
Then a group of heavily armed soldiers poured in, led by an official wearing a green robe embroidered with white pheasants. He looked around and announced loudly:
“The Ministry of Justice is here to apprehend a criminal. All irrelevant personnel step back. Anyone who interferes will be treated as an accomplice.”
After a pause, this fifth-rank official in green robes forced a smile at Young Master Zhou: “Young Master, may I ask where the criminal is?”
Young Master Zhou pointed at Liu Qi’an: “Lock up this dog.”
The fifth-rank official in green robes waved his hand: “Seize him.”
The soldiers rushed forward, took out shackles, and locked up Liu Qi’an.
“Sir, what crime has my nephew committed?” Liu Pingzhi exclaimed anxiously.
“Whether he has committed a crime or not, I will determine,” the fifth-rank official said coolly. “As a Lang Zhong of the Ministry of Justice, I will uphold the law impartially and meticulously.”
Liu Pingzhi wanted to say more but was firmly held back by Magistrate Zhu.
“Take him away!”