Two elderly people in their fifties emerged from the crowd and knelt on the ground.
Seeing them, Zhao Kuan immediately exempted them from kneeling and had them stand to answer questions.
The two old men were straightforward. They stood right up, then clasped their hands and reported their names to Zhao Kuan.
Zhao Kuan looked down and scanned the reason they were filing suit, quite helpless. He asked, “Haven’t your disputes been mediated by the village head?”
The two old men said indignantly, “I don’t agree with the village head’s mediation.”
“That’s right, he was completely muddying the waters.”
“Fine.” Zhao Kuan asked, “Old Master Zheng, since you filed the suit, you speak first.”
The two old men were arguing over a vegetable plot. They were both returning Luoyang refugees. The difference was that this return was to Old Master Zheng’s village. The two old men had met while fleeing and became companions with their families during the hardships, developing some affection.
The other old man was surnamed Fang. His original village had too few people and had been passed through by chaotic soldiers. The houses were dilapidated and could no longer be lived in, so he followed the authorities’ arrangement and went to Old Master Zheng’s village, receiving a dilapidated old house next to the Zheng family to live in.
Because both families were small, they later responded to Zhao Hanzhang’s suggestion and paired up to work together.
To show their closeness, the Zheng family generously offered the vegetable plot the family had previously planted, and together with the Fang family, they weeded and tilled it, dividing half the vegetable plot to give them.
But shortly after the vegetable plot was prepared, the two families argued over what to plant next year. After Zhao Kuan asked a few questions, he understood that actually, it was Old Master Zheng and Old Master Fang who had the disagreement. Their family members were quite easygoing and didn’t care what the neighbors planted.
But the two old men were different. They were very stubborn. One insisted they plant the same vegetables, the other insisted on planting different ones. Then Old Master Zheng decided he wouldn’t play with Old Master Fang anymore, so he wanted to take back the vegetable plot he’d given to Old Master Fang.
Old Master Fang naturally wouldn’t agree. The vegetable plot had been overgrown with weeds before. It was the two families together who weeded it and loosened the soil. Why should he be able to take it back just because he said so?
Moreover, how could something already given be taken back?
So Old Master Fang only agreed not to play with Old Master Zheng anymore, but taking back the vegetable plot was impossible.
Zhao Kuan’s head was about to explode. What he feared most were these kinds of cases where both sides had their own reasons. Sigh, it seemed this village’s head wasn’t very capable, actually letting the case escalate to the county office.
But Zhao Kuan still mediated for them. First, he used a soft approach, persuading them until their psychological defenses loosened a bit. Then he made his ruling: the vegetable plot already given to the Fang family still belonged to the Fang family. What vegetables to plant would be decided by the Fang family themselves. Neighbors should be considerate of each other and help each other. As the saying goes, distant relatives aren’t as good as close neighbors—you’ll need to look after each other in the future.
Zhao Kuan had the Fang family give some vegetable seeds to the Zheng family, and the matter would be settled.
Old Master Zheng and Old Master Fang muttered a bit but still agreed, indicating they accepted the county magistrate’s ruling.
However, both sides were still a bit awkward, turning their heads away from each other. Just like that, one turning left, one turning right, they walked out with their heads twisted.
Zhao Kuan continued. One person after another was called to the hall. There were all kinds of disputes—small ones like neighborhood and family conflicts, large ones like citizens accusing officials.
At this moment, the person kneeling on the ground was accusing a petty official from the provincial governor’s office.
“That Chen Dalang relies on his younger brother Chen Erlang’s power and insists on taking my younger sister as a concubine.” The man kneeling on the ground wiped away tears. “A young master sent by the school to help in the village said that if I reported this matter, the County Magistrate would certainly uphold justice for me, and the Commander wouldn’t stand by and watch.”
“But I had just formed this thought when somehow they found out. They sent people to block me at the village entrance and even beat me. I lay at home for four or five days. This morning, it was only with the school people’s help that I escaped to report to the authorities.”
Zhao Kuan was so angry he struck the gavel and asked, “Does your village head know about this?”
“Village Head Chen is Uncle Chen to Chen Dalang and Chen Erlang brothers, so he naturally knows. He even brought people to my house to smash things, telling me not to speak nonsense outside.”
Zhao Kuan’s face turned cold.
Zhao Hanzhang, watching from the crowd, also turned cold.
Zhao Kuan looked to the side and called over two bailiffs. “Go to Little Chen Village immediately, summon both the village head and Chen Dalang for questioning. Be clever and ask more people.”
Wang Siniang on the side immediately said, “County Magistrate, let me go with them.”
Zhao Kuan frowned at her. “Someone died on the east side of the city. The county captain took people to investigate the case. In a bit, we still need to see the Chen and Xiao families. Let two bailiffs go to Little Chen Village.”
Wang Siniang said, “I’m worried they won’t investigate carefully and will be fooled by the Chen family people. This matter involves the provincial governor’s office and the Commander. If not handled well, I fear it will incite public anger.”
Zhao Kuan thought about it and realized she was right. But he didn’t want to face the crying Chen and Xiao families alone.
He sighed and still waved his hand to let her go.
Wang Siniang brightened up. She immediately put down her brush and left with the two bailiffs.
This case couldn’t be decided immediately. Zhao Kuan had the bailiffs take the young man who filed the suit aside.
The young man trembled and asked, “County, County Magistrate, are you going to paddle me?”
“Why would I paddle you?”
The young man wiped the sweat from his forehead. “The villagers said that when inferiors accuse superiors, they get paddled.”
Zhao Kuan said, “This regulation was exempted by Provincial Governor Zhao. In Yuzhou and under Luoyang’s governance, those who file suits—whether inferiors accusing superiors, wives accusing husbands, or children accusing parents—don’t need to be punished.”
This provision had also been announced, but Zhao Hanzhang had frequently announced various matters over the past six months, and not everyone could remember them all, so the vast majority of people still didn’t know.
Seeing the young man on the floor and the spectators all brighten up, Zhao Kuan said slowly, “However, though punishment isn’t required, if it’s discovered that an inferior accusing a superior or a lowly person accusing a noble is false accusation, then they’ll be punished for false accusation, which is more than just paddling.”
The young man immediately said, “It’s not false accusation, County Magistrate. I absolutely haven’t made false accusations. This matter caused quite a stir in our village. Many people can testify for me.”
Zhao Kuan nodded and waved his hand to have him withdraw. Then he looked at the time. Seeing the Chen family had been sitting on the mat waiting all along, he decided to continue the trial while hungry.
He told the bailiffs, “Bring up both the Xiao family and the Chen family.”
The two families caught fleeing were the Xiao and Chen families. The Chen family crying and making noise in the main hall was another family, close relatives of the caught family. They had come to plead for Zhao Kuan to release them.
The two families were brought out from jail, both somewhat disheveled and covered in dust. When they met each other, the Xiao family, who also had some kinship with their family, huddled together and cried.
The main event had arrived. The young man standing beside Zhao Hanzhang perked up, his eyes also shining as he stared.
He clicked his tongue twice, somewhat admiringly saying, “I didn’t expect County Magistrate Zhao would actually try this case in court. I thought he would secretly try and rule on it.”
Zhao Hanzhang stood with her arms crossed and asked, “What’s so special about this case that it can’t be tried openly?”