The Whole Village Thrives After Adopting a Lucky Girl

Liao Qilin stepped outside of the public hall, loudly questioning, “Who is it that bangs the drum here?”

“It is a commoner beating the drum to declare injustice.” Jiang Sanlang stepped forward to bow.

Liao Qilin sized up the man standing in front of him, “Why would you beat the drum instead of submitting a written statement of grievance first?”

Jiang Sanlang, “I’ve prepared and submitted a written petition, but I’ve heard nothing back for several days. Concerned for the safety of my daughter, I am in desperate angst. Fortunately, I have caught one of the kidnappers, so I brought him to the government office today.”

Liao Qilin, “To whom did you submit the petition?”

“The document was submitted through our village’s Sun Licheng. The office also provided a receipt.” Jiang Sanlang handed over the receipt for the petition.

Upon his inspection, Liao Qilin couldn’t help but furrow his brow.

The receipt bore the signature of Lin Huaisheng, the chief registration officer of the office.

After Liao Qilin contemplated it, he was about to take the receipt back into the hall when Jiang Sanlang stepped forward to block him, “Please, sir, return the receipt to me.”

This item was proof that he had submitted the complaint; it was impossible to let someone who looked like a scholar take it away.

Indeed, this Liao Qilin was a scholar who, having lost hope in examination success, had sought to serve as a staff member under the county magistrate, offering strategies and dealing with some less important public affairs. Liao Qilin frowned, “Why? Do you think I would keep your receipt?”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

Even though Jiang Sanlang said he didn’t dare, he still insisted, “If I don’t have the receipt, the officers won’t handle my case. Please return the receipt to me.”

Liao Qilin, displeased, glanced around to see dozens of eyes watching him. He had no choice but to return the receipt to Jiang Sanlang.

Back in the hall, Liao Qilin said to the county magistrate, “The person who was beating the drum outside had in fact submitted a petition. It was received by the chief registration officer, Lin Huaisheng, who also signed the receipt on which he even stamped the government’s seal.”

The county magistrate was furious as soon as he heard this, slamming the table, “Damn it! If he accepted the petition, why didn’t he let me see it? Call Lin Huaisheng in!”

The cases officially accepted would belong to the cases under his jurisdiction. If he allowed them to be transferred to his successor without authorization, his performance examination would inevitably be flawed. How could the county magistrate not be angry?

In a short while, Lin Huaisheng walked in, neck shrunken.

The county magistrate sat behind his desk, asking coldly, “Did you accept that man’s petition outside?”

Knowing that he couldn’t deny it, Lin Huaisheng confessed directly, “Yes, I accepted it, but didn’t you mention that such matters should be postponed…”

“Enough! Don’t blame your failure on me!”

Infuriated, the county magistrate asked, “Where’s the document?”

The county magistrate was to leave his position soon, but this miserable man had caused him such trouble. If the superior officials found out, wouldn’t all his hard work over the years be negated due to such a trivial matter?

It should be noted that local officials have to go to the provincial governments to continue their duties after demitting office, waiting for the Supervisory History to assess their performance. The assessment results would decide whether they should be promoted or demoted.

The assessment mainly covers four virtues and three tops.

The four virtues are morality, caution, fairness, and diligence; the three tops refer to handling affairs, encouraging diligence and fostering social security.

If any serious flaw is found in these aspects, then the official’s career is likely over.

Without a word, Lin Huaisheng took a petition out of his sleeve and handed it in.

The staff member received it and handed it to the county magistrate.

The more the county magistrate read, the angrier he grew.

“Who are these Han sisters? Hurry up and bring them here! And as for this Chen Ergou, if you can’t catch him, call other members of his family for questioning!”

The county magistrate threw down two green orders.

The arrest officer nearby had been waiting all along. He quickly took the orders and saluted, “Yes! We’ll do it immediately!”

Arresting people is sure a good task; once in the villages, not only could they be fed and received, but there might be some gains as well.

Subsequently, the Meizhou County Magistrate immediately ordered the court to be set, and had the Jiang family brought into the court of civil affairs.

Sitting behind the dock, the Meizhou County Magistrate banged the gavel and asked, “Plaintiff, state your name!”

A government official led Jiang Sanlang to the plaintiff’s position, where he ceremonially greeted the magistrate.

“Commoner Jiang Sanlang pays respect to the respected official.” Jiang Sanlang greeted the magistrate.

The Meizhou County Magistrate said, “You, who are you accusing, and for what? Tell everything in detail.”

Jiang Sanlang then retold the story of his daughter suddenly being kidnapped and taken away.

“The common people have caught a kidnapper named Zhang Mazhi, who has admitted that this act was done by him and his father-in-law Chen Ergou together. They claimed someone paid them to kidnap people, promising them payment with silver coins afterward,” he said.

Upon learning that a criminal had already been caught, the magistrate felt relieved and ordered the defendant to be brought up.

Zhang Mazhi was being led by two government officials to kneel on the defendant stone.

Zhang Mazhi, who had been terrified at this time, was shaking uncontrollably as he kowtowed before the magistrate in fear. His force was not well controlled, and he almost broke his forehead, “Esteemed official, I, I was deceived by my father in law.”

He was promised a coin, but only received a hundred coins, and the fact that he has been hiding these past few days, unable to reunite with his wife and child, was unjustifiable.

The Meizhou County Magistrate banged the gavel: “Confess your crime in full, omit a single word, and the law of punishment awaits you!”

As a result, Zhang Mazhi told everything he knew in a rush, choking near the end to say that he had been hungry all day and, upon seeing a child at the end of an alley holding half a piece of rice cake, he stole it to eat.

The clerk of the Meizhou County Magistrate recorded everything, with not a single word missed.

In the end, Zhang Mazhi signed and sealed his confession, received thirty lashes, and was then dragged into the county jail.

Next, they would be waiting for the constable to bring back the arrested man.

Naturally, the Meizhou County Magistrate wouldn’t be waiting in the public hall, so he withdrew first to his backstage room to discuss with his staff how to wrap up the case.

The preliminary trial of the case went smoothly, and the magistrate was in a good mood; he even instructed one of his staffs to prepare questions for the next court session.

Jiang Sanlang, coming out of the courthouse, first let his wife take Yingbao and his elderly parents back to his eldest sister’s house to rest, and he went to a nearby restaurant to have a meal with several villagers.

They hadn’t finished their meal yet when his second brother, Jiang Erlang, and two villagers brought back Chen Ergou.

“Sanlang, we caught him over there. We chased him for two streets before we caught up.” Jiang Erlang kicked Chen Ergou, “Should we send him to the officials now?”

Jiang Sanlang narrowed his eyes, “Let’s first ask him who the employer is. If he dares to lie, I’ll cut off his tongue.”

Chen Ergou, with a gag in his mouth, let out a loud wail upon hearing this. “Be good!” Jiang Erlang kicked him again and pulled out the rag from his

mouth.

Chen Ergou spat out a piece of rag from his mouth and shouted, “Jiang

Sanlang, how dare you!”

“What wouldn’t I dare?” Jiang Sanlang rested one foot on a stool, slapped him, and sneered, “You dared to harm my child, I can make you pay with your life!”

“Oh, you’ve got quite a temper!”

Suddenly, several government officials barged in, led by Chen Guanglu.

Chen Guanglu signaled the government officials, who in a flurry of activity seized Chen Ergou.

Jiang Sanlang kept his face stern, knowing that he could not confront the government officers or snatch the man from Chen Guanglu at this time. Chen Ergou, seeing that Chen Guanglu had arrived, said cheerfully, “Officer

Chen, you are here to save me…”

He recognized this official. It was Han’s husband, who had been to Xichen Village before and had even had a conversation with him.

Before he finished speaking, he was slapped in the face by Chen Guanglu.

“Take him back to the government office!” Chen Guanglu gave a cold glance to Jiang Sanlang and others, directing the government officials to take Chen

Ergou away..