Volume 2 Chapter 35: Who can understand the song?
Xie Xun wrote for a while, then gently put down the pen and said softly to Cai Shaobing: "Mr. Cai, I have something to advise you. Are you willing to listen?"
Cai Shaobing saw that the inspector's attitude had improved, and he knew that things had turned around, so he nodded quickly and said, "I'm willing to listen!"
Xie Xun looked extremely embarrassed and sighed, "According to the laws of the Heavenly Dynasty, land cannot be bought and sold privately, and it is even more strictly forbidden for officials and relatives to annex it. You have occupied a small amount of land and killed so many people. How embarrassing it is for Lord Lai. He works hard for the country, but he has to be accused of breaking the law because of you. In my opinion, you can take out some silver and the deeds of those lands to appease these people, otherwise they will make a fuss and I can't protect you."
Spitting out the meat in his mouth was like a death sentence for Cai Shaobing. But if he really wanted to save his life, he might bleed a little. He could only reluctantly say to the servant next to him: "Ask the master to bring the deeds and the silver!" But in his heart he said bitterly: "You, a pretty boy, have a bigger appetite than me. When you leave, I will have to eat it back!"
Seeing that the inspector wanted Cai Shaobing to pay some silver, the common people naturally refused to do so. They just let the people in the hall shout loudly, but the inspector closed his eyes and rested, as if he didn't hear anything. Yuan Xingjian shook his head and said angrily, "I'm afraid these two families have put mountains of gold and silver in the back hall. I didn't expect that he was just doing this to make more money."
Lin Jianlan also frowned and looked down. Many people who were still waiting for Su Wenshu to write the petition had already seen the situation and slowly hid in the crowd. He said, "Brother Yuan, don't be angry yet. This corrupt official must not be allowed to stay in the world to harm the people. We will go there at night."
Yuan Xingjian smiled bitterly, looked ahead, and said blankly: "There really are endless evil people being beheaded. I don't know when this kind of life will end."
Although Lin Jianlan and he had only known each other for half a day, they got along very well in their conversation. It seemed that his personality was not what he had originally thought. Although everyone praised him as one of the best in the rebel army, he was not unpredictable, but rather very generous. Seeing him say such bleak words, he was shocked and said, "I thought it was so satisfying to take revenge, but it turns out that fighting and killing are disgusting. Brother Yuan never revealed his master and background, so he must have a sad past of his own."
The two of them were silent for a long while. The hot weather was so hot that there was no wind. They felt more and more annoyed watching this farce. They saw a crowd surging. Someone slowly squeezed into the hall. He had a goatee and was dressed very elegantly. He bowed to Xie Xun and said, "I am the manager of Cai's house."
Xie Xunan slowly opened his eyes and said, "Manager Cai, since you are here, I guess the land deed and the silver have been delivered?"
Manager Cai hurriedly pulled out a thick stack of land deeds from his waist and presented them to him. Inspector Xie immediately smiled and said, "That's right, Manager Cai, please leave the room."
The steward's face relaxed, knowing that nothing serious was happening. He exchanged glances with Gao Deshun and squeezed out of the crowd again. Cai Shaobing also wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeves, took a long breath, and looked up and said, "Thank you, sir. Is everything ok?"
However, Inspector Xie showed a mocking look, picked up the revised verdict and said, "Mr. Cai has shown such care to our court, how can we not be grateful?" He said it so frankly that Gao Deshun was surprised and said, "Even I am only secretly on good terms with Cai Shaobing, and I dare not make it too public. After the silver arrived at the yamen, Inspector Xie dared to openly show his goodwill to him, not afraid of public opinion, which is very bold." Just as he was thinking about it, he heard Inspector Xie say, "In this case, our court will read the verdict again, and I will not trouble you this time."
Gao Deshun said hurriedly: "No, no."
Everyone in the hall had long been disappointed with the inspector, but when they saw him openly state his opinion, they dared not speak out or make any noise. They thought to themselves, "I have already offended Wu and Cai, and if I offend this inspector again, I'm afraid even ten lives will be enough to pay." They watched quietly. Inspector Xie cleared his throat and read out the verdict in a deep voice, but it was exactly the same as the original one. Lin Jianlan was a little puzzled, and was thinking to himself while facing the inspector, when he heard him say, "The last one, you tried to bribe the inspector to escape punishment, and you regard the laws of the Heavenly Dynasty and the imperial sword bestowed by the emperor as nothing. You are defying the law like this and are committing an even greater crime!" Immediately, the crowd below was in an uproar, and everyone's faces lit up. Some even covered their hearts and cried with joy. Lin Jianlan and Yuan Xingjian looked at each other. They really didn't expect such a sudden turn of events. The expression on Yuan Xingjian's face was indescribable, with surprise and joy, and a hint of admiration.
Someone in the hall started shouting at some point. The voices of "Xie Qingtian" were heard one after another. The voice of Xie Xun'an became even clearer and brighter: "For all these crimes, even if you die a hundred times, it may not be enough to appease the people's anger. But God is kind and has given you only one life. This court will not add any more charges to you. Su Shuwen, make him sign!"
Cai Shaobing had already collapsed to the ground in shock at the sudden change. The people around him were all filled with hatred for him. Their shouts of "Kill him, kill him" were like thunder. They rolled and crawled towards Wu Hong, anxiously saying, "Master Wu, save me! You can't just stand by and watch me die!"
Even Wu Hong, who was used to seeing many big scenes in Chang'an, felt his heart break at the sound of this shout, but he remained calm and said calmly, "With my great-aunt here, who dares to touch my people?"
Xie Xunan smiled coldly and said, "Mr. Wu, you'd better not worry about others. Most of the evil you do is done by Cai Shaobing, so there are very few people who directly sue you, but the evidence is in our hands." At this point, he waved the deeds in his hand and said, "Seven or eight out of ten deeds have your name and seal on them. This is ironclad evidence of private land annexation! Even if it is brought to the emperor, it is irrefutable. You should worry about yourself!" After that, he drew a stick from the stick tube and threw it straight down, shouting, "Take Cai Shaobing away and behead him!"
Lin Jianlan couldn't help but exclaim "That's great" in his heart, but he heard a sharp shout from below: "Damn it! Who dares? Smash him!" Looking closely, he saw that Wu Hong had already stood up with a sullen face. A hundred or so people who looked like thugs had squeezed into the hall at some point, and at the moment, at a command, they jumped into the field with weapons in hand. How could a few yamen runners and guards be the match of so many people? The screams and sounds of fighting were mixed together, and the hall was in chaos.
Although Inspector Xie was so impressive just now, he was now standing at the back, caught off guard. There were only two yamen runners in front of the case, looking nervous, and the rest were injured and lying on the ground. There were about a dozen thugs coming over here, and the rest were beating and dispersing the onlookers. Lin Jianlan really didn't expect Wu Hong to be so bold as to openly smash the court. He stood up quickly and saw Yuan Xingjian still sitting on the roof without paying any attention. He asked curiously, "Brother Yuan? Aren't you going down to help the inspector?"
Yuan Xingjian smiled sadly and shook his head, saying, "I reported my real name when we met in the temple this morning. I'm afraid that the three names 'Yuan Xingjian' have long been wanted by the court. If Wu and Cai recognize me, they will probably accuse Inspector Xie of colluding with bandits. Saving him would mean harming him. It's better not to show up."
Lin Jianlan had not expected that Yuan Xingjian would think so much about Inspector Xie. He felt a little touched. After thinking for a while, he sat down again. He heard someone say, "Sir Xie, it is important to protect the official seal and the sword!" It was Gao Deshun's voice. He could not help but curse in his heart, "This man is really cunning!"
Wu Hong and Cai Shaobing were just standing there watching the thugs fighting and smashing things. When they heard this reminder, they suddenly realized what was going on. Wu Hong shouted, "Grab his seal and sword! Without the seal, let's see how he can show off his power!"
Cai Shaobing's eyes widened with excitement, and he fanned the flames, saying, "You have lost the sword and seal bestowed by the emperor, so you should just die!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the thugs had already rushed towards the official case. Lin Jianlan looked down and saw that Su Shushu had already held the official seal tightly in his arms, while Xie Xun'an held the sword tightly in his hand, his thin white fingers were a little blue, and he muttered something incomprehensible. Seeing that Su Shushu's face next to him changed drastically and tears almost fell from his eyes, he nodded gently.
Lin Jianlan didn't know what he was talking about for a moment. Just as he was thinking about it, he saw Yuan Xingjian stood up with his fists clenched, his face extremely serious and solemn, his teeth chattering, and after a while, dust fell from his right hand. He actually grabbed a tile and crushed it. Just as he was about to ask a question, he saw Yuan Xingjian throwing dozens of broken tiles downwards with a sharp sound. The momentum was so fast and fierce that he must have been extremely angry and could no longer bear it. After a while, a series of screams came into his ears, and several thugs below had fallen down, all of them were hit in fatal places.
Lin Jianlan was shocked. Seeing Yuan Xingjian's eyes flushed and his lips trembling, he held the fragments tightly in his hand and threw them down. He quickly reached out and grabbed his pulse point and said repeatedly: "Brother Yuan! Brother Yuan! Don't kill people like this!"
Yuan Xingjian said angrily: "They are accomplices of the tiger and dogs rely on the power of others. Shouldn't they be killed?"
Lin Jianlan just grabbed his wrist with all his strength and said, "Even if he deserves to be killed, it shouldn't be done by Brother Yuan."
Yuan Xingjian struggled, but felt that his wrist was like an iron clamp and a soft silk, with great force. If he wanted to break free, he would have to use 80% of his strength to resist it. Even if he managed to break free, he didn't know if it would cause injuries to both of them. He was a little surprised that Lin Jianlan's internal strength had reached this level, and he couldn't help but loosen his strength: "Hey, let go."
Seeing him let go, Lin Jianlan hurriedly took the tile from Yuan Xingjian's hand, weighed it in his hand before throwing it downwards. In an instant, another group of people fell to the ground. Yuan Xingjian saw that he used the stone to press the soft and numb points of these people, which showed that he had compassion in his heart. He laughed at Lin Jianlan's womanly kindness in his heart, but he stopped arguing.
The two groups of thugs who rushed up fell to the ground strangely. The first group met the King of Hell. The remaining thugs were terrified, thinking that they were only a few feet away from the case, but they seemed to be protected by gods. They looked at each other, but no one dared to move forward. After a while, most of them slipped away.
When Inspector Xie saw this strange situation, he didn't know if there was really any help from the gods. He really survived a disaster. He broke out in a cold sweat, his body softened, and he fell down on the official chair, but he still held the imperial sword in his hand. He saw that the yamen runners had already helped each other up, while Wu and Cai were pale again, shaking like sieves. He was furious in his heart, but his face remained calm. He sneered and said, "Mr. Wu, Mr. Cai, if you had honestly confessed your guilt just now, it would have been fine. Now I have doubts in my heart. I don't know whether you were condoned by your father and brother. I will write a letter to the emperor tonight. Now you have implicated your father and brother, but it is too late to regret. Someone come!"
The guards he brought with him were naturally furious. They had already arrested the two men at his command. Inspector Xie said, "I will not say anything more about Cai Shaobing. Wu Hong led the crowd to disrupt the court, defying the majesty of the emperor and plotting treason. He should be executed together with Cai Shaobing!"
The yamen runners responded, and seeing that the two men were already like mud, they pulled up their arms and dragged them down. Lin Jianlan was overjoyed, but he saw a man fall from nowhere to the hall and said, "Wait a minute!"
Hearing this voice, Lin Jianlan was startled. He looked intently, but could only see the back of the man. He looked very familiar, dressed in white, clean as a speck of dust. He held something high in his hand and said, "Your Majesty, the golden medal of immunity is here. Please spare his life."
At this moment, the crowd was noisy again, but Inspector Xie looked solemn. He stepped down very respectfully and took the gold medal with both hands. He looked at it for a while before saying, "If I remember correctly, this was originally given to King Liang by the Emperor."
The man said, "The King of Liang also received a quick report recently that Master Wu has become so lawless in Jiangnan. Although he knows that his crime is unforgivable, he still loves his son so much that he has come here from thousands of miles away. If you can spare his life, the King of Liang will definitely teach Master Wu a lesson and personally plead guilty in front of His Majesty. What? This golden medal of immunity from death can only be used on the King of Liang?"
Xie Xun An hesitated for a moment, then raised his head and said, "That's not the case. I was present when the gold medal was given to me. His Majesty said that since the gold medal was given to King Liang, it can be used to pardon anyone from death. It was only used today. Please hand this medal to me, otherwise I will not be able to explain to His Majesty."
The man nodded and said, "Of course. Then can I take Master Wu away?"
Xie Xun frowned for a long time before nodding. Immediately, the people around him burst into dissatisfaction. Yuan Xingjian sighed, "As an official of the imperial court, you are so pedantic that you can't even tell a lie."
Lin Jianlan thought to himself, "Telling a lie is deceiving the emperor. Sigh, I really don't know what kind of person the current emperor is. There are people like Xie Xunkan who are so devoted to her." But Cai Shaobing broke away from the two yamen runners, ran to Wu Hong and shouted, "Master Wu! Wu Hong! You can't just stand by and watch someone die! You got more than 70% of the land..." Before he could finish his words, Wu Hong kicked him to the ground and said, "That was your doing. I didn't know about it."
