Everyone wants to curry favor with someone powerful

  Li Peinan stepped onto the horse carriage, completely ignoring Min An who was kneeling behind him. Min An anxiously rushed to the front of the carriage, knelt down with outstretched arms and loudly said: "The King of Chunan is diligent in governing the people, working day and night, and three years ago issued twelve clear edicts saying 'to reconcile with the countryside parties to stop disputes, to lecture on laws to warn the foolish and stubborn'. This can be used to judge my master's case! The prince today is representing the king in inspecting this place, just like letting tens of thousands of people see the king's sacred power. The prince being here is equivalent to the king being here! The king has always been kind to the people, speaking out for justice on behalf of the people, I believe the prince will certainly uphold the king's principles and seek justice for us commoners!"

  Min An's shout was a desperate move. In the vast Qingquan County, he had no one to rely on and could only appeal to Li Peinan according to reason. Although Fei Yi was also in the inn, she never interfered with matters and would not take action for this insignificant little clerk. The fact that his previous requests were rejected by Fei Yi was a good example. As for Li Peinan's subsequent response, Min An did not have full confidence, but at this critical moment, he was willing to risk his life to try. If it didn't work out, there was still Wang Huailai who could be pulled in as a backup.

  Min An, with his hair disheveled, heavily knocked his head on the carriage, his eyes fixed tightly on the wheel tracks, silent and still, waiting for Li Peinan's verdict.

  Li Peinan furrowed his brow inside the carriage. Since he was young, his father had placed high hopes on him, raising him by the sea and in the western desert, tempering his body in the waves and training his mind in battle, so that he had long become impervious to swords and guns, with a heart as cold as iron. A few words from Min An couldn't move him at all, let alone that he had never liked being constrained by anyone or anything. When he heard Min An invoke his father's name to pressure him, and do so in such a grandiose manner, how could it not make him even colder? He ordered the coachman, "Go," dismissing Min An's plea with a single word.

  The charioteer saw Min An still kneeling in front of the horse's head, getting too close, worried that with a slight pull on the reins, the horse would trample over his slender and elegant body, hesitating not to advance.

  Li Peinan said from inside the carriage, "Step on it." The coachman hastily tightened the reins, and the horse's hooves hovered in mid-air as a long whinny of warning sounded from its mouth. Min An remained motionless, still kneeling on the ground, and Wang Huailai grew anxious at the sight, rushing over to grab Min An's lapels and pulling him out from under the horse's hooves by two or three feet.

  Wang Huaili wasn't worried about Min'an's life, but was afraid of delaying Li Peinan's journey. He also knelt on the ground to see off the carriage, and after the guard team whizzed by, he glared at Min'an with a sullen face and said coldly: "You've disgraced me, wait till we get back to the yamen and see how I'll deal with you."

  Min An wiped his face with his sleeve, removing a layer of dirt and dust. His eyes, black and white, suddenly appeared, and upon closer inspection, there was no sign of distress or dishevelment. He smiled at Wang Zhi County and said in a low voice, "Earlier, I made sure that the young master would remember me, this stubborn commoner, and know that I'm not easy to get rid of. You, sir, thought you could quietly take me back to the county yamen for punishment, but as soon as we left, someone would have handed in the complaint I wrote, accusing you of five crimes. If I went back with you, it would be a disaster, and I might not even keep my life, so I prepared this complaint paper, ready to fight to the death." Min An pulled out a medical prescription he had copied days ago from his pocket, waved it in front of Wang Zhi County's face, smudging some ink, and continued, "When the young master returns, he'll see that there are people kneeling outside the hostel again, crying and wailing, looking very ominous. He'll think to himself, 'This complaint is endless, annoying me, why not just take a look at it?' My family will seize the opportunity to hand in the complaint, which clearly lists your five crimes: condoning evil, murder, corruption, privately punishing civilians, and deceiving superiors..."

  Wang Huai heard the four words "corrupt and lawless" and was shocked, his heart racing with fear. He thought to himself, could it be that the ill-gotten silver he had secretly accepted from the prince had already been discovered by this young official? He didn't know that Min An had simply fabricated a list of charges, which included the matter of the Ma family's bribe.

  Wang Huairu was both shocked and enraged, stretching out his hand to grab the white paper from An's hand, shouting: "You little scoundrel, falsely accusing this official without cause, daring to bypass proper channels to report it, aren't you afraid that this official will punish your family?"

  For two or three years, Min An had accompanied Bi Si to send a lot of wealth and gifts to Wang Huai Li, knowing the weight of Wang Huai Li's belly, he dared to do so on the spot with soft language coercion. He raised his hand and shook the white paper square, making Wang Huai Li unable to reach it, and put on a loyal and honest face, saying: "Wang Daren, don't be so impatient, listen to me say a few real words first. You are serving the young master well, isn't it just to climb up the wealth of the Chu Nan Wang family, let the young master speak beautifully for you in front of the king? But, sir, don't forget that the king promotes officials based on their performance evaluation, and the performance evaluation should be based on the examination of cases. If the case is not examined well, hidden grievances are concealed, and the superior returns to refute it, then you will lose face and affect your performance."

  Min An had not finished speaking, when Wang Huai Li coldly laughed: "You've been allowed to say your piece from start to finish, and in your mouth black can be called white. This official has gained some insight. Come come come, those useless words are nothing, it's better to follow this official back to the yamen." He stood up, shook his sleeves and was about to leave.

  Min An hastily grabbed Wang Huaili's sleeve and said in a low voice, "This great opportunity is right in front of us, why doesn't sir cherish it? I dare to guarantee to sir that my master's case must have been wronged, and if sir solves this case, he will definitely gain recognition from above. Moreover, our master has already concluded the case of Mao Thirteen, and Shen Dang's confession has also been submitted to sir. If sir mentions a few more words about our master's supervision in the confession, writes a concluding statement, then the credit for solving the case of Mao Thirteen will definitely be shared with sir. Sir can submit my master's and Mao Thirteen's concluded confessions together, and once the prince sees that sir has solved two major cases in one month, he will surely praise sir and may even recommend sir's talents to Prince Wang. At the very least, these two cases will benefit sir's promotion next month, making his political achievements stand out among his peers and smoothly advance on the path of success."

  Wang Huaili stood thinking for a while, and couldn't help but be inspired by Min An's words. He thought that if he took advantage of this opportunity to tie up the cases of Mao Thirteen and Ma Mie Yu once and for all, it wouldn't be a bad plan. He turned around and ordered his followers to separate Min An from the Ma family members, sending them away one by one, while he himself waited outside the inn, specially waiting for Li Peinan's return.

  In the evening, Min An formally submitted a statement to the Qingquan County government office, requesting an investigation into Ma Mieyu's death. Wang Huaili was not in the county government office and did not send anyone to respond to Min An's appeal. Min An had no choice but to return to the post house first.

  When the lanterns were lit, Li Peinan returned with his guards after inspecting the sentry post. Wang Huaili hastily went to meet him. He carefully waited by Li Peinan's side, attending to Li Peinan as he washed his face, changed his clothes, and burned incense. With great enthusiasm, he spoke about Wu Ren's case, also mentioning Min An's petition requesting an examination of the injuries, seemingly inviting Li Peinan to make a decision. Li Peinan didn't say anything, took a sip of tea, and with a wave of his sleeve, dismissed Wang Huaili.

  Two clever maidservants came in to pay their respects and asked if they should serve dinner. Li Peinan nodded, turned into the study and had just picked up "Baicao Yin" to take a look when Wei Zhenglong, the captain of the guards, walked in with big strides, made a bow and said: "The second young master has arrived."

  Li Peinan put down his book and said: "Steep a pot of Suzhou purple bamboo shoots, and have the kitchen bring up a few northern dishes."

  Li Qun hadn't left yet, and the sound of footsteps that were neither slow nor hurried was already coming from the stairs. Li Qun hastily retreated to one side, bowed his head in greeting, waiting for Fei Yi to enter the door before quickly walking down to prepare tea.

  Whoever you like, just say it out loud! I only know if he's popular or not then (*^__^*)

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