Chapter 1 Autumn Sounds (Grade 6)

  Here is the translation:

  I thought I had finally caught a big fish, a wealthy but declining family with only an orphan and a widow at home, and could make a fortune out of it. But who would have thought that there was also a noble lady living in the mansion, one rank higher than the county magistrate? Sun Ruyu's arrogance immediately diminished by half. As he entered the main gate, he saw a courtyard even more spacious and tidy than the county government office, and then looked at the tall, robust men standing upright along the path, his remaining arrogance also slipped away quietly. Fortunately, the Wang family's courtyard was not large, and before Sun Ruyu's legs lost their strength, they had already arrived at the main hall. Looking inside through the wide-open front door, Sun Ruyu only saw two people wearing brocade robes with crimson and purple trimmings, and quickly ran a few steps forward, bowing down: "Sun Ruyu, the head of the fast class of the county government office, pays his respects to the noble lady and the viscount! Without prior notification, I have disturbed you at home, please forgive me, noble lady and viscount!"

  The first sentence was a bit of a mess, but it managed to convey the meaning that he didn't want to cause any trouble. Wang Xuan saw Sun Dubao's attitude change from arrogance to humility and couldn't help but feel amused. Just as he was about to order someone to help him up, he heard Yun Niang, who was sitting on his left, hum a soft tune and say in a stern face: "No need, let Sun Dubao get up and talk. Wang Ji, bring a chair for Sun Dubao!"

  "Thank you, thank you, Lady Jun!" Sun the captain wiped the sweat from his forehead and scrambled to his feet. However, he didn't dare to really sit down on the seat that people had moved over for him, but instead just perched on the edge with a smile and added: "A humble person like me shouldn't have come today... But, my superiors..."

  "You just said that you are the leader of the regular shift, right?" Before he could come up with an excuse, Yuniang glanced at him and asked calmly.

  "Yes, yes. Indeed it is!" Sun Captor's heart skipped another beat, not quite understanding the other party's meaning, but his tongue had already started to go numb.

  Another sharp gaze swept down, followed by a thunderous voice, "Sun the Captain is an experienced official, surely you have some understanding of the laws of our great Tang Dynasty. If so, then please produce the imperial edict to confiscate my family's property! Bring people, set up the incense table, and prepare to receive the edict!"

  "Stop, stop, absolutely don't!" Sun Captor suddenly jumped up, his two hands tightly grasping Wang Ji who was about to take the incense case and leave. "This brother, please wait a moment. Lady Jun's wife, please listen to my explanation. I came this time, following...following the orders of my master..."

  "Which of your family members is it?!" Yun's aunt raised her eyes and sternly asked.

  "Yes, yes, it's the main hall of Wan Nian County, Zhang, Zhang Gui Zhang. Sun Captor bowed repeatedly towards the upper floor, not daring to lift his head to meet Yun Niang's gaze. "My master encountered several cases that are somewhat related to the viscount. It must be those suspects who are framing us. But my master..."

  "It turned out to be County Magistrate Zhang Gui. Cloud Aunt waved her hand, interrupting Sun the Captain's chatter, "Since it was your family elder who ordered you to come, I certainly have no reason to hinder you from carrying out your official duties. Please show me the Ministry of Justice's arrest warrant or your family elder's vermilion seal!"

  "No, no!" Sun Cai's face was covered in sweat, and his nose was running so much that he didn't even bother to wipe it. "Reporting to the madam of the county lord, my superior did not obtain any documents from the Ministry of Justice. It must be a small case, and they just need to invite the viscount over for a few words to clarify things. So he didn't dare disturb the Ministry of Justice, nor did he give me an imperial decree!"

  "Really?" Yun's aunt's voice suddenly became softer, and she asked with a smile.

  "Yes, yes, that's right!" Sun Captor spread out his sleeves and wiped his head several times with a trembling voice.

  "There is no imperial edict, nor any official document from the Ministry of Justice, not even a red-lacquered fire seal from the yamen. Sun the captain, what do you take this noble duke's manor for? Without any solid evidence, you dare to come and arrest a duke. If you were to catch a chicken feather in your hand, would you also dare to raid Xingqingfang? Men, take down this reckless and arrogant thug! Prepare the sedan chair, we'll find a place to reason with him!"

  "Obey the order!" The family members waiting outside responded in unison, rushing in and preparing to take action. Sun Ruyu had never seen such an array before, and with a "thud", he knelt down on the ground, embracing one of the pillars in the hall with both hands, opening his mouth to cry out: "Spare my life! Madam Jun's wife, spare my life! I'm new here, I don't understand the depth of the water in Chang'an City. They all bullied me and instigated me to come and stir up this trouble. I really didn't mean to, really not!"

  One side cried, one side used his forehead to knock against the pillar. "Dong dong dong dong", knocking until the ceiling shook violently. Cloud Aunt saw him scared into this state, knew he wouldn't dare to play tricks again, waved her hand, signaling the family members to retreat. Then changed her tone, soft voice commanded, "Considering you're new here, I can let you off this once. However..."

  "Thank you, madam! Thank you, madam!" Sun Ruyu let go of the pillar and bowed his head repeatedly towards the top. "Madam's great kindness and virtue, I will never forget for the rest of my life!"

  "Speak up, you're also a member of the public. Look at what's become of everything?" Cloud Auntie smiled and shook her head, giving a low command.

  "Yes, yes, the lady's teachings are indeed extreme!" Sun Ruyu knocked his head again, and stole a glance upwards to see that the dark clouds on Madame Jun's face were gradually dissipating. He wiped away the bump that had already started to swell on his forehead and slowly got up.

  This time, Yun Niang didn't order him to sit down. She sighed and said in a low voice: "My former husband has passed away for many years, and now this house only has us mother and child left. It's inevitable that some unscrupulous people will have evil thoughts from time to time. But the affairs of the world are not bigger than a single word 'reason'. If someone wants to falsely accuse good people without evidence, my daughter and I will risk our lives to go to the Imperial Court with him and file a lawsuit!"

  Sun caught his head, wiping sweat while nodding, fearing that any word would be imprudent and get caught by Cloud Aunt again. "Yes, yes. The madam doesn't remember the little person's mistakes. Today, I was also obedient... no, not obedient, today I was blinded by pig oil, didn't watch where I walked, and bumped into Chongren Alley!"

  Seeing his timid and fearful face, Yun Ni couldn't help but purse her lips and smile. "You're quite good at bumping into things. Fortunately, today you bumped into the Wang family. If you had walked a few more steps to the east, you would have ended up in the Zhou County Duke's mansion and been beaten to death with a stick. Tell me, does Zhang Da Ren of Wannian County have the courage to go to the Duke's mansion to seek justice for you?"

  Upon hearing this, Sun the captain's knees went weak and he almost collapsed to the ground again. He used his hand on the pillar to support himself and managed to steady himself. He bowed deeply twice and begged in a low voice, "Madam, please spare me this once. I will never dare to be reckless again. I am a lowly person, sooner or later I will be run over by a horse carriage on the street, Madam doesn't have to harm her good karma for someone like me!"

  "You are the chief of the constables, and I am a humble subject under the jurisdiction of Wan Nian County. How dare I offend you?!" Cloud Aunt shook her head and let out a cold laugh, "In the future, our Wang family will still have to ask Constable Sun for more help!"

  "I dare not, I dare not. From now on, as long as the lady has an order, even if it's a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, I wouldn't dare to decline!" Sun Ruyu bowed and scraped, only hoping to escape safely today.

  "With your words, I'm at ease!" Cloud Aunt smiled and nodded, then asked seriously, "Since you're here, don't rush to leave! Which blind person made false accusations, pouring dirty water on my family's Rong'er's head? Please, Captain Sun, reveal something!"

  The yamen hasn't even held a trial, and it's not reasonable to reveal the details of the case to the parties involved. But at this moment, Sun Ruyu didn't care about the rules of the yamen, and he wiped his sweat randomly, responding in a low voice: "Actually, it's not that our master is being too nosy. These cases were all pressed down from above. The first one was the case where Viscount last autumn rode his horse wildly on the street and accidentally injured an official of the imperial court!"

  "Isn't that case closed? Why bring it up again?" Yun's aunt was slightly stunned, frowning and asking.

  "What's going on up there? How can I possibly know?" Sun Ruyu pouted, looking wronged.

  "That case, the one who injured people with his horse was Young Master Gao of the Gao family. I was just having drinks and enjoying the breeze with them that day, and didn't directly collide with Zhao Yuanshi's carriage." Only now did Wang Xun somewhat recover from the shock brought by Yun Niang, thought for a moment, and added in a low voice.

  "You heard it!" Cloud Aunt glanced at him and immediately turned her gaze towards Sun the captain.

  "I've heard that! I'll report back to the county magistrate honestly after I return!" Sun Renyu was stunned for a moment, then nodded reluctantly.

  "What other cases do you have, just pick the important ones and tell me. As long as it's done, I'm sure the Wang family won't deny it, and when it gets out later, we'll avoid people saying that our Wang family bullies others with their power!"

  Isn't this bullying? What else can it be called? Sun the captain cursed inwardly, but didn't dare show it on his face. After collecting his thoughts, he stammered: "And, and also there's the case of several noble young men who molested a commoner girl in public last spring and killed her brother when she resisted!"

  "That wasn't me! I don't have any relationship with Xiao at all!" Wang Xuan heard this and immediately stood up, furious.

  Yun Yi gave him a look, indicating that he should calm down. Then she smiled and asked Sun Duotou, "Did you hear that? Do you want Xun'er to repeat it again?"

  "No need, no need!" Sun Captor hastily waved his hand. "Your words, sir, I have firmly remembered in my heart!"

  "What's more? Go on?"

  "The third one seems to be forcibly buying other people's fields and houses on the Wei River side..."

  "That Zhang's house suffered a flood, and the original owner himself wanted to sell. At that time, several people bid on it, and I was the highest bidder!" Seeing Sun Captor being controlled by Cloud Auntie, Wang Xun's courage also grew slowly. "Fair deal, with documents prepared locally."

  He himself said it was a fair deal, and under the eaves, Sun Zongtou didn't dare to argue. Following that, under Yun Niang's prompting, he slowly told out what he knew about the case, bit by bit. Most of it had nothing to do with Wang Xun, but there were a few things where Wang Xun was either present or helped his friends out, and no matter how you looked at it, he couldn't be cleared of blame. Fortunately, they weren't any life-or-death cases, so Yun Niang helped smooth things over with a few words on the side, and Sun Zongtou nodded in agreement.

  After asking for nearly an hour, Sun the captain's mouth could no longer produce too much dry goods. Cloud mother did not overdo it, ordered a small servant Wang Xiang to go out and bring in a tray, pointed at it, and said to Sun the captain: "Since you are willing to come and deliver a message for the Wang family. On such a hot day, we can't let you run in vain. There are a few small ingots here, take them back and share them with your brothers! Although not many, each person can buy a bowl of wine to drink, it's enough!" "I dare not, I dare not, I just ran an errand, how can I accept the reward from the madam?" In the blink of an eye, the public servant who came to ask for punishment turned into Wang Xiang's accomplice. Sun the captain was temporarily unable to adapt. But when he saw the bright color in the tray, his eyes immediately shone with a sharp light.

  Silver was not a legal tender in the Tang Dynasty, but it had already been used for gift-giving in official circles and for settling large transactions among the people. At this moment, one or two liang of pure silver could be exchanged for 1,800 Kaiyuan Tongbao coins on the market. If they were the kind that was cast during the Tianbao period, they could be exchanged for more than 2,100 coins. This tray of silver ingots had more than twenty pieces. Each piece weighed at least two liang. Fifty liang of silver was equivalent to ten years' worth of actual salary for Sun the captain. No wonder he was immediately tempted by the money.

  Since you've taken someone else's money, you can't just ignore it. After expressing gratitude, Captain Sun carefully took the tray with both hands, meticulously covering the red cloth on top, then looked around cautiously and said in a low voice: "Madam, today's matter, I have been greatly wronged. But I am indeed following orders, and my superior, I reckon, is also acting under orders from above. In reality, how to handle the case, he himself may not be able to take charge. Today, I can go back and tell my superior that the Duke has gone hunting in the countryside and coincidentally is not at home. But if someday my superior cannot give a satisfactory account to his superiors, that person's temperament, Madam, you must have also heard of it - he only looks at the present and doesn't care about the future!"

  "No need, you can come ahead of time to deliver a message to the Wang family, my mother and I will be eternally grateful!" Cloud Aunt smiled slightly, confidently waving her hand. "Someone, bring this heirloom for Captain Sun to take a look. After he returns, it's also good to report back to County Magistrate Wan."

  "Yes!" Wang Xiang responded, picking up a small, unassuming brocade box from the table with both hands, holding it at eyebrow level, and presenting it to Sun Ruyu for inspection. Seeing Wang Xiang's solemn demeanor, Sun Ruyu also quickly stood up straight, holding the bribe money, tiptoeing, and peeking into the box. Inside, he saw a small iron plaque that was even less eye-catching than the brocade box, with a single character "Exempt" engraved in bold font.

  He swayed twice, and Sun the captain put the silver on the ground, kneeling down. He respectfully kowtowed three times to the brocade box, then slowly stood up, his face as pale as a dead person's. "I was truly blind today, daring to come to the home of the founding general to seek death. Thank you, Madame Guo, for your mercy in sparing my life. Don't worry, from now on, no matter what unfavorable news there is about Young Master in the yamen, as soon as I receive word, I will personally bring it to you!"

  Note 1: Jingzheng yi, refers to a regular constable with official establishment. Not an auxiliary police or temporary worker. As the county magistrate of Gyeonggi Province, the Wan Nian County Magistrate was a fifth-grade official. Half a grade lower than the Gunjun.

  Note 2: The residence of Tang Xuanzong before he ascended to the throne, later became part of the imperial palace.

  Note 3: The Hall of Two Rituals, where Tang Xuanzong handled government affairs and met with high-ranking officials.

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