Chapter 35: Uneducated and Unskilled

  "How can it not be?! It's like this, ah!" Wu Haichuan glared at Xiao Jiading, "Xiao Zhixi, you should take a good look at this article before speaking! Honestly..."

  His words made Xiao Jiading's eyes even colder, and he said slowly: "Wu Shuli, please read the content behind this article!"

  "What's behind? It has nothing to do with this case, right...!" Wu Donghai grumbled and didn't read on.

  Deng Xianwei glared and said: "Xiao Zhiyi let you read it, so just read it!"

  Wu Donghai was still obviously afraid of Deng Xianwei, and hastily picked up the law code, reading: "If domestic animals mutually kill or injure each other, compensation shall be reduced by half. If intentionally released to kill..."

  He stopped reading at this point, staring at the sentence again and re-reading it. He vaguely felt that something was not quite right, but for a moment he couldn't react, wondering what exactly wasn't right.

  County Magistrate Deng was the first to react, immediately bellowing: "This article is very clear! If one head of cattle directly harms another head of cattle, then compensate for the full depreciation. But if two heads of cattle are mutually biting each other and one of them gets hurt, the other party only compensates for half of the depreciation! The case we're talking about now is the second situation, so it should only be compensated for half of the depreciation, how can you rule to compensate for the full amount? What's going on?"

  He said that, Wu Haichuan still didn't quite believe it, and carefully read the article again, pondering for a moment, indeed, he couldn't help but change his face color suddenly. He looked at them in horror.

  Xu was also pale with rage. On the first day of Xie's tenure, he had already discovered a clear miscarriage of justice in the prison under his responsibility. His face lost all dignity as he pointed at Wu Donghai and shouted: "You! You don't even bother to study the criminal code, you're ignorant and unskilled! Xie is pointing out your mistakes and you still dare to argue back! Get out! Roll out!"

  Wu Donghai seemed even more afraid of this direct superior, and didn't dare say another word. He snorted in discontent, turned around and left without even a greeting.

  County Magistrate Deng and Xu the Judge, Dong the Assistant looked at each other, they also felt embarrassed, after all, this obvious miscarriage of justice had been reviewed by the three of them, none of whom had discovered the problem, at least it was their responsibility for being lax.

  Deng Xianwei looked at Xiao Jiateng and carefully accompanied him with a smile: "Xiao Zhiyi, what do you think about this matter? What's the best way to handle it?"

  This miscarriage of justice should be corrected according to the law. However, seeing Deng County and Xu Si Fa ask such questions, Xiao Jia Ding thought to himself, could there be some hidden motives? Why are these two so protective of Wu Dong Hai?

  Before things are clear, he didn't want to make a rash decision, especially since he had just arrived at the yamen and was unfamiliar with many situations. He forced a laugh and said with a bitter smile: "County Magistrate, you ask me, who am I supposed to ask? If this case hadn't been signed off by County Commander Kang, it would be easy to handle - I could pretend I didn't know, you take it back, revise it, and send it to me again, then I'll report it to the county commander. But now that County Commander Kang has already signed off on it, it's a clear miscarriage of justice. The problem is not just ignorance of the law; if one understands the law, reporting it to the prefectural yamen would put us at a disadvantage. Therefore, this miscarriage of justice cannot be sent for execution - otherwise, that would be our obvious wrongful judgment. Moreover, I wouldn't know what to do even if I didn't know about it, but now that I do know, not pointing out the mistake to County Commander Kang would not only betray his trust in me but also be dereliction of duty. But if I tell the county commander, isn't that betraying you? That's not very righteous either! Alas, I don't know what to do for the best."

  After hearing this, all three of them felt that there was room for maneuvering in this matter and looked at each other.

  County Magistrate Deng stroked his mustache, thought for a moment, and said: "This matter is quite tricky, and I can't think of a good solution for the time being. Why don't we take a break after our patrol, find a wine house to eat something and drink some wine, and carefully consider it?"

  Xiao Jiading shook his head and said, "It's already noon, drinking wine isn't good."

  "Then it's settled for this afternoon. How about that? Xiao Zhiyi, you've come and we haven't had a chance to get together properly yet, so let's take care of the welcoming ceremony at the same time."

  Xu Sifan and Dong Fazuo both nodded in agreement.

  Xiao Jiading didn't want to get too close to anyone from the yamen before he had figured things out, especially not someone like Deng Xianwei. He shook his head and said, "Forget it for now, I've been drinking for two days straight and I'm really tired, I need a good rest. How about this, County Magistrate Deng? You all don't have to rush either, this is just a matter of losing money, not a murder case or anything serious. You can take your time thinking of a solution, and I'll stall for now, won't send the execution order yet. When you've thought of a good plan, we can talk again."

  The three of them looked at each other and nodded. County Magistrate Deng said, "Alright then, next time it's settled, I'll make an appointment with Xiao Zhuiyi, you can't push it back again."

  "We'll talk about it later."

  Xiao Jia Ding took the judgment and bid farewell, returned to the study, put the judgment away, and continued to read other judgments.

  For the entire morning, he was reviewing his previous judgments. He had originally intended to learn from them, but unexpectedly discovered several obvious misjudgments, including one that Wu Donghai had also handled!

  He looked at these several misjudged judgments and couldn't help but smile bitterly. He had wanted to gather Deng County and others to discuss what to do, but the previous case hadn't come up with a good solution yet, and it was likely that these cases wouldn't have a better one either. It's still best to wait and see for now, anyway, these cases have nothing to do with himself, they were all handled by the previous executive, and had already been signed off by the county magistrate, even if responsibility is pursued later, it won't be found on his own head.

  At this time, the sound of the noon drumming cloud board started. He put down his judgment word.

  County Magistrate Kang walked out of the inner house with a swagger, and Xiao Jia Ding hurriedly stood up. County Magistrate Kang stopped and smiled: "How is it?"

  "I was reviewing old judgments this morning, wanting to learn a bit first and get familiar with them before starting work."

  "Ah! Good, good! Let's go eat!"

  This meal is not a treat by the county magistrate. The Tang Dynasty had a rule that lunch was provided by the court, which was part of the official treatment. In Chang'an, the capital city, officials who attended court ate in the corridors outside the Golden Hall, while those from lower-ranking prefectures and counties did not have to squat in the corridors to eat but instead gathered in the government office canteen. They were divided into two groups: high-ranking officials ate at small stoves, while clerks, runners, and other personnel ate at large stoves. This only applied to lunch; there was no such treatment for breakfast or dinner, which had to be arranged by themselves.

  Some of the rules and regulations of the yamen had been learned by Xiao Jiading when he spoke with Du Daren earlier, so he wouldn't mistakenly think that County Magistrate Kang was inviting him to dinner. Therefore, Xiao Jianding hastily nodded in agreement and followed behind County Magistrate Kang as they exited the signing room.

  He was walking towards the cafeteria when he saw Zhu Haixin waving at him from afar. He walked over.

  Zhu Haixin said: "The food in the government office is not good, let's go eat outside."

  "It's already this late in the afternoon..."

  "It's been an hour, let's have a good meal! Let's go! I still have something to tell you."

  Xiao Jiading didn't actually want to get too close to certain people in the yamen, since he had become the county head's secretary, he had to keep a low profile and be careful with his words and actions, couldn't be too showy, couldn't give people the impression that he was forming cliques. However, when Zhu Haixin said she had something to say to him, he nodded in agreement.

  As soon as the two men left the yamen, they were called to a halt. They hastily turned their heads and saw that by the stone lions at the foot of the yamen steps stood two people - Yu Gui, who ran a small eatery, and Old Man Xiao.

  Two men waited until Xiao Jia Ding walked down the steps before they went up to him, busily bowing and smiling. Yu Gui said: "Young Master! Thank you so much! Our cases have already been settled. My beef has all been returned to me, and I even got some extra as compensation. His servant girl's child was also awarded to his family, the yamen officials brought the child from the Hao family this morning and sent it to Xiao Lao Han's house. Ha ha, thanks to your help!"

  Xiao Jiading smiled and said: "It's just a small favor, it doesn't matter. It's fine as long as the case is settled."

  Yu Gui and Xiao Lao Han exchanged a glance, then Xiao Lao Han said: "I don't know if you have some free time, we'd like to invite you to dinner as a small token of our appreciation."

  "That's it, isn't it..."

  He had just said that, and Zhu Haiyin was already bright-eyed beside him. He pulled at Xiao Jia Ding's sleeve and whispered in his ear: "Perfect timing, let's go take a look at that Hu woman beauty!" Before Xiao Jia Ding could say anything, he had already spoken up to Yu Gui: "We're going to your shop to eat, right? Let's go!"

  "No, no, this small shop is too simple, we want to invite you to..."

  "We're not going anywhere else!" Zhu Haixin hastily said, "The time at noon is short, just eat something nearby and it's fine, we still have to work in the afternoon!"

  As they spoke, Zhu Haixin pulled Xiao Jiading forward. Yu Gui and Xiao Lao Han had no choice but to follow behind them. Anyway, it was noon and they couldn't drink wine, so eating something nearby would be fine too. So Xiao Jiading didn't object either.

  Several people came to Yu Gui's snack shop, now is the time for dinner, business is good, almost all seats are occupied.

  That beautiful woman, Loulan, was busy in the front hall serving dishes and entertaining guests. Her face, full of exotic charm, was still as cold as ice. But when she saw Xiao Jia Ding, a sudden smile appeared on her face. She lowered her eyelids, slightly bowed, and softly said: "Young Master Xiao!"

  This was the first time I heard Loulan speak, her voice had a non-standard Mandarin accent, but with a Western Regions tone, it sounded very pleasant and full of magnetism.

  Xiao Jia Ding cupped his hands and said: "Lou Lan girl, hello!"

  Yu Gui had not originally planned to entertain at the snack shop, but rather at a wine house, so he did not reserve a place in the snack shop. Now it was mealtime and several of the better seats were already taken by customers. The snack shop didn't have a private room either, so he could only lead Xiao Jia Ding and the others to his own parlor in the backyard to sit down. He ordered Lou Lan to hurry up and go to the kitchen to stir-fry some signature dishes to be sent over!

  Xiao Jiading couldn't help but feel a little curious and said, "Your daughter can cook."

  "Ah, our small shop can't afford to hire a big chef, but fortunately, my daughter is very enthusiastic about cooking and has learned many dishes. Whenever we have guests coming for a banquet, she personally cooks for them. However, our shop mainly serves snacks, and most customers order things like noodles. We don't often get requests for banquets. But since you two esteemed guests have arrived, we must bring out the best of what our small shop has to offer to treat you."