Chapter Five: A Shocking Dream in the Yamen

  At first, when Qin Zhuang stole a chicken from the east house and touched a dog in the west house, Qin Kan certainly didn't think that he would also have a day of retribution.

  As soon as he stepped into Shaoxing City, all his belongings were stolen, and what's more, he got involved in a lawsuit.

  Whether going out or entering the city, you should choose a auspicious day of Huangdao.

  "Do you know how much silver I lost? Twelve taels! I'm so unlucky, and yet you still drag me to see the official. Are you even human?" Qin Kan was getting angry, his fists clenched tightly.

  His heart is bleeding.

  The beauty coldly smiled: "You clearly know I'm chasing a thief, not only did you not stand up for me, but instead tripped me and caused me to get hurt, are you even human?"

  Qin Kan was at a loss, arguing with women was never his strong suit, neither in this life nor the last.

  After being stunned for a long time, Qin Kan finally sighed: "I... am not human."

  The beauty smiled slightly, then her face turned serious, and without saying a word, she grabbed his sleeve and walked out of the alley.

  "It doesn't matter what you and I say, let County Magistrate Zun decide!"

  "This young lady, County Magistrate is very busy, no need to trouble him, let's settle it privately! Let's settle it privately..."

  "You're penniless now, what can you use to settle with me privately?"

  "Blood debt... Young lady, stop pulling, you've torn my sleeve. Hey, no matter how I explain it to you, you just won't listen? Is the government office your family's?"

  "That's right, this government office is my family's! You ungrateful rascal, come with me!"

  Qin Kan found that people in the Ming Dynasty had a very strong legal awareness, especially those tall and robust women.

  The beautiful woman's strength was incredibly great, and Qin Kan, such a strong and proud man, couldn't break free no matter what. As a result, the two of them faced the astonished gazes of passersby on the street, pulling and tugging all the way to the government office.

  Such trivial civil disputes would definitely not be handled by the Shaoxing prefectural government, and strictly speaking, the Shanyin County government should not intervene either. This is something that should be handled by neighborhood committee directors, if such a thing existed in the Ming dynasty.

  Unfortunately, this tall woman insisted on taking him to see the official today, and she seemed determined to turn a small spark into a raging fire.

  The matter was actually a small thing, but Qin Kan gradually discovered that this girl might not think so in her heart.

  A beautiful and charming young woman, with a stunning appearance that turns heads in the city, was tripped on the street and fell into a humiliating mess, not only bleeding and injured, but also losing face in public. Who wouldn't be furious and humiliated?

  The most bitter one is Qin Kan, he has a kind of tragic and desolate feeling as if disaster is falling from the sky.

  According to Buddhism, everything has its cause and effect. Good deeds will be rewarded with good fortune, while evil deeds will be punished with bad fortune. Qin Kan probably belongs to the latter category. Not only was his money stolen, but he also ended up in a lawsuit for no reason. If he had shown some integrity and righteousness earlier, the outcome would likely have been very different...

  Getting into trouble with the authorities is certainly a troublesome thing, and Qin Kan hated nothing more than trouble in this life.

  The standard eight-character wall at the entrance of the county government office was not as imagined by Qin Kan. The main gate of the county government office was tightly closed, and only the side door on the left was open. There were no two rows of yamen runners standing neatly waiting for you to come and file a lawsuit. Nor did they beat the drum loudly at the entrance like in TV dramas. In fact, the drum at the entrance of the government office cannot be beaten randomly. Unless it's a huge injustice, it's better not to beat the drum too much, because once the drum is beaten, it means that the master does not intend to settle the matter peacefully and has made up his mind to make a big deal out of it. If you beat the drum but report some trivial matters, the county magistrate will surely beat you with a board first, and may even exile or sentence you to several years in prison.

  The beauty obviously understood these rules, fortunately did not make the move of angrily beating the drum, but instead quietly pulled Qin Kan from the side door.

  Inside the gate stood a middle-aged bailiff in a blue uniform, who was stunned to see Qin Kan and others pulling and tugging as they walked in.

  "Report! I want to report! You, go and invite County Master over!" The beauty's tone was as if she were ordering a servant around, arrogant and domineering.

  Qin Kan's cold sweat flowed profusely, his face turned green like winter radish.

  Lost money and got sued, coincidentally met a woman who wouldn't give him an inch, he felt his grievances were qualified to beat the drum of injustice...

  The middle-aged bailiff's expression was very colorful, especially when looking at the beauty, his eyes were like looking at a certain kind of fierce beast, absolute awe. Hmm, it seems that the bailiff knows this beauty, which means that the beauty should often come to report small things and has become a regular customer of the government office. From this, we can infer that after middle age, this beauty is absolutely what people call "troublemaker" or "gossip".

  Xiao Ba Po's aura is now very powerful, with a kind of majestic and sweeping momentum that seems to be able to conquer the world. The middle-aged yamen runner was clearly intimidated by this aura, he looked at Qin Kan with a strange expression, didn't say a word, turned his head and walked towards the second hall of the yamen.

  Qin Kan was startled by the sudden appearance of the bailiff and his eyes widened as he felt a chill run down his spine, then he fell into deep thought...

  The beauty still clutched Qin Kan's sleeve and refused to let go, as if afraid he would run away. She turned her head and glared at him with a very unpleasant tone.

  "Hey, what's on your mind?"

  Qin Kan said bluntly: "I was thinking that the official who just looked at me with a strange gaze..."

  "What's strange?"

  His eyes were filled with sympathy...

  "What sympathy?"

  "Just like... I've been bitten by a snake and am being given sympathetic glances as if there's no cure."

  Before long, the middle-aged bailiff returned and respectfully told Qin Kan and the beauty that County Master was waiting for them in the second hall of the government office.

  Qin Kan very sensitively saw that this official's respectful attitude was absolutely not towards him...

  Small civil disputes cannot be openly tried in the county yamen's main hall, and those that can be tried in the main hall are more serious criminal cases. Qin Kan has not yet reached that level of qualification.

  In fact, the most that happens in a yamen is that cases are handled in the second hall, and generally, officials handle cases mainly through mediation. To see the county magistrate sitting in the main hall banging his gavel, with two rows of yamen runners on either side shouting "威武" (a term used to express respect) while vigorously pounding their staffs on the ground, you would have to go out into the streets and kill a few people, or publicly curse the Director of the Eastern Depot - that's something that hasn't gotten old-fashioned yet (cursing the Emperor is already passé, but cursing the Director of the Eastern Depot is even more thrilling). Only then would you have the honor of kneeling in the main hall and listening to the yamen runners pounding their staffs.

  The beauty had a strong temper, and she kept pulling Qin Kan's sleeve, refusing to let go. The two of them pulled and tugged until they reached the Second Hall, which was where the government offices were located. On either side of the hall were old buildings with doors that led to various offices, in and out of which constantly flowed yamen runners and clerks. Starting from the county magistrate, the county lieutenant, the chief clerk, the historian, and other minor officials each occupied an office.

  The old government office also has a saying, during the reign of Emperor Taizu, there was a regulation that prohibited officials from being extravagant and wasteful. Therefore, in the Ming Dynasty, it was an official rule not to repair the government office. If any official really couldn't help but want to use the official silver to make the government office look better, then this official would soon receive a memorial from the supervising censor, and be transferred, demoted or dismissed. The beautifully renovated government office ultimately became a dowry for his successor.

  According to the usual practice, for such a small case, the yamen only needs one clerk to mediate and that's it. At most, it would be reported to the chief of the police department, but when Qin Kan and others arrived at the Second Hall Courtyard, a yamen runner told them that Magistrate Du was waiting in the west wing of the Second Hall.

  Qin Kan's eyes widened in surprise.

  What kind of treatment is this? The county magistrate of Shanyin personally handled trivial matters, and the officials were so idle that they had reached this point?

  Looking at the beauty, she had an expression of being naturally entitled, with a hint of complacency flashing in her bright and dark eyes.

  Qin Kan tidied up his clothes and hat in the Second Hall, and walked in with a solemn expression, his heart inevitably nervous. The tall beauty followed behind Qin Kan with a very casual expression, occasionally humming a cold laugh at Qin Kan, making the hairs on the back of Qin Kan's neck stand on end.

  The furnishings in the western wing were simple, with a bookcase on one side and a desk on the other. A man in his forties, dressed in a gray satin robe, was bent over the desk writing. When he heard someone enter, he finally looked up, and his eyes met Qin Kan's at first glance.

  Du Hong, styled Yuanshi, was a native of Shanyin. He passed the imperial examination in the third year of the Hongzhi Emperor's reign and became a jinshi at around 40 years old. Having served as the magistrate of Shanyin for over three years, he had gained a good reputation.

  Du Hong's first impression of Qin Kan was not bad, he was a civil official, and a serious and proper jinshi (a successful candidate in the imperial examination) who could be called a typical product of the imperial examination system. He was fond of fame and profit, but of course, his pursuit of profit had to be based on not damaging his reputation. In short, he was a typical Ming dynasty civil official.

  Qin Kan, born with a handsome face and elegant appearance, looked like a scholar at first glance. Everyone was a student of Confucius' school, and the Ming dynasty's officialdom had a strong atmosphere of judging people by their looks, so Du Hong's first impression of Qin Kan was quite good.

  Unfortunately, this good impression did not last long.

  Qin Kan hadn't even had time to pay his respects to the county magistrate when Du Hong caught sight of the tall, beautiful woman standing behind Qin. Seeing that the beauty's face was dirty and disheveled, with her hair scattered all over the place, and a few faint streaks of blood on her nose and lips, Du Hong couldn't help but be shocked, his face suddenly turning very ugly.

  "Yan'er, what's wrong with you? How did you end up looking like this?"

  As soon as Du Hong's words came out, Qin Kan's face also changed, becoming even uglier than Du Hong's.

  A tall and beautiful girl named Yan'er, at this time, seemed to have seen a close relative, her eyes reddened, she glanced at Qin Kan with ill intentions, her bright red lips suddenly pouted, and said with infinite grievance: "Dad, this person is bullying me..."

  Qin Kan took a deep breath in, and loudly repeated: "Dad?"

  As soon as the words fell, Du's father and daughter had four eyes with cold light, staring at him fiercely, their gaze was very unfriendly.

  This "dad" was indeed called inopportune, Qin Kan's face turned blue and red, the three of them remained silent for a long time in the wing room, until Qin Kan broke the silence with a sorrowful sigh.

  "I was wrong, the government office is indeed your family's..."

  PS: It seems that we have squeezed into the sixth place on the new book list without any recommendation from the website, which really surprises me. I beg of you, dear friends, to help me keep it up, don't miss a single collection and recommendation!