Idle courtiers

Chapter 8
The circumstances of the case are dire, the situation is critical, and the consequences are serious.

Zhou Nan knew that he couldn't panic, the more he panicked, the easier it would be for others to see that he was guilty.Fortunately, he worked all morning and was sweating profusely, but no one noticed the cold sweat on his forehead.

He didn't resist either, letting himself be pulled out by the iron chain, and looked at Zhou Yang calmly: "Second brother, why are you doing this, do you know what the crime is that you forcefully put on Brother Wei's head? One foot of cloth You can still sew; a bucket of millet can still be pounded; the two brothers are incompatible? I am very sad for the brother." Then he asked the two yamen servants: "Dare to ask your servant, why did you come to lock me up today?"

The villagers in Zhoujiazhuang were all working in the fields at the moment, and they all gathered around when they saw something happened here.Hearing the words, they all said: "Yes, yes, my brother, why did you make such a fuss? Isn't it just for ten acres of land and an extra person to eat for the family? Brother Nan is also a full-time labor force, and it's not for nothing. ?”

"What are you eating for free? Brother Nan is the elder brother, the head of the family. Now there is no separation, and the Zhou family belongs to him. How can you say that?"

"Brother's house is usually noisy, but after all, it's a family matter, so should I report it to the yamen?"

The villagers are so simple and honest, Zhou Nan used to be a scholar at any rate, so in their eyes he is an extraordinary figure.Besides, during the past three days, Zhou Nan chatted and laughed with everyone without putting on airs, and everyone got along happily.Immediately, everyone started talking at once, with the intention of accusing Zhou Yang in their tone.

Zhou Yang couldn't lift his head immediately, his wife's loving aunt shouted loudly: "You are really deceived by this liar, he is our uncle, that is, Yun Niang, this little coquette who wants a man, as long as it is a man recognize it."

"You..." Yunniang's eyes turned red when she heard such harsh words.

A man frowned, and said to Zhou Nan: "Zhou Nan, or another name, you were sued by Zhou Yang, saying that you pretended to be his deceased elder brother and occupied the land and widowed wife. The county lord is down." We don't care whether the card arrest is true or not, anyway, the Grand Master will make a decision at that time, so you can come with us to the county government office!"

It is a blessing, not a curse, and it is a disaster that cannot be escaped.Zhou Nan nodded: "Okay, please wait for a while on business, I went back to the house to wash my hands and face, change into clean clothes and go with you."

Another tolerance shouted angrily: "Who is waiting patiently for you?"

"Forget it, after all, I used to be a scholar. Be decent. Let's go. We'll let you change the clothes." Out of respect for the scholar, seeing Zhou Nan's politeness, the leading official took back the iron chain on his head.

……

After changing her clothes, seeing Zhou Nan being escorted out of the village, Yunniang finally burst into tears.

Zhou Nan looked back and said comfortingly, "Mother Yun, don't worry, I'm just going to the county for a trip, and I'll be back in the evening. Right and wrong, you have your own opinion, you can wait at home." He frowned on purpose. Frowning, he shouted: "You have cried several times in the past few days since I came back, you are not allowed to do this again in the future."

"Okay, I won't cry, I won't cry..." Yun Niang choked up and nodded, covering her mouth with her hand, sobbing uncontrollably.

The ancients lived a simple life and had no entertainment at all. They liked to gossip on weekdays.This is the only big news in Zhoujiazhuang in the past ten years. The last time it was Zhou Nan and Zhou Xiucai who killed people.Now, this Brother Nan was sued by his brother again, saying that he was an imposter.

So, more than a dozen villagers left the work to their mothers-in-law, surrounded the plaintiff Zhou Yang, the defendant Zhou Nan, and the two yamen servants, and walked towards the county town in a mighty manner.

For more than 50 miles from Zhoujiazhuang to the county seat, everyone is a villager, and they walk like flying.It's rare to have free time, with so many people gathered together, it's natural to gossip a lot.So, everyone walked and chatted, from the little widow in Dongmian Village stealing people, to the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in Hexi Village getting together, having a great time.Soon, Zhou Nan and the two gentlemen joined in.

Zhou Nan is used to welcoming people in the modern society, and when he talked about the dirty jokes at the wine table, everyone was dumbfounded: there is such a thing... This scholar chattered about pornography, and he was very lively and impressive!
Even Zhou Yang wanted to interrupt several times, but in the end Zhou Nan glanced at him lightly, and subconsciously closed his mouth, trying his best to put on an appearance of bitterness and hatred.He was also aggrieved, I am the plaintiff, how can I become the defendant and be hated by others?
Also, this thief committed such a serious crime of beheading, so he is not worried at all, he seems to have something to rely on.Something is wrong, something is wrong.

Singing and laughing all the way, like a festival.

This is Zhou Nan's second visit to Andong County. The Andong City in this era is actually quite prosperous, not much different from Lianshui in later generations.After all, the county seat is adjacent to the Huaihe River, with the sea in the east and the Grand Canal in the west, benefiting from water transportation, and it is at the hub of north-south transportation.

It is said that there are tens of thousands of households in the county seat, 6 to [-] thousand people, so the entire Ming Dynasty can be regarded as a county.

Showing off Zhou Nan's nasty jokes, the two yamen servants also relaxed their vigilance.As for the other villagers, they were also dazzled by the bustling city, and some people got separated several times, and it took a long time to find them.

At this time, if Zhou Nan is willing, he can run as fast as he can, and maybe he can escape.However, he has no such plan.Even if he fled today, without identity or guidance, he would fall into the vast ocean of people's war within a few dozen miles and be caught back.Those who have not experienced the Iron Curtain Age cannot imagine the rigor and power of the state apparatus at the peak of the feudal system.

Instead of this, it is better to face it bravely, there will be a way, there must be.

In fact, Zhou Nan was thinking about the way to deal with it along the way, but after thinking about it for a long time, he didn't have the slightest idea.

The county town is quite large, with wooden houses and more than a dozen streets criss-crossing. There are clean stone slabs under the feet, which are antique, but a little narrow, and some alleys seem dark.

Soon, a group of people came to the gate of the yamen, and saw a green brick house from a distance, with stone lions standing at the door and a yamen servant with his chest upright, yes, that was the county yamen.

The county magistrates in the Ming Dynasty did not prohibit the common people from listening in on the case, so the crowd entered the gate of Yi with a roar and rushed to the open space outside the hall.

There are also many people crowded in the open space. Looking from the open space, the lobby is very dim. A man in a big red robe and a black gauze hat is sitting on the other side of the desk talking about something. Needless to say, this should be from Andong County. The county magistrate Zunshi is adjudicating the case.

It was a rare promotion, and the yamen looked very majestic. Two rows of yamen servants dressed in blue shirts, square hats, and holding water and fire sticks lined up on both sides of the hall, with murderous looks on their faces.

It turned out that the magistrates of the Ming Dynasty did not handle cases every day.The remote areas are fine. There are many civil affairs in prosperous areas like Jiangnan, Huai'an Mansion, and the two capitals.If you are promoted to the court every day to watch things, the county magistrate doesn't have to do other things.

Therefore, the yamen only opens every three or sixty-nine every month to let the people tell, which is called releasing cards.Of course, if you don’t want to sue in these three days, you can also beat the big drum placed at the gate of the yamen, but you have to bear the consequences of disturbing the government.

Today coincides with nine, no wonder Zhou Yang didn't go to the ground to plant rice seedlings.It turned out that this kid had endured it for a few days, and finally waited for the day to come to the county town to deliver the paper.

There are all kinds of people, and when there are more people, conflicts arise. Andong County has a population of more than 30, and there are tens of thousands of households in the county. After a few days, many cases have accumulated.Shi Zhixian got up his spirits and asked the yamen servants to take the criminals to court, read the pleadings, and judge them one by one.

This was the first time Zhou Nan saw the ancients judge a case, and he immediately became interested, so he went to the steps under the hall to look inside, and then pricked up his ears to listen carefully.

After hearing a few judgments, I was greatly disappointed.In ancient society, there was almost no population movement. If a person didn't study and travel around the world, or obtained fame and became an official in other places.Or if the family has assets and goes out to do business, they will live within a radius of a hundred miles for the rest of their lives.In this way, the neighbors in the neighborhood don't know each other, and even if there are conflicts on weekdays, it will be trivial matters.For example, someone's cows ate someone's young crops; someone ate wine and severely injured his clan brother, and the injured refused to go to court to demand sky-high compensation... It's really boring.

The Shizhi County inside is also a slow person, and he took a long time to judge the case. He had to think for a long time before uttering every sentence carefully.In this way, the case will not come soon.

At the beginning, Zhou Nan was still interested in listening to the case, but it was the same with one case, and the same with the two cases, and gradually lost interest.I couldn't help but yawned for a long time, and tears welled up in my eyes.

Next to him, a fellow villager said with a smile: "Brother Nan, the county's lord has a gentle temper, which makes people very impatient. We are waiting, and I am afraid we will not be able to go back to the village today."

Zhou Nan made a bitter face: "Who says no? There is still work to be done in the field. I don't mind. If you stay in the city for a night, not to mention the cost of food and lodging. If you go home tomorrow, you may be punished." The whole family pulls their ears and swears?"

Everyone laughed softly, and scratched their heads honestly: "Brother Nan is right, we have been lazy for a day, if we delay it tomorrow, and the tigress at home does not turn their backs, it will be a sad day."

Zhou Yang suddenly looked at Zhou Nan with a sneer, squinting and said: "What a thief, you still want to go home. You committed a murderous crime like killing the sky, the master is hanging high, and I am afraid that you will live in a prison tonight inside."

Zhou Nan shook his head and sighed: "Brother, you and I are blood relatives, so why should you say such hurtful things? For the sake of the ten acres of land in your family, are you going to do such a cruel thing? It is good to have someone believe in this matter." .”

Zhou Yang was furious and was about to curse.The commotion outside had alarmed Shi Zhixian in the lobby, and he frowned: "Why is it so noisy outside?"

In everything, one comes first, so Zhou Yang went to the county seat to file a complaint early in the morning, and then took the yamen servants to the village to arrest Zhou Nan.Seeing that there are so many people filing complaints in front of him, he doesn't know when it will be his turn.Anxious, he couldn't help shouting loudly: "My lord in the county, Zhou's family Zhuang Zhou Yang sued someone who pretended to be his brother and occupied the widow's wife."

This shout was really shocking, Andong County is peaceful, and there have been almost no serious cases in recent years, and everyone's eyes fell on the people in Zhoujiazhuang outside.

Shi Zhixian in the lobby was taken aback and gasped.The case is serious!Pretending to be someone else's elder brother and occupying the widow's wife, there has never been such a weird and bizarre case of romance in the past century.

He turned back and asked the history of the punishment room: "Why didn't you report it in advance when you received this case?"

The judge of the punishment room whispered: "Returning to the elder, the county magistrate is busy with official duties, and he will not rest until the third watch tomorrow, and he will only get up in the afternoon. After receiving the pleading paper from Zhou Yang, a farmer in Zhoujiazhuang, in the morning, he couldn't bear to disturb him, so he issued a warrant first. People bring it, forgive the sin and forgive the sin."

It turned out that Shi Zhixian was in his early forties this year. In his early years, he was from a poor family. He worked hard to study, and he had to wait for night reading every night.Also because of his hard work in studying, he was finally awarded a Jinshi background by the top three in high school the year before last, and he was placed as an official in Andong County, which is considered to have fulfilled his wish.

However, decades of living habits can not be changed at once.Shi Zhixian sleeps until noon every day.If someone disturbs him, the Elder Master will definitely fly into a rage.The people in the yamen knew his virtues, so they didn't dare to disturb him easily.

To be honest, Shizhi County is already negligent.There is no way, he has no background in the court, and he was born as a Jinshi.Being sent out to be an official is in a prosperous place like Andong County, and there is basically no possibility of going further politically.Adding in age, it is estimated that I will go home for the elderly after working for two more terms.

"Come on, pardon your innocence, bring the criminal here."

(End of this chapter)