Three Philosophical Questions for Travelers

Everyone stared at Hai Wen, some numb and some frightened, but no one spoke.Hai Wen asked a child, "Why don't you eat?"

The child had rotten hair that covered his eyes, and red spots on his dirty body.He looked at Haiwen with a pair of wet eyes, and asked in a low voice, "Are we going to be executed?"

"This is not a delivery meal, kid." Haiwen said with a smile, "Did you forget? I promised to reverse the case for you."

Hearing this, an old man covered in fleas and tangled hair asked him, "My lord, do you really want to reverse the case for us?"

"Yes, I will re-judge, clear the wronged, and judge the sinner-so now you have something to eat, and come one by one later."

Hearing this, people began to eat.These people were also very hungry, and they stuffed a piece of bread into their mouths in each hand, gobbling it voraciously.But the old man didn't eat. He said to Hai Wen: "My lord, but I have nothing to give you."

"I don't want anything from you," Haven said.

"Then why did you..."

"For conscience." He said, "Eat quickly, it's going to be cold."

After speaking, Haiwen returned to the door, waited for about 10 minutes, and began to call the first prisoner.The person who came was a middle-aged man with edema in the abdomen. He was pale all over and had great difficulty walking.Haiwen had to ask someone to bring him a mat and let him lie on the ground for a retrial.

However, this behavior once again aroused people's dissatisfaction, because the prisoner should kneel down, and there is no mention of lying down for trial.Hai Wen once again asked people to maintain law and order.Then some good-natured people booed loudly and kept moaning.The ethos of Mustang Town has always been like this, and it cannot be changed in the short term.

The criminal named Bob was charged with fraud and theft.Haiwen flipped through the file, and his crimes were clearly written on it.It is said that this one was collecting money in my brother's tavern, but later became greedy and stole part of the tavern's income privately.Later, when the account was not reconciled, the incident became public, and his brother sued him to the court.According to the law, he will be imprisoned for at least one year, and then he will pay off the arrears. The more he pays, the longer he will be imprisoned later.

According to the file, this person was imprisoned three years ago and has not paid back a single penny so far.So the last Ambleside sentenced him to 29 years and seven months.Haiwen knew that this number with wholes and zeros was just casually mentioned by Haiwen last time.

He was very curious, did this person really not pay back any money?It was recorded in the file that this man had real estate, a wife and children, he didn't look like a penniless pauper.Haiwen thought for a while, and decided to listen to what this man had to say, "What's wrong with you?" He asked.

The man was already very sick, and he was weak when he spoke. "My lord... I, I paid back the money, I really paid it back! You shouldn't sentence me to 30 years, really, I..."

Hai Wen asked, "Where's your family? Didn't they come to redeem you?"

"I have no idea!"

"Then where is the money you paid? Who did you give it to?"

"I gave it to a jailer," he said, "but I've long since forgotten what he looked like, my lord. I'm blind in the right eye, and I can't open the left eye. My stomach hurts badly every day, and I've been I have a fever." He couldn't continue, sobbing painfully on the mat.

under the snow night trial

under the snow night trial

Hai Wen called the other jailers and asked, "Who handled him?"

The jailers stood in a row, all silent, no one spoke.There are things about the jailers in Haven's memory bank. These guys are very bad. It is commonplace to abuse prisoners and accept bribes.And these people are protecting each other, no one is clean.Haiwen walked back and forth twice in front of these people, and he saw a small jailer staring at him all the time, wherever he went, that guy's eyes followed.So Hai Wen suddenly stopped beside him and called out, "You!"

He was startled, and quickly said: "Ah, yes, my lord!"

"Come with me - Fasnat, you come too!"

So he took the little jailer and Fasnat to a hut behind the Council Hall. The jailer was a thin young man who looked to be in his 20s, but his body was smaller than the [-]-year-old Fasnat. Also flimsy.His small eyes rolled uneasily, and he asked Haiwen three times along the way: "My lord, where are we going?"

Of course Haven would not answer him.He brought the man into the house, and said to Fasnat: "Fasnat, go get me a chicken." door, the little man was trembling with fright, and asked, "My lord, what are you doing with the chicken?"

Haiwen still didn't speak, he just stared at the timid jailer in front of him, as if he wanted to kill him with his eyes.They were in a stalemate like this, the little man didn't dare to look at Hai Wen, and lowered his head, wishing he could get into the cracks in the ground.

Not long after, there was the crowing of a rooster outside, and then Fasnat pushed the door open, holding a big rooster in his hand.He told Fassnut to hold the chicken, and then said to the little jailer, "You watch it."

The jailer nodded solemnly.

Haven asked the chicken: "Are you a rooster?"

The rooster said, "Cuckoo, cluck, cluck!"

Haiwen pretended to be angry and asked loudly, "I'll ask again, are you a rooster?"

"Cuckoo cluck cluck cluck cluck——!"

"He lied." Haiwen said with a cold face, and then he made a downward movement of his hand towards Fasnat.Fasnat understood it, and immediately killed the chicken with a knife, and then he threw the dead chicken in front of the little jailer, "crack", the blood splashed all over the ground, and the little man slid down the wall in fright, leaning on the wall like a prison guard. Pigeons of the day.

"Understood?" Haven asked him.

The man opened his mouth wide and shook his head vigorously.

Haiwen twisted his face, and asked, "You don't understand!?" As soon as he spoke, Fasnat pulled out the knife immediately behind him.

The jailer quickly shouted: "No, no, I understand, I understand!"

Hai Wen nodded and asked, "What do you know?"

"I..." the jailer stared at the chicken, "You...you killed the chicken because...the chicken...wasn't a rooster?"

"I killed the chicken because he was, lied!" Hai Wen said every word, "Now you are also lying, pretending to understand when you don't understand, do you understand?"

"My lord, spare me!" The guy knelt down with a plop.Haiwen nodded and said, "In this case, I want you to report the truth. You can say whatever I ask you later. The file in my hand has recorded a lot of bad things you prison guards have done. If you tell me later There is a discrepancy between the one on my test paper, little brother—" He picked up the bloody chicken, smeared some chicken blood on the little jailer's face, "I have to treat you to eat chicken."

The jailer nodded repeatedly, expressing that he was absolutely telling the truth.

In this way, Haiwen has one more witness.With this witness, the truth came out.It turned out that there was a jailer who withheld Bob's money to redeem himself, and then reported to the judge that Bob didn't pay any money.

Bob only needed three gold coins to redeem himself, but without these three gold coins he would be in prison for 30 years.Later, under the identification of Bob and other jailers, the person who stole the ransom pleaded guilty. Haven sentenced him to seven years in prison and fined him thirty gold. There is a new life.At the same time, Haven also warned Bob not to be greedy again and take money that shouldn't be taken.The prisoner had suffered so much and had already left a profound lesson, and he swore to Haiwen again and again that he would be a good person after he said it.

After hearing the news, Bob's wife and children came to pick him up, and another family reunion scene was staged.

The first reversal of the case was successfully completed, and the audience was very satisfied with it.When he announced the end of the first case, the onlookers cheered loudly and applauded him.Seeing that Haiwen really wanted to reverse the case for them, the prisoners became more energetic. They bid farewell to their previous lifeless appearance, and rushed to the door to shout their grievances.Haiwen felt his mission, and he immediately called the next prisoner to retry the case of the year.

The cases of the prisoners are very complicated. Although there are unjust, false and wrongly decided cases, there are also many real prisoners involved.Haiwen not only has to investigate based on the files, but also has to look for witnesses and evidence.He was busy from morning to night, and only handled five cases.Seeing that it was getting dark, he planned to postpone the matter until tomorrow; but the prisoners were very anxious and didn't want to wait any longer.So Haiwen had no choice but to work overtime. He lit torches and oil lamps, and stayed busy in the Yizheng Hall until night.

Gradually, the number of onlookers decreased, and the guards became shifts.There are only Hai Wen and a few of his cadres in the Yizheng Hall, and other than that, there are a group of people waiting for justice.He ate with the prisoners in the evening, and he ate a little bread casually before moving on to the next case.

Just as he was flipping through the file, it suddenly snowed outside.The pure white snow falls on the steps of the Yizheng Hall, like an elf falling into the world.Haven planted torches outside, and the square was shrouded in golden flames.So many people who didn't sleep took advantage of the light to come out to watch the snow.Haiwen looked out of the gate and saw many figures, including a few children who were excitedly shouting because of the snow.

"It snowed so early this year," Fasnat said.

"It's very early." Hai Wen said.

At this time, he heard old Ramon muttering: "Maybe this snow..." Old Ramon looked at Hai Wen with surprise in his eyes, as if Hai Wen had three heads and six arms.

"What's the matter?" he asked the eccentric old man.

"There's a reason for this snow!" He suddenly shouted.

Hai Wen was puzzled, "What?"

I heard old Ramon say in a reverent tone like a believer: "My lord! Snow represents the eradication of sin. This is a redress of injustice! It is your good deeds that moved the heavens!" After finishing speaking, the superstitious old man ran to the door, Solemnly knelt down to Haiwen, and shouted loudly: "Justice judged, moved God! My lord, this is God's recognition of your good deeds!"

When the prisoners heard this, they knelt down one after another, and shouted, "Thank you, Judge, for avenging us!" "Savior!" Among the townspeople in Wild Horse Town, there are some poor people who have been favored by Haven.A thin, middle-aged man shouted: "The king of wild horses was sent from heaven! This snow must be falling for him!" Then a hunchbacked old man straightened up, staring and shouting: "In the past, we have to go back again." Wait a month before it snows! This snow is because he has been avenged!" Then someone knelt down with the prisoners and shouted:

"King of wild horses! Savior from heaven!"

Seeing people kneeling in the snowy night, Haiwen was at a loss.

Chapter 79: Winter Night

Chapter 79: Winter Night

It took him a while to get the situation under control.He didn't want people to myth that he worshiped him, but obviously it backfired.Many of the things he did were beyond the cognition of these people, and in this backward era, when people encounter something beyond cognition, it is easy to put it on religious overtones.

After some explanations, Haven gave up on the matter.Now let them think what they want.Haiwen thought to himself, I will slowly correct this mistake in the future, it is too difficult to explain now.

He then continued to work on the case until midnight.He asked someone to bring bedding and enough firewood, and let the prisoners spend the night in the warm hall of the Yizheng Hall.And he himself went home to take a nap, and the next day he planned to get up early to continue the trial of the case - thinking of the pitiful eyes of those who had wronged him, he was very worried.He had to settle this matter quickly and give them a clean slate.

He told the guards to go home to sleep too, but Fassnut insisted on escorting him back to the house.So the two of them walked through the new thin snow, trampled the white into muddy water, and walked all the way to the big house that was still lit.When he approached the house, he saw Isrit waiting for him at the door.

He bid farewell to Fasnat and walked towards Isrit. "It's late, Isrit." He said to his lover.

"Yes, my lord." Isrit put on makeup, wearing a coarse cotton jacket and thick trousers, dressed like a rustic peasant girl.Haven, by contrast, was wearing a black trench coat and expensive high-waisted leather boots.He asked Israet, "Don't you have a lot of winter clothes at home? Don't you like them?"

"Those are too expensive and too pretty to wear, my lord." She smiled apologetically, "Violet found me a thick white cloak, but it's too long and it'll get dirty if you drag it on the floor. So... " She tucked the neckline of the padded coat, "This one is pretty good."

Haven nodded, and said, "Let's go, let's talk in the room." They walked into the room, and after entering the gate, Isrit took off his coat, let him sit on the stool, and gave him Take off your leather boots and put on cotton slippers.Then he saw that there was still a light on on the first floor, which was the housekeeper's room.

"Looks like Dreyer didn't sleep either," he said.

Estelle looked there for a while, but hesitated to speak.Haiwen caught the expression of Estherite, and wondered in his heart: Is there any problem with the housekeeper?

When they passed by that room, Haven immediately understood the reason for Isrit's embarrassment - the sound of the bed shaking and the woman's groan came from the door.Looks like this guy is having fun.

He didn't say anything, and went upstairs with Estelle. "Where's Mir?" He thought of his daughter.

"I gave her her own room, but I also told her that if she wanted to sleep with us, then I would be happy too."

"So she chooses?"

"She said she wants to sleep by herself. She is very brave." Estherite said with a smile, and then she pushed open the door of the bedroom, "My lord, we should also..." She stopped in the middle of her words, and Hewen walked towards the door Looking inside, Mirsalu was sitting on their bed, shivering under the quilt.

"Mir?" Haven asked.

"Daddy!" His daughter ran down without her shoes on, then threw herself into his arms and cried.Estherite said in a very aggrieved tone: "Hey, I thought Mir was already asleep, so I never cared about her..."

Haven carried Mirsalu to the bed and asked her why she was here.Mir complained to him while sobbing, saying that it was too scary to sleep alone, she was afraid of the dark, the cold, and the crows outside.Hearing this, Estherite hugged little Mir into her arms with a guilty expression on her face, and said, "My lord, it's my fault. I was too careless."

Haven didn't say anything, just nodded. "Go to sleep." He said lying on the bed, and then set aside a small area of ​​the pillow for his daughter.In this way, the three of them spent a quiet night and slept until dawn.

The next morning, it was still Estelle who woke him up, helped him take a bath and changed clothes, and then went to work in the Yizheng Hall early in the morning.As for Estherite, she will take Mir to familiarize herself with the things in the house, and teach her some living habits and the rules that women should learn.Mirzalu was born in poverty and has many bad habits, such as not paying attention to hygiene, biting nails, not wearing shoes, eating carelessly and so on.Isrit needed to turn her around a little bit. "In the morning, I will teach her the skills that a lady should know, and in the afternoon, I will let her and Violet learn to read and write." Estherite and Haven said.

Haven was very curious as to why Estherite, who came from a poor background, understood the "lady's skills", so he asked him.Isrit explained her life experience to him in a few words, saying that her mother was the daughter of a bachelor, and it was she who taught herself these things.

Afterwards, Hai Wen went to the Yizheng Hall.On the square of the Yizheng Hall, the police team is running and training on time.Hai Wen called the name, and the number of people was full, and he was very satisfied.After that, he went to the council hall and continued to retry the prisoners.Just after the snow fell, the air was very refreshing, and he couldn't help feeling happier.The next day's trial went smoothly, and he found that the prisoners had an inexplicable awe of him.He realized that this had something to do with the coincidental snow yesterday.

There were a lot fewer onlookers this day, and Haiwen could handle affairs more smoothly.In the evening, he had already tried more than half of the case, and it was estimated that the matter would be over tomorrow.He returned home at eight o'clock in the evening, and he asked Israet to get something to eat before he had eaten.And Estelle told him that she and the two girls hadn't had dinner yet and were waiting for him to be together.

So they ate together in the restaurant.This time the supper was made of violets and hyacinths, and included a broth of onions, cabbage, and pepper.Estelle said that the weather was cold, and asked Haiwen to eat something peppery to warm his body.Haiwen remembers that he has a small amount of pepper, but he is usually reluctant to eat it.This thing is produced in the southwest, and it needs to be transported by caravan, and the price is frighteningly high.Isrit took this thing as a luxury accessory, but Haven was used to this kind of daily necessities in his previous life.

In addition, there are stewed pork and honey cakes, as well as several kinds of green and purple vegetables that Haven has never seen in his previous life.He tasted it, and the taste was not bad, it should be from the hands of Violet; but the vegetables should be cut from the hyacinth, because the mushrooms are of different sizes, and her eyes are still a little red, probably from the smoke when cutting the onions .

"Where's your daughter?" Haven asked Isrit.

"She had eaten, and then she said she was going to play with Smiley Cat." Isrit laughed. "I told her some stories about rangers, and when she became interested, she went to see Master Cat."

Author's message:

ps: The third chapter of the daily update will start next week. The rhythm of the farming part of this volume is a bit slow, and it will speed up later.

ps2: By the way, I will add an extra episode today.

Biography of Ranger, Chapter 2: Master Cat

Extra Story, Biography of Rangers, Chapter 2: Master Cat

The white-haired and silver-bearded bard entered the vicissitudes of life and told the story of Spike, the smiling ranger.

"Most rangers are handsome and unrestrained, such as the silver fox ranger; no matter how bad they are, they are mighty and tall, such as Old Mike." The bard said while drinking sweet wine, "Only this smiling ranger is only 1.5 meters tall and Ugly and fat, as rotten as a ball of cow dung! Of course, he wasn't the Smiley Ranger back then, he was just a fat teenage guy named Spike.

"Speaking of which, Spike's family was also a wealthy family back then. His father's business was able to go to the Western Regions from the Bay Area. The family lived in Kuanmen Compound and Hualiu Manor. At that time, their family was the wealthiest in that town.

"Spike is not good-looking, and he is lazy. He is a dude. There is some spare money in the family, so he just idles around. This rich young man spends his days eating, drinking and having fun. He eats all kinds of fine wines and delicacies, as well as delicacies from mountains and seas; and This person likes to raise cats the most. He buys and raises all kinds of expensive cats from east to west, from north to south, in various sizes and colors. He has about [-] cats. He calls himself General Cat. He likes to watch cats fight on weekdays. , Catching mice, it’s a day to see, it’s a joy. Everyone in the town calls him 'Master Cat', and later someone called him 'Smiley Cat', which is precisely because of this."

After speaking of this, someone asked: "How did this rich young master become a ranger?"

The bard took another sip of the rum, picked up the harp, played and sang a little tune, and immediately said: "Although this Spike is a dude, his heart is not bad. He often helps some poor people on the street, So everyone likes him very much. Then one day, he picked up a beggar. This beggar looks very strange." The poet gestured with his hands as he spoke, "This man has small eyes, a bald head, and a big mouth like a monkey. A fang bared out of the mouth, it looks so ugly, a child can cry in fright, and a pregnant woman can have a miscarriage when seeing it." He gestured with two fangs with his hand, and everyone laughed.

"The beggar begged Spike and said: 'Young Master, I am so poor that I can't afford to eat, please help me.' Spike was very generous, so he asked his servant to reward him with food and some money back. However, the beggar was still not satisfied, so he begged Spike and said: "My lord, my master, the living Father who saves the suffering, you make me full today, and I will starve tomorrow. I have money, and when the money is finished, I will end up living on the street, and finally starve into a mummy, please help me!"

"Master Cat saw him pitiful, so he asked him, 'How can I save you?'

"The man said: 'If you hire me as your yard worker, I won't starve to death'

"Master Cat said: 'You're so ugly, I don't want to hire you'

"'Oh, I'm ugly, doesn't it make you look good?' Everyone, look at what he said, but he said it in the heart of Master Cat. Master Cat just thinks that he is not good-looking. Thinking of this, someone Doesn’t it look less ugly to set him off? Thinking about it this way, Master Cat hired this ugly ghost to be his servant.”

The bard raised his voice and said:

"Master Cat Bodhisattva's heart is a good thing. I thought I'd hire this ugly ghost as a follower in the future so that he wouldn't starve to death on the street—but I didn't expect that something would happen all of a sudden!" The bard slapped the wooden table with his hand. , stepped on the stool, and shouted in a deep voice:

"It was this beggar who caused Master Mao's family to be ruined!"

Author's message:

ps: Like Qige Wuyi Zhenshan Zhuan, You Xia Biography is also a side story inserted in the main text.Mainly in the tone of a bard, telling the story of the ranger before he became famous, interlocking and exciting w

One or two updates per volume.