Chapter 46

(Second update, please vote!)

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"Master, what should we do?" The three men outside were at a loss when they saw the door slam shut.

"Ah..." How could Chao Tianjiao not know that this was retaliation? But who would have thought he was Wang Xingye's son? Who would have thought Li Sheng would fall from power so quickly? If he had known one of these two things, he wouldn't have refused Wang Xian at the door.

"That's outrageous! Does he think he is someone? Even the clerks in the household department wouldn't dare treat us like this!" The farmhands were indignant.

"Ah, who made the young master..." Seeing Chao Tianjiao's darkening face, the farmhand's voice grew softer, "fall into their trap..."

It turned out that Chao Tianjiao's eldest son, Chao Cai, was sitting at home when disaster struck out of the blue, and he found himself embroiled in a lawsuit...

The Chao family was wealthy, with a residence in Shangxin Township and an estate in the countryside. During the autumn harvest, Chao Cai would stay at the estate, working with the farmhands.

This rural estate was usually quiet and peaceful. However, on the morning of the previous day, when the farmhands got up to work, they found a dead body lying in the grain-drying yard...

When Chao Cai was called over, he saw that it was a dead beggar. Not being a professional coroner, he could not determine the cause or time of death, so he could only guess that the beggar had climbed over the wall to steal grain and died of a sudden illness.

Chao Cai, feeling extremely unlucky, consulted with the older farmhands about what to do. Some suggested reporting it to the authorities, but others said that if the body was found on their property, it would be hard to explain, and they might be extorted!

Chao Cai had heard that the officials were the most ruthless. Whenever such a case occurred, they would not conduct an investigation but would immediately point to the wealthy households nearby, who had no background, as suspects, then detain and extort them. Even if the detained wealthy households paid a ransom, they would still face imprisonment, and the unlucky ones would be tortured without mercy.

The more Chao Cai thought about it, the more afraid he became. After consulting with the older farmhands, they decided to transport the body far away and dispose of it to avoid trouble.

Once the decision was made, the farmhands lifted the body onto a cart, covered it with straw mats, and set off before dawn. Two farmhands drove the cart out of the estate.

All morning, Chao Cai was on edge, watching the entrance of the estate, waiting for the two farmhands to return. It wasn't until late in the afternoon that they returned, but they were bound and escorted by a group of constables and militiamen.

'Oh no...' Chao Cai's heart sank. He quickly rushed forward, surrounded by the farmhands, and bowed repeatedly, saying, "Greetings, gentlemen. These two are my farmhands, with clear backgrounds, and they have not committed any crimes..."

"Phew! Murderers dare to claim innocence?" The leader was the deputy constable, Zhang Mazi, who sneered, "Someone saw them digging a hole in the reed marsh to bury a dead body!"

"Gentlemen, there's been a misunderstanding." Chao Cai thought it was incredibly unlucky that someone had seen them. He had to tell the truth, explaining that the body was found in the yard that morning, and to avoid trouble, he had the farmhands secretly transport it away.

"Regardless, if a beggar died of illness, you should have notified the village head and had the authorities conduct an autopsy before burial!" Zhang Mazi sneered, "You acted secretly, clearly because you were guilty and afraid of being held accountable, so you had your accomplices destroy the evidence!" With that, he waved his hand, and the constables put iron chains around Chao Cai's neck.

Chao Cai cried out his innocence, and the farmhands argued loudly, but they were all arrested. The constables searched the estate thoroughly and found several knives, swords, and bows... These were for self-defense, but now they were treated as evidence of a crime.

When the constables were escorting the suspects back to the city, Chao Tianjiao arrived, begging the constables to release his son. He offered them ten times the usual amount of money for their trouble and for food and drink.

Zhang Mazi accepted his bribe with a smile, bowed, and said, "Don't worry, we haven't said your son is the murderer. Determining the culprit is the magistrate's job. We just need your son to come with us, and we promise not to mistreat him."

Since detaining suspects was the authority of the government, Chao Tianjiao had no choice but to let them go back to the city.

Back home, Chao Tianjiao packed a bag of silver and had a farmhand hitch up a cart to take him to the county town. He was a seasoned man and knew something was amiss. As the saying goes, 'Imperial power does not reach the countryside.' Unless there was a case, the constables would not wander around the countryside. How could they have coincidentally encountered the farmhands burying the body?

After staying at an inn on Yachang Street, he pulled strings and finally learned the truth from a clerk in the criminal department. It turned out he had offended Wang Xingye's son, and someone was taking revenge for his old boss.

Chao Tianjiao sought out the county's chief clerk in charge of criminal affairs, Ma Dianshi, and asked him to release his son. However, Ma Dianshi said, "Your son was caught red-handed, and we found weapons during the search. Without the magistrate's judgment, who dares to release him?"

Chao Tianjiao asked him to intercede, but Ma Dianshi replied, "I can speak, but the magistrate is unlikely to release him."

"Why?" Chao Tianjiao was dumbfounded.

"Since the magistrate took office, this is the first time he has collected taxes properly, hoping for a good start to impress his superiors. How could you hide from the tax collectors? Isn't that undermining the magistrate?" Ma Dianshi looked at him as if he were senile. "Now that your son is in his hands, do you think he will release him easily?"

"No..." Chao Tianjiao said bitterly.

"That's settled then." Ma Dianshi got up to leave but was pulled back by Chao Tianjiao, who pleaded, "Fourth Master Ma, please show me a way out! I will be deeply grateful!"

"Actually, it's not complicated. I'll give you a piece of advice," Ma Dianshi said, shaking off his grip, "The one who tied the bell must untie it."

Chao Tianjiao suddenly understood and quickly had someone buy gifts and went to Wang Xian's house to apologize. However, he was turned away at the door!

Despite his anger, he thought of his son in jail, not knowing how the guards were treating him or if he had been assaulted by other inmates... and he lost his temper.

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That afternoon, Chao Tianjiao came again and was turned away.

The next morning, he came again and was turned away.

In the afternoon, he came for the fourth time, this time kneeling at Wang Xian's door, and finally met the clerk he had once desperately wanted to see.

In the courtyard, Wang Xian lay on a reclining chair, smirking, "Mr. Gong, you are quite stubborn. I visited you several times, and you refused me each time. Now I don't come, and you visit me four times. Is this fun?"

"Please calm down, young master," Chao Tianjiao said humbly, "That was all Li Sihu's idea. I dared not disobey."

"You're quite clean, aren't you?" Wang Xian sneered. "Why didn't Li Sheng want you to see me?"

"Li Sheng didn't say not to see you, but he advised me not to listen to you and to delay the grain collection as much as possible, waiting for other areas to decide first," Chao Tianjiao said, his square face filled with regret. "Li Sihu is our direct superior, and I dared not disobey. Considering I had no face to show you, I had to avoid you."

"Then why are you here now?" Wang Xian glanced at him.

"It's like this..." Chao Tianjiao looked around the courtyard, seeing no sign of Wang Xingye, and asked in a low voice, "Where is your father?"

"He's in Nanjing," Wang Xian said coolly. "If you don't trust me, you can wait for him to return."

"When will he be back?" Chao Tianjiao asked.

"In a few days, or maybe ten to fifteen days..." Wang Xian said, shaking his head.

Chao Tianjiao knew he had offended the young man again and could only say softly, "Actually, talking to you is the same..."

"Speak then," Wang Xian sipped his tea, "I don't promise to listen."

"Grain collection in our township is scheduled for tomorrow. Please come to inspect it," Chao Tianjiao said respectfully, inwardly cursing, "Do you have to be so pretentious?"

"Which ledger will you use for collection?" Wang Xian didn't even look up.

"Of course, it will be..." Chao Tianjiao sighed inwardly, "the newly verified ledger..."

As he said this, he felt a deep pain in his heart. The loss was too great...

"Don't act like a sick chicken!" Wang Xian couldn't stand his attitude and said coldly, "You know better than anyone how many households in Shangxin Township are hidden. Even if you pay an additional twenty percent, you will still make a profit. It's just a matter of how much!" He smiled coldly and added, "If I post the yellow register, do you think the people will support you?"

"This..." Chao Tianjiao was speechless. If the people knew that a quarter of the taxes they had paid for years had not gone to the state but had been divided between him, the respected grain collector, and the officials, the Chao family would have no place to stand in Shangxin Township.

However, Chao Tianjiao also knew that Wang Xian was just scaring him. He couldn't afford the consequences of making the yellow register public—after all, the yellow register was made by the government, and the reduction in the registered population was the work of the officials. Without the government's protection, even if Chao Tianjiao had a hundred lives, he wouldn't dare to openly embezzle the state's grain taxes.

The government needed this stable and substantial income to pay the salaries of temporary workers like Wang Xian and to cover the daily expenses of the officials and various miscellaneous fees in the county. Anyone who dared to cut off this income would be an enemy of all the officials in the county. Would a mere clerk like Wang Xian dare to do that?

But Chao Tianjiao understood that Wang Xian was warning him that he had crossed the line. His and certain others' greed had severely damaged the county's tax revenue, making the magistrate very unhappy! Others might not have a handle on them, but his son was in their hands. If he didn't cooperate, it would only lead to tragedy.

Thinking of this, Chao Tianjiao said dejectedly, "Young master, you are right. I will go back and organize the villagers to pay taxes at the yard tomorrow."

"Go then!" Wang Xian waved his hand, suppressing his joy.

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