"It's like this, County Magistrate Wu also knows that the imperial court has many laws and regulations, but when they reach the common people, they are nothing more than empty words. For example, this rule about not wearing silk...". County Magistrate Wu smiled wryly.

  Magistrate Li stroked his beard and also burst out laughing, "This is indeed a flexible approach. And as for the common people's wedding customs, wearing phoenix coronets and dressing in auspicious attire, it's all just for show, if we were to really investigate and handle it according to the law, wouldn't that be being obstinately conservative?"

  "County Magistrate Wu is truly wise!" County Magistrate Wu immediately flattered, "I also think so, apart from wearing silk, riding in a sedan chair, and wearing red gold hairpins with golden threads, there's one more thing - the villagers believe this and that, they go to worship the big locust tree at the east end of the village, it's said that if a fish spirit appears in which river, they rush over, kowtow on the shore, and throw a few rice balls into the water, really...

  Wu County Magistrate smiled bitterly and shook his head, while Li County Commander burst out laughing. "That's just how common people are. When I was in Taiyuan Prefecture, I saw a whole village worshiping a giant rat, calling it the Rat Immortal. It's really ignorance at its extreme. Educating the masses is a heavy responsibility and a long way to go."

  "Magistrate, you are absolutely right. I also think so. In the Zixi Saltworks area, there are countless gods and ghosts like this. There is a man named Zhao Hongqing whose wife believes in these deities and worships them everywhere, asking for children today and fortune tomorrow, spending money without end, but to no avail. This Zhao Hongqing was anxious and couldn't control his wife, so he came to our court to report this licentious cult. Magistrate, look at this! What a mess!"

  Magistrate Wu spread his hands, with a sigh and an expression of being speechless. "They say that County Magistrates like you are parental officials, but they're not really parental officials. Look at this, Zhao Hongqing can't even manage his own wife and he's coming to the yamen to file a complaint. It's really...beyond tears or laughter."

  Magistrate Li burst out laughing and patted Wu County's shoulder, "This is a compliment from the parents. Aren't all common people like this? However, he can't control his daughter-in-law, and we can't either. We have no way to help him control his daughter-in-law!"

  Magistrate Li found this sentence very humorous and laughed out loud, "This matter, you comfort him, advise him well. Women seeking divine help, which family is not like that? My wife also believes in it, the other day she said that no matter what, we must go to Lingyin Temple to burn incense during the New Year, look, they are all the same."

  "Not at all, my family is the same, from the old lady to my daughter-in-law, it's really a matter of burning incense whenever they see a temple, regardless of whether it's Buddhist or Taoist. As my mother-in-law would say, after all, they're all gods and goddesses. County Magistrate, you listen to this."

  Magistrate Wu, seeing things go smoothly so far, was overjoyed and the words were particularly pleasant to his ears. Magistrate Wu chatted with Magistrate Li nonstop while walking into the signing room, took out Zhao Hongqing's complaint, and had Magistrate Li, who couldn't help but laugh loudly several times, sign his name at the end of the complaint.

  ………………

  Outside the town of Xigou, the sky had already turned dark. Hu Da gave the mule a feed and tore off a piece of padding to wrap around its four hooves. He led the mule, pulling the cart, while Zhao Dajie supported the cart shaft, taking slow steps towards the temple outside the town that was said to be extremely effective in granting children.

  Under the watchful eyes of at least three parties, including Mingtao Mountain Villa and the Xian and Shuai government offices, Hu Da and Zhao Dajie carried Zheng Dainai's body out of the carriage and threw it into a thicket of weeds next to the temple.

  ………………

  Guo Sheng returned to the Hengshan County government office, where official business was extremely dull. Day and night, except for focusing on being a good teacher, he spent his time holding a teapot, gazing out at the blue sky, and pondering what had become of the case, how Wang Ye would fare, how Xian Si would fare, how Shuai Si would fare, and whether Cao Si had found out...

  After careful consideration, everything else has nothing to do with him. There is only one thing: since this case has fallen into the hands of the Procuratorate, and one of the three brothels is located in Hengshan County, he cannot help but take care of Li Xian for a while, and he cannot let Li Xian suffer because of this case.

  Although this case was handed over to King Wang by Fifth Master, it should be protected by Li County Magistrate even if King Wang hands it over. But things in the officialdom...

  He knew too well how dark the officialdom was, besides, he always thought that being an official, one must first have the ability to protect oneself... Of course, in Li County Magistrate's case, it meant protecting Li County Magistrate himself.

  It fell into Xian Si's hands, and it was another case like this. This is his business in the criminal name department. It's best to have one person handle it.

  Guo Sheng had this in mind and paid extra attention to all matters related to the prison.

  Wu County Magistrate found Li County Order the next morning, Guo Sheng discovered that the case volume in the prison room had been tampered with. On the last page of the previous page, a line was added: Zhao Hongqing from Xigou Town sued... but there was no follow-up.

  Kuang Sheng suddenly jumped up, ran around the room several times, propped his hands on the table and took a few deep breaths before calming down.

  No wonder the girl let him go and ask about Lao Zhao's family in Xikou Town... The girl had known all along, she had known that this old Zhao family was going to frame... No, it was the Procuratorate that wanted to use the hands of Old Zhao's family to frame County Magistrate Li!

  At this moment, Guo Sheng's mind was more agile and sensitive than ever before.

  This must be the work of the Ministry of Justice, this booklet... Needless to say, it must have been done by Wu County Magistrate, what a clever plan, first slipping in a lawsuit from a month ago, this lawsuit must be about the case of licentious worship, when the case is exposed, Zhao Hongqing will surely come again, revealing that Li County Magistrate had accepted the case long ago but neglected it, resulting in many more women being harmed...

  The blame for this oversight and negligence that led to a great mistake was placed squarely on the head of Li County Magistrate, but where is the indictment?

  Guo Sheng flipped through it once, didn't find it, and flipped through it again. This lawsuit should be here. The words written in this booklet are unclear and hidden. If there is no lawsuit, what's the use of these lines?

  Guo Sheng looked around again, but still couldn't find it.

  Guo Sheng stood still in the middle of the room, took a deep breath, patted his forehead several times, and walked out a few steps to stand at the gate of the prison. The cold winter wind blew fiercely against his face, quickly calming him down. Don't rush, this lawsuit must have...

  Guo Sheng saw the phoenix tree at a glance.

  When did he come back? Wu Ye didn't come back, what did he come back for? Guo Sheng turned off the lock on the prison door, locked it, went out of the yamen, and went around to the back door to find Hong Nian.

  Wutong came back by himself, saying that Wu Ye wasn't at the academy, so he had nothing to do and just returned.

  Guo Sheng returned to the front hall, coldly gazing at Wu Tong who was diligently attending to County Magistrate Li. At this moment, if he were to go into Wu Tong's quarters, he would definitely be able to find that petition... However, if it were found now, it would have been like beating the grass and startling the snake...

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