Chapter 185

Chapter 185

After persuading Jiang Liu, Han Zhang quietly rode at full speed to the military camp, had a private talk with the old general Shao, and only after gaining the old general's support did he begin to act.

He first found an excuse to release the Jiang family members who had been locked up for several days.

The elder Jiang couple had always favored the eldest branch, and the eldest uncle and his wife were hardly virtuous people.

The days in prison hadn't instilled any fear or repentance in them; instead, they'd heaped all their resentment onto Jiang Liu, who'd fled the marriage.

On the very night they got back, the eldest aunt, driven by revenge, eagerly urged her husband's parents:

"Father, mother, if it weren't for Liu Geer running off like that, how could we have run into the Lord Prefect's carriage and been thrown in the yamen, suffering through all these days?"

"Luckily this prefect is young, softhearted, and reasonable. He looked into it and let us go. Otherwise, even if we didn't die this time, we'd have lost half our lives!"

"That little wretch, Liu Geer, thinks that by slashing his own face, he can get out of this marriage? In his dreams! Master Liu only cares about his birth date and time—ruined face or not, it doesn't matter. Since he won't do things the easy way, we'll have to do them the hard way!"

"If the soft approach doesn't work, we'll use the hard one—just tie him up and haul him over to Master Liu's place. If we keep this troublemaker here any longer, who knows what kind of trouble he'll stir up?"

Though the eldest aunt praised Han Zhang as "young and softhearted," she inwardly resented him for sticking his nose in their business.

A big-shot official—with all those murder cases and injustices to look into—why's he got to butt into a poor family's private business about marriage and taking concubines?

But the jail food these past few days had been hard to stomach, and she didn't dare show disrespect to the official out in the open anymore.

The elder Jiang couple also blamed Jiang Liu and couldn't wait to send him off, but their time locked up in the yamen had really scared them.

So the old couple hesitated: "But if we do this, aren't we really forcing an innocent person into being a concubine? Will the prefect throw us back in jail?"

"No, Father, Mother, don't worry!"

The eldest aunt said with certainty, pressing her advantage: "The prefect's a busy man. Out here in our poor countryside, folks sell their kids and pawn their wives for grain all the time—when has any yamen official ever given a damn? We just got unlucky this time, running smack into him. Pure bad luck!"

"If push comes to shove, we can use the second son and his wife as leverage! Liu Geer's real filial to his parents—let's see if he dares to run again! Besides, if it weren't for the second brother and his wife being sneaky, would Liu Geer have run off?"

"And think about it—if we don't send Liu Geer to the Liu family, how are we gonna pay back that debt of over three hundred taels? Are we really gonna sell the fields?"

With her reasoning, her prodding, and her sob stories, the eldest aunt managed to convince the elder Jiang couple all over again.

This time, though, Jiang Liu—on his mission—only put up a half-hearted fuss when his family pressured him again, then pretended to be scared and, amid his parents' tears, agreed to get on the bridal sedan to the Liu place as a concubine.

After being hauled to Master Liu's estate, Jiang Liu, with the help of people secretly arranged by Han Zhang, stumbled out of the Liu estate, yelling: "Great Lord of Justice, save me! I'm just a commoner with a huge grievance! I beg you, Great Lord of Justice, to see justice done!"

Then, with curious onlookers following, he showed up at the yamen covered in blood and banged the grievance drum.

"Boom, boom, boom—"

The grievance drum boomed, the crowd gathered, and the court went into session.

Han Zhang, dressed in official robes, sat at the head, his expression stern as he slammed the gavel: "Who kneels before this court? What grievance do you bring? Speak up, and speak true!"

Jiang Liu wasted no time, kowtowing heavily, his forehead striking the ground with a dull thud, and spoke in a sorrowful voice:

"Y-yes, Great Lord of Justice. I am Jiang Liu, from Jiang Family Village on the edge of town, sixteen years old."

"A few days ago, my older cousin was drinking with friends at Drunken Flower Tower in the city when he got into an argument with someone. In a moment of stupidity, he hit the guy and hurt him. The injured man's family has pull and forced us to pay over three hundred taels of silver..."

He choked up, stumbling through the story of how the family scraped together money, couldn't get any loans, and got hounded by creditors.

"My family's been farming for generations—we're just plain peasants. Even if we sold everything we had, we couldn't scrape together that much silver! With no other choice, the family talked it over and decided to send me to Master Liu in the city as a concubine, using the bride price to pay off the debt..."

"But today, after I got to the residence, I accidentally overheard Master Liu talking with others—saying this whole disaster that hit my family was because someone wanted to grab the Jiang family's farmland. Officials and big shots are in cahoots to force my family into tenant servitude!"

"And this ain't the first time they've pulled this kind of stunt. In recent years, in several villages outside the city, those families forced to sell their kids and pawn their land over gambling debts, drinking debts, or goods debts—most of it was set up by them behind the scenes. It's all written down plain as day in their account books!!"

"I was scared out of my wits... and I saw a thick blue ledger sitting on the table. I knew it was evidence, so while they weren't looking, I rushed in, grabbed the ledger, and climbed over the back wall for dear life..."

"This ledger's full of their dirty dealings! I beg the Great Lord of Justice to dig deep, expose the crimes of Master Liu and his bunch, and get justice for my family and everyone they've destroyed!"

With that, Jiang Liu held up the blood-stained ledger.

And in these times, who didn't have kin back in the village? Who hadn't heard, when going back to their village for festivals, about some man in the village or clan who got into trouble and dragged his whole family down with him?

The moment those words came out, the crowd outside the court burst into an uproar.

"Good heavens! I always wondered how those dozen or so families in Wang Family Village lost all their fields overnight and became Master Liu's tenants! So that's what was behind it!"

"Exactly! Old Man Li from our village also ended up in debt out of nowhere last year, and in the end, he had to sell his daughter and his land to pay it off, becoming a tenant of Master Zhang in our village. Now that I think about it, it must've been a trap set by these bastards!"

"Old Man Wu's family in our village became Master Zheng's tenants the same way..."

"I heard Master Liu's related to Secretary Xu's family, Master Zhang's in-law with Tongpan Yang, and Master Zheng's brother-in-law with Tongzhi Zhou..."

"These aren't just country bigwigs—they're living King Yamas! Officials and big shots working together—they're squeezing the marrow right out of us farmers' bones!"

"Shh, keep your voice down! Those are all yamen officials..."

Though folks said "keep it down," they were plenty loud, and as they talked about Tongpan Yang and the others, even their looks at Han Zhang turned suspicious.

Truth be told, plenty of sharp commoners had seen through these schemes long ago, but with officials and merchants in cahoots, ordinary folks didn't have much say and didn't dare speak up.

But now things were different.

Someone had marched right up and banged the yamen's grievance drum, and word had spread all over the prefectural city. A huge crowd had gathered.

If the yamen didn't give the public an answer, there'd be a riot!

"Silence!"

Han Zhang banged the gavel, quieting the crowd at the yamen entrance for a moment, then looked sternly at Jiang Liu and declared:

"Jiang Liu, I will thoroughly investigate what you've just said, along with this ledger you've presented. However, in this court, accusing imperial officials—especially of such serious crimes as seizing farmland and forcing people into prostitution—requires solid, hard evidence."

"If even half a word of what you've said is false, that's a false accusation. By law, the punishment falls back on the accuser, and it's one degree harsher. Understand?"

Jiang Liu pressed his forehead to the ground, speaking in a mournful voice: "I understand! Every word I've said is true, and I stake my life on it! This ledger is ironclad proof—I beg you, my lord, to check the dates, amounts, acreage, and names in it!"

"Very well."

Han Zhang gave a slight nod, his face unchanged, then gave his orders in a deep voice: "Attendants! Go at once and summon Master Liu, Secretary Xu, Tongpan Yang, Tongzhi Zhou... and everyone else involved, to come to court for questioning."

"All other constables, head out at once to Drunken Flower Tower, Four Elephants Gambling House, Lord Yang's residence, Lord Zhou's villa... and every place mentioned in the ledger. Search thoroughly and don't miss a single piece of evidence!"

The constables answered in unison and scattered quickly.

Yang Tongpan and his associates, still embroiled in their power struggle, never imagined that anyone would dare to openly accuse them in court. When they were brought before the magistrate, their faces darkened, and they flatly denied everything.

"Your Honor, please understand! I merely took a concubine by the proper custom—how is that seizing farmland? The Jiang lad was willingly handed over by his family to settle a debt, with a contract to prove it! I'm unaware of any complications..."

"We have served as officials for years, diligently and conscientiously. Though we lack shining accomplishments, we have toiled faithfully. How could we ever defy the law and oppress the people like this? This fellow is spouting lies with murderous intent!"

"As for today's matter, as I see it, this Jiang boy must be refusing to honor his debt, or... has been egged on by some scheming individuals to frame imperial officials and throw Yunyang Prefecture into chaos!"

As they said "egged on by others," the three of them cast their gazes toward Han Zhang.

By now, they understood perfectly well. Jiang Liu is just a commoner—without someone backing him, how would he dare?

Clearly, Han Zhang was using this as an excuse to set a trap, to catch them and their cronies all in one sweep and wrest back full control of the prefecture!

Yet, something puzzled them.

Han Zhang came from poverty. Even if his ancestors were once the Han family of Yanzhou, the family had long fallen from grace. Though he'd recently gathered some scattered relatives, it was just a shaky front.

How on earth did he have the nerve to go after all three of them—entrenched local powers—so recklessly, leaving no room for compromise?

"Lord Yang, Lord Zhou, Secretary Xu... please remain calm."

Facing the fierce accusations and insinuations, Han Zhang remained composed, speaking unhurriedly, his voice clear across the courtroom and beyond:

"This case involves imperial officials and local gentry, touching upon national law and the livelihoods of the people—it is no trivial matter. Now that a complainant has come forward, physical evidence has been submitted, and the entire city has witnessed these proceedings, I, as Prefect of Yunyang, shall handle this impartially and investigate to the very end."

"What you have said is not without reason. But words alone prove nothing. Whether this ledger is genuine or false, whether the accusations are true or baseless—how can we judge by mere argument?"

"I have already dispatched reliable officers to verify and search. When they return, with all evidence gathered, the truth will come to light."

"Then the innocent shall be cleared and the guilty exposed. I will rule according to the law, without bias."

Han Zhang said calmly.

But the three could hardly contain their anxiety!

This was clearly Han Zhang's stalling tactic!

By the time his men returned with their findings, who knew what "conclusive evidence" they might hold? Once the charges were confirmed, they would be fish on the chopping block.

Yang Tongpan could no longer hold back, his voice sharp and stern:

"Lord Han, as a prefect and a fourth-rank imperial official, how can you heed one-sided testimony and order a search of imperial officials' residences based on a ledger of dubious origin?"

"If this precedent is set, every official in Yunyang Prefecture will live in fear—what becomes of the dignity of the yamen? You are clearly using this as a pretext to purge your rivals!"

Tongzhi Zhou also urged urgently: "Lord Han, do not forget—we serve the same court. Though ranks differ, we are colleagues. Your rash actions today, disregarding procedure and treating fellow officials like criminals to be searched and interrogated—where is the rule of law? Where is collegial respect?"

Secretary Xu nodded in agreement: "If word of this reaches the capital, the desks of the Censorate will soon be piled high with impeachments against you!"

The three chimed in together, issuing veiled threats in their desperation.

Unfortunately, Han Zhang refused to engage in their arguments. He simply ordered the yamen gates secured, preventing them from leaving the courtroom, and declared with righteous conviction:

"I am indeed a prefect by imperial appointment, but more importantly, I am the parent-official of Yunyang's people. The common folk are ignorant of legal intricacies; they only know that beating the drum at the yamen brings justice."

"This young lad came before me covered in blood to lodge his complaint. How could I lock him away and investigate at leisure? Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures."

"Moreover, since you gentlemen claim to serve the nation and the people, professing clear consciences, why should you fear my officers entering your homes to search?"