Volume I: River City Tune Chapter 53: Paying a Visit

With five days left until New Year's Eve, the snowstorm that had been raging for four days finally stopped. However, the long-absent sun did not peek out from behind the clouds, leaving the entire Jiangcheng County still bitterly cold, making people reluctant to step out of their homes unless necessary.

Although two brazier fires were burning in the room, Yue'er still felt rather cold, needing to constantly blow warm breath onto her small hands before she could resume writing with her brush. This caused her little mouth to pout so high it looked as if an oil bottle could be hung from it. Yet the object of her resentment remained entirely oblivious to this, keeping his head buried in his writing without the slightest intention of comforting her.

After several days, the injuries on Li Ling's back had finally improved somewhat, and he was now able to sit in a chair to read and write. Still, the past half-month had inevitably been wasted; not only had his reading time been delayed, but even his plan to finish the book *Investiture of the Gods* before the new year would now have to be postponed until after the holiday.

As of today, the story had reached the final major hurdle facing the Zhou army: the Seven Monsters of Meishan. If he simply copied the original plot verbatim, the clashes with these seven figures would be quite ordinary—merely the invincible protagonist trope where Yang Jian acts as a human cheat code, slaughtering everyone in all directions. But Li Ling was not content with that. Furthermore, he had previously written several thrilling major battles and spell-fights, such as the Immortal-Slaying Sword Formation and the Myriad Immortal Formation. These had made the newly published sixth volume the hottest topic of popular culture on every street and alley, so he certainly could not bungle things right as the story was approaching its climax. Therefore, he needed to devise even more novel tricks for this segment.

After writing a section, Li Ling was still unsatisfied, so he temporarily put down his brush, deciding to clear his mind by looking through some classics instead. The moment he laid down his brush, Yue'er, who had been stealing glances at him from the side, also stopped writing and looked over with a pitiful expression. "Brother, writing is so exhausting... Father used to say that as long as I could recognize a few characters and not be completely illiterate, that was enough. Since I don't have to take the imperial examinations, there's no need to read so much."

"That statement of his is entirely wrong. The notion that a woman without talent is virtuous is fundamentally just a deception invented by certain fellows," Li Ling immediately countered. "Regardless of whether someone is male or female, if they don't even read books, then no matter how good-looking they are, they can only depend on others and will struggle to truly stand on their own feet and survive. I am doing this for your future as well. You surely don't expect your brother to accompany you for the rest of your life, do you? Hurry up and finish copying this volume, and I'll go out later and buy you some pine nut candy."

"Oh, I'll copy it, I'll copy it. I want pine nut candy." Hearing that there was candy to be had, Yue'er finally grew a bit more cheerful, and her wrist seemed to ache somewhat less. However, after copying two more lines of text, she grew impatient again, her body wriggling back and forth in the chair.

Seeing this, Li Ling immediately glared at her. "Write properly. If you don't write well, you'll have to rewrite it, and there will be no candy." When dealing with this little foodie, one had to pinch her fatal weakness. Sure enough, upon hearing these words, Yue'er instantly straightened up, not daring to move around carelessly anymore, and continued copying the book with a bitter face.

Just at that moment, a series of rapid knocking sounds came from outside, followed by a greeting: "Is Master Li Ling at home?"

"I'll get the door." The little girl immediately dropped her brush and, without waiting for Li Ling's nod, got up and headed outside, completely forgetting that it was still freezing out. Seeing this, Li Ling could only offer a bitter smile; his younger sister was wonderful in every other way, but she simply detested reading and writing.

Soon, the courtyard gate opened, and Yue'er led in Lin Lie, who was wearing a thick padded coat and a leather hat, yet whose cheeks and nose were still frozen bright red. This came as a slight surprise to Li Ling, but he quickly stood up to welcome him. "I didn't know the Head Constable was gracing me with his presence, and failed to go out to greet you—please do not take offense." As he spoke, he bowed deeply, only to be firmly supported by the latter. "Master Li need not stand on ceremony!" With that, Lin Lie set down a large pig's leg he had been holding. "We slaughtered a pig at home yesterday, and thinking that New Year's Eve is fast approaching, I specially brought a leg for Master Li to express my gratitude. I hope you won't disdain it."

Li Ling lowered his gaze to look at the large cured ham, then raised his eyes to meet the other man's sincere expression. Realizing he could not refuse, he smiled and said, "Since this is Head Constable Lin's kind intention, I will brazenly accept it. Thank you very much for your gift, Head Constable." With that, he cupped his hands in a repeated salute.

Lin Lie hastily waved his hands. "Master Li takes it too seriously. You did me a favor, and old Lin here still knows right from wrong. By the way, please stop addressing me as Head Constable Lin. Just call me old Lin; it sounds much more affectionate."

"This..." After all, the man served in the county yamen and held a certain status as a constable—in modern times, he would at least be a police precinct's detective captain. This made Li Ling hesitate slightly.

"What? Do you look down on a rough fellow like me and not want to make friends with me?" Lin Lie feigned anger. Seeing this, Li Ling could only smile bitterly and say, "Brother Lin, calling you Brother Lin will do, won't it?"

"That's more like it! Then from now on, I will call you younger brother Li. You won't ignore me, will you?"

"I wouldn't dare." Li Ling smiled, then asked him, "Is it really alright for Brother Lin to come over at a time like this? I heard that the county yamen hasn't even closed for the seal-up yet today."

Lin Lie stood on no ceremony, pulling out a chair to sit down first before letting out a sigh. "Speaking of that, it really makes one emotional. In the past, the yamen would seal up the offices and stop handling official business after the twentieth of the twelfth lunar month. But look at this year—it's already the twenty-fifth, and the yamen is still bustling with activity. Still, the brothers are quite happy; a weight has finally been lifted from our hearts."

"A weight? Are you referring to Clerk Zhuang? Has his crime been officially established?"

"Not quite yet, but it's practically settled. He shouldn't be called Clerk Zhuang anymore; we just call him Zhuang Hong, because the Magistrate has officially stripped him of his official rank and thrown him into the dungeon." Speaking of this matter, Lin Lie's enthusiasm grew even stronger. "Younger brother, after the eighteenth, you didn't go back to the county yamen, nor did you continue following Zhuang Hong's case, right? You have no idea—after it was confirmed in the courtroom that day that he had embezzled hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and attempted to burn down the county yamen to destroy the evidence, the news quickly spread among the townsfolk that the Magistrate was going to rid the people of a scourge. Guess what happened? By the very next day, over a dozen commoners rushed to the yamen to denounce him, his brother Zhuang Qiang, and other members of his household for numerous acts of tyranny and lawlessness.

"And that was just the beginning. Over the past few days, right up until noon today, no less than twenty people have come running in every day to cry out their grievances and ask the Magistrate to seek justice for everyone. The Zhuang family has committed too many evil deeds and finally reaped their retribution. In these past few years alone, the innocent people murdered by them number seven or eight; as for the properties and farmland they seized by force, there's no need to even mention those. Truly, their crimes are monstrous and they deserve to die!"

Listening to this, Li Ling could not help but sigh repeatedly, and only then remembered to gesture to Yue'er, who was listening in a daze, to bring a teacup and pour a cup of hot tea to warm him up and soothe his throat. After gulping down the tea, Lin Lie grew even more spirited. "As far as I know, by yesterday, the lawsuits that could be confirmed had already reached over one hundred and twenty. Truly, just as Master Secretary Cao said, the evils he committed are so numerous that—what was the expression again?"

"Too numerous to record!" Yue'er quickly chimed in, a proud smile instantly blooming on her pretty little face. She suddenly felt that what her brother said made some sense after all; reading more books was indeed very useful.

"Right, exactly that—too numerous to record! Younger brother, you're truly brilliant; even the little sister at home knows more than a rough fellow like me," Lin Lie laughed, revealing his teeth. "Because of this, after yesterday's court trial, the Magistrate directly ordered people to strip Zhuang Hong of his official robes and hat and throw him into the deep dungeon."

Actually, prior to this, although Zhuang Hong already bore dozens of large and small charges, he had not truly been thrown into the county yamen's dungeon; instead, he had merely been placed under house arrest in the post station right beside the yamen gates. This was a special privilege accorded to imperial officials; at least until they were stripped of their official rank, they could not be arbitrarily locked away in a prison—with the exception of the Heavenly Prison of the Ministry of Punishments in the capital.

"Don't you find it strange? Originally, we thought it would be very difficult to truly convict Zhuang Hong, but looking at it now, the case will be judged and adjudicated before the new year arrives." Lin Lie clicked his tongue in wonder, both perplexed and delighted. "That was an imperial official, the fourth personage of the county yamen! Yet they said he was stripped of his office, and he was stripped just like that. The Magistrate is truly formidable!"

Even Yue'er could not help asking with curiosity at this point, "Brother, is the newly arrived Magistrate Wei really that powerful? Can he dismiss anyone he wants?"

Li Ling had previously browsed through some of the regulations and systems of the current dynasty, so after a brief moment of surprise, he understood and explained with a smile, "Of course it's not that simple. It's only because the post of Clerk held by Zhuang Hong differs from ordinary imperial officials that things turned out this way. That's why I previously called him a paper tiger—he looks majestic and quite intimidating, but in reality, he's only somewhat frightening on the surface. As long as the Magistrate truly wants to deal with him, it's as easy as reaching out and taking something."

"They're both officials; how are they different?" Lin Lie also asked with curiosity.

"Although the post of Clerk is called an official position, it does not carry an official rank. It is vastly different from the Magistrate, the Vice Magistrate, and the Registrar, serving as a transitional zone between official and clerk. Therefore, generally speaking, the first three have fixed terms of office in a locality, must leave their posts after nine years at most, and must serve in a different region. But Clerks do not have to. Zhuang Hong is a native of our Jiangcheng County, which is why through two generations and more than ten years of painstaking management, he built up such a massive sphere of influence that the three officials above him were forced to cooperate with him or even be driven away by him."

Listening to this and connecting it to reality, Lin Lie could not help but nod in agreement. Li Ling continued, "But precisely because of this, the post of Clerk also possesses a major flaw, which is that it is not listed in the roster of officials maintained by the Ministry of Personnel of our dynasty. If an official has been officially appointed by the Ministry of Personnel—even if it's just a low-ranking official like an Assistant Magistrate or a Registrar, a petty official of the eighth or ninth rank—they cannot be casually dismissed by the Magistrate, nor even by a Prefect-level official. If one wants to dismiss them, it must be reported to the court according to the rules, and finally decided by the Ministry of Personnel. Such reporting back and forth, followed by waiting for the result, takes at least several months.

"However, wanting to dismiss a Clerk is not nearly so troublesome. As long as one holds the evidence, a single word from the Magistrate is enough to accomplish it. So despite how arrogant and domineering Zhuang Hong used to be, when truly faced with such a situation, getting dismissed was merely a matter of a single word from the Magistrate."

"So that's how it is. Today I've truly broadened my horizons," Lin Lie sighed, a strange look crossing his face as he added, "Who would have thought that you, Younger Brother Li, would be so familiar with the workings of officialdom? It seems you truly harbor ambitions in that direction?"

"I wouldn't dare presume. I merely..." Li Ling was about to offer a modest disclaimer when his heart suddenly stirred. Looking at him with a smile, he said, "Brother Lin, since you consider me a friend, just speak your mind directly. There's no need to beat around the bush so much."