Volume I: Hat of Jiangcheng Chapter 55: A First Trial of Skill (Part 1)

The county magistrate Wei, who had just been smiling pleasantly, suddenly darkened his expression. "Who dares to be so audacious in the county office?" A swift sweep of his gaze startled the two bailiffs at the gate so much that they trembled violently. Nodding immediately to say they would go check it out at once, they turned and bolted away.

Before they had taken two steps, another runner hurried in from the outside. Seeing the county magistrate standing there, he stepped forward to report, "Your Honor, outside the gates, there are family members of the recently dismissed officials from the household and penal departments causing a disturbance. They keep shouting to see Your Honor, and a crowd of commoners has gathered around as well..."

Wei Liang grew even more irritated and let out a cold snort. "How remarkably bold! I shall go out and have a proper reckoning with them to see where they get the audacity to make such an uproar!" Just as he was about to lift his foot to go outside, Li Ling beside him spoke up to dissuade him, "My Lord, please wait. Such a trivial matter does not warrant your personal presence. Allow this subordinate to go and handle it instead." He had immersed himself in his role so quickly that he already regarded himself as a member of the county office.

Casting a glance at him, Wei Liang was quite decisive and nodded immediately. "Then I shall trouble you. Remember, do not let things truly get out of hand."

"My Lord, rest assured." Li Ling offered a confident salute, then set off in haste toward the outside, accompanied by two runners. Behind him, Wei Liang and Cao Jin exchanged glances, both of their eyes carrying a hint of appreciation. This candidate had truly been chosen well.

By this time, the front of the county office had already descended into a noisy, chaotic mess. On one side were over thirty men, women, and elderly people, while on the other was Lin烈 leading more than ten bailiffs. If not for people holding them back, these daring individuals might have even run over to beat the grievance-drum.

Even so, the scene remained utterly disgraceful. Three or four women were sitting on the ground right below the steps, slapping the earth with their hands and screaming at the top of their lungs, "We have been wronged... For more than ten years, our men have worked diligently and painstakingly in the county office day in and day out, yet in the end, they are casually driven out. How are we supposed to live now?! County Magistrate Wei, you must uphold justice for us and give us an explanation!"

On the other side, several trembling elderly folk surrounded a few clerks who had come forward to persuade them, pouring out their grievances in loud voices: "My son was your colleague for many years, sharing the same workload. Can you really just stand by and watch them be bullied by the new county magistrate? Think carefully—perhaps one day you will end up just like my son!"

"We want to see County Magistrate Wei! On what grounds does he dismiss people at will? They were only absent from the county office for a few days, and they haven't committed any heinous crimes..."

These people kept shouting, quickly attracting all the passing pedestrians and villagers on the bustling office-front street. In no time, three layers deep and a hundred strong, they had surrounded the front of the county office. Seeing that such a large crowd had gathered, they grew even more spirited, shouting to the surrounding onlookers, "Fellow villagers, come and judge this for yourselves! Where in the world is there a magistrate who drives people to desperation the moment he arrives? This is no county magistrate; he is clearly a cruel tyrant!"

Seeing that their words were becoming increasingly outrageous, Lin Lie, who had merely been blocking the main gate, finally lost his patience. With a wave of his hand, he prepared to step forward and put a stop to it. Unexpectedly, someone behind him pressed down on his shoulder. "Head Bailiff Lin, hold on!" Turning his head, he saw County Vice Magistrate Feng Ping standing right there. "This matter is not something you can resolve. Better wait for Your Honor the Magistrate to come over."

"But..." Lin Lie frowned, faintly sniffing the odor of a conspiracy.

"I will handle it instead." Another voice rose from behind. It was Li Ling, who had finally arrived. Glancing at the slightly surprised Feng Ping, he merely gave a slight bow. "This subordinate is acting under the magistrate's orders to resolve the current situation. Vice Magistrate Feng will not stop me, will he?"

Meeting Li Ling's gaze, Feng Ping felt as though all his hidden thoughts had been seen through. His heart skipped a beat, and he could only force a smile. "Since it is the magistrate's order, naturally I will not stop you. However, Li Ling, do not make a mess of things. The dignity of the county office must not be lost."

"My Lord may rest easy." Leaving those words behind, Li Ling pushed through the crowd and stepped forward. Sweeping his gaze over the chaotic scene before him, he had already reached a complete conclusion. If upon arrival he had only suspected that someone was intentionally stirring up trouble to strike at Wei Liang's reputation and authority, now he was one hundred percent certain. Moreover, the mastermind behind this chaos must be Feng Ping, who stood right here, and Zhuang Hong, who was locked up in the dungeon. This was their counterattack.

In truth, it made sense. Over the past few days, County Magistrate Wei had been pressing down on them relentlessly, beating these local tyrants until they had no strength left to fight back. That was clearly unreasonable. After all, they had operated here for many years; how could they be so utterly incompetent? The only explanation was that they needed time to collude and prepare.

And as Zhuang Hong was truly stripped of his post and locked in the dungeon, these people had grown genuinely desperate. Even without absolute certainty of success, they had to make a desperate gamble now, which was why they had organized these people to come and create an uproar at the office. If this attempt failed to suppress the magistrate, they would likely follow up by crying grievance and demanding a retrial for Zhuang Hong.

These thoughts flashed through Li Ling's mind in an instant, making him feel the pressure mount once more. Yet the smile on his face remained as brilliant as ever. Walking forward, he respectfully cupped his hands and saluted: "Fellow villagers, please lend this humble person a word."

"What kind of person are you? We want to see County Magistrate Wei!" The elder standing closest to him looked at him with disdain, noting that he was not wearing official robes.

Li Ling did not grow angry and continued to smile. "This humble person has indeed been ordered by Your Honor the Magistrate to come and speak with you. I ask that you all quiet down and let me finish my piece." The final sentence was suddenly raised in volume, genuinely drowning out the shouting of the crowd and drawing everyone's attention onto him.

"Eh, isn't that Li Ling, the one who filed the complaint the other day? How did he become a person of the county office?" Some commoners in the distance recognized him, looking on with great curiosity. Fortunately, these murmurs did not reach the front, and the troublemakers did not know Li Ling, only looking at him suspiciously. "Are you speaking the truth?"

"Of course, you will be able to confirm this very soon," Li Ling said with a solemn expression. Having given them a measure of confidence, he then asked, "You folks are not all from the same household, I presume? May I ask what each of your respective identities is?"

"I am from the household of Li Qing, a clerk in the household department..."

"I am from the household of Zhang Dan in the penal department..."

"I am..."

These people reported their identities one after another. Li Ling nodded in greeting to each of them in turn, handling the situation with propriety and politeness, genuinely managing to regain control of the situation. Only after confirming that there were family members from a full twelve clerks present did he smile and say, "I can understand how you all feel, but making such a disturbance in front of the county office is thoroughly improper. To put it bluntly, this kind of behavior shows extreme disrespect toward the office and the imperial court. If investigated thoroughly, every single one of you will be severely punished—receiving twenty or thirty blows of the paddle would be the mildest of it."

"You..." The elder from earlier grew irritated once more, just about to utter a reprimand when Li Ling swiftly interrupted him. "Of course, our County Magistrate Wei has always been benevolent and would never truly do such a thing. Still, you must all recognize your wrongs and correct them. Such disruptive behavior in front of the county office can happen once, but never again!"

"Then the magistrate must still give us an explanation!"

"My man never committed any wrong. On what grounds was he dismissed?"

In an instant, several others began shouting loudly again, and someone seized the opportunity to chime in once more: "We want to see the magistrate!"

"Very well, very well!" Li Ling pressed his hands downward. "I already understand how you all feel, but the county office is different from ordinary places; we cannot possibly let all of you go inside to speak. How about this—choose a few people as representatives to come inside and speak with me? I guarantee that as long as you come inside with me, we will certainly give you a satisfactory reply."

This proposal unexpectedly made them somewhat uneasy. Two of them stole glances toward Feng Ping at the front, and only when they saw him give a slight nod did they shout loudly, "Fine, I will go in with you. Who else is willing to go along?"

With a leader stepping forward, the courage of the others grew as well, and they chimed in one after another: "Count me in..."

Originally there had only been two or three, but before long, a dozen more people stepped out—almost one from each family. Clearly, while these people had banded together, they were far from being truly of one heart; each feared that if they failed to go, they would be at a disadvantage.

Li Ling was quite generous about it, nodding immediately. "Then the few of you shall follow me into the county office to speak. The rest of you wait here and cause no further trouble, otherwise..." As he spoke, he glanced at Lin Lie. "Head Bailiff Lin, if anyone dares to act recklessly again, apprehend them first!"

"Understood!" Lin Lie hastily acknowledged the order; he had long since found these fellows displeasurable.

As Li Ling led the dozen-odd people into the grounds, Feng Ping, who had been watching the spectacle from the side, cast a thoughtful look at his way. "Li Ling, do not play foolish games. If anything goes wrong, no one will be able to protect you!"

"Vice Magistrate Feng worries too much. This humble person has his own reasons for doing this," Li Ling replied, his footsteps never halting as he led the people through the doors and straight along the corridor toward the second hall. Behind him came the soft snort of Vice Magistrate Feng.

Leading the group inward, Li Ling did not take them to the magistrate's official chamber. Instead, he made a turn and arrived at the record room of the household department, a place with which he was most familiar. At this moment, several new clerks of the household department were busy handling their tasks. Seeing Li Ling lead so many people inside, they all froze in utter astonishment. "What is the meaning of this?"

These people did recognize Li Ling, and they had heard it mentioned that the magistrate intended to make him the new chief clerk of the household department. Yet he had not even officially taken office yet—how dared he barge in here?

Li Ling did not treat himself as an outsider in the slightest. With a wave of his hand, he instructed, "You few, step outside for a moment, and bring me that stack of items from behind the shelf."

A trace of displeasure flashed across the faces of several clerks, but immediately afterward they caught sight of Master Cao appearing outside the door. Cao gave them a slight nod, signaling them to obey Li Ling's instructions. With no other choice, they could only do as Li Ling said, placing the materials on the desk before obediently retreating outside and pulling the door shut behind them.

Only then did the few newcomers, stepping into the official office for the first time, begin to sense something amiss. "Where is County Magistrate Wei? Why is he not the one speaking with us?"

"His Honor the Magistrate is occupied with official duties and currently lacks the time to handle such trivial matters. Allow me to entertain you all instead," Li Ling said with a smile.

Those who had been somewhat irritated, upon meeting Li Ling's smile, felt a sudden chill in their hearts, and the words they had intended to say stuck in their throats.