There Were Too Many People Outside Just Now

Li Nuo slept like a log.

Not only had he slept soundly, but when he woke up, he smelled sweet and fragrant all over.

A maid came in with his toiletries. Li Nuo glanced out the window and saw that it was already broad daylight. He casually asked, "What time is it?"

A chubby-cheeked young maid replied, "Young Master, it's just past the hour of the Snake."

The hour of the Snake fell between nine and eleven in the morning. Li Nuo couldn't remember when he'd gone to bed last night, but it had definitely been before nine. He'd slept for at least twelve hours.

Thinking it over carefully, he seemed to have fallen asleep while eating dinner last night. He didn't even know how he'd made it back to his room and into bed.

No matter how hard Li Nuo tried to recall, he couldn't dredge up a single related memory.

If he couldn't remember, there was no point dwelling on it. He hadn't eaten for over twelve hours, and his stomach was growling again. Since he'd gotten up late, he had breakfast alone, as usual. He had no idea where his wife had gone, but he was used to her appearing and disappearing like a dragon.

After quickly finishing breakfast, Li Nuo brought Steward Wu along again and headed straight for Chang'an County Office.

In the carriage, Steward Wu drove while sighing long and hard.

Li Nuo lifted the curtain and asked, "What's wrong?"

Steward Wu let out a soft sigh. "Young Master, can't we give up on the Legalist school and stop hearing cases?"

Li Nuo glanced at him. Give up on the Legalist school? Give up and wait to die?

It was better to rely on himself than on others. His father had so many enemies; if he didn't work hard to grow stronger, he might get dragged into trouble one day.

Besides, if he stopped hearing cases, he wouldn't even have to wait for his father's enemies to make a move. He'd drop dead on his own first.

He replied as if it were only natural, "My father is the Minister of Justice. Isn't it perfectly normal for me to study the Legalist school? Don't you think helping the people and punishing the wicked is meaningful?"

"Ah..."

Steward Wu said nothing more and only let out a long sigh.

A short while later, Li Nuo arrived at Chang'an County Office. The moment he stepped down from the carriage, his expression froze.

A long line stretched from the Court Hall entrance all the way out onto the street. The entire county office was as noisy as the Vegetable Market.

Li Nuo quickly realized he'd been a little too optimistic.

Too much of anything did more harm than good.

Yesterday, there hadn't been any cases to hear. Today, there were too many to get through.

He usually handled only minor cases and petty disputes. There were more cases today, but they were even more trivial. People were bringing even ordinary quarrels between neighbors to the county office for judgment.

That was starting to waste public resources.

The magistrate had many duties, and hearing cases was only one of them. If he had to personally deal with every little matter, even Pei Zhe, with the power to split himself in two, wouldn't be able to keep up.

So it was essential to screen the cases beforehand.

After seeing the situation, Pei Zhe summoned all the constables and runners at the county office. He had them guide the people waiting outside the Court Hall out to the street, where they marked off a spacious area and made different arrangements based on the cases the people brought forward.

The more serious cases were taken to wait outside the Court Hall, where they would be called in order.

Most minor disputes didn't need to go before the court, so clerks from the county office mediated them on the spot outside.

In just a quarter of an hour, the county office, which had been in utter chaos, was running like clockwork.

Li Nuo couldn't help reflecting that there was a reason he was only a minor judge, with an assistant tacked onto his title, while the other man had become magistrate of the capital county. He still had a lot to learn from Lord Pei.

In the Court Hall, Pei Zhe said to Li Nuo, "Young Master, I have to leave the city today to provide relief to widows and orphans in the villages. I'll have to trouble you with the county office."

Li Nuo asked Pei Zhe, "Does Chang'an County Office not have an assistant magistrate and a lieutenant? Why haven't I seen them these past few days?"

Chang'an County Office was the most important county office in Great Xia. In theory, it would certainly have an assistant magistrate and a lieutenant to help the magistrate. A task like caring for widows and orphans could have been handled by the assistant magistrate on his behalf. A magistrate usually didn't need to personally handle every matter.

Pei Zhe sighed.

Of course Chang'an County Office had an assistant magistrate and a lieutenant. But before he arrived, the two had already joined forces and never taken him, the magistrate, seriously. Recently, they had both taken leave, refusing to share the burden of government affairs with him. They were giving him a warning.

Though both men ranked below him, they had powerful connections. With the two of them working together, there was little he, the magistrate, could do.

Pei Zhe walked out of the Court Hall, just as a figure entered the county office from outside.

When Assistant Magistrate Zhang saw Pei Zhe, a smile appeared on his chubby face. He walked over slowly and said, "It's been several days, Lord Pei. You look a little haggard. No matter how busy you are with official duties, you must take care of your health..."

The words sounded caring, but they were actually barbed.

As deputy officials, he and Lieutenant Wang had refused to help share the workload. Every matter at the county office had fallen to Pei Zhe alone. How could he not look haggard?

He had already looked into this new magistrate. The man had no real backing. He'd become magistrate of Chang'an because the previous magistrate had been killed by Li Xuanjing. The post was important, and the various factions at court had all been vying for it, none willing to yield. In the end, the post had fallen into the hands of this Pei fellow.

Assistant Magistrate Zhang himself had once been in line to take the magistrate's seat. Pei Zhe's sudden appointment had shattered his dream.

Naturally, he resented the man who had taken his place.

Pei Zhe had heard the sarcasm in his words. He gave Assistant Magistrate Zhang a cool glance and said, "Thank you for your concern, Lord Zhang."

Assistant Magistrate Zhang was about to say something when he suddenly heard the sound of the Court Rapper from inside the Court Hall. He paused, then frowned in puzzlement and asked, "Who's hearing a case in the Court Hall?"

At Chang'an County Office, only three people had the authority to open court and pass judgment:

The magistrate, the assistant magistrate, and the lieutenant. And if he or Lieutenant Wang wanted to hear a case, they needed Magistrate Pei Zhe's approval.

He had seen Lieutenant Wang before coming to the county office, and Pei Zhe was standing right here. So who was hearing a case in the Court Hall?

Assistant Magistrate Zhang went to the entrance of the Court Hall and peered inside. He saw a young man seated in the magistrate's place, but his eyesight wasn't good enough to make out the man's face. He had met Pei Zhe's son before, and judging by his build, the one hearing the case in court had to be Pei Zhe's son, who was studying at the academy.

Wonderful. He'd been worrying about how to catch Pei Zhe in a misstep, and now the man had handed him one on a platter.

His son was merely a Confucian scholar, without any official position. What right did he have to sit in court and hear cases?

Assistant Magistrate Zhang let out a cold snort. In front of the people and runners in the courtyard, he reprimanded Pei Zhe. "Lord Pei, I've been away from the county office for only a few days, and you've turned it into a den of chaos. This solemn, dignified government office is now like a Vegetable Market. What kind of conduct is that? And not only that—you've violated the court's Ordinances by letting someone without an official post overstep his authority and hear cases. Do you think this is one of those backwater counties you used to serve in? Do you have any regard for the law, for the court? I'll be sure to report you!"

Pei Zhe only glanced at him. Without a word, he turned and headed toward the rear courtyard.

Assistant Magistrate Zhang puffed out his chest, unable to suppress the curve of his lips.

Pei Zhe, Pei Zhe, you really are a fool. This was Chang'an, the capital. Did you think this was some little backwater county office where you could throw your weight around and do whatever you pleased just because you were the magistrate?

He was about to return to his office and write a memorial impeaching Pei Zhe when the whispers of several runners reached his ears.

"Have you heard? The Official of the Ministry of Personnel resigned!"

"Lord Pei's really impressive. He's only been here for a month, and he's already brought down the Official of the Ministry of Personnel. I still remember how the previous magistrate used to bow and scrape in front of him like a dog..."

"Heh, what's an Official of the Ministry of Personnel? Lord Pei has the Minister of Justice backing him!"

"Huh? Who told you that?"

"Don't you know? The young master hearing cases at the county office these past few days is Li Xuanjing's son, Young Master Li. Everyone knows how close Young Master Li and Lord Pei are. Young Master Li even has lunch at Lord Pei's house..."

"I heard the two of them even went to a brothel together. Tsk, now that's what I call a friendship..."

Assistant Magistrate Zhang trembled and had to brace himself against the wall to stay upright.

The sun blazed overhead, but at that moment, it felt as though a basin of ice water had been poured over his head, chilling him from head to toe.

Li Xuanjing—the Minister of Justice, Li Xuanjing!

The Pei fellow had actually hitched himself to that mighty tree!

Assistant Magistrate Zhang would never forget how the previous magistrate of Chang'an had died. The Minister of Justice could crush a fifth-rank official as easily as an ant.

Pei Zhe was Li Xuanjing's man.

And Li Xuanjing wasn't just the Minister of Justice. He also commanded the Mirror Division, Great Xia's largest intelligence agency.

If he sent up his impeachment memorial, he'd probably end up dead in the Court of Judicial Review's dungeon the very next day.

At the thought, he broke out in a sweat and sprinted toward the county office's rear hall.

In a room somewhere in the rear hall of the county office.

Pei Zhe was changing clothes to go out and provide relief to the county's widows and orphans when a figure came staggering through the door.

At the sound of the door closing, Pei Zhe assumed it was his wife. He turned around, only to find Assistant Magistrate Zhang.

Pei Zhe furrowed his brows and asked, "What do you want, Zhang?"

Thud!

Assistant Magistrate Zhang's knees buckled. He dropped to the floor, clutched Pei Zhe's leg, and wept as he said, "Lord Pei, there were too many people outside just now. This subordinate was in the wrong. I'm begging you, forgive me! From now on, I'll do whatever you tell me. Please be the bigger man and let this subordinate off just this once!"