Public Trial

Compared to those powerful, meat-eating elites in Di'an City, the officials in the County Office were, in a sense, better able to enjoy life.

At the very least, they did not need to crawl out of bed in the dead of night to prepare for morning court.

The shadow of the pointer on the sundial erected outside the hall had already moved to the hour of the dragon with the rising sun. Yet the entire government compound remained quiet, with only early-rising servants and a handful of clerks on duty tiptoeing through its grounds.

But the silence in the government compound today carried a few more threads of eeriness than usual.

The guards on duty, the servants sweeping fallen leaves, even the aides helping the county magistrate handle official affairs—all of them would occasionally glance toward the deepest part of the compound amid that silence.

In the midst of this stillness, another young master clad in an expensive brocade robe strolled into the County Office.

The constables on duty at the entrance instinctively wanted to stop him. They did not recognize him, and duty demanded that they question him, but upon seeing his obviously extravagant attire, they silently let him pass.

All these early risers had witnessed that astonishing sight just moments ago.

Nearly every ranked official in the vast Huizhou County, the wealthy gentry of prominent clans, and the owners of every notable merchant house had swarmed toward the hall at the deepest part of the County Office in less than a quarter of an hour.

They did not know why all those great personages had gathered at the government compound so early this morning, but they did know that such matters were not for lowly people like them to discuss.

Having entered the County Office without obstruction, Xu