One Sentence Shook the Entire Hall

Chapter 21: One Sentence Shook the Entire Hall

The constables held back the onlookers and were about to close the doors when Luo Qianshan, quick as a flash, squeezed inside. He waved off the others' greetings, rolled his wrists, and cracked his knuckles. Before long, he might have to take out his anger on this scholar.

As the saying went, when a scholar met a soldier, reason went out the window. These scholars had sharp tongues, but they were satisfying to beat up—at least, more satisfying than hitting a sack. Thinking of the thrill of punching flesh, Luo Qianshan let out two strange laughs.

Hearing odd noises behind him, Zi Bofeng glanced back. A tall, burly man dressed as a soldier was gripping him tightly. When the man saw him looking, he grinned, baring gleaming white teeth, and flicked a finger against the catch on the long saber at his waist. His killing intent was unmistakable!

"Uh, what's going on? Is this a feast at Hongmen? They're not going to hack me down as soon as I get into the hall, are they?"

A moment ago, Zi Bofeng had been having a blast beating the drum. Now his legs had suddenly gone weak. It seemed... had he done something incredible?

But now that he was here, there was no backing out.

Zi Bofeng steeled himself, and somehow stood even taller.

A moment after Zi Bofeng entered the main hall, the slightly weary Prefect emerged. He took the seat in the center, rubbed his brow, and asked, "Who beat the drum to file a grievance?"

He looked up. The first person he saw was not Zi Bofeng, but Luo Qianshan. He gave him a questioning look, only to see Luo Qianshan slowly shake his head.

Though he had prepared himself for this, the Prefect was still disappointed, and his irritation only grew. Then he looked at the young man below the dais, who seemed more obnoxious with every glance.

"Your student is Zi Bofeng." Facing the Prefect's stern expression, Zi Bofeng clasped his hands and spoke without fear or servility.

"What grievance do you have? Why didn't you submit a written petition?" The channels for scholars and commoners to seek redress were different.

"Your student had intended to request an audience with Your Excellency, but Your Excellency's official duties kept you busy, and I could wait no longer. So I resorted to this. I beg Your Excellency's pardon."

"Pardon?" The Prefect was in a terrible mood and replied impatiently, "That depends on whether you're guilty. Speak. What is your grievance, and whom are you accusing?"

Zi Bofeng looked around. Only the Prefect had come out; the Chief Clerk and the others were nowhere to be seen. Seven or eight constables stood on either side. A small table sat to one side, where a clerk was scribbling furiously, evidently taking notes. Not far behind him, the vicious soldier was toying with the catch on his saber, making a rhythmic click-click sound. When he saw Zi Bofeng glance over, he bared his teeth in another menacing grin.

Zi Bofeng steeled himself and said, "Your Excellency, I am here to seek justice for the more than three hundred people of Lower Yan Village. The man I accuse is none other than Your Excellency!"

His words sent a shock through the entire hall!

The constables exchanged bewildered looks. The clerk gaped, ink dripping onto his chest, while the irritating clicking stopped.

Everyone was stunned.

"What'd he say?" someone blurted out in astonishment, his words thick with a local accent.

"What?" Even the Prefect thought he had misheard. Was Zi Bofeng an actor, to bring a tale straight out of a play into real life? Thinking his long days of work had caused him to hallucinate, he hurriedly picked at his ears, took a sip of tea to calm himself, and said, "Say that again!"

Zi Bofeng repeated himself, his voice clear and steady, with not a trace of hesitation.

The Prefect was thrown into utter confusion. Half angry and half amused, he asked, "Why are you accusing me, and what are you accusing me of?"

He waved a hand, signaling Luo Qianshan, who was itching for a fight behind him, to hold back and hear what Zi Bofeng had to say.

"I accuse Your Excellency of three things: first, appointing the wrong people; second, failing to supervise them properly; and third, imposing taxes without reason."

The Prefect looked down at Zi Bofeng from his seat.

Zi Bofeng did have a little literary renown, and that splendid essay of his had been so dazzling that even the Prefect had praised it without reservation. But whatever goodwill he had felt was washed away by the woodcarving incident. The Prefect, who had been furious at the time, had not investigated further, but he knew that the man who had turned his beloved root carving into two chubby little boys was the very Zi Bofeng standing before him.

That boy was truly detestable!

And the words "imposing taxes" struck right at the Prefect's sore spot. Zi Bofeng had picked the one thing he did not want to hear about!

Seeing the Prefect lift his teacup again, the constables on either side tightened their grips on their Prestige-Breaking Staffs. They were just waiting for him to wet his throat, roar in anger, and send them forward to beat the boy senseless.

Sensing the atmosphere turn abruptly tense, Zi Bofeng stopped teasing them and spoke out clearly. "Your Excellency left the collection of taxes in the hands of incompetent officials, and the accounts they produced were riddled with errors. Is that not a failure to appoint the right people? Then you used those error-ridden accounts as grounds to levy additional taxes. Is that not a failure of oversight? And since the various grounds for doing so have no merit, is Your Excellency's charge of imposing taxes without reason truly wrong?"

"Impertinent!" Luo Qianshan roared, stepping forward to seize Zi Bofeng. The Prefect was like a father to him; how could he let anyone insult him like this?

Besides, who else understood the Prefect's predicament if not him? The Prefect was benevolent and cared for his people. He shouldered all the pressure himself. A good official like him was a rarity in a hundred years.

"Hold!" The Prefect's face was dark enough to drip water, but he still raised a hand to stop Luo Qianshan. He fixed his eyes on Zi Bofeng. Having held high office for years, his official authority crashed over Zi Bofeng like a raging flood, wave after wave.

In Zi Bofeng's eyes, something like spiritual energy flowed around the Prefect's entire body, making the pressure he exuded even greater.

Zi Bofeng took a deep breath. "I have evidence. Will Your Excellency allow the official in charge of taxes to confront me in person?"

He took a ledger from the wooden box he carried with him. "These are all the accounts for Lower Yan Village over the past fifty-three years. Every entry is clear and precise, and every year's taxes have been paid in full. Why, then, are you making Lower Yan Village pay another three years' worth? Does Your Excellency know that, to pay these taxes, the villagers have scraped together every last bit they own, selling their children and daughters? Once these three years of taxes are collected, Lower Yan Village will vanish from this world!"

That final shout rang out like a stone striking the ground, silencing everyone in the hall.

Once these three years of taxes were collected, Lower Yan Village would vanish from this world!

The Prefect's eyes widened, and for a moment he could not speak. He had always believed himself an honest official who governed well. The people under his rule might not grow rich, but they should at least live in peace and contentment. How could collecting unpaid taxes from previous years destroy a whole village and its people?

"You're lying! You're trying to frighten everyone! You're talking nonsense! You're making trouble for no reason! You... you..." Before the Prefect could speak, someone behind him objected. Hu Caijun charged forward, pointing at Zi Bofeng and hurling a torrent of abuse at him.

Only after he had finished did Hu Caijun realize how impulsive he had been. He hurriedly apologized to the Prefect.

Zi Bofeng looked coldly at Hu Caijun. "So you're the one who misled and incited Your Excellency. You say I'm talking nonsense and making trouble for no reason. Then let me ask you: when have I, Zi Bofeng, ever told a lie?"

Hu Caijun was left speechless, unable to utter a single word.

"Zi Bofeng, who only speaks the truth"—that resounding reputation was simply too famous. In the past, the people he had offended could have formed a line from Mengcheng Prefecture all the way beyond the city gates, and now not a single person could refute the claim.

That was right. He was the very Zi Bofeng who went by the mighty name "Zi Bofeng, Who Only Speaks the Truth."

The Prefect pressed a hand to his forehead. He had thought he was getting a capable assistant, only to find he had a pig for a teammate.

"Your Excellency, I humbly ask that you allow Hu Caijun and me to compare our accounts in person. If I have made even the slightest error, I am willing to accept punishment for offending Your Excellency and slandering a superior. But if I am entirely correct, I ask Your Excellency to give the more than three hundred people of Lower Yan Village the justice they deserve."

The Prefect furrowed his brow for a moment. "Hu Caijun, are you willing?"

Hu Caijun was delighted. The Prefect had remembered his name! He hurriedly replied, "Your student is willing!"

He was confident that his skill at calculation far surpassed Zi Bofeng's. What was more, every account he had calculated had been checked by the bookkeepers. Zi Bofeng had dared to challenge him in court—he was digging his own grave.

Before long, several desks were set up in the courtroom. Zi Bofeng and Hu Caijun compared each other's accounts. The more Hu Caijun read, the more alarmed he became. Every entry was clear and precise; it hardly looked like the work of an amateur. He wondered in surprise if Zi Bofeng was actually skilled at calculation. He would have to be careful.

But after looking through the ledger for a while, he found several suspicious entries and noted them one by one, secretly pleased. He had specifically checked those places, and there was no doubt Zi Bofeng had made mistakes.

Zi Bofeng looked expressionlessly at the accounts in his hands. After the two of them had examined each other's ledgers, they handed them over to two bookkeepers for comparison. After a long while, the bookkeepers finished checking them and first reported to the Prefect, "Your Excellency, we have completed our review. Most of the entries in these two ledgers match, but there are discrepancies in a few places..."

After they finished, the Prefect had the ledgers brought to him. He checked those entries several times, nodded slightly, then looked up and said, "Zi Bofeng, what do you have to say?"

Hearing the bookkeeper's tone, Zi Bofeng immediately felt relieved.

The discrepancies in those entries were traps he had laid. The actual tampering was impossible for an amateur to detect, and now it seemed these people were amateurs too.

He looked relaxed. "Are you referring to page thirty-six, page one hundred and twenty-two, page one hundred and fifty-seven..." Zi Bofeng recited the entries as if he had them at his fingertips, then smiled faintly. "Those entries are indeed wrong. Tax collection has always followed market prices. Seven years ago, winter lasted unusually long, and spring came late, so the harvest was late as well. That year, the taxes were actually collected before the harvest, but the calculation used grain prices from after the harvest, which is why there was an error... Five years ago, heavy snow blocked the mountain passes, and the price of furs soared. A third of the price was left out..."

After he finished explaining, Hu Caijun shouted in disbelief, "You're making that up!"

"Would you dare go with me and ask people to verify it? The trading companies must still have the average prices from the past ten years. We'll know once we check."

"You're talking nonsense! Even if that were true, the final price wouldn't differ by so much!"

Record of Raising Monsters