Ji Zhibai pondered for a moment, then gave the Provincial Graduate official beside him a meaningful glance. The man nodded and hurried away.
In the side hall, Fang Yingwu saw Fang Yun emerge and immediately went to contact the officials and clerks to assist him with the trial.
Since Ji Zhibai was involved, Deputy Magistrate Tao Dingnian and the others would all attend.
Before long, the relevant runners and officials arrived in the courtroom, while officials with no connection to the case gathered outside its doors. The current county magistrate was putting his predecessor on trial-such a spectacle came once in a thousand years. Even Fang Yun's advisers and Yang Yuhuan stood outside to listen.
The Legalist School scholars responsible for the Hall of Punishment's pilot program had already arrived.
Soon, Fang Yun returned with Ao Huang and took his seat in the center of the courtroom.
Ji Zhibai sat in a chair to Fang Yun's left.
Fang Yun struck the court-shocking gavel and shouted, "Bring the suspect Gou Po into court!"
"Order... in court..."
The runners on both sides struck the floor with their water-and-fire staves, producing a ragged yet imposing clatter.
A strange look flashed through Ji Zhibai's eyes as he sat in his chair. Someone had told him that Fang Yun had introduced this change at the county office, and he had thought nothing of it. Now that he experienced it himself, however, he felt an invisible pressure gathering around him.
This practice could actually summon a power akin to official authority!
Soon, two runners escorted in a young man wearing leg irons.
Seeing the dejected face of the eldest legitimate son of the once-prominent Gou Household, Ji Zhibai's expression shifted slightly. He said gravely, "Magistrate Fang, Gou Po is a Licentiate. Putting him in restraints surely