The yamen runners on either side shouted in time with the crack of the court block: "All rise!"
The two servants from the Wan Residence had originally accompanied the second young master to the county yamen to lodge a complaint. Who could have imagined they would face a scene like this? First they had been beaten with paddles, then frightened by Hu Xiaotian's official authority. By now, their souls had practically fled their bodies. Prostrating themselves on the floor, they said in trembling voices, "Your Honor... we've been wronged..."
Hu Xiaotian pointed at one of the servants. "Tell me exactly how you found the second young master, from beginning to end, and tell me honestly. If you dare utter even half a lie, I guarantee you won't leave here alive."
It was naked intimidation, but intimidation worked more often than not.
The servant kowtowed repeatedly in terror. "Please see the truth, Your Honor. I... Zhao Liang and I were on watch the night before last. During the second watch, we were patrolling near the East Wing when we found a masked man in black lying on the ground... We thought he was a cat burglar, but when we pulled off his mask, he turned out... he turned out to be the second young master."
The other servant, Zhao Liang, said, "Your Honor, every word Guo Biao said is true. When we found the second young master, we hurried to report it to the eldest young master, then busied ourselves calling in physicians for the second young master..."
No one knew what had happened that night better than Hu Xiaotian. He had knocked Wan Tingsheng unconscious with a blow to the head, then dragged him over near the East Wing and dumped him there. As for what happened afterward, he knew