Evening.
The third floor of the Misty Rain Tower.
Jia Huan hosted a banquet, treating his guests to fine wine and delicious food.
The three guests were overwhelmed by the honor: the leader of the Giant Axe Gang and two veteran elders.
Twin Whips and Scholar were ravenous and ate with gusto.
"Don't stand on ceremony. Eat and drink your fill." Jia Huan smiled warmly.
The gang leader dared not pick up his chopsticks. He stammered:
"L-Lord Jia, if you need anything, just say the word."
Jia Huan simply spoke plainly:
"What exactly happened in the Fugou mining disaster two years ago?"
The gang leader breathed a sigh of relief. "I know about that case!"
Scholar immediately set down his chopsticks and picked up the Book of Impermanence to take notes.
Gathering his thoughts, the gang leader recounted everything:
"It was a silver mine. The court sent a mining overseer to supervise the work. Mines have always been dangerous, and one collapse killed more than seventy miners-seventy-eight, I think. The miners rose up together and even besieged the Fugou County Yamen. They beat the county magistrate and his entire family to death. It caused a huge uproar!"
"The court appointed a high official to investigate. He sealed off the mine and provided compensation to comfort the orphans and widows. Only then did the dispute die down."
After listening, Jia Huan sank into thought.
The court's mining overseers, also called tax commissioners, were eunuchs responsible for mining and collecting taxes, scouring wealth from the people for the imperial family.
As for the high official sent to investigate, that should have been Left Chief Censor Liu Heng.
"The court compensated all the victims' families?" Jia Huan asked.
The gang leader nodded emphatically:
"Not only did they pay compensation, they didn't pursue charges