Although a sparrow was small, it still had all the essentials. This was the case for the county yamen. The etiquette system was modeled after the three provinces and six ministries. Bishan County had three gates and six offices. Of the three gates, the Soap Gate was where the officials gathered, and the Soap Gate came from. As for the Patrol Gate, the roots of the Beiliang's Roaming Cavalry were in the Patrol Gate. The Bailiff Gate was easy to understand, and even a three-year-old child would know about it. As for the responsibilities of the six offices, as far as Bishan County was concerned, County Magistrate Feng Guan monopolized the Four Offices of Officials, Workers, and Punishment. He only left County Premier Zuo Jing with a ceremonial room in name only. County Magistrate Bai Shangque could be considered to have gotten a rather lucrative military room. As for the Three Gates, Feng Guan monopolized them and viewed them as his exclusive property. This was especially true for the Soap Gate, which followed County Magistrate Feng Guan blindly, making Zuo Jing especially embarrassed. Actually, as the County Magistrate, Hsu Fengnian should have been the one in charge of the Soap Gate. However, Feng Guan had even suppressed and ostracized County Premier Zuo Jing mercilessly, so why would he care about "Hsu Fengnian's" face? It was just that Hsu Fengnian's attention was focused on observing the county yamen's operations. As for whether or not this half-baked County Magistrate had any authority, it was not important.
Although this County Magistrate had no intention of fighting for power, he still wandered around the county yamen's Three Gates and Six Offices when he had nothing to do. There were more than a dozen criminals imprisoned in the Torture Chamber. There were all sorts of people. There were old men who were unable to retire and purposely came here to make a living. There were human traffickers, young ruffians who were looking for trouble, and lowly flower thieves who stole women's undergarments and were sent to prison. However, among the dozen of them, there was only one old man in his sixties who was handcuffed and shackled. The shackles were large and the shackles were heavy shackles. Altogether, they weighed 34 jin. Hsu Fengnian had specially browsed through the files of the Torture Chamber, but he couldn't find any clues. Later, he invited the leader of the Torture Chamber to drink and finally got some information. He only knew that the old man's surname was Shen. He was a notorious bandit in Hezhou. It seemed that he had done a big business that cost him his head. After he succeeded, he didn't divide the loot evenly. Last year, he was attacked by a gang in Qingshan County of Youzhou and was seriously injured. He fled to this county and was locked up for more than half a year. Originally, he should have been escorted to the county city to be executed at the beginning of this year. However, due to the change in Youzhou, the new people in Bishan County replaced the old, so the execution was delayed. As for why he wasn't recorded in the Torture Chamber's records, it was because the leader of the Torture Chamber was drunk and didn't speak clearly.
Since Xu Fengnian had nothing to do, he would come to the prison every few days. He would bring a pot of Green Ant Wine and some scraps of meat to eat. He would move a chair to sit in the middle of the aisle and chat with the fellows who had been imprisoned on both sides of the aisle. In the end, other than Thief Shen, all the fellows in the prison would ask for Green Ant Wine to drink. Xu Fengnian also rarely refused. After a few rounds, they actually became like drinking buddies. Old Man Shen, on the other hand, had been watching coldly from the sidelines. Occasionally, he would open his eyes and look at them. Using the words of the prisoners in the torture chamber, this old bastard had killed several people. He had a murderous aura and a heavy Yin aura.
Every time the skinny old man forced his eyelids open, the corners of his mouth would curl up into a sinister sneer. He looked at the young Registrar sitting outside the prison cell, as if he could pull that head off his shoulders with one hand if he wanted to. Every time this happened, the middle-aged man in the cell next to the only serious criminal in Bishan County would try his best to hide his worry. The man's surname was Wang, and he looked like an honest farmer. He seemed to have angered one of the big clans in Bishan County. Not only did he lose his family fortune, he was also thrown into prison. In the past half a year, the big clans' disciples had come twice. Each time, they had mocked and ridiculed him. They had even sinisterly declared that they would definitely help support the man's wife and daughter. Even some of the prisoners in the prison felt that this guy was too pitiful. They might as well kill themselves. The enemy's family was enjoying the mother and daughter outside. Could it be that this brother of yours was complaining to those rats that often crawled over his face when he slept? No wonder he was born with a pair of drooping eyebrows. Just by looking at him, one could tell that he was destined to suffer.
Today, Hsu Fengnian sat in the prison cell and chatted with the prisoners. He had just received his salary yesterday. Most of it had been confiscated by Pei Nanwei. He didn't know where she had hidden it. Only a few small taels of silver were left. They said it was enough for a month's worth of wine and that he should do as he saw fit. But now, the tables had turned. After Feng Guan gave the Registrar a workshop, it was mostly County Premier Zuo Jing who treated Hsu Fengnian to wine. As a result, Hsu Fengnian's finances were not as tight as before. However, the workshop in Bishan County, which was in charge of farming and irrigation, could only get some meat from mosquitoes' legs. It was not worth mentioning. More importantly, for the first time, County Magistrate Feng had taken the initiative to curry favor with the Registrar. This made the county yamen's odd-job workers think highly of the Registrar. However, when Zuo Jing was drinking, he had intentionally or unintentionally reminded the Registrar Xu, who was in the dark. Hsu Fengnian pretended to be muddle-headed. Zuo Jing thought that this kid was possessed and was waiting to see a joke.
Hsu Fengnian pulled over two jailers who were already familiar with him. The three of them ate cooked meat to go with the wine. If there were any prisoners who were envious, they would also ask the jailers to send them some meat and wine. When a well-dressed young man walked into the cell with a sachet covering his nose, it was inevitable that he was surprised. There were three people drinking and eating meat in the corridor. Most of the prisoners were sitting by the wooden bars of the cells near the corridor. Everyone was laughing and talking about dirty things. The young man frowned. Hsu Fengnian picked up a wine cup and wiped it with his sleeve. He raised the cup with a smile and asked if the young man wanted a mouthful of green ants. The young man gave him a sidelong glance and ignored him. The two jailers knew what was going on. They secretly cast a glance at the Registrar General and then pointed at the prisoner surnamed Wang. Hsu Fengnian smiled and nodded. The young master walked straight to the farmer's cell. Just as he was about to say something to rub salt into the man's wound, four burly bailiffs were holding two prisoners of different ages. The older one had shifty eyes and the younger one's clothes were ragged. However, he had a pair of dashing eyebrows that exuded a heroic spirit. Even though his face was covered in dirt, people could not help but take a few more glances at him. They only felt that he did not fit in with this prison. However, his steps were slightly slower and he was punched in the back by a bailiff. He staggered and almost fell to the ground. The older accomplice hurriedly supported him and smiled obsequiously at the bailiffs. Hsu Fengnian smiled and asked, "What crime did you commit?"
The four bailiffs were closer to County Magistrate Feng Kuo and County Magistrate Bai Shangque. They had never paid much attention to this Registrar. However, they had more or less accumulated some worldly wisdom in the officialdom. The leader of the bailiffs squeezed out a lukewarm smile and said, "In reply to Registrar, it was two lowly thieves. They were extremely daring and stole into This Old Man Zhu's house. They should count themselves lucky that they were not beaten to death on the spot."
After he finished speaking, the bailiff quickly walked over to the young man who was using a scented pouch to cover up the stench of the prison. He smiled humbly and said, "Isn't this Young Master Song from the county capital? It's an honor to see you. Young Master Song, don't worry. As for that ignorant trash, when we have time, we will entertain him. I guarantee that he will suffer a fate worse than death …"
The young man with a feminine temperament took out a brocade money pouch and casually threw it to the leader of the bailiffs. He said softly, "Don't really kill him. It's not a big deal, but it's troublesome. I'm not afraid of trouble, but I'm afraid of trouble."
The bailiff who had made a windfall laughed and said, "We know what we're doing. Every time we beat him, we put two or three layers of cotton cloth on him. There are no visible wounds. It's all internal injuries."
The young man looked around and his gaze finally fell on the man surnamed Wang. He pointed at him and laughed, "These two thieves, why don't we just throw them in here?"
The bailiff did not hesitate and said, "That's not difficult."
The young man turned his head to look at the two thieves and said with a smile, "After you go in, take care of that old guest. If you take good care of him, you will naturally have a feast of wine and meat."
The monkey-cheeked old thief swallowed his saliva and glanced at the small table where the Director-General was sitting. He asked timidly, "Sir, can we buy some wine on credit first? I'm sure that once I move in, I'll try to get close to your old friends."
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