In the tailor shop, a young worker put the bedding Li Mu had chosen into a special cloth bag and said, "It's one tael and six coins."
Wang Wu said, "We're old friends. Let's make it cheaper …"
The fat innkeeper smiled and said, "This is the new cotton this year. This guest also chose the best satin. For the sake of the constable, I'll give you one tael and five coins. What do you think?"
There would be many places where Wang Wu could be of use in the future. Li Mu tossed him an ingot of silver and said, "Keep the rest. Put it in the yamen and buy some wine for your brothers."
Wang Wu took the silver and weighed it in his hand. It was at least two taels. The remaining money was equivalent to two months of his salary. Delighted, he said, "Thank you, boss …"
Seeing Wang Wu haggling with the innkeeper, Li Mu walked to the tailor shop and looked at the bustling crowd on the street.
The salary of the constables in Luoyang Capital was much higher than in Yangqiu County and the county capital. However, the cost of living in Luoyang Capital was higher. With their meager salary, their lives must be tight.
The cultivators in the yamen had other subsidies from the imperial court. Ordinary people like Wang Wu could only live on their salary.
Although there were many cultivators in both the county and the city yamen, most of them were ordinary constables.
Soon, Wang Wu came out with the bag containing the bedding. Li Mu was about to buy something else when he heard a woman's panicked voice.
"You, you pervert!"
Li Mu turned around and saw a woman covering her chest with her hands, looking at an old man with shame and anger.
The old man put his hand on his face and smelled it. His wrinkled face showed a trace of lust. He asked, "You bumped into me by accident and now you're slandering me. Is there any law in Luoyang?"
The woman looked at the old man's arrogant face and felt fear. She wanted to leave.
However, the old man reached out and blocked her way. He said, "You bumped into me and now you want to leave?"
Fear appeared on the woman's face. She said in a trembling voice, "What, what do you want to do?"
The old man clutched his chest and said, "You've hurt me. Either you compensate me, or you come with me to the yamen …"
The woman said anxiously, "You were the one who molested me just now. Everyone, please be reasonable. I didn't bump into him!"
On the street, the few people who had stopped to watch shifted their gazes away.
"Did you see that?" The old man looked at her mockingly and said, "You still want to slander me? This old man has lived for fifty-two years. What have I not seen? How could I take advantage of you …"
"I saw it. You were the one who took advantage of this lady. You deliberately touched her chest with your hand."
A simple and honest man stood out from the crowd and pointed at the old man.
The old man's expression darkened as he said, "Who do you think you are? How dare you spout nonsense here …"
Ignoring the man, he grabbed the woman's arm and said, "Let's go. Follow me to see the official!"
The man stepped forward to stop him. He removed the old man's hand from the woman's arm. Perhaps he had used too much force, but the old man fell to the ground. His head hit the stairs by the street, and blood immediately flowed out.
The old man rushed over and hugged the man's leg. He shouted, "Someone hit me! Someone hit me!"
The man looked anxious, but he did not dare to do anything to the old man. Soon, two figures separated the crowd and walked in. They asked loudly, "What happened?"
Wang Wu stood behind Li Mu and said, "They're from the Ministry of Justice."
There were many government offices in Luoyang. The Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court, and the Censorate all had the power to handle cases. Among them, the Ministry of Justice was the one with the least sense of existence.
When the old man saw the two officers from the Ministry of Justice, he said angrily, "Why are you so late? I was hit by this fool. Hurry up and take him back to the Ministry of Justice. And this woman, she hit me and slandered me. Take her away too …"
One of the officers from the Ministry of Justice looked at the old man and whispered to the other, "It's Manager Liu's third granduncle. What should we do …"
The other officer looked at the man and put a metal chain around his neck. He said, "You bully the old and weak on the street. Do you have no respect for the law? Come back to the government office with us!"
The woman cried, "It's not like that. It's not like that!"
The officer looked at her coldly and said, "Take her away too!"
Li Mu noticed that when the two officers from the Ministry of Justice appeared, some of the onlookers' eyes lit up. However, the light in their eyes quickly dimmed.
The crowd lowered their heads and began to whisper.
"He shouldn't have meddled in other people's business!"
"If he's taken to the Ministry of Justice, he'll be caned at least 20 times …"
"Didn't you hear what that person said? This old man is a relative of the manager of the Ministry of Justice. This man is finished …"
"He can't stand out in the future …"
…
The two officers from the Ministry of Justice were about to take the woman and the man away when a voice came from behind them.
"Wait."
One of them turned around and saw a young man walking out of the tailor shop. He looked at them calmly.
The young man held a sword in one hand and a fox in the other. He was most likely a cultivator. However, cultivators were the most common people in Fairy's Capital. The two officers from the Ministry of Justice looked at Li Mu coldly. One of them asked, "Who are you? How dare you stop the Ministry of Justice from doing its job?"
Xiao Bai jumped onto Li Mu's shoulder. Li Mu took out a waist token and said, "Constable of Fairy's Capital, Li Mu. The Fairy's Capital will take this case."
"Fairy's Capital?"
One of the officers from the Ministry of Justice was stunned when he heard Li Mu's words. He could not help but laugh. "If you didn't mention it, I would have forgotten that there's a Fairy's Capital …"
The words' Fairy's Capital 'sounded domineering, but it was only because of the two words' Fairy's Capital '.
The county magistrate of any one of the nineteen counties in Zhongjun had more freedom than an official of Fairy's Capital.
Although Fairy's Capital was several times larger than an ordinary county, it was far smaller if the entire county was included.
Moreover, Fairy's Capital was where the imperial city was located. The Fairy's Capital could not compare to any of the government offices in the three provinces, six ministries, nine temples, and various Wei Manors. It was fine if the officials of Fairy's Capital kept their heads low. However, if they did not open their eyes, they would meddle in everything. It was not unprecedented for five Fairy's Capital Constables to be changed within a month.
The officer looked at Li Mu and asked, "Constable of Fairy's Capital, I think one just died and two are disabled. Are you new here?"
Wang Wu walked up and gave Li Mu a look. Then, he looked at the two officers and said with a smile, "Brothers, Constable Li is new here. He doesn't know the rules of Fairy's Capital. Take him away, take him away …"
The officer looked at Wang Wu and said, "Since he doesn't know the rules, teach him well. Otherwise, he won't even know how he died …"
He waved his hand and said, "Take him away!"
Clang!
Li Mu raised his hand. Baiyi unsheathed the scabbard and placed it across the officer's neck.
Li Mu looked at the woman, the burly man, and the old man whose face was covered in blood. He said, "You can leave, but you have to leave him behind."
The old man's eyes widened as he watched this scene in disbelief.
The woman and the burly man were also stunned.
The onlookers were even more shocked. When had they ever seen a constable of Fairy's Capital going against someone from the Ministry of Justice?
The officer from the Ministry of Justice could feel the coldness from Baiyi. His face darkened as he asked, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Li Mu said, "I saw this case first. The Ministry of Justice has to follow the rules of first come, first serve."
"Fine!" The officer from the Ministry of Justice gritted his teeth and removed the iron chain from the burly man. He said coldly, "I hope you can be as stubborn later!"
The two glared at Li Mu fiercely and strode away.
Wang Wu looked at Li Mu and said in horror, "Constable Li, it's your first day here and you've already offended someone from the Ministry of Justice. The most radical people from the old party are in the Ministry of Justice …"
Li Mu shrugged indifferently. The old party had already sent assassins to assassinate him. No matter what, he couldn't get along with them peacefully.
If that was the case, what did it matter if he offended them again?
Moreover, a mere director of the Ministry of Justice couldn't represent the entire party.
As the constable of Fairy's Capital, if he couldn't even deal with such a small matter fairly, then Fairy's Capital was rotten to the core. He couldn't change anything by himself, let alone absorb the people's willpower to cultivate. It was fine if he didn't stay in Fairy's Capital.
He might as well return to Beijun and enter Fu-lu School, where he could live happily ever after with Liu Hanyan.
At that time, the old party and the new party would have nothing to do with him. Even if the dynasty was destroyed, Fu-lu School would still be able to stand tall on Mount Baiyun. Even if the Great Zhou changed, the new imperial court wouldn't be able to touch Mount Baiyun.
As he had just arrived in Fairy's Capital, the information he could obtain from others was limited. Li Mu needed to go through one or a few things before he could see the truth of Fairy's Capital.
Outside the crowd, led by Deputy Constable Sun, several constables looked at the scene in shock.
They did not expect that the new constable, who looked so gentle, would be so fierce in his actions.
Li Mu glanced at them and said, "What are you waiting for? Bring them all to the yamen!"
The constables looked at each other and didn't move.
Deputy Constable Sun looked at Li Mu with a complicated gaze. After a while, a trace of shame appeared in his eyes. He gritted his teeth and said, "What are you standing here for? Didn't you hear Constable Li? Bring these three to the yamen!"
Only then did they run forward. The old man wiped the blood off his face and said, "Just you wait!"
Li Mu walked up to the woman and the burly man and said, "Let's go. When we reach the yamen, the Lord will give you justice."
As the group of people walked towards the Shen 'du yamen, some of the onlookers on the streets pondered for a moment before slowly following behind them.
Wang Wu looked worried and muttered, "It's over, it's over. Such expensive bedding won't last more than a few days …"
He raised his head and looked at Li Mu. Just as he was about to speak, Li Mu looked at him and said, "This has nothing to do with political strife. You just have to remember what you should do as a constable …"
"I should make decisions for the people and uphold justice and fairness …" Wang Wu lowered his head and said, "But we're just small fries. The people above can crush us with a flick of their fingers …"
In the yamen of Fairy's Capital, the former county magistrate of Yangqiu, Zhang Chun, who had just been promoted to commandant, was drinking tea in the side hall.
In Fairy's Capital, a place he didn't know, it was definitely a happy thing to be able to meet one of his former subordinates. At least it gave him some psychological comfort.
He had just picked up his teacup when he suddenly heard a commotion outside.
Zhang Chun put down his teacup and walked outside. He saw Li Mu and a few constables walking into the courtyard. Outside the courtyard, there were countless people who were looking around.
Zhang Chun was stunned and asked, "What's going on?"
Li Mu told him what had just happened.
Zhang Chun stared at him with wide eyes and asked, "You've only been in Fairy's Capital for an hour and you've already offended the Ministry of Justice. Didn't you promise me that you wouldn't cause trouble?"
"I can't ignore this …" Li Mu pointed at the people who were looking around outside the yamen and said, "Sir, do you think I can just stand by and do nothing in front of so many people?"
Zhang Chun was silent for a while before he sighed and said, "You're right. I can't ignore this case. Fairy's Capital needs people like you. A good person shouldn't be unrewarded. Not only will this wrong the good person, but the people will also be disappointed …"
Li Mu looked at him and said, "Those who seek the people's livelihood shouldn't be frozen to death in the snow. Those who pave the way for justice shouldn't be trapped in thorns … Sir, you won't ignore this, right?"
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