The Farm Girl and the Executioner (Rebirth) 95

Chapter 95: Arrested and Brought to Justice

Jiang Huaizhen got up early in the morning and went to the city.

Lin Shuang had already told her yesterday to go to the yamen and see when the new county magistrate would take office, so they could settle the matter of Lin Mancang.

After entering the yamen, she first went to the Punishment Department.

Lu Qing and Hu Guiying were both out on business. The entire Punishment Department was quiet, and everyone was busy with their own affairs.

Just as she was about to ask someone, she heard the sound of footsteps from behind.

She turned her head and saw a woman in a moon-white dress walking toward her. She was tall and had an extraordinary air.

Jiang Huaizhen was stunned for a moment. Other than herself and Hu Guiying, she had never seen any other women in the yamen. Even she herself had entered under the name of a man.

Seeing the woman approach, she stepped aside.

Unexpectedly, the other also stopped.

A yamen runner next to her quickly introduced, “Miss Li, this is our county’s executioner, Jiang Huaizhen. Her father was also in charge of executions at the yamen before he passed away.”

With that, he said to Jiang Huaizhen, “Little Jiang, Miss Li is our yamen’s new Chief Examiner. You must not be rude.”

Jiang Huaizhen hadn’t expected her to be the county magistrate’s legal advisor. She lowered her head and said, “Hello, Miss Li.”

Generally speaking, the main official of a county yamen was the county magistrate, and the deputy officials included the county magistrate’s assistant, the chief clerk, and the county magistrate’s deputy. But now, with the reduction of government agencies, many counties only had the county magistrate as the only official, and the rest were clerks.

Because the number of administrative officials was limited, and it was difficult to cope with such complicated work, the county magistrate needed to hire relevant advisors to assist the officials in handling various affairs and to improve the efficiency of local governance.

This was also the function of the so-called criminal and financial advisors of later generations.

The advisors were hired by the county magistrate personally to assist him in handling government affairs and were only the county magistrate’s envoys. But because the county magistrate had given them their status, the other officials had to show them some respect when they met her.

As for the clerks and yamen runners, there was even less to say.

In the current yamen system, which was dominated by men, for a woman to have reached this step, she must have had absolute real ability.

Jiang Huaizhen also felt a sense of admiration in her heart.

Li Changyu nodded. “I saw you on the stage when Pei Na was executed that day.”

Jiang Huaizhen replied, “The job of an executioner is crude. I hope I did not disturb you, miss.”

“Not at all. Your technique was neat. It’s just that it was too easy for Pei Na.”

Jiang Huaizhen was not familiar with her and did not want to talk to her much. But thinking of Lin Mancang’s case, since this person before her was the Chief Examiner, it would inevitably pass through her hands.

“If I have a case to report, can I find you, miss?”

“You can just submit a complaint according to the rules,” Li Changyu interrupted. “The doorman will register it, the Punishment Department will number it, and the signing room will approve it. It will naturally come to my hands.”

“Thank you for your guidance,” Jiang Huaizhen lowered her head and thanked her, then took her leave.

Li Changyu looked at Jiang Huaizhen’s retreating figure and said to the petty official beside her, “Go to the Household Department.”

Hearing this, the petty official quickly led the way.

Sun Kang’s door was facing the main door. Seeing the moon-white figure appear, he quickly lowered his head. After the group had passed, he turned to the side and pressed his ear against the wall to listen.

Only then did he hear the new Chief Examiner‘s cold voice, “Get the household registration files of Lin Mancang and Lin Shuang from Whitewater Village.”

His heart suddenly jumped.

Seeing that the few people were about to come out, he pretended to go out of his room.

When he saw Li Changyu, he quickly cupped his hands and called out, “Miss Li.”

The criminal advisor was not a court official, but as the county magistrate’s advisor, she had a great deal of control over the work of the various posts in the yamen. Especially since Li Changyu had a special status and was also the county magistrate’s own younger sister, the officials of the yamen all had to give her some face. For a low-level petty official like Sun Kang, he was even more respectful to her.

Li Changyu glanced at him and nodded.

Sun Kang said with a fawning expression, “Is Miss Li also here to check the household registration information of the Lin uncle and niece? What have these two done? Magistrate He also came to check once a few days ago.”

Hearing this, Li Changyu was quite surprised and turned her head again to look at him, but she did not answer and then brushed past him.

Sun Kang looked at her retreating figure, rubbed his nose, and then slowly returned to his room.

After Jiang Huaizhen returned, she told Lin Shuang about Li Changyu. Lin Shuang had no memory of this woman who had suddenly appeared.

But since the new county magistrate had taken office, the matter of Lin Mancang had to be settled immediately.

So she took out the brush and ink that had not been used for a long time at home and began to write a complaint.

Neither of them was very learned. Jiang Gui had sent Jiang Huaizhen to school for a few years when she was little, but she had absolutely no experience in writing. And Lin Shuang had learned a few characters with Qin Qingsheng and Qin Wan’er. What she was most familiar with was just the names of medicinal herbs, and she could barely recognize the others.

The two of them stumbled through writing a complaint, which could barely explain the situation.

Lin Shuang said, “Take it to the village chief and have him help to revise it.”

The matter of Lin Mancang concerned the reputation of the entire Whitewater Village. The village chief was also very anxious. Seeing them come with a complaint, he quickly helped to polish it, and it was quickly finalized.

Seeing that it was still early, Jiang Huaizhen took Lin Shuang to the city again and, before the yamen closed, she submitted the complaint to the receiving room.

After the complaint was submitted to the receiving room, it was not dealt with immediately. It had to be checked and registered by the clerk on duty before being sent to the Punishment Department. The official in charge of the Punishment Department would screen it and submit it to the county magistrate, who would use a red brush to approve, reject, or put it on hold.

Only after the county magistrate’s red approval would it be sent to the criminal advisor.

Lin Shuang knew that she couldn’t be anxious and comforted the few people at home, waiting patiently.

After Lin Mancang’s silver was stolen, his daughter had also run away, and he was so devastated that he was in a slump. He stayed at home, drinking his sorrows away, and didn’t go out, which saved a lot of trouble.

These few days, after she had submitted the complaint, Lin Shuang was not idle either. The five mu of medicine field were waiting to be planted, and her days were very full.

Half a mu of the medicine seedlings she had brought back from Yinzhou had been planted, and a few days had passed. Jiang Huaizhen had taken good care of them. The tender green tips were covered with dew, and they looked very pleasing.

For the remaining land, Lin Shuang planned to plant one or two mu a day, and it would be finished in a few days.

Planting medicine was no different from planting crops. It was just digging holes, fertilizing, planting seeds, and covering with soil.

The family had chickens, horses, pigs, and rabbits, so there was no shortage of fertilizer. Jiang Huaizhen would clean the rabbit hutch every day and could collect half a basket of rabbit manure. Not to mention the fertilizer pit by the pigsty, which had been composting for half a year, with fallen leaves, straw, and weeds mixed with livestock manure. Now it was dark and oily, and the fertility was at its peak.

Lin Shuang was in charge of digging the holes, Jiang Huaizhen would carry the fertilizer and apply it, Ping’er would help to sprinkle the seeds, and the old woman would follow behind with a hoe to bury the soil.

Matron Yan had been coming to help these few days.

She was looking forward to being able to plant medicine with them next year. She thought that if she followed Lin Shuang and the others this time, and if there was anything to pay attention to, she wouldn’t need much teaching next year and could operate on her own.

…

It had been two days since Ma Guihua had left the Lin family.

Lin Mancang was lying on the bed, smelling of alcohol, and his stomach was rumbling. He had no choice but to get up and make food.

There was still some rice at home, but no meat.

The shouts of Butcher Zhang from outside were getting closer and closer. “Fresh suet—”

The long-drawn-out tail note made his intestines twist.

If Ma Guihua were still here, although she would curse, she would at least give him a few copper coins to buy a catty of offal, and the whole family could have a good meal.

Now, there was not a single copper coin in his pocket. He couldn’t even think about meat.

The chickens and pigs in the courtyard had not been fed for two whole days. The old sow was so hungry she was ramming the fence, making the bamboo strips clatter.

It wasn’t that he didn’t know how, but he had just lost so much silver and had lost his motivation. He couldn’t get up the energy to do anything. He had originally planned to do some work, but in the end, he just collapsed on the threshold of the kitchen, not wanting to move.

Just after noon, a “Brother Lin” came in, and a man who looked like he had tuberculosis limped in, rubbing his hands. “I haven’t eaten yet…”

Lin Mancang glanced at him weakly. “If you still have a conscience, you can cook me some food. I’m so hungry I can’t even move now.”

Wasong chuckled. “What’s so difficult about that? I’ll cook for you.”

With that, he really went to get a pot and put in some rice.

After the fire was lit, he went to the chicken coop and caught a large rooster that was clucking from hunger, and slit its throat with a knife.

Seeing this, Lin Mancang was so angry he quickly got up from the recliner and cursed, “Who told you to kill my chicken?”

Wasong said, “Look at you. You’re not feeding the chickens, and you’re just waiting for them to starve to death. It’s better to use them to fill our stomachs.”

Lin Mancang was about to say something, but Wasong persuaded, “The silver is gone, so it’s gone. We can just get more. And you’ve finally divorced that yellow-faced woman. Shouldn’t you be going to your good niece to get close to her now?”

Lin Mancang thought of Lin Shuang’s sarcastic expression two days ago and lowered his eyelids. “You saw it that day. She doesn’t seem to want to talk to me…”

“This ungrateful wretch. But at least you’re her uncle. How can you let her lead you by the nose?”

“Then what can I do?”

“That’s not easy? Her parents died when she was three. Weren’t you the one who raised her? No matter what, she’s a descendant of the Lin family. Now that she’s rich, does she not even recognize her own blood? If this gets out, it will also damage the reputation she has worked so hard to build. The bad things in the past were all Ma’s idea. What does it have to do with you? Then you can just lie at her door, and the villagers will inevitably say that she’s ungrateful. She can’t just ignore you, can she?”

“Once she doesn’t reject you, then you’ll be the rightful uncle of the ‘flood relief hero.’ If you take her out for a walk, everyone will have to give you face. At that time, if you want to do anything, or ask for anything, won’t it be easy?”

Hearing this, Lin Mancang felt that it made more and more sense.

“Then let’s go and find her now!”

“What are you in a hurry for, old brother? You have to fill your stomach first. You can only have the strength to do things when you’re full, right?”

Only then did Lin Mancang feel that his stomach was rumbling. He instantly collapsed again, like a deflated ball, and sat back down, waiting for Wasong to serve him with his lame leg.

After the two of them had eaten their fill, they changed into a clean set of clothes, caught a few more chickens, and then strode toward the residence of a few of the Lin clan’s elders.

At that time, Lin Shuang and Jiang Huaizhen were busy in the fields.

“Auntie—” Ping’er’s crisp shout suddenly came from the ridge of the field. “A lot of people are coming to our house!”

Lin Shuang straightened up and looked toward the entrance of the valley. She saw the Lin clan’s patriarch and a few clan elders walking in front, with a bumpkin-like Lin Mancang next to them. Her heart instantly skipped a beat, and she turned and shouted, “Huaizhen—”

Jiang Huaizhen had also seen the group of people, her brow furrowed, and her eyes became sharp.

“Ping’er, take the small path and go and call Grandpa Village Chief.”

Seeing her serious face, Ping’er quickly agreed and ran toward the small path.

“Don’t be afraid. They can’t win an argument with us. Even if they really want to take someone by force, they’ll have to ask me first!”

Lin Shuang’s heart calmed down a little. Looking at her protective appearance, she couldn’t help but snort lightly. “In this world, you’re my only family. You dare not to protect me?”

Hearing this, Jiang Huaizhen’s hand, which was holding the carrying pole, tightened.

Lin Mancang saw Lin Shuang standing on the ridge of the field from a distance, and his eyes lit up. He immediately put on a heartbroken expression and rushed forward in three steps. Before he could speak, his eyes were already red.

“Shuang’er—Uncle is sorry for you!”

Lin Shuang looked at him coldly, not even bothering to lift her eyelids, and just said faintly, “What’s this? You’re working harder than the opera troupe in the city.”

Seeing this, the Lin clan’s patriarch stomped his cane heavily on the ground and shouted sternly, “Lin Shuang! Do you have no respect for your ancestors’ laws?”

Seeing the clan patriarch speak, Lin Mancang immediately took the opportunity to climb up, beating his chest and stomping his feet. “It’s all my fault for being foolish and listening to that venomous woman Ma’s slander, which made you suffer… But in the end, we are a family!”

Wasong, who was on the side, chimed in, “That’s right, Shuang’er. Your uncle has even divorced Ma for you. His few children are also ignoring him because of this and have all run away. You’re his only family left. If you don’t go home with him, how can he live? What will happen to this family?”

“Is that so?” Lin Shuang said with a half-smile. “When we went to the yamen to handle the household registration, it was uncle who went personally. Your handprint is also on the household registration document. Do you want me to go and get it for everyone to see?”

Hearing this, the clan patriarch’s face changed slightly, but he quickly put on a stern face again. “Let the past be the past! Now that your uncle has already divorced that culprit, you should return to your own family. Do you really want to be a rootless and wandering lonely ghost?”

As soon as his voice fell, a sneer came from the side. “She is now a member of my Jiang family. How can she be rootless and wandering?”

“Nonsense!” Lin Mancang jumped up and cursed. “Her surname is Lin! She is of the Lin family’s blood! Your Jiang family just spent a few taels of silver, and you want to take over my Lin family’s person? No way—”

The two sides were arguing endlessly, and soon, a crowd of onlookers had gathered.

Seeing that a fight was about to break out, a loud shout suddenly exploded from behind the crowd.

“Lin Mancang!”

The crowd parted like a tide. The village chief walked in front with an ashen face, and behind him were a few red-clothed constables.

The head constable at the head had a saber at his waist, which was clanking. The iron chain in his hand rattled. “Someone has reported you for impersonating the relative of a flood relief hero and defrauding the disaster victims of their money!”

Everyone was shocked to hear this.

“What!” The clan patriarch even stumbled back, his cane falling to the ground with a “clatter.”

The few clan elders were instantly flustered. “Mancang! What, what’s going on?”

How could Lin Mancang have expected this scene? He was already so scared when he saw the officials that his head was buzzing, and he couldn’t hear what they were saying. His legs went weak, and he knelt on the ground, shouting at the top of his lungs, “I’m innocent! I didn’t do anything…”

Before he could finish, the two constables behind Lu Qing had already quickly stepped forward and held him up, one on each side. Seeing this, Wasong ducked and was about to squeeze into the crowd, but was grabbed by the back of his collar by Lu Qing and pulled back like a little chicken.

“This… what’s going on?” The Lin clan’s patriarch’s hand, which was holding the cane, was trembling, afraid of being implicated.

Lu Qing looked around at everyone and said loudly, “During the flood, twenty strong men of Whitewater Village risked their lives to save people, but this Lin Mancang used Lin Shuang’s name to ask for thank-you gifts from the disaster victims! Miss Lin reported this to the yamen three days ago, and the county magistrate was furious and ordered me to investigate thoroughly. Today, the evidence is conclusive, and we are here to arrest him!”

“What?”

The crowd instantly exploded.

Especially the few young men who had participated in the rescue, when they heard this, they were so angry that they rushed toward Lin Mancang.

“I worked so hard to save people, and I didn’t sleep for three days and three nights. My two feet were soaked until they were rotten. What were you doing then? You were at home, sleeping with a full stomach. And afterward, you came to help us collect the thank-you gifts. Are you even human, you bastard!” With that, he threw two heavy punches.

Lin Mancang was held and couldn’t move. He took the two blows and winced in pain.

Lu Qing quickly stopped him. “Everyone, calm down. This person still has to be interrogated!”

“Pah! What’s there to interrogate about this black-hearted and rotten-lunged thing? Just chop him up.”

“How could he earn such black-hearted money?”

“No wonder he was in such a hurry to divorce his wife and recognize his relative. It turns out it was to openly make money!”

“How can there be such a shameless person in the world!”

The curses rose and fell.

Seeing that the person had been taken down, Lu Qing turned to Lin Shuang. “We’ll take him back first. If we need your cooperation in the investigation later, someone will come and ask you.”

Lin Shuang quickly stepped forward. “Head Constable Lu, wait a moment. The thank-you gifts that Lin Mancang received from the disaster victims, I accidentally found them the night before yesterday and secretly dug them out. I’ll give them to you now. Please return them to the disaster victims.”

Jiang Huaizhen had already walked home at this time to get the jar.

“It was you!” Lin Mancang’s eyes were about to pop out, and he struggled wildly. “My silver! It was you, you ungrateful wretch, who stole it!”

“Shut up,” Lin Shuang shouted sternly. “Open your dog eyes and see clearly! This is the hard-earned money of the disaster victims, not your Lin Mancang’s private property! Now we’re just asking the yamen to return it to its rightful owner.”

“—It’s my money—my money—” Lin Mancang shouted hoarsely.

Tie Niu, who was standing on the side, couldn’t hold it in any longer. While the constables were not paying attention, he threw another punch. “You animal!”

Lin Shuang watched as Jiang Huaizhen handed the jar to Lu Qing. “When we got the things, we just opened the lid to check. We didn’t count the specific amount. But I think he must have spent some. If we find out how much is missing when we count it, I’ll make it up.”

“What’s there to make up!” someone in the crowd shouted. “Why should you wipe his ass for him? Lin Mancang still has property and assets at home. However much he spent, let him sell his property to make it up. Shuang’er, you’re not a member of the Lin family anymore. Don’t get involved in this dirty stuff.”

The others also chimed in.

Lu Qing nodded. “Alright. I’ll take the things. As for how to deal with it, the county magistrate will decide.”

With that, he waved his hand, and a few constables escorted Lin Mancang and Wasong out of the crowd.