Chapter 102: Summit Road Turn

As the plaintiff in this case, Gou Ye, though physically frail, still forced himself to rise, dressed in fine garments, and appeared before the yamen hall.

Seated on the high seat was Hai Rui, and below him sat the Duke of Jing. The yamen runners on both sides had been replaced by soldiers under Hai Rui’s command. The yamen gate was packed with a dense crowd. Hai Rui suddenly slammed the gavel and ordered, “Bring Qin Hai, magistrate of Zheng’an County, to the court!”

After speaking, Qin Hai was escorted from the rear hall and brought onto the platform. The once imposing Qin Hai no longer existed; his eyes now brimmed with furtive cowardice and terror.

“Who comes before this official?” Hai Rui asked sternly, staring until Qin Hai dared not raise his head.

“This humble one is Qin Hai, magistrate of Zheng’an County.”

Hearing the answer, Hai Rui continued in a low voice, “Qin Hai, do you recognize this official?”

“This one has seen Lord Hai Rui.” Qin Hai glanced up once, then quickly lowered his head again.

“Since you know me, do you know why this official has come today? Why have you been summoned here?”

Qin Hai thought for a moment, then looked up and said, “This one does not know.”

“This official’s subordinate Gou Ye of Zheng’an County has accused you of disregarding the law, wantonly killing the innocent, secretly concealing the imperial epidemic, and embezzling grain and fodder. This official has now verified it. Do you know your crime?”

Qin Hai immediately put on a pitiful look, shaking his head and crying out, “This official does not know! Lord Hai must be framing this official! Since this official assumed office, though no great achievements, certainly no wanton killing of innocents or disregard for the law. Much less could this official secretly hide the imperial epidemic!”

Hai Rui nodded and said, “Summon the witnesses!”

Then the woodcutter and Murong Bai stepped onto the platform. The woodcutter recounted what he had told Gou Ye that day, while Murong Bai slowly revealed the epidemic five years earlier. After they finished, an official stepped forward and reported the situation at the back of Heishui Village. Indeed, a deep pit had been dug there, filled with nearly a hundred charred bone skeletons.

At this, Qin Hai shouted in defense, “Lord Hai, this does not prove it was this official! When I took office, I had indeed heard of an epidemic in Heishui Village, but it happened before I arrived. Later I sent people to investigate and only found that many villagers were missing. For this I dispatched searches far and wide, never learning what had occurred in the village. From start to finish I knew nothing of such a great event in Heishui Village.” Qin Hai displayed an expression of astonishment, leaving the onlookers deeply impressed by his shamelessness. Even at this stage he still quibbled over right and wrong.

“Summon more witnesses!”

After these words, the next to appear were villagers from Heishui Village. They directly described the events five years prior. Indeed, a group of yamen runners with doctors had come to the village. When the epidemic worsened and the doctors could not treat it, in the dead of night the runners and a band of men began wanton slaughter. All isolated sick people and doctors were spared no mercy. Then the runners gathered the remaining more than twenty households, distributed silver to each, and coerced them not to spread the word, or they would be killed without mercy. Those who wished to report to the imperial court all met death, and no one dared accuse again. Heishui Village was never mentioned, and the matter was buried.

At this, Hai Rui said angrily, “Qin Hai, what explanation do you offer?”

Qin Hai suddenly knelt there, claiming innocence. “Lord Hai, this official is truly wronged! I truly know nothing of such matters! It was all the doing of my subordinates on their own, with no connection to this official!”

Hai Rui snorted coldly. “You won’t shed tears until you see the coffin! This official will summon your yamen runners!”

More than a dozen yamen runners came to the platform, kneeling before Hai Rui. He then slammed the gavel and said, “You are yamen runners of Zheng’an County. Do you know what happened in Heishui Village?” Before they could speak, the Heishui villagers began naming names, immediately pointing out five or six among the dozen.

What shocked everyone was when one runner suddenly rose and declared, “Reporting to the lord, this matter was done by us, but indeed we secretly concealed it from Qin Lord! At that time we were still following the previous magistrate Duan Ruifeng. It was Lord Duan who ordered us to massacre the village and also to bury the villagers. As for the others, they were hired by Lord Duan with money. We do not know who they were. Recently we heard that Prince Gou Ye is investigating this, so we went to the village to inquire. We feared exposure and secretly recruited a band of rural bandits to slaughter the villagers of Heishui Village. Unfortunately, when we arrived, the village already had defenders, leaving this remnant. All these matters were done by us privately and are indeed unrelated to Qin Lord.”

Qin Hai lowered his head and smiled faintly.

No one had expected the situation to turn so dramatically. With such a reversal, Magistrate Qin could at most be charged with mismanagement and dismissed. Everyone was astonished, especially as the noise outside the gate grew louder and angry voices rose without cease.

Hai Rui felt momentarily stuck and could only order the soldiers to lock the yamen runners in prison. Gou Ye, seeing this, showed none of the helplessness of others. He braced himself and looked at Qin Hai, saying, “Qin Lord, you truly have a way! You can make so many yamen runners willingly work for you! But do you think we prepared only these? Hah, then you greatly underestimate Gou Ye! Da Li, Gu Shen, my brother!”

“Here they come!” After saying this, Gu Shen and Da Li stepped onto the platform with several men.

“Who is below?” Hai Rui asked sternly.

“Reporting to the lord, this one is a villager from Tumon Village, Da Li.”

“This one is the son of the Duke of Jing, Gu Shen.”

Then Da Li said, “Lord, last winter a woman was raped and murdered by Qin County Magistrate and others in the Yingbin Pavilion. The one behind me is the father of this woman, and the one standing is the boss of the Yingbin Pavilion. They are all witnesses to Qin County’s crimes. Moreover, we have obtained a ledger of Qin County’s private sale of grain and fodder. Please, Lord, examine it.”

Saying this, Da Li took out the ledger. A soldier received it and passed it to Hai Rui. At this, Gu Shen said, “Lord, I also wish to accuse Qin Hai, Qin County Magistrate. The one behind me is the survivor who killed the villagers last night. He can prove that all this was ordered by Qin County Magistrate. At the same time I bring a list of the wrongful, false, and mistaken cases Qin County Magistrate has convicted over these years. This is the list.”

As Gu Shen presented the list, Qin County Magistrate collapsed onto the floor. This sudden reversal left him utterly devastated, and he was greatly astonished. How had Gou Ye found these people? The turn of events had completely altered the situation.