Chapter 20 Backstage (Additional Chapter, Vote Requested)

  "Stop!"

  Jiang Xia shouted loudly and walked up to those constables, saying: "I'll go with you."

  "Old Jiang!" Han Yu called out somewhat anxiously.

  Jiang Xia patted Han Yu's shoulder: "Han big brother, from now on just call me Jiang Xia or Jiang brothers, no need for the 'grandfather' stuff, we didn't have these formalities between us two brothers before."

  Han nodded emotionally and said in a low voice: "Brother Jiang, these people are obviously here for you, they don't come with good intentions."

  Jiang Xia replied in a low voice, "It's okay, I probably guessed who instructed them to come. Auntie Kang went out to buy cosmetics, you immediately send someone to inform her, she will think of a way to save me."

  "Good." Han nodded and said: "Then, Brother Jiang, you be careful with everything."

  "Hmm." Jiang Xia responded with a sound and then raised his head to those officials and said: "Alright, let's go."

  The official who spoke earlier smiled and said, "Exactly, if you had understood this earlier, there wouldn't have been so much trouble."

  Han Yu stared at the man coldly and said, "Listen up, kid. In my life, I, Han Yu, have only truly acknowledged a few brothers, and Jiang is one of them. If anything happens to Brother Jiang after entering your yamen, I, Han Yu, will be left alone with no family. Even if it means risking my own life, I will help him get justice."

  Han's words were loud and clear, the officer didn't dare to argue back, but he also didn't want to lose face in front of so many people. He stammered: "I... I'm just doing my job, how dare you yell at me like that? If you're so capable, go yell at our superior instead!"

  "Your family's elder should be Li Qianshun, the big brother of Lee Mama from Chunyilou?" Jiang Xia suddenly said, and immediately hit the nail on the head as to who was behind sending these several yamen runners.

  The official subconsciously said, "So what?" As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he felt that something was wrong. Wasn't this admitting that Li Qianshou had been seeking revenge and letting him take a few men to bring him back to the yamen for punishment?

  Jiang Xia smiled slightly and turned to look at Han Yu, who nodded. Jiang Xia also nodded and then said, "Alright, let's go."

  One of the bailiffs took out handcuffs and shackles, preparing to put them on Jiang Xia. Jiang Xia glanced at him lightly and said, "What? Are you trying to provoke me to death?" After finishing speaking, Jiang Xia's eyes narrowed slightly, and a cold light flashed from his eyes.

  The official was at a loss for what to do, and the previous speaker waved his hand and said: "Forget it, just take him back to the government office and hand him over to Lord Li."

  "Alright, let's go."

  Jiang Xia was secretly calculating in his heart as he followed this group of yamen runners. He had not been in the Ming dynasty for a long time and had rarely offended anyone, except for one person - Li Mama. And Li Mama happened to have an older brother who was the prefect of Shuntian Prefecture, so it wasn't hard to guess that this was Li Mama's revenge.

  Logically speaking, Li's mother had no deep grudges against herself, just a few mouthfuls of argument, and going to the government office would at most result in a few slaps. As long as Kang Qian could arrive on time to plead her case, those slaps would likely be waived too.

  Originally, Jiang Xia was unwilling to follow these yamen runners, but the situation just now, if this group of yamen runners retreated, would have given Li Qianshou a pretext. The brothel guards dared to hold knives and threaten the yamen runners, this crime is very serious.

  Jiang Xia didn't know that as soon as he walked out of the Qunfang Pavilion, the tofu vendor opposite the pavilion had already packed up his stall.

  The peddler ran all the way to the north of Dong'an Gate and arrived at the gate of the East Weaving Factory, which was also known as the East Factory. After showing his waist card to the two factory guards standing at the gate, the peddler ran into the East Factory.

  As Xiao Fan arrived at Dong Chang, Jiang Xia also came to Shun Tian Fu with that group of yamen runners.

  The Shuntian Prefecture government office is much larger than the average prefectural government office. The yamen who took Jiang Xia to the Shuntian Prefecture was not the main government office of Shuntian Prefecture, but a side government office where the governor handled official business, also known as the Governor's Office.

  As soon as they entered the yamen, the attitude of several yamen runners changed, and one of them even pushed Jiang Xia's back heavily, saying: "Hurry up, the master is still waiting inside."

  "Some people are born with noble character, so no matter if they're rich or poor, they'll always be respected. Unfortunately, some people are born to only know how to bow their heads and flatter others, and even though they have the chance to be a good person, they'd rather be a dog. This kind of person, even with wealth and riches, can't stand up straight as a human being."

  The county magistrate's face turned red with rage as he shouted, "What do you mean by that? Do you believe I won't immediately have you flogged three hundred times?"

  "I don't believe it." Jiang Xia said with a serious face: "If you don't hit me three hundred times, you are my grandson."

  "You!" The officer was suddenly speechless.

  Three hundred heavy slaps, that would have been enough to beat someone to death. Not to mention it was him himself, even Li Qianshun sitting in the hall today wouldn't dare do such a thing. The death penalty in the Ming Dynasty was a relatively serious punishment, requiring review by the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court and the Censorate before submitting the list for the Emperor's approval. Only after the Emperor drew a circle with red ink on the name could the prisoner be executed after autumn.

  A small official, where can he be qualified to hit Jiang Xia's three hundred big slaps, so Jiang Xia directly topped him with nothing to say.

  In terms of eloquence, this group of people are no match for Jiang Xia. Another official hastily advised: "Alright, what's the point of arguing with him? Anyway, Master won't let him off easy later on. Hurry up and bring him in, Master is waiting."

  "Hmph! Let's see how you die in a moment." The constable said with hatred.

  Jiang Xia couldn't help but add another sentence: "If I don't die in a little while, you will be my grandson."

  "Can't you say it in another way?"

  "Alright, in a little while, if I don't die, you will be my great-grandson."

  Pfft! The official suddenly felt like he was about to spit blood from anger.

  Under the leadership of Ya Cha, Jiang Xia walked into the main hall. In front of the main hall sat a middle-aged man with a big belly and a greasy face, wearing a black hat, a round-collared shirt, and a belt around his waist. According to the official uniform design of the Ming Dynasty, an eighth-rank official should wear a green robe with a circular emblem on the chest, which should feature a yellow oriole or a rhinoceros. The man's attire matched these characteristics perfectly, so it must be Li Qianshun without a doubt.

  Li Qianshun sat upright in the main hall, with a scribe sitting below him on his left side to record the proceedings. On both sides of the hall stood seven yamen runners. The runners held batons with one half painted red and the other half black. Red represented fire and black represented water, symbolizing impartiality.

  As soon as Jiang Xia entered, the two bailiffs immediately began shouting "Wei Wu". After finishing their shout, Li Qian Shun picked up the wooden mallet and slammed it down forcefully, "You scoundrels in front of the court, why don't you kneel when you see this official?"

  Jiang Xia looked up at Li Qianshun, smiled slightly and bowed with his hands clasped together: "Sir, I have something I don't understand. As a law-abiding citizen who has always been obedient to the law, why do you want to bring me in for questioning? Have I committed some kind of crime against the king's law?"

  "You may not have committed any crime, but since you didn't kneel when you saw the master in the public hall, the master can accuse you of being rude to a superior and disturbing the court. Guards, take him away and give him five lashes first."

  After finishing, Li Qianshun directly took out a penal sign from the signing tube and threw it on the ground. That one sign represents fifty big boards. According to Li Qianshun's power, he can beat people at most fifty big boards, so there are only ten penal signs about flogging in the signing tube.

  A yamen runner picked up the warrant from the ground and then waved his hand, saying: "Bring him in, take him away."

  Jiang Xia did not expect Li Qianshun to start beating him without even asking any questions. He had originally wanted to wait for Kang Qingyan to come and mediate, but now it seemed that he would have to endure some physical suffering himself.

  It is said that the water fire club has an iron plate at its bottom end, and one stick can make a person unable to get out of bed for two or three months. With these five big boards coming down, I'm afraid some people in Jiangxia won't be able to withstand it.

  Jiang Xia was about to make another excuse when someone suddenly shouted: "Halt!"

  Then four men walked into the hall, all wearing crimson cross-collared straight-robed robes with black belts around their waists. On the right side of the belt hung a uniform narrow long knife, and on the left side hung a waist plate.

  After the four men entered the hall, they didn't even give Jiang Xia a proper look, but instead rushed straight to Li Qian Shun. Li Qian Shun on the stage looked obviously frightened when he saw the four men. The four men walked up to Li Qian Shun and one of them took out a token from his pocket and waved it in front of Li Qian Shun's face.

  Li Qianshun immediately stood up from behind the bookcase and walked out to face the four people, bowing and saying: "Greetings, Your Honor."

  The four of them nodded and then turned to Jiang Xia and said: "You can go now, go ahead."

  Jiang Xia was stunned for a moment, and it was naturally good that he didn't get hit. So he turned around and left. But after taking only two steps, Jiang Xia felt that something wasn't right. These four people had arrived too coincidentally, and as soon as they opened their mouths, they stopped the yamen runner from hitting him. It was very likely that these four people were here for him.

  If they didn't come for themselves but only to find Li Qianshou with something, then they could have just let the yamen officers take action against them, why stop them?

  Jiang Xia made up his mind to probe a bit, so he turned around and said: "Wait a minute, is this matter going to be settled like this? I have always been law-abiding and obedient, but this official suddenly had me arrested without any reason, and even wanted to beat and kill me. My fragile heart has suffered serious damage, and my firm faith in the Ming dynasty's laws has also been shaken. Therefore, this matter cannot be settled so easily. At least this official must give me an explanation."

  "What method?"

  The four people who had just entered the hall were slightly stunned, all of them wearing the uniform of the Eastern Depot guards. Recently, the entire Eastern Depot had received an order from their leader Liu Jin, instructing everyone to do their utmost to protect the safety of Jiang Xia, the owner of Qunfang Pavilion in Shuntian Prefecture.

  Those who can make the factory owner personally order protection are naturally not ordinary people, so these four people don't dare to slack off. Now hearing that Jiang Xia wants to ask for an explanation.

  After the four of them were stunned, one of the guards suddenly slapped Li Qianshou in the face and shouted loudly: "You have insulted the great Ming law, and you still haven't prepared to give an explanation for taking revenge on behalf of others?"

  This slap went down, and Jiang Xia was immediately stunned.

  PS: Brothers, let's update another chapter first, seeking red tickets and collections... New book rankings, can we explode all the way to the top?