Xie Ming

Chapter 500: Exploring the Yamen and Looking Behind the Hall

Xiao Lang originally intended to break into the county government office, but he was blocked by a hundred gatekeepers who stepped in his way.

The situation changed. In a hurry, Yue Xiu used the Jinyiwei badge to scare the gatekeeper into submission.

Taking advantage of this, Xiao Jingchuan wanted to go to the yamen to inquire about the details and then find out the follow-up actions!

"Haha, just be sensible!"

"Then let me ask you, what happened in the yamen today that attracted so many officials here?!"

Xiao Jingchuan sent an envoy to interrogate him about the matter.

Upon hearing this, the gatekeeper's mind raced, and he stood in front of the man in shock.

To be honest, according to his original thought, he thought that Xiao Lang and his three Jinyiwei were sent on a mission specifically to the yamen.

But from what he heard now, it seemed that he didn't understand the situation inside.

Thinking about this at the moment, it is really puzzling.

But then again, after all, the Jinyiwei have a bad reputation. If you provoke them, you will be skinned alive if not killed!

So he was quite suspicious, but since it had nothing to do with him, why would he be willing to take a detour and find out more about it just because of his suspicion and cause trouble? !
It is often said that illness comes from the mouth and disaster comes from the mouth!

If that's the case, then it would be more troublesome for you!

So, the old gatekeeper, who felt that he had seen some of the world, did not have time to think about it and immediately told the truth.

No matter what these people are after, they have nothing to do with me, so I should get rid of them first!

"Uh"

"Yes Yes!"

"Master Shangguan, all of these people are here for Ma Tangzun's case!" The doorman tiptoed and answered respectfully.

But at this moment, seeing Xiao Lang in front of him with a frown on his face and not saying anything, the atmosphere became even more solemn.

The doorman's calves began to tremble again, fearing that he had not explained it clearly, so he hurriedly added more words.

"Oh, come on, come on!"

"I dare not hide anything!"

"This matter has to start from five days ago."

"Five days ago, Ma Weimin, the grain director of our county's grain transport office, got into trouble because of his duty of transporting grain to the north!"

"They say, well, that during his tenure, he embezzled money and withheld military supplies."

"Once this matter gets out of hand, coupled with the current situation, he, a fifth-rank official, will be in trouble. He will be thrown into prison, and..."

"Even our county magistrate was caught in the same trap!"

"Just two days ago, our county magistrate was abducted by an imperial decree from the Ministry of Revenue!"

"To the public, I was told that I was returning to Beijing to report on my work, but in reality, well, it's hard to say!"

"Three years as a clean magistrate, 100,000 silver coins. Which official in our Ming Dynasty can stand up to the investigation?"

As soon as the words came out, the gatekeeper was shocked. He realized that he had spoken too much and made a mistake. Fearing that he would be implicated, he quickly swallowed the rest of his words.

"Young master, what do you think?" The doorman spoke in a timid manner, but his attitude was sincere.

After hearing this, Xiao Jingchuan was too lazy to pay attention to the words and didn't think about it in detail. He came back to ask again.

"Ah!"

"It turns out he is working for the people!"

"Hey, old man, these are in front of you." He turned his head and pointed at a few servants in front of the yamen.

"Who on earth are these officials who have arrived today?!"

"Do you know whether he was sent directly by the imperial court?!" Xiao Xing asked.

Upon hearing this, the gatekeeper responded quickly.

"Oh yes!"

"Hey, a few days ago when our county magistrate was still here, he said that the court was recently carrying out some kind of task of punishing corruption and maintaining integrity!" "These people were sent by the court to be in charge of this task, and they are inspecting the prefecture under this name!"

"Uh, what, what is the Inspectorate, the Ministry of Revenue, and... and the Ministry of War!"

"Oh, someone from the Inspectorate is here. His name is... What was his name?"

Half a hundred gatekeepers told the whole story.

At this point, Xiao Jingchuan seemed to have even more doubts in his heart.
But after all, it is not a good place to stay here for long. Since the inner room is currently interrogating a case, it is not a good idea to keep delaying in front of the yamen.

Then Xiao Lang saw that the doorman had difficulty finishing his words, so he quickly raised his hand to stop him.

At the same time, he turned his head and stared at Changting with his eyes.

Gu Changting looked around with his eyes tilted. At the moment he was on duty for nearby defense. He caught a glimpse of the general calling him, so he quickly leaned closer and put his ear close to him.

Xiao Lang lowered his voice and spoke in a low voice.

"Changting, later on, Yuexiu and I will use this old man's tie to go into the government office first to do our business!"

"You don't have to come with me. Go and get all the brothers at the alley entrance, and surround the yamen for me!"

"Look, this group of people, no matter who they are, stay where they are for now, and no one is allowed to move without permission!"

"Prevent someone from running away privately and tipping off the matter, which would ruin our business!"

"Did you hear that?!" Xiao Zi whispered in his ear.

Upon hearing this, Changting nodded in agreement with a serious expression.

After finishing his work, he walked back to the alley with a vigilant look in his eyes.
"hehe!"

"Uncle, what's going on here? Where are you all gathered?"

"Let's go, take us two in quietly!"

"Let's talk about the details as we walk."

Xiao Jingchuan saw that Changting was walking away, so he turned around and said these few words to his fellow clerk in a low voice.

After that, the three of them did not stop in front of the gate. Led by the fifty-year-old man, the gate creaked open a crack, and the three of them filed in.
When he entered the inner court, he learned from the clerk at the gate that all the departments had come together to try the Ma Weimin case. As the matter involved the reputation of the court, all the officials wanted to try it in the third hall.

So, with the gatekeeper leading the way, Xiao and Yue walked quietly along the side corridor, passed through the clerk's residence, the corner door of the Chengfa Office, the legal advisor's room, the West Flower Hall, and then turned corners and sneaked behind the screen wall of the main hall.

When he entered the back door of the main hall, Xiao Jingchuan turned around and gestured to the gatekeeper to keep quiet in order to avoid being exposed in advance.

After finishing the work, the three of them walked carefully and explored the area behind the hall.

Separated by a screen wall, the officials in front seemed to have not yet gotten to the point, and were just chatting and talking about trivial matters.

Xiao and Yue, one on the left and one on the right, used their kung fu to peer slightly and steal a glance towards the front hall.

When they were talking back, Yue Xiu leaned close to Xiao Lang's ear and used the voice of the people talking in the front hall as a cover, so that the two of them could talk in secret.

"Yue Xiu, do you see clearly?"

"Do you know who they are?!" Xiao frowned and mentioned the most important thing first.

As the saying goes, if you know yourself and your enemy, you can fight a hundred battles with no danger of defeat.

This time, Xiao Jingchuan was sent out to Beijing on an official mission. The reason why he brought Yue Xiu with him was that he could rely on this kid to have a general understanding of the enemy's situation, identity, and background before taking action.

The mess in the officialdom has always been one in which you are part of me and I am part of you.

If you only look at what is in front of you and don’t understand what is happening behind you, nothing will be accomplished!

"Well, Duke, what the old man just said is true."

"The first person in the line on the left side of the hall is Lin Zhiwan, a doctor in the Ministry of Revenue. He is a man of the cabinet chief Qiu Weizhen!"

"The second one is Zeng Ji, a doctor in the Ministry of War. He can be considered a follower of Shi Kefa's school."

"The one on the right is Liao Gengshen, the new censor of the Inspectorate, who was recently promoted by Vice Minister Ni Yuanlu himself!"

"So, the person sitting behind the wall that we can't see should be the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Supervisory Office, Yuan Wenzhong, as the doorman mentioned!"

"He is"

Snapped!
Just as Yue Xiu was about to continue his report, the gavel in the front hall suddenly fell!
(End of this chapter)