Ita Era

Chapter 143 First Deduction

The last 8 hours of the preparation period.

Looking at the unconscious Ding Shi, Yu Yuan asked, "Doctor? How is he?"

The doctor said, "Lord Clerk is in good health, he just needs to rest." After saying that, Doctor BUG left the courtyard.

Yu Yuan picked up the walkie-talkie: "Meeting, immediately."

Ten minutes later, the six people gathered in the conference room, none of them looking well.

Yu Yuan said, "Ding Shi's handling of this case is inconsistent with the laws of the Great Xia Dynasty and with feudal culture. It's basically certain that this line of work has collapsed. Everyone, please share your thoughts."

Wang Meng, whose face was covered in soot from the fire, said, "The bad guys saw through my plan. The granary in the East District was burned down, and less than 10% of the grain was salvaged."

Hua Shan: "The second assassination attempt on the princess failed."

The woman in red said, "I think..." but hesitated.

Everyone looked at the woman in red, who scanned them and said, "I think there's a traitor among us."

As soon as he finished speaking, the crowd erupted in uproar. Wang Meng then said, "I support the woman in red, and I also believe there is a traitor among us."

Su Su raised her hand and said, "My new question has been stolen again."

Yu Yuan asked, "How did you know it was stolen?"

Su Su replied, "Following Ding Shi's method, we used a black sesame seed and a hair as markers. The first time it was stolen, both were moved. The second time it was stolen, the black sesame seed was moved. Therefore, I agree with Hong Yi and Wang Meng's view that there is a traitor among us."

Ding Shi fell into a coma, and the three supported the theory of an internal traitor, while Yu Yuan, Chu Yu, and Hua Shan remained silent.

Hua Shan suddenly stood up and walked towards her courtyard, and everyone followed. Hua Shan entered the inner room, opened a box containing the modern items they had brought into the instance, including a drone, a bag of crossbow bolts, and several other items.

Hua Shan walked out of the inner room, went to the outer room, grabbed the servant by the collar, and asked, "Where is the walkie-talkie?"

The servant asked in alarm, "Sir, what walkie-talkie?"

Yu Yuan asked, "What's wrong?"

Hua Shan said, "The walkie-talkies come in pairs. I took four pairs. There are seven of us. I locked the remaining walkie-talkie in the cabinet. My request to him is that he watch the yard for me and not let anyone into the room."

Good news: No traitor. Bad news: Carelessness led to the loss of Jingzhou, resulting in a complete collapse.

Chu Yu looked at the servant and asked, "Is your master a princess, a minister, or someone else? If you don't answer, I'll chop off your fingers one by one."

Yu Yuan also understood why they encountered assassins on the first night: it was because they had devised a plan to eliminate the local bandits on the very first day. However, the execution was disastrous. The princess was not dead, the bandits suddenly disappeared, the city guards' provisions were burned, and the county examination papers were repeatedly leaked.

The servant replied, "It is the princess."

The servant's second sentence drove everyone crazy: "The servants and maids in the county government office are all people arranged by the princess."

The servant's third sentence, representing the system, explained everyone's confusion: "They are not registered individuals."

Everyone understood that after they entered the instance, the county government left behind a group of yamen runners and assistants, such as the yamen runners in the criminal justice department and the head constables Zhang San and Li Si, as well as NPC clerks. These people were all registered and trustworthy, and could provide some assistance to the players.

There were no registers or records of the stewards, servants, or maids, nor were there any contracts of servitude for them. Everyone has been too busy these past few days to notice such a glaring loophole. The problem lies in not paying attention to feudal culture and the system of slavery.

In the first round, everything collapsed, and the spark was utterly defeated!
Su Su comforted everyone, "We've given them too little time; we simply can't fight against the local bullies."

Yu Yuan said, "We shouldn't break ties with the local bullies in the first round."

Chu Yu: "That's the situation. We need to resolve the current crisis."

Yu Yuan asked, "How do we solve this?"

Chu Yu: "Where there's life, there's hope."

Yu Yuan: "What do you mean?"

Chu Yu: "I surrender, I surrender to the princess."

Yu Yuan: "Let's not even talk about whether she'll agree. After surrendering, we'll essentially be joining the Third Prince's camp. If my guess is correct, if things continue this way, we'll be involved in the succession struggle." What is the succession struggle? It's a game where only one of the princes can survive, and their entire families are eliminated.

Chu Yu: "We have no choice. Losers have nowhere to go. At least for now, we can still rely on a certain power."

Yu Yuan: "Why should they accept our surrender?"

Wang Meng replied, "Because I found the bandits' headquarters. Although they escaped today, I still confirmed their location using drones. In my plan, I will lead the city guards to launch at least three raids on the bandits' headquarters, including one night attack. Assuming the first two attacks fail, my plan for the third attack is a fire attack, burning down the entire mountain range formed by the four mountains, along with the two villages. If the bandits are the princess's men, we still have leverage."

Barefoot people aren't afraid of those wearing shoes; Wang Meng's strategy was suicidal. For him, there was no choice: either the bandits perished, or he died.

Su Su said, "I am not so willing to go along with the princess and the others."

The woman in red replied, "Why is it 'colluding with the corrupt'? Perhaps the current emperor is incompetent, or perhaps the current crown prince is incompetent. To put it bluntly, without the princess's help, we definitely wouldn't have passed the first year's assessment. The game would be over. Not only would the flame be extinguished, but some of us would also lose the right to challenge the dungeon forever."

Yu Yuan glanced at everyone and, seeing that no one had any objections, said, "Wang Meng, pack your things. You, Chu Yu, and I are going to the Princess's residence."

Su Su asked, "It's past midnight, are you asleep?"

Yu Yuan said, "If the princess is willing to accept our surrender, she will definitely meet with us. If the princess is not willing, then we will rush back and change the plan. I will delete all the corvée labor and flood control plans and change them to the plan of breaching the dikes and flooding the mountains, so that Yong'an City and the princess's ambition will be buried together."

Su Su disagreed: "This could cause a lot of ordinary people to die."

Yu Yuan said, "This is a tactic to force the princess to make concessions. We'll need to talk to her to find out exactly how to use it. But if the princess doesn't give me a chance, I'll play the villain. If she doesn't give me a way out, then none of us will play this game."

This is a backup plan, and also a bargaining chip.

Yu Yuan said to the servant, "Tell your master that I will visit her in an hour." The servant had heard everything, whether he should or shouldn't have.

Seeing the servant agree and leave, Yu Yuan said, "You may still have a chance to live, but as the chieftain and the magistrate, if the surrender fails, I will surely die."

The woman in red said, "I think this instance might not have a death penalty unless you die within the instance." Yu Yuan said, "Your opinion is probably correct. The reason I said that surrendering and failing would mean certain death is because I might be sentenced to death in the evolution. Theoretically, you and I are not from the same system. If you put all the blame on me, at most you will be exiled or dismissed from office."

Yu Yuan looked at Su Su: "Su Su, you're right. You can't cheat. You'll lose your head if you cheat. You have to come up with new questions."

……

At 7:30 a.m., Ding woke up from his sleep, got out of bed and moved around. Apart from losing a shoulder, all his injuries had healed.

Pushing open the door to the inner room, I saw Su Su with dark circles under her eyes. Su Su's nerves visibly slowed down for a moment before she stood up and said, "It's a day off today. Evolution starts at 8 o'clock. Do you need to write a plan?"

Ding Shi: "No need, but I need to write a case closure report."

Su Su said, "Yu Yuan wrote it for you."

Ding Shi asked in surprise, "How is it written?"

Su Su said, "Just write that you negotiate with the Vice Minister, and he confirms that there will be no live sacrifice. You accompany Da Ya to send off Young Master Wang at four in the morning. Afterwards, take Da Ya back to the Zheng family. The case will then be closed."

Ding Shi said, "Isn't this nonsense?"

Su Su explained the concession plan, which was essentially surrendering to the princess. The princess's advisors suggested writing the case report in this way and contacted the royal family to take their statements.

Yu Yuan knocked on the door: "Awake? Have breakfast, evolution at eight o'clock."

Today is a day off, so you can order whatever you want to eat through the system. Ding Shi, who arrived last, ordered a hot pot with lobster and coconut crab, and everyone else followed suit.

As the hot pot broth boils and the countdown ends, the scene before us changes, unfolding from a God's-eye view with narration. Everyone feels as if they are part of it.

The first month of winter: Mountain bandits descended the mountain to plunder Kaihua Village. Based on the time and troop deployment calculations, a battle ensued between fifty city guards and twenty mountain bandits. The bandits fought and fled, abandoning all their looted goods before retreating back into the mountains. The city guards emerged victorious.

Second month of winter: A minor snow disaster occurred, resulting in the deaths of 5 villagers.

The third month of winter: Nothing happens.

Nothing happened during the first two months of spring.

In the third month, the county examination was held, with 250 candidates and 50 admitted.

In the first month of summer: cheating was found in several county-level examinations, prompting the Education Bureau to dispatch special personnel to investigate the cheating in each county. The investigation revealed no cheating in Yong'an County's examinations. Su Su, the Education Bureau official, was promoted one rank to the eighth grade and appointed as the Inspector of Education for Yongkang Circuit, responsible for supervising the examinations in Yongkang Circuit's prefectures and counties.

In the second month of summer: the city guards suddenly launched a siege against the mountain bandits, killing 80 and capturing 15 alive. Wang Meng was promoted one rank to the garrison general of Yongkang Road and became the general in charge of Yong'an Pass.

The third month of summer: Torrential rains caused widespread flooding. Calculations began regarding the funds and manpower needed for flood control. A total investment of 30,000 taels of silver and 5,000 corvée laborers was allocated. The flood control plan included widening and deepening the river channels and reinforcing the dikes. Funds were to be distributed equally. The result: 13 people went missing.

The first month of autumn: The floods reached their peak, Xiaolizhuang was submerged, and there was insufficient funding and manpower for relief efforts. Of the 3,200 people in Xiaolizhuang, 500 died. 1,000 people were trapped on the mountaintop. There was insufficient funding and manpower for relief efforts, and food could not be provided. The 1,000 people were trapped by the flood for 23 days and ultimately all died.

The dike at Dalizhuang breached. Fifty city guards were stationed there. It was determined that the city guards led the villagers to evacuate. 10% of the villagers died, and 30% of the property was lost.

Without any charitable contributions, the granaries were insufficient to set up soup kitchens. Local wealthy families built their own soup kitchens, severely damaging the county government's reputation. Magistrate Yu Yuan was impeached by the prefect of Yongkang Circuit. Compared to the surrounding counties, Yu Yuan had handled the situation best, ultimately being pardoned and instead fined a year's salary.

The second month of autumn: The floodwaters receded, but a plague broke out. Yu Yuan's plan involved burning corpses indiscriminately, combined with the use of quicklime for epidemic prevention, and the plague did not spread. Conflicts arose between Xiao Lizhuang and Da Lizhuang and the government over the burning of corpses; the villagers considered it a great disrespect and tried to stop it.

In this conflict, two yamen runners and two city guards died, and over a hundred others were injured. Yu Yuan was impeached again. Later, because only Yong'an County did not experience a spread of the plague, he was commended. Yu Yuan was promoted one rank, but his position remained unchanged. The registrar in red robes, Hua Shan the county magistrate, and Chu Yu the assistant prefect were each promoted half a rank.

Third month of autumn: The Commissioner of the Criminal Investigation Department inspects the prisons. The Clerk Ding Shi, suspected of abusing his power, is imprisoned and investigated for kidnapping.

Yu Yuan looked at Ding Shi: "What happened?"

Ding Shi replied, "I've changed it back. To tell the truth."

Yu Yuan: "Why?"

Ding Shi said, "I can collude with the princess, but I want to be controlled by her. There's also a small reason: I was influenced by Su Su. She told me that one can't always rely on petty cleverness, so I decided to be truly clever this time."

Everyone was speechless.

Abuse of power refers to the torture of Chen Ergou, because Chen Ergou was legally buying and selling his daughter. Suspected kidnapping refers to Ding Shi taking Daya away from the Wang family. However, many aspects of the deduction puzzled Ding Shi and the others.

The investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department found no armored soldiers as Ding Shi described. No armored soldiers existed in the Wang family compound. Ding Shi did not kill any armored soldiers. Witnesses Zhang San and Li Si did not see any armored soldiers; they testified that Ding Shi took Da Ya away from the Wang family compound.

The most important witness, Da Ya, testified that she saw Ding Shi appear on the cliff and ask him for help. Ding Shi was deceived by her, thinking that Da Ya would be sacrificed alive, so he took her away from the Wang family. They encountered no obstacles along the way.

The deduction continues: Ding Shi was imprisoned and handed over to the Yongkang Circuit Censorate and the Provincial Judicial Commissioner for joint trial.

Ding Shi was convicted of abuse of power and kidnapping, dismissed from his post, and exiled thousands of miles away.

Everyone sighed and tried to comfort Ding Shi. The woman in red punched Ding Shi on the head with her big fist to express her regret.

The deduction continues: Since Ding Shi was an official appointed by the imperial court, his case had to be reported to the Dali Temple for approval, similar to the Supreme Court reviewing death sentences. The Dali Temple rejected the case file, stating that Chen Ergou had concealed the fact that he had sold Daya, and that he had not come forward to clarify the matter after Zheng reported the case. Therefore, Ding Shi's punishment of Chen Ergou was reasonable.

The kidnapping is even more absurd. It was Da Ya who asked Ding Shi for help. As the local official, there was no reason for him to turn a blind eye.

The Court of Judicial Review believed that Ding Shi was a rare and excellent local official who was dedicated to his duties.

Ding Shi was released without charge and promoted two ranks to the seventh grade, becoming the deputy chief criminal investigator of the Yongkang Circuit. The Yongkang Circuit Criminal Investigation Department was responsible for criminal cases in the eleven counties of Yongkang Circuit. As the deputy chief criminal investigator, Ding Shi was temporarily in charge of criminal cases in Yong'an County, and had the authority to inquire about all criminal cases in Yongkang Circuit, as well as supervise local officials.

This result baffled not only Ding Shi, but everyone else. Regardless of whether the charges were valid, Ding Shi's actions violated the law and feudal traditions. Not only was he not punished, but he was promoted.

As for the armored soldiers, that's understandable; the Wang family would never let the court discover that they were raising armored cavalry. Theoretically, it's perfectly legal for the armored soldiers to heal their wounds on the farm, but if this were exposed, it would inevitably arouse suspicion from those in high positions. The laws of feudal society were meant to govern commoners. In the games of the powerful, the law was merely a tool.

The biggest flaw of the Fire Seed Camp was its failure to consider the context of feudal society. In feudal society, the highest authority is the emperor, followed by powerful families, gentry, landlords, and wealthy merchants. Newcomers, even if they don't pledge allegiance to the local tyrants, shouldn't display hostility. Their plan to eliminate the princess and seize her property after only a few hours in office is far too idealistic.

Official evaluation for the first round: Political achievements A, People's livelihood A, Finance B-, Disaster prevention A, Public security S, Reputation B+, Law S.

First round system evaluation: Political achievements B, People's livelihood D, Finance D, Disaster prevention B, Public security C, Reputation D, Law C.

(End of this chapter)