Chapter 148

Chapter 148: Good and Evil Are Repaid in the End

That day, Yu Zhi Yi had just arrived at the Ministry of Justice when an official from the Court of Judicial Review brought over a dossier.

She looked at the thin file, a bit unwilling: “I still have over a hundred case files I have not finished.”

With her skill, if she handled one a day, she could finish in half a year. But if cases kept cutting in line, it would never end.

The visitor was Constable Song, named Song Zhang. He had been among those who arrested Li Guang Zhu last night, so he already admired Yu Zhi Yi and had no more complaints. He smiled and explained: “Official Yu has misunderstood. This is not a new case. It is the dossier for the Lin Zhang County case.”

He went on, cheerful but serious: “In the past few days, we did a full investigation in Lin Zhang County. We found proof for many wrongful cases and cleared them one by one. We also learned the magistrate hid many crimes. Now the truth has come out, and the victims have received justice. Since you were the first to discover this, my lord wanted you to look it over before we seal it and archive it.”

Yu Zhi Yi showed she understood: “All right, I will take it to read and then send it back to you.”

The constable hurried to refuse extra trouble: “We would not dare make Official Yu run another trip. I will wait here.”

Yu Zhi Yi fell quiet: [With someone waiting, it is hard to slack off.]

She had planned to start on today’s pile, but now she could only read the Lin Zhang County dossier first.

Even though she had already figured out that the county magistrate was outrageous, her face still went cold when she saw the shocking details.

That magistrate had been in office for six years. He took bribes, squeezed the common people, and protected evil men again and again. In only six years, because he shielded criminals, over a hundred people died indirectly. Li Feng’s parents and wife were only two names among many. They were not even the worst. Some families were wiped out completely, and their property was stolen.

Now the real criminals had been caught, and the magistrate’s umbrella was about to be cut down. But the innocent people who had died would never return to life.

A mere county magistrate had hoarded hundreds of thousands of taels of dirty silver. All of it had now been turned over to the national treasury.

Yu Zhi Yi closed the dossier and finally understood her master’s words: [Hell is empty; devils walk among people.]

She returned the file.

Constable Song let out a breath of relief.

The Court of Judicial Review had sent the dossier back for two reasons: to let Yu Zhi Yi know the follow-up, and more importantly, to have her check whether the Lin Zhang County magistrate had hidden anything else or if anything was missed. Since Yu Zhi Yi said nothing, it meant there were no omissions. Now they could finally go arrest the fish that had slipped the net.

On the outskirts of the city, at Yu Manor, Yu Ning Gui came home from school, and a servant rushed up to greet him: “Fourth young master, you are back?”

The steward, Yu Jian Ren, was very eager. His father had been the previous steward. During the Yu Clan’s corruption scandal, the father had stepped forward to take the blame for the patriarch. Because of this, even though people looked down on the steward’s family, the masters of the Yu Clan still treated them fairly. In fact, the eldest son, Yu Jian Ren, had been promoted as the new steward. The other servants did not understand it, but there was nothing they could do. The masters promoted whom they wanted. The rest could only watch and endure.

These days, Yu Ning Gui’s mood was poor. In truth, ever since his own father was demoted, his mood had stayed low. He was nineteen now and one of the only two in the family who studied. The other was Fifth Brother, Yu Zi Xuan. But Yu Zi Xuan did not like books. His grades were terrible. He was already seventeen and had only just become an examination candidate. A licentiate was still far away because he had always wanted to practice martial arts, not study.

As for the three older brothers, Third Brother Yu Ming Quan could not take the Imperial Examinations because of a leg problem. The other two had already become licentiates, which counted as a small honor, but for years they had not advanced any further. They had planned to try again in three years. Since their father had lost office, the clan needed another official if they wanted to rise again. But the two elder brothers gave the chance to Yu Ning Gui. They said the clan had too many needs right now. If they focused only on books, the family might fall apart before they passed. The two of them decided to steady the household, earn money to feed everyone, and rebuild their contacts.

So the burden of study fell on Yu Ning Gui alone. On one hand, it was too heavy, and he felt his young shoulders could barely hold it up. On the other hand, his situation at school had turned bad. Those who used to flatter him stopped right away when they learned his father was no longer a minister. They started picking on him wherever they could. His old enemies made trouble every day. If this went on, he would be lucky to keep his grades, let alone gain honor.

His foul mood eased a little when he saw Yu Jian Ren’s respectful smile. No matter what, the people in the manor still treated him as their master. And because Yu Jian Ren’s father had sacrificed himself to protect Yu Manor, the clan felt a bit of goodwill toward Yu Jian Ren too.

Yu Ning Gui’s tense face relaxed, and he nodded. Yu Jian Ren said sweetly: “Fourth young master has studied all day and must be tired. I already had the kitchen simmer bird’s nest for you. Please have some first, and dinner will be ready soon.”

Yu Ning Gui felt even more pleased: “You do have a good eye.”

He took out a silver ingot and handed it over: “This is your reward.”

Yu Jian Ren’s eyes lit up: “Thank you, Fourth young master!”

Just then, a sudden voice cried out: “Please, Fourth young master, stand up for a maidservant!”

Before Yu Ning Gui could react, a figure rushed forward, knelt, and grabbed the hem of his robe with both hands. He frowned in disgust and tugged to free himself: “Who are you?” The person looked soft and weak but had a strong grip. He could not pull free at once. Yu Jian Ren got angry at once and snarled: “Wretch, how dare you crash into the Fourth young master!” He kicked hard.

The maid could not take the blow. She screamed and fell backward, but her hands did not let go. She held on to Yu Ning Gui’s robe. Yu Ning Gui, caught off guard, stumbled and fell with her.

At the same time, as she counted the files she planned to handle that day, Yu Zhi Yi seemed to sense something. She turned her eyes toward Yu Manor and smiled knowingly: “Retribution always comes. If it has not come yet, the time is not here.”

She put down the dossier and walked toward Yiluan Charity: “Li Feng, do you want to go watch that ‘lordling’ meet his end?”