Chapter 971
Reconciliation
The government office was small, with gray walls and black tiles. Two bailiffs with iron rulers hanging from their waists stood at the entrance, watching the people coming and going with expressionless faces. Helian stood outside the door, his face ashen, accompanied only by one person. When he saw Zheng Yi arrive, he took a step forward, his lips moved, but he didn't say a word.
Zheng Yi knew that something that could render Helian speechless was no small matter.
"Is he inside?"
"Yes," Helian's voice seemed to be squeezed out of his throat. "Two younger ones. One is called Agu, and the other is called China. They're handcuffed inside."
"Did someone get hurt?"
Helian paused for a moment, then nodded.
Zheng Yi closed his eyes.
"Are you badly injured?"
“The other side used the stick first.” Helian gritted his teeth. “Agu snatched the stick, retaliated, and hit the other side on the arm.”
Who is the other party?
Before Helian could answer, the door to the government office opened from the inside. A man who looked like a clerk poked his head out and sized Zheng Yi up and down.
"Are you in charge?"
"Yes."
"Come in. Officer Chen is waiting."
Zheng Yi winked at Helian and Wu Chen—"You two wait outside, don't go in, don't cause trouble." Then he followed the clerk into the government office.
The government office was larger inside than it appeared from the outside. Passing through a short corridor, there was a rather dimly lit office room. Behind a long table sat a man in his thirties, dressed in a dark blue official uniform with an iron badge hanging from his waist. He had a square face and a broad forehead, and didn't look like an easy person to talk to.
This is Officer Chen.
Two people stood in front of the long table: Agu and China. Their hands were tied together with a thick hemp rope, and both had injuries on their faces. Agu had a swollen left cheek and bloodstains at the corner of his mouth; China had a bruise around his right eye, and the sleeve of his leather robe was torn in half, revealing his dark red arm underneath.
When the two saw Zheng Yi come in, their eyes lit up, then immediately dimmed, like children caught doing something wrong by their parents.
Zheng Yi glanced at them, said nothing, turned to Constable Chen, and bowed respectfully.
"My name is Zheng Yi. I will handle these two matters."
Officer Chen leaned back in his chair, twirling a bamboo skewer in his hand, and looked Zheng Yi up and down.
"You're from the North? You don't look like it."
"I'm kind of their... colleague."
Officer Chen grunted in acknowledgment, tossed the bamboo skewer onto the table, and sat up straight.
"Your men assaulted someone in the street. They assaulted Zhao Rong, the youngest son of the Zhao family, cloth merchants in the east of the city. Zhao Rong was hit on the arm, and it swelled up, so the matter came to us. We have witnesses and physical evidence; seven or eight people in the street saw your men do the beating. Do you admit it?"
Zheng Yi paused for a moment, then looked at Agu and China.
Agu lowered his head, not daring to look at him. China bit her lip until it bled.
“I acknowledge it,” Zheng Yi said.
Officer Chen seemed a little surprised and raised an eyebrow.
“If they admit it, things will be easier. According to the rules of Beining City, fighting and injuring someone will result in a fine for minor offenses and detention for serious offenses. The Zhao family wants you to pay fifty taels of silver in compensation, plus an apology in the street. I'll detain them for now, and they'll be released once the silver is paid and the apology is made.”
Fifty taels.
As soon as the number was announced, Agu suddenly raised his head, his eyes turning bloodshot.
"He started it first—"
"Shut up." Zheng Yi's voice wasn't loud, but it was firm.
Agu's mouth was open, his Adam's apple bobbed up and down, but he ultimately swallowed back what he was about to say.
Zheng Yi turned his head and looked at Constable Chen.
"Officer Chen, I'll pay the money. As for the apology, we'll handle it according to the rules."
Officer Chen nodded and was about to speak when Zheng Yi spoke up again.
"But may I ask you one question—did Officer Chen hear the whole story from beginning to end?"
The bamboo skewer in Officer Chen's hand paused for a moment.
"What do you mean?"
“I admit that my men hit people. But I want to know what that young master Zhao did that made two young men from the north, who were visiting the city for the first time and couldn’t even speak Mandarin fluently, choose to fight rather than be arrested.”
Officer Chen didn't speak, but glanced at Zheng Yi, then at Agu and Chi Na.
Chi Na's eyes reddened, and she bit her lip tightly, tears welling up in her eyes but refusing to fall.
Constable Chen put down the bamboo skewer in his hand and gestured with his chin toward the clerk beside him.
The clerk cleared his throat, opened the book on the table, and read a passage.
"According to witnesses on the street, Zhao Rong was having tea with his female relatives at a teahouse in Dongcheng when they encountered several northern barbarians. Zhao Rong made some inappropriate remarks to his female relatives. One of the northern barbarians stepped forward to argue with him, and Zhao Rong first slapped him, then ordered his followers to drive them away with sticks. During the altercation, one of the barbarians grabbed the stick and retaliated, striking Zhao Rong in the right arm."
The clerk paused here, glancing at Zheng Yi.
Zheng Yi remained silent, his face expressionless.
After a moment of silence, Officer Chen suddenly asked, "Whose family is that woman?"
The clerk turned a page in the book and said in a low voice, "It doesn't belong to anyone. The teahouse said that the woman was... brought back from the south by Zhao Rong, but her identity is unknown."
Officer Chen frowned slightly.
Having heard this, Zheng Yi had a general idea of what was going on.
Agu and Chi Na were from the Hanling tribe. This was their first time entering Beining City, having come with Helian. The two young men were inexperienced and everything they saw was new and exciting. They probably saw the woman near the teahouse—perhaps they only glanced at her, or perhaps they were attracted by her appearance or clothing, but in any case, there was no malice intended.
But Zhao Rong, a man of his caliber, couldn't bear to see two northern "barbarians" staring at his woman. He probably said some unpleasant things—"barbarian," "never seen a woman before," "wild dogs of the north," and so on. Although Agu and China didn't speak fluent Mandarin, they could still understand such things.
Agu, young and hot-blooded, stepped forward to argue. Zhao Rong felt it was a huge loss of face to be contradicted by a barbarian, so he struck first. Agu and China, having grown up in the north, couldn't possibly stand idly by after being attacked.
So the situation turned into "barbarians committing violence in the street".
Zheng Yi went over these words in his mind but didn't say them aloud.
Because he knew that in government offices, reasoning was less important than following the rules. The rule in Beining City was that it didn't matter who struck first; what mattered was who injured someone, how badly they were injured, and who the other party was.
The Zhao family are cloth merchants in the east of the city; they have a strong foundation and connections. Agu and China are barbarians from the north, and they have no foothold in the city.
On the surface, it seems like they've already suffered this loss.
But Zheng Yi had no intention of simply eating it.
He didn't cause a scene in the government office and obediently paid fifty taels of silver—this money was initially set aside from the proceeds of this transaction and would be deducted from the Hanling tribe's share later. When Agu heard the words "deducted from the Hanling tribe's share," his face turned pale instantly.
It hurts even more than being beaten.
The person hasn't been released yet. Officer Chen said that the person will be released after the Zhao family calms down and signs the withdrawal order.
When Zheng Yi came out of the government office, Helian and Wuchen came to greet him.
"How is it?" Helian's voice was very low, as if he was suppressing a volcano.
"The money has been paid. The person won't be released for now." Helian's hand clenched into a fist, his knuckles cracking.
"Let me make this clear to you first." Zheng Yi looked at him. "Agu and China were at fault in this matter. I'll say it to your face too—it was wrong of them to hit someone. I paid the fine and accepted the punishment because the act of hitting someone was indeed unreasonable."
Helian didn't loosen his fist, but he also didn't swing it.
“However,” Zheng Yi changed the subject, “hitting someone is wrong, but Zhao Rong’s mouth was much worse than the blow he received.”
Helian's eyes suddenly lit up.
Zheng Yi didn't say anything more and turned to walk towards He Liang.
"Steward He, do me a favor."
He Liang had been waiting outside, not daring to go in, but when he heard Zheng Yi call him, he quickly came over.
"Find out about Zhao Rong, especially his female companion. Find out as much as you can."
He Liang hesitated for a moment: "Young Master Zheng, what do you think..."
“I want him to know that it’s not only ‘hitting someone’ that’s illegal.” Zheng Yi’s voice wasn’t loud, but He Liang felt a chill run down his spine.
For the next day and night, Zheng Yi barely slept.
He didn't go to the Zhao family to argue, didn't ask anyone to plead for leniency, and didn't cause trouble at the government office. He did one thing—spread the news.
It's not about spreading rumors like "Zhao Rong bullies the northerners." That would be too direct and foolish, and would only make people think that the northerners are unreasonable and domineering.
He wrote a sentence: The youngest son of the Zhao family, a cloth merchant in the east of the city, spoke rudely to his female companion in the street and was taught a lesson by a few northern men who couldn't stand it.
The brilliance of this statement lies in the fact that it is not meant to be disrespectful to a female companion, but rather to one's own female companion.
The female companion was neither a wife nor a concubine; she had no official status. Zhao Rong spoke frivolously to her in public, which could be described as promiscuous at best, and immoral at worst.
Beining City is small, so this kind of news spreads faster than the wind.
The next morning, teahouses, taverns, freight yards, and docks were all buzzing with the news.
Some say that Zhao Rong got drunk and cursed his woman as a "slut" in the street, which even outsiders from the north couldn't stand.
Some people said that Zhao Rong's female companion was crying uncontrollably, and everyone present saw it. The Zhao family even countered by saying that the barbarians had started it.
Some people said that the injury on Zhao Rong's arm was nothing. He used a stick when he hit the other person, and when the other person took the stick away, he fought back. Anyone would have fought back.
Some of these "rumors" are true, some are half true and half false, and some were simply spread by He Liang.
He Liang had been in Beining City for over a decade. He didn't have any other great skills, but he was an excellent messenger.
He found a few people and "casually" brought up the matter at several key points. He didn't use any profanity, and he didn't say that he had seen it with his own eyes. Every sentence was "I heard about it," "I also heard it from someone else," and "I don't know if it's true or not, so please don't spread it."
The more this happens, the faster it spreads.
By noon the next day, the news had reached the ears of several elders in the Zhao family.
Zhao Rong's father, Zhao Wanshan, was an old cloth merchant in the east of the city. He had been in business for over twenty years and valued his reputation above all else. When he heard these rumors, he was checking the accounts in his shop and immediately slammed his abacus on the ground.
Where is that beast?
The waiter shrank back in fright: "Young Master... is recuperating at home."
"What kind of injury is this! My arm is a little swollen, what's there to heal!" Zhao Wanshan's face turned red with anger. "Tell him to get over here!"
When Zhao Rong was summoned by his father, he had no idea how the winds outside had blown.
He had a strip of cloth wrapped around his arm, and when he walked, he deliberately raised that arm to make it look like he was seriously injured.
When Zhao Wanshan saw him like this, he became even angrier.
"Take off that piece of cloth!"
Zhao Rong was stunned for a moment and didn't dare to move.
Zhao Wanshan walked over and ripped the strip of cloth off his arm. There was only a bruise on his arm; the skin wasn't even broken.
"Is this what you meant by 'severely injured by barbarians'?"
"Father, that barbarian is strong; my arm still hurts—"
"It hurts?" Zhao Wanshan slammed his hand on the table. "Do you know what people are saying about you now? They're saying you humiliated your own woman in the street, that you can't distinguish right from wrong, and that the barbarians were just standing up for justice! My Zhao family has been doing business in the east of the city for over twenty years, and today we're being talked about and cursed behind our backs!"
Zhao Rong's face turned pale.
He never expected things to turn out this way.
In his eyes, this was a trivial matter—he had taken a few followers, taught two ignorant barbarians a lesson, gotten a slap on the arm, reported it to the authorities, and was just waiting to pay compensation. He had done this kind of thing before and had never made a mistake.
But this time is different.
He used to bully the locals, who knew the Zhao family's background and tolerated it. But this time he was bullying barbarians from the north—they weren't afraid of him or the Zhao family at all. And the young man leading them didn't confront him head-on or cause trouble at the government office; instead, he used a different method.
Use your mouth.
Zhao Wanshan took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and asked, "What exactly did you say to that woman?"
Zhao Rong hesitated and refused to speak.
Zhao Wanshan slammed his hand on the table again.
Zhao Rong finally managed to choke out, "I only said one thing... 'You'll live a life of luxury with me, so don't push your luck'..."
Zhao Wanshan closed his eyes.
If you said this at home, no one would care. If you said it in a secluded place, no one would care either. But it happened in a teahouse, in front of everyone, with two barbarians from the north sitting next to you.
Those two barbarians couldn't understand anything else, but they did understand "giving face but not daring to be given face".
Zhao Wanshan waved his hand, his voice sounding as tired as if he had aged ten years.
"Withdraw the petition. Don't let this escalate any further."
Zhao Rong panicked: "Father! That barbarian hit me!"
Did you hit them or not?
Zhao Rong opened his mouth, but didn't say anything.
"I'm asking you, did you hit him or not?"
"...I hit him."
"What did you use to hit it?"
"stick……"
Zhao Wanshan closed his eyes again.
"Go and withdraw the petition. Go find Chief Constable Chen now. Tell him you've reached a settlement with them and won't pursue the matter further," Zhao Wanshan said, enunciating each word clearly. "If you don't go, I'll cut off your monthly allowance and send your female companion back south. The choice is yours."
Zhao Rong's face turned a deep purplish-red, and his lips trembled for a long time before he finally couldn't hold on any longer.
That afternoon, Zhao Rong slunk to the government office and signed the withdrawal petition.
After watching him sign the papers, Officer Chen said expressionlessly, "Young Master Zhao, watch your words in the future. Beining City is not your Zhao family's backyard." (End of Chapter)