Old Accounts

"Rebellion! Rebellion!"

Magistrate Hu took a step back, his leg hitting the chair, which scraped against the floor with a screeching sound.

"Killing an official is a capital offense, do you know that? Killing an official is a capital offense!"

Shen Gui ignored him.

The crowd outside the hall was in complete chaos. Some people pushed back, losing their shoes in the process; some squatted on the ground covering their heads; and some turned to run away, only to be blocked by the people behind them.

Some of the common people remained still. The few who had just started the commotion stared at Shen Gui's back, feeling both fear and satisfaction.

Changluo County has never been this quiet in many years.

It's not that people don't die; they die all the time. They float in the river, they are buried in the mountains, and sometimes a person disappears from the village overnight. Everyone knows it, but no one says anything.

Today is different; today, it is those in official robes who are dying.

Magistrate Hu turned and ran to the back hall. Seeing that things were not going well, Steward Xu no longer maintained his composure and turned to retreat towards the door.

He retreated quickly, and a guard from the Liu family blocked his way.

Steward Xu whispered, "Go and report to Third Master quickly."

The words had barely left his mouth when two heads fell to the ground almost simultaneously.

One of them belonged to the county magistrate; it rolled under the desk, its eyes still glaring and its mouth half-open.

One of them belonged to Butler Xu; it rolled to the threshold, its face still showing lingering shock and anger.

"It's haunted!"

"The county magistrate is dead!"

"The Liu family steward is dead!"

"Run!"

Some people were so frightened that they wet their pants, and the stench quickly spread. Others covered their mouths, and tears suddenly streamed down their faces.

They weren't crying for Magistrate Hu, nor for Steward Xu; it was the first time they had seen the Liu family's rules being so drastically broken.

A-Yue stood below the hall, her eyes wide open, staring at the human head for a long time.

Xu Yanqing knelt beside her, blood streaming down his chin, the tattered letter still held in his hand as if he had forgotten to put it down.

Master Huang's legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground, his crotch soaked. He crawled backward, pleading, "Don't kill me, don't kill me! I'm just a clerk, I'm just writing documents for the magistrate."

Shen Gui walked past him: "Noisy."

Master Huang immediately shut up, covering his mouth with both hands, not daring to even breathe loudly. Then his head exploded, white and red all exploding onto the plaque, making the four characters "明镜高悬" (a clear mirror hangs high) even more eye-catching.

The case room was at the very back, with a brass lock hanging on the inside of the door. Shen Gui stood in front of the door, and the brass lock broke by itself and fell to the ground.

Inside the room, shelves lined up from one wall to the other, piled high with files. The years were written on wooden plaques, some yellowed, some riddled with holes from insects, and some tightly bound with red rope.

Shen Gui raised his hand, and the papers on the shelf flew up one by one, as if someone was turning the pages.

Case files, old judgments, tax registers, land deeds, household registers, and guarantor's agreements.

One by one, the books slid off the wooden shelves and hung in mid-air.

The papers rustled and turned in the air. Shen Gui stood in the middle, his gaze sweeping over the words.

Village protection fees, gambling den profits, rice shop commissions, autumn grain converted into silver, wife-buying guarantees, Liu family New Year's gifts, and county magistrate's birthday celebrations.

Each stroke was written very clearly.

In Changluo County, which of the twenty-six villages paid grain and silver annually, which family was in debt, whose daughters were used to pay off debts, which village had bought women, which village had a murder, how the county government approved these matters, and how the Liu family protected them.

This is the safety net that Magistrate Hu uses to restrain Master Liu.

So there's no need to avoid it, because no one has ever been able to find this place.

Shen Gui paused for a moment.

A yellowed marriage certificate flew out from the pile of papers and landed in front of him.

[Chen Ayue, a native of Jiangping Prefecture, was forced to flee to Beiyang Prefecture due to an epidemic at home. With the testimony of a guarantor, she expressed her wish to marry Zhou, a woman from Guhuai Village, Changluo County.]

Below that is the county government seal, and below that is the Liu family's private seal.

Shen Gui took the page off and folded it neatly. Several more account books fell from mid-air and landed in his hands.

After half a cup of tea.

Shen Gui walked out of the office. The scene outside the hall was still chaotic, and no one dared to get too close.

A-Yue stood where she was, and Xu Yanqing was still kneeling.

Shen Gui handed the page of the marriage contract to A Yue.

A-Yue didn't answer immediately. She stared at the paper, her gaze suddenly unfocused, as if she had returned to three years ago.

Shen Gui said, "Take it."

Only then did A-Yue reach out her hand.

The paper was very light, but it felt like she had touched a piece of red-hot iron; her fingertips trembled as soon as they touched it.

"Is this... my fate?"

No one answered.

A-Yue unfolded the paper, saw her own name, and the words "willing to marry," and her lips turned down: "I said back then that I didn't want to."

Shen Gui placed several account books in front of the hall. The pages were thick, and they weighed them down on the table with a heavy thud.

Then, he turned and walked out.

Xu Yanqing tried to get up by supporting himself on the ground, but he had been kneeling for too long and his legs went weak, so he almost fell back down. A Yue reached out and helped him up.

Xu Yanqing was stunned. A Yue's hand quickly loosened, and she lowered her head, hugging the marriage contract tightly in her arms.

"Let's go," Shen Gui said.

Xu Yanqing glanced at the dead magistrate in the hall, then at Steward Xu by the threshold, his throat parched: "Go, where to?"

Shen Gui walked out: "The Liu family."

After those two words were spoken, the hall fell silent for a moment.

The people outside, upon hearing this, fell silent for a moment.

Just now, Steward Xu came to invite someone to the Liu family. Steward Xu's head is still at the threshold, but this man in gray wants to go to the Liu family on his own.

This time, it wasn't the Liu family who invited him.

He went to the Liu family.

The crowd separated on its own.

Shen Gui walked in front, A Yue followed behind him, and Xu Yanqing lagged half a step behind.

The streets were packed with people, and no one dared to make a sound. The water in the teahouse was boiling, and the kettle lid rattled softly from the steam. The dough in the vendor's hand was still pressed against the cutting board, and the butcher's knife was suspended in mid-air.

After Shen Gui walked away, some of the bolder people entered the courtroom and opened the account books that Shen Gui had previously placed on the table.

Then came gasps of surprise...

On this day, the atmosphere in Changluo County began to tremble, starting from the county government office.

First, people dispersed from the streets to go to rice shops, gambling dens, cloth shops, and the alleyways of the 26 villages to spread the word.

"The county magistrate is dead."

"The steward of the Liu family, Mr. Xu, is also dead."

"The county magistrate and the Liu family's crimes have all been exposed and are on the courtroom table! The account books have recorded everything. I only found out that the Wang family woman was also bought... No wonder she jumped into the river... The yamen still says it was an accident."

Some people didn't believe it and cursed the messenger for being drunk. The messenger pointed in the direction of the county government office, and his voice changed.

"If you don't believe me, go see for yourself; the head is still in the hall."

In the back hall of the county government office, the minor officials huddled inside.

Someone vomited.

Someone cried.

Some people took off their official hats and stuffed them into a cabinet, hoping to escape in the chaos.

A scholar who hadn't died was holding a pen, his knuckles white, with an urgent newspaper spread out in front of him.

He dared not write the truth, nor did he dare not write anything. His eyes were bloodshot, and his hands trembled for a long time before he finally put pen to paper.

It was written very quickly.

[Urgent report from Changluo County]

A gray-clad demon stormed the county government office, killed the magistrate, destroyed the courtroom, and seized the case files. He was suspected to be an evil cultivator from another continent.

Manager Xu of the Liu residence died along with the man, and this man is now heading to the Liu residence.

Report to the prefectural capital immediately.

When he wrote the last word, Wenfang's forehead was covered in sweat. He folded the paper, sealed it in a bamboo tube, and went to the county government office to get the official seal stamped.

Soon, the back gate of the county government office opened, and a fast horse was led out. The groom mounted the horse and lashed it with his whip.

The sound of horses' hooves rushed out from the back alley of the county government office, heading towards the prefectural city.