Chapter 47.
The front gate of the county courthouse was bustling with activity at the moment.
Two large benches, the kind that could sit four or five people, were placed horizontally in the middle of the front yard.
In the middle of the large benches lay two people.
When he was walking at the entrance, Zhou An felt familiar, and when he reached the courtyard, he could tell who it was at a glance.
Wasn’t it Master Xu and the constable who had only just taken office?
Although Zhou An didn’t pay much attention to this, he vaguely remembered that the newly appointed constable’s surname was Sun.
How did all this happen after just one night of not seeing each other?
In addition to Master Xu and Sheriff Sun, who were lying on the bench, there were two constables standing next to them.
The constables are holding boards in their hands, probably at eyebrow height.
There were also some constables, looking around, pointing, with excitement on their faces.
Yu Hang is also inside, this time the book is not even read.
Don’t put the book on the waist, padded feet to look inside, a face of gossip expression.
Zhou An Xin was puzzled, and did not know what they were doing, walked to the side of Yu Hang, poked and muttered twice.
“Do what? In broad daylight, you are in the whole which out of work?”
Yu Hang thought it was who, turn around and see, see is Zhou An, hastily came over, whispered: “Hey, buddies are just to, just heard a mouth, Sun Xin this kid to the master gift it, only when the head of this arrest, today was punished chanting, immediately hit the board.”
Punished?
Zhou An heard these two words, already guessed the reason.
So it’s the matter of gift giving that has been exposed.
It’s not right, no one would dare to expose it.
After all, even if this matter is exposed, at most, it will only receive a slap on the wrist.
If Master Xu investigates, he will have to wear these shoes for the rest of his life.
Yu Hang can also see Zhou An’s thoughts, continued: “No one to disclose, this kid also know that he is not the right way, just want to earn a little bit of bonglu, so very low-profile, and no one to find him trouble.
“But the county magistrate adults out of the gate, and then so a scare, the two what all said out, or not also said that the veteran it, on the county magistrate adults this hand, let a person do not serve can not ah.”
Zhou An froze.
County magistrate out of the gate?
This is a rare thing.
But on second thought, it wasn’t too rare.
He had already heard about it yesterday.
Now that the court has changed the method, it is not good to just hold it in, you have to pass the first hurdle first.
By the time the Inspection Department comes over to inspect, if not given a pass, not even the opportunity to select.
County magistrate out of the gate, in fact, is also logical.
“How many plates?” Zhou An asked.
This scenario was the rhythm that deserved to be slapped.
“What about twenty big planks, I guess I have to be unable to get out of bed for several days.” Yu Hang gloated.
Don’t underestimate the 20 lashes, ordinary people would probably not be able to stand even 10 lashes.
Zhou An was the first time he had seen a constable and a master teacher beaten, and was equally prepared to watch the fun.
Just at this time, in the house directly across the door, a sound of footsteps sounded.
From inside the house, a middle-aged man in official uniform came out.
The middle-aged man is thin, not tall, and also has a finger-long small beard, and holds a volume of books in his hand.
The bookish aroma of a reader came out in a single breath.
Zhou An had still heard of the county magistrate.
The magistrate’s surname was Chen, with a single name, Zhi.
It is said that before he passed the exam, he was a poor son.
After he passed the exam, he came to Anding County.
Before he closed down, he really managed Anding County in a well-organized manner.
Although there is not much merit, but at least there is no fault.
There were times when having no faults was already considered very good.
Most importantly, County Magistrate Chen was a man of reading skills.
These days, not every reader could be considered a capable reader.
Inside the four great gates, the threshold of a scholar was the highest.
Without the realization of that threshold, even if one was a great official, one would not have the power to transcend the mortal world.
And Magistrate Chen had just happened to enter that level.
Entering that level had already surpassed quite a few people.
“Still don’t do it, what are you waiting for here, is it hard to want this official to personally help you?” County Magistrate Chen’s tone was calm, and with that bookish air, the elegance of a scholar manifested itself.
But having been a magistrate for so long, even with his calm tone, he was not angry.
The two constables who were ready to execute shivered.
Originally wanted to take care of the past love, hand down a little lighter, and then let these two people scream a little more miserable, so as to muddle through.
But now that the county magistrate was personally supervising, they didn’t dare to have any thoughts of staying their hands.
The wooden board was raised high and fell heavily.
The thumping sound was dull, and it was precisely because it was dull that it really hurt.
Miserable screams matched the dull sound, echoing inside the entire courtyard.
Zhou An was also seeing this kind of fancy work for the first time, and found it wonderful.
The twenty big planks were hit very quickly, and when the last plank fell, Master Xu and Sheriff Sun no longer had the strength to scream.
“Bribing and accepting bribes, next time, this official will increase the punishment, pull them down!” Magistrate Chen waved his sleeve and said.
The two constables hurriedly agreed and flew to pull the people away, two more constables stepped forward and packed up the benches.
“What are you still looking at here? Do what you need to do!” Magistrate Chen hummed again.
The constables were startled and immediately scattered as birds and beasts.
Zhou An was also ready to slip away and go to the kitchen to liver proficiency for a while.
But before he could head to the kitchen, he heard the sound of drumming.
“Dang!”
The drumming sound was dull and frequent.
Zhou An was surprised and looked towards the door.
Drumming?
Surprisingly, it was drumming?
There was a drum at the entrance of the government office, called the hall drum.
The hall drum of the Great Chu Kingdom was normally not knocked by anyone.
If you dare to knock on the drum for trivial matters, you will get a slap on the wrist.
There were only two situations in which the people would beat the drum.
One is emergency situations, such as the discovery of bandits and thieves, or the emergence of large-scale problems that pose a great threat.
Secondly, it is a major matter, such as an important matter, a major grievance, and so on.
In cases like this, something big is bound to happen.
Magistrate Chen had already returned to the inner courtyard.
He came from a poor background and did not have a house in Anding County, so he lived in the inner courtyard.
After hearing the drums, he ran out with a grave face.
He was naturally in a bad mood when the drumming suddenly appeared near the time of the inspection.
The constables also poked their heads out of the room.
Ever since Magistrate Chen took office, no one had ever beaten the drum, so they were naturally curious.
“What are you still waiting for! Hurry up and open the court!”
Magistrate Chen waved his sleeve and went to the hall.
The constables didn’t dawdle either, as part of them went to the hall, while the other part went to the door.
Zhou An and Yu Hang followed to the lobby and stood on both sides of the lobby.
He was also curious as to which way the drums were beaten.
Not long after, two constables brought the drummer up.
Zhou An looked around for a moment.
The one who brought him up was an old man in his sixties, with white hair and skinny bones, as if he could be blown down by a gust of wind.
The old man was cowering, kneeling in front of the hall, not daring to say a word for fear of making the county magistrate angry.
County Magistrate Chen’s brow tightly wrinkled, a slap of the shocking wood, sullenly shouted.
“Who is the visitor and why are you beating the drum!”