Chapter 47: No Way to Seek Justice!
Everyone looked up to see an old man at the door.
His face was covered in dust, and he wore coarse, tattered clothes with many holes. In this freezing winter, his skin had turned pale from the cold.
This was a man from the very bottom of society.
His hunched back and the way he avoided eye contact made it clear.
“Old man, what did you just say?” A middle-aged man reeking of alcohol opened his bleary eyes, cleared his throat by spitting to the side, and looked at the old man.
“I… I…” The old farmer instinctively took two steps back.
The man speaking to him was rough, with bloodshot eyes and a fierce demeanor, further exacerbated by his drunkenness.
His harsh tone made the old man, who couldn’t afford to offend anyone, tremble. Yet, he seemed to gather his courage from somewhere and bit his lip.
“Sir, I heard there’s a righteous official here who can seek justice for the people… so I came to file a complaint.”
A complaint?
These words made the officials in the Supervision Institute momentarily dazed.
Today was the public judgment day at the Supervision Institute. According to regulations, on this day, officials of all ranks must listen to the grievances of the common people.
If someone ignored the people’s cases or obstructed them from filing complaints, it would be a serious crime.
But that was a thing of the past.
When was the last time the Supervision Institute handled a case?
No one could remember anymore.
“There’s no righteous official here, nor anyone to seek justice for the people. You’ve come to the wrong place,” said the man reeking of alcohol coldly.
He grabbed a handful of snow, rubbed it hard on his face, steaming with heat, looking even more menacing.
“How can there be no one to seek justice?” Cai Xianggao stood up and asked.
“Old man, what’s your grievance? The Supervision Institute will definitely get justice for you!”
He remembered that yesterday, Ye Ning had instructed him to spread the word that the Supervision Institute could petition for the people, to attract the commoners to come.
But he hadn’t expected that after sending out the message, only one person would come.
Given the behavior of the other officials at the Supervision Institute, Cai Xianggao thought that if he were a commoner, he wouldn’t trust the office either.
“I am a woodcutter from Nanshan. I cut wood in the summer and make charcoal in the winter to sell in the capital. After saving up a cartload of charcoal, it was taken from me just as I entered the city gate…”
The old man covered his face with his gnarled, labor-worn hands, sobbing.
“My family relies on that charcoal to buy food for the winter.
“My wife is sick, and I need to buy medicine.
“Without the charcoal, we can’t survive.”
His voice trailed off into indistinguishable sobs, overwhelmed by his sorrow.
This was a very simple, very small case.
The officials initially paid some attention but then dismissed it with disdain.
“For such a trivial case, why come here? The capital’s judicial office should handle it!” One of them yawned.
“The magistrate refused to take it.” The old man was desperate.
“What about the Ministry of Justice?”
“The officials there wouldn’t let me in.”
“…”
The officials exchanged puzzled glances.
This was unusual.
Cai Xianggao frowned and asked, “Why?”
The old man wiped his tears and said, “The one who took my charcoal is the steward of the Mighty Marquis’s estate.”
The Mighty Marquis?
Cai Xianggao’s expression changed.
He immediately understood.
Who was the Mighty Marquis?
A hereditary marquis, whose ancestors had made great contributions.
In this generation, he had a daughter who displayed excellent talent for cultivation from a young age and was taken in by the “Qunyu Pavilion” for focused training.
From then on, the Marquis’s estate was backed by the Immortal Sect, and their status soared.
In the capital, everyone sought to curry favor with them.
Even the Emperor had to show some respect.
If the steward of the Marquis’s estate took the old man’s charcoal, no official would dare to handle the case.
Therefore, the old man, finding no way to seek justice anywhere, came to the Supervision Institute after hearing the news Cai Xianggao had spread, despite knowing it was unlikely to help.
He had no other options.
“Honorable officials, will you seek justice for a commoner?” The old man knelt down and kowtowed humbly.
Cai Xianggao wanted to help him up.
“Please, stand up.”
But he couldn’t promise anything.
That was the Mighty Marquis, whom even the Emperor treated with deference.
How could the Supervision Institute handle such a case?
Did they have the power to?
Looking at the sorry state of the other officials, Cai Xianggao felt a surge of despair.
Could these people accomplish anything?
“I have no other options, please, I beg you, my lords!” The old man refused to get up, continuing to kowtow.
Cai Xianggao was at a loss, frozen in place.
“Move aside!” The drunken man came over with a knife.
He shoved Cai Xianggao aside and said coldly, “Old man, get lost!”
He didn’t want to waste another word.
“Sir, I…” The old man trembled.
“If you don’t leave, I’ll kill you!”
Perhaps it was the alcohol, but the drunkard exuded a violent aura.
He raised his knife high, the gleaming blade reflecting a blinding light.
“Get out!” he shouted.
“I have no way out, I can’t survive!” The old man despaired, lying on the ground.
How could he leave?
Return home empty-handed?
Wouldn’t that mean waiting to die?
“You’re courting death!”
The drunkard grinned hideously, ready to strike.
But at that moment, an angry voice came from a distance, growing nearer.
“Bastard, try touching him!”
It was Ye Ning.
He arrived on the scene, holding the little mute’s hand.