Love is More than a Word, Chapter 76: Strike First (4)...

Love is More than a Word《识汝不识丁》Shi Nu Bu Shi Ding
Love is More than a Word, Chapter 76: Strike First (4)...

“Young Master." Lao Tao lowered his voice.

Tao Mo did so quickly from the mat, running to the bars in three steps, lowering his voice even lower than he had, “What are you doing here?”

“I'm here to see Young Master.” Lao Tao looked inside the cell and frowned deeply. It's dark and damp, not to mention the lack of a bed, only a dirty, thin, small blanket on a mat that's been trampled on by many people.” I'll get the Young Master out!” It was his indecisiveness and fear of wolves (inviting trouble to himself) that led to Master Tao's death. Now, he won't make the same mistake again.

Tao Mo shook his head, “I'm not leaving.”

“Young Master!" Lao Tao raised his volume slightly.


Tao Mo busied himself with a shushing gesture, “The sins listed by Lord Prefectural Magistrate, I am to blame and should have been punished.”

Lao Tao: “The Prefectural Magistrate is intentionally targeting you.”

Tao Mo said, “If I wasn't riddled with hundred of holes, why would he target me?”

“Hundreds of holes?” Lao Tao didn't bother to research whether or not to use the word 'thousand holes' at this point, saying, “Has Young Master forgotten how the Master passed away?”

Tao Mo went white, biting his lip, shaking his head vigorously, “Just because I haven't forgotten, that's why I can't leave even more.”

“The Prefectural Magistrate has no authority to hold a Young Master."

“I have no right to break out of jail.” Tao Mo said, “Isn't it wrong to make a mistake when you know it's wrong?”

Lao Tao found Tao Mo so eloquent for the first time, “Where there's life, there's hope. Young Master, why don't you come with me back to the inn and we'll discuss this later. With Master Jin... and Gu-She is here, you don't have to worry about the law.”

Tao Mo said, “Even if the law is good, I can't live with myself knowingly I broke it. This time it was my fault. If it wasn't for the Prefectural Magistrate saying that the coroner's autopsy must be performed in the presence of the County Magistrate, I wouldn't have known there was such a regulation. I'm supposed to do my duty as a parent of a county but in the end, I don't know the law as well as Master Advisor and the litigation master, so how can I face walking out of this cell?”

Lao Tao was silent for a long time, saying: “Young Master. I'm afraid this has something to do with Huang Guangde.”

“On a case-by-case basis. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. What does it matter who's involved or not? If it's really Huang Guangde, at least in this case, he's right, I'm wrong.” Tao Mo said, “If I was wrong, I deserve to be punished, I deserve to be punished.”

When Lao Tao saw that he had made up his mind, he sighed and said, “I'll send someone to protect you. If anything happens, remember to scream. I mean, in case they lynch you too much.”

Tao Mo nodded and said, “Take care of yourself.” If the person behind this is really Huang Guangde, then he won't let up and then I'm afraid Lao Tao, Master Jin and Gu-She will all be in danger.

Lao Tao took off his jacket and stuffed it through the bars, “It's cold at night, you're just sick, you can't take the cold. So take this."

Tao Mo wanted to refuse but Lao Tao seemed to know what he was going to say, he finished stuffing his clothes and left, so fast that he didn't even have time to call out, so he just lay down on the mat with his jacket.

Lao Tao gave Tao Mo his clothes and he was freezing cold. When he got back to the inn, he was about to get into his bed when he saw Gu-She standing at the door. By the looks of him, he must have been waiting for quite a while.

“Young Master Gu." Lao Tao pushed open the door, thinking of how to evict the man but Gu-She had already entered the room before he did. Lao Tao said unhappily, “It's the middle of the night, what does Young Master Gu want to do?”

Gu-She didn't beat around the bush and came straight to the point: “What about him?”

When Lao Tao heard that he cared about Tao Mo, his frustration faded two or three times and he sighed, “What can you do in a place like that?”

Gu-She pursed his lips.




Lao Tao's eyes lit up as he remembered Gu-She's family history, “I want to get the Young Master out but the Young Master won't. Unless the Prefectural Magistrate gives him okay and releases him.”

Gu-She was silent.

Lao Tao was a bit impatient in his heart and simply and directly said, “Is Young Master Gu willing to contribute?”

“In your opinion...”

“Minister Xiang is a man of many talents, so you should be able to handle small matters?” Lao Tao scolded him for his pretense and for asking the question.

Gu-She said indifferently, “Minister Xiang lives in a peach and plum world, what does it have to do with me?”

Lao Tao frowned. Sounds like, Gu-She is not going to get involved.

Gu-She said, “Do you know why he won't let you rescue him?”

Lao Tao said: “He said he deserved to be punished. But what are the two crimes listed by the Prefectural Magistrate? If it's a crime, it's the crime of detaining an officer of the court without permission!”

Gu-She said, “He won't let you save him because his name isn't powerful. If I use my father's name, will I be justified?”

Lao Tao let out a sigh. It's true that Gu-She is Minister Xiang's son but Gu-She himself doesn't have an official position. According to the imperial law, no Minister Xiang's son, not even the current Young Master, can interfere in the local affairs without the emperor's order or seal. For Gu-She to demand the release of Tao Mo from the Prefectural Magistrate in the name of Minister Xiang is not only a misnomer, it's a perversion of the law.

Gu-She said, “If I do this, won't it make it look more like Tao Mo is guilty and the Prefectural Magistrate is impartial in his ruling?”

Lao Tao, from the Demon Sect, is used to solving problems in a straightforward manner and when Gu-She said that, he felt enlightened. But of course, he won't admit it, “In your opinion, what should we do?”

Gu-She said, “Then follow the rules.”

“Play by the rules? What rules?”

Gu-She: “Sue.”

“...” Lao Tao sneered, “The Prefectural Magistrate is targeting Young Master but as Young Master said, he made a small mistake after all and if the Prefectural Magistrate wants to use this as a way to make a point... There's nothing you can do about it. How can you sue a ruling?”

Gu-She said, “If he is right, this will show him making a mistake to arrest a fellow Magistrate without proper seal of the emperor. If he made a small mistake, let him make a big one.”

Lao Tao: “What do you mean...?”

“It's wrong to detain Imperial court officials for no reason whether they be imperial court cabinet members or imperial court-appointed officials .” Gu-She, “but now it can be considered as still a small mistake...”

“No way.” Lao Tao didn't wait for him to finish his sentence, he flatly refused, “Young Master is weak, how can he stay in that place for ten days and half a month when he's already suffering for one day?”

Gu-She said, “And how could I have come up with such a simple solution?”

Lao Tao looked at him suspiciously.

Gu-She said grimly, “If he's going to be wrong, let him be so wrong that he'll have to let him go regardless, or even... sink himself in the wrongness of it.”

Early in the morning, the streets are deserted.

Gu-She put on his cloak and went to the big drum at the courthouse, picked up the drumsticks.

Gu Xiaojia grabbed him by the arm, fidgeting, “Young Master, are you, are you really going to court?”




Gu-She said, “Yeah.”

Gu Xiaojia said, “Young Master has never been to court before, why don't we go back to Tangyang County and ask Mr. Yichui to step up?”

Gu-She said, “You don't believe me?”

“It's not that I don't believe in it, it's just that...” Gu Xiaojia whispered, “The Young Master shouldn't be in such a filthy place as the courthouse. If the Young Master really wants to save Tao Mo, I'll go and persuade the Prefectural Magistrate.”

Gu-She looked at him silently, his face as heavy as water.

Gu Xiaojia was so frightened by the sight of him that he slowly released his grip on his arm.

Boom!

Bang, Bang, Bang!

Bang, bang, bang!

...

The drums thundered, the sound shook the sky.

The Prefectural Magistrate hastened to the court and, glaring at Gu-She, who stood at the bottom of the hall, skilfully took up the wood of the alarm and slapped it, saying, “Who is the man at the bottom of the hall?”

“Humble man Gu-She."

“Why don't you kneel before me?” the Prefectural Magistrate asked.

Gu-She said, “I'm here to redress the injustice.”

The Prefectural Magistrate said, “If you have come to redress your grievances, why don't you kneel?”

“Because it's you I'm suing.”

“How dare you!” The Prefectural Magistrate slapped the gavel, “And you know that a citizen's lawsuit, is at most a slap on the wrist.”

“What about the government officer lawsuit?”

The Prefectural Magistrate snickered, “What kind of officer are you?”

Gu-She said, “I'm not an official but my excellency is.”

The Prefectural Magistrate's mind was hidden, “Who's your excellency?”

“Tao Mo."

The Prefectural Magistrate said, “The County Magistrate Tao was negligent in his duties, corrupt and bent the law and has been taken down by me. Are you seeking justice for him?”

Gu-She said: “Exactly to redress his grievances.”

The Prefectural Magistrate waved his hand: “He is guilty as charged and has no case to answer!”

Gu-She said, “In that case, I would ask your Excellency to list all the evidence of his guilt, so that we may be convinced.”

The Prefectural Magistrate's heart was on fire, he moved pointing at his nose and saying, “How dare you! If I dare to arrest Tao Mo, I have proof. But who are you? Why do I have to show it to you?”

Gu-She said, “I'm just a simple citizen. But since you say that you have arrested Tao Mo, I dare to ask, under which law of our dynasty would you dare to detain a court official without the approval of the Ministry of Justice and without the permission of the Ministry of Punishment or the Emperor’s decree?”




Master Jin, Lao Tao, and Hao Guozi, who had been standing in the outer hall listening to Gu-She's verbal sparring with the Prefectural Magistrate, were amazed. It was the first time they knew Gu-She could speak in such a long sentence.





~ Love is More than A Word ~



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