Chapter 43: Uncovering the Crime
Chapter 43: Exposing the Crime

As soon as Niu Er confessed, Ye Xuan looked at Lin Zhiqi with a sneer, "Lin Zhiqi, is there any truth in what Niu Er said?"

"Captain Ye, you can't believe the one-sided words of a scoundrel!" Upon hearing this, Lin Zhiqi immediately made an expression of extreme injustice.

Ye Xuan was too lazy to listen to his excuses and directly ordered: "Come here, arrest the criminal Lin Zhiqi!"

"Yes!"

Wang Feihu and others immediately took the order, stepped forward viciously, twisted Lin Zhiqi's arms, and forced him to kneel down in the court.

Lin Zhiqi's face flushed with excitement, and he protested repeatedly: "I am an official appointed by the court. If you want to arrest me, you need official documents from the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Personnel. Captain Ye, you can't arrest me without any evidence!"

Ye Xuan sneered and said coldly: "I am investigating the case under the order of the Emperor. I will arrest you if I say so! Humph, if you dare to say anything more, I will just kill you directly. What else can I do!"

“You…” Lin Zhiqi was speechless, and muttered, “It’s over this time, it’s all over!”

After arresting Lin Zhiqi, the next step is to collect evidence of his corruption and illegal activities. If we want to make this a solid case, a thorough chain of evidence is obviously essential.

Thinking of this, Ye Xuan immediately ordered to take over the Shangyuan County Government. All government officials must obey orders, and anyone who disobeys orders will be severely punished!

Ye Xuan arrested the county magistrate on the spot, which had already frightened the yamen runners who were pretending to be powerful. No one dared to raise any objections to his order.

Immediately afterwards, Ye Xuan sent out all the Jinyiwei except Song Zhenshan, and they were determined to dig up the Shangyuan County Government Office until the bottom was dry to find evidence of Lin Zhiqi's corruption and abuse of power.

This set of operations was completed so quickly that it was like a flash of lightning, leaving the people of Shangyuan County who were watching stunned.

If the previous torture of Niu Er by Ye Xuan and others was somewhat bloody and made the onlookers feel uncomfortable, the rapid capture of Lin Zhiqi and collection of evidence have been welcomed by the people!
Seeing the overwhelming public opinion, Ye Xuan stood up and walked to the hall, clasped his fists and saluted to the onlookers, saying: "Fellow villagers of Shangyuan County, I know that you have been oppressed by corrupt officials for a long time. But if you want to convict Lin Zhiqi, it is not up to me to do it alone. If you want to stop being oppressed by corrupt officials in the future, you have to stand up and point out Lin Zhiqi's crimes!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the people who had just been cheering for Ye Xuan suddenly fell speechless, looked at each other, and the scene suddenly fell into another strange silence.

Undoubtedly, the people sincerely hope that corrupt officials like Lin Zhiqi who shielded the murderer and took human life will be dismissed and brought to justice.

However, Lin Zhiqi's long-term brutality in Shangyuan County had left a heavy psychological shadow on the common people.

Moreover, the common people firmly believe in one truth, that is, officials protect each other.

What if this guy named Ye Xuan says something nice today and Lin Zhiqi is brought to justice?

But if Lin Zhiqi is safe and sound by then, or even returns to Shangyuan County to serve as the county magistrate, will those people who have pointed out Lin Zhiqi still have a way to survive?

As the saying goes, the people should not fight against the officials. Let them watch the fun and call out "Master" a few times, that's fine. But if you want them to participate and risk being retaliated against, then forget it!
Ye Xuan felt helpless when he saw this, but he also understood the encouragement of the common people, so he did not use the yamen runners to force them, but bowed to the crowd very sincerely and said earnestly:

“As the old saying goes, if God doesn’t save you, you have to save yourself. If you want to be bullied by corrupt officials like Lin Zhiqi for the rest of your life, then just pretend that I, Ye, have never been here today, and you can continue to live in darkness.

Just don’t complain about the court’s incompetence from today onwards. After all, you don’t even dare to speak up for yourself, and no one owes you anything.”

Ye Xuan's words were sincere and heartfelt. The people were all thoughtful after hearing them. After a while, someone in the crowd asked, "Sir, there is an old saying that if you don't kill the snake, you will get bitten. If you leave and Lin Zhiqi comes back, what should we do?"

"Yes, how can we ordinary people fight against officials!" "We are small families, we dare not take this risk!"

Wang Feihu had a bad temper. Seeing that Ye Xuan sincerely wanted to help the people get rid of the scourge like Lin Zhiqi, but these people not only refused to cooperate, but also made excuses, he immediately became angry.

"You people in Shangyuan County are so ignorant of reason. Could it be that..."

Before he could finish his words, Ye Xuan raised his hand to stop him. "If you all cooperate with me in collecting evidence and still can't bring Lin Zhiqi to justice, you can all come to the Yingtianfu Zhenfu Yamen to find me. My name is Ye Xuan, and I'm a captain of the Jinyiwei! I will give you an explanation even if I have to lose my official hat!"

When Ye Xuan said this, everyone was stunned, and then they looked at Ye Xuan with shock and emotion in their eyes.

An old man in the crowd suddenly choked up and said, "I have lived to this age, and this is the first time I have seen a good official like Lord Ye who is so sincere and dedicated to the people!"

When the old man sighed, everyone was moved.

Indeed, during the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongols did not regard the Han people as human beings at all, and soon after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, they encountered corrupt officials like Lin Zhiqi. It can be said that the common people had never seen what an honest official looked like.

At this time, Ye Xuan was so sincere that he even offered his official hat as a guarantee, and the people were immediately moved.

After a while, everyone expressed their opinions.

"Master Ye, County Magistrate Lin Zhiqi once extorted twenty taels of silver from me..."

"Master Ye, that bastard official Lin Zhiqi has taken my daughter by force..."

"Master Lin..."

For a while, public outcry was surging and people came one after another to report Lin Zhiqi.

In the courtroom, Lin Zhiqi, who was pinned to the ground, looked at the scene in despair, his eyes dull as he murmured, "It's over, it's all over."

Ye Xuan was overwhelmed by the accusations from the crowd and quickly waved his hand to ask the people to stop.

At the same time, a Jinyiwei who was good at writing was arranged to set up a table and put it at the gate of the county government office, and let the people speak one by one, and he would record down the crimes of Lin Zhiqi who bullied the people one by one.

For each record, the person making the report must leave his signature and fingerprint for traceability.

For a moment, the strange sight of countless people queuing up in front of the county government office attracted more passers-by who did not know the truth to stop and watch.

After finding out that this was a joint report to denounce County Magistrate Lin Zhiqi, those who had been bullied joined in spontaneously without Ye Xuan's further instigation.

In the end, half of the county's residents came, and more and more people came to report crimes. Ye Xuan simply asked all the Jinyiwei to set up a table to record the crimes reported by the people.

So much so that for a long time afterwards, the people of Shangyuan County could not forget the figure of the Jinyiwei captain standing at the gate of the county government office, full of vigor, justice and integrity.

(End of this chapter)