These three are court officials with official ranks; in Andrew Bennett's era, they would be considered established positions.

Below the three court officials is the Dian Shi, also known as the chief officer.

But this position has no official rank and is not part of the formal hierarchy.

Next are the Three Divisions and Six Offices: the Three Divisions are the Zaoban, Kuaiban, and Zhuangban, responsible for ceremonial duties, public security, and arrests, etc.; while

the Six Offices correspond to the six ministries of the court.

Andrew Bennett is a yamen runner in the Kuaiban division, commonly known as a constable.

Upon entering the yamen, it happened that the clerks were checking attendance. Standing in front of the hall, David Carter saw Andrew Bennett with a broadsword at his waist and was momentarily stunned.

That expression was as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.

The yamen runners noticed their leader's odd expression, turned to look, and then all showed the same "seeing a ghost" look.

“Xu, Andrew Bennett, are you a man or a ghost?!” someone asked in a trembling voice.

David Carter noticed Andrew Bennett's shadow on the ground, felt a bit relieved, and said in a steady tone, “What nonsense are you spouting in the courtroom? Do ghosts have shadows?”

Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.

Andrew Bennett thought for a moment and followed up, “Maybe I'm a walking corpse.”

David Carter was shocked, and the yamen runners tensed up.

Andrew Bennett quickly cupped his fists and said, “Just joking. Greetings, Lord Dian Shi, fellow colleagues. I’ve been released from prison.”

David Carter asked, “What happened?”

The Xu family had been imprisoned because of the tax silver case; they had heard about it.

“Of course, I redeemed myself by meritorious service. His Majesty was lenient and pardoned the Xu family.” Andrew Bennett immediately recounted the matter again, but credited his second uncle for the achievement and produced the certificate given by the Jingzhao Prefecture yamen.

At the same time, he understood that although the tax silver had been found, the verdict had not yet been issued. In other words, the case of the missing tax silver was not yet settled; after all, the process had to be followed, and it wouldn’t be resolved so quickly.

Therefore, the yamen runners at Changle County were still unaware of this matter.

After roll call, several familiar constables immediately came over to offer congratulations.

“Charles Bennett, you have to treat us to drinks.”

In this era, friends addressed each other by courtesy name, not given name. When introducing oneself, the given name was used, not the courtesy name.

“Right, surviving a great disaster means future blessings. You must treat us.”

“I heard that the brothel on Linshui Street just bought a new batch of courtesans. Charles Bennett, want to go with us tonight?”

Treating for drinks is fine, but you want me to pay for women too? That’s too much... Andrew Bennett was about to decline, saying he had no money, when he suddenly stepped on something hard. Looking down, he saw it was a piece of broken silver.

Is it really true that surviving a disaster brings good fortune? He immediately stepped on it, kept a straight face, and pretended to look around at the scenery.

After the others walked a few steps ahead, Andrew Bennett quickly bent down, picked it up, and calmly put it into his money pouch.

After passing through the corridor, he sat for a few minutes in a side hall on the west side. Then David Carter came in with a gloomy face and looked at Walker: “Old Walker, the county magistrate wants us to go to the inner hall.”

Walker looked bitter and left without a word.

Andrew Bennett watched Walker's figure disappear and asked, “What’s going on? The boss doesn’t look too happy.”

“These days while you were in prison, there was a murder on Kangping Street. The victim was a rather wealthy and influential merchant. The county magistrate was furious and scolded Walker every day.”

“It’s just a merchant who died. The county magistrate doesn’t need to be so angry, does he?” Andrew Bennett cracked some melon seeds.

Human life has always been a major case, but as the magistrate of a county near the capital, it shouldn’t be this serious.

“Heh, that merchant is distantly related to a certain official in the Censorate. I suppose pressure came from above,” the yamen runner said. “Besides, this year is the Gengzi year.”

“Gengzi year?” Andrew Bennett didn’t catch on.

“Capital assessment!” the yamen runner clarified.

Chapter 11: Slacking Off

The capital assessment is the evaluation system for officials in the capital of Great Feng. It is conducted every three years, with the ‘Four Grades’ and ‘Eight Methods’ as the standards for promotion or demotion.

Officials who fail are demoted, or even stripped of their positions and made commoners.

Since it concerns their future, it’s easy to understand. The victim also had a distant relative in the Censorate; if he files an impeachment, it’s over.

Unsolved murder cases in Changle County could be used as ammunition by political opponents.

“How did he die?” Andrew Bennett asked casually.

“He went to the countryside to collect rent, came back at midnight, and happened to run into a thief in his own courtyard. He was killed,” a colleague said, clicking his tongue.

“Any witnesses?” Andrew Bennett asked.

“His wife heard a noise, came out to check, and found him already dead in the courtyard. But we found footprints on the outer wall.”

“Is it possible that an enemy disguised as a thief committed the murder?” Andrew Bennett poured himself a cup of tea and tossed a few preserved fruits from a colleague into the cup.

His tone was just like when he used to discuss murder cases with colleagues at the police station.

“We asked his wife, children, servants, and even the neighbors. The deceased hadn’t made any enemies recently.”

“Did you ask the night patrol soldiers?”

“The Imperial Blade Guards said there were no suspicious people in the area that night.”

The capital has three city walls: the palace city, the inner city, and the outer city.

Although there are night patrol soldiers in the outer city, there is no curfew. The city gates remain open all twelve hours of the night. As long as merchants register in advance and have the proper documents, they can freely enter and exit the city.

This policy greatly increased commercial trade in the capital and promoted economic development.