Outside the county yamen, crowds of people surged. In the main hall, a plaque inscribed with the four characters “Ming Jing Gao Xuan” (“The Bright Mirror Hangs High”) hung prominently in the center. Below it sat the county magistrate, wearing a black gauze cap, with three execution blades for tiger, dragon, and dog cases displayed below the hall. When the accused was brought in, the bailiffs on both sides would shout “Mighty!” and the upright magistrate would slam the gavel with a loud “pa,” point at the accused, and declare, “First, give him three hundred lashes with the rod of intimidation!”...

However, on the day of the actual “interrogation”—that is, the court hearing—what Henry saw was quite different:

This trial was not held in the county yamen, but instead arranged in the county prison, just a wall away. Inside the county prison were the cells, and outside was the main hall. From the outside, it was just a narrow courtyard, lacking any of the grandeur one would expect from an official building. Only the stone-paved paths, swept spotlessly clean of even fallen leaves, hinted at any order.

After entering the main hall, Henry noticed there was no place for people to beat a drum to call for justice, nor was it open to the public. A “fu si”—a locally made screen—blocked the entrance, painted white and inscribed in black ink with several lines of Qin dynasty seal script.

Henry was literate—otherwise, how could he have written letters home from the army camp?—and saw that the writing was an essay titled “The Way of Being an Official.”

“In all things, the way of being an official requires purity, integrity, caution, steadfastness, impartiality, meticulousness, calmness without harshness, and careful judgment in rewards and punishments...”

Then came the “Five Virtues” and “Five Failings”... These were the requirements for officials of all ranks in Qin, which, put in plain language, meant being honest and selfless, loyal to duty, forbidding abuse of power for personal gain, staying close to the people, and working to eliminate harm and promote benefit for the populace—much like the “Regulations on Clean Governance for CCP Leading Cadres” in modern times.

In short, Henry was left dumbfounded. Was this really the so-called “tyrannical Qin” of legend?

“Let’s hope the officials presiding over today’s trial can truly live up to these standards.”

Led by the prison officer David, Henry and Edward walked around the screen and entered the main hall, only to discover that the judge presiding was not the magistrate or deputy magistrate of Anlu County, but the prison officer Jack! Today, he was dressed all in black, wearing a xiezhi crown, sitting upright and dignified, exuding authority.

Seeing this man, Henry felt a huge weight lift from his heart. According to the prison officer David, this Jack was famous in Anlu County for his ironclad impartiality and was highly trusted by the deputy magistrate. All the tricky cases were handed over to him. With him presiding, there shouldn’t be any problems, right?

At this moment, Jack was already hearing the case of “the robbery of the merchant Bao.” As Henry and his companions were brought in, the merchant “Bao” was recounting how, on the day in question, he had gone to the village market and, nine li from Huyang Pavilion, was robbed by bandits and fled in terror.

Next, it was the turn of the three shackled bandits, who knelt before the hall to confess their crimes.

The burly, bearded man who had fought with Henry was the first to confess: “My name is Clark, a conscript from Jingling County, living in a certain village. Last February, I was drafted into the army and sent north to fight in Zhao. Because of heavy rain, I feared the long journey and deserted. Later, I fled into Yunmeng Marsh and became a bandit, meeting the other three. Our crimes are as the merchant Bao described; we have committed no other offenses.”

Jingling County was one of the eighteen counties of Nanjun, facing Anlu County across Yunmeng Marsh. As the man spoke, the clerks seated on either side of the hall busily recorded everything on wooden and bamboo slips, just like modern court recorders, documenting every word and action of the accused to be archived. Most of the Qin slips unearthed in later times were things like this.

Chief judge Jack did not interrupt Clark’s statement, only writing continuously on his own slips. When Clark finished, he asked, “Other than this robbery of merchant Bao, have you committed any other crimes?”

Clark hesitated for a moment and replied, “No!”

At this, Edward leaned over to Henry and muttered, “Didn’t he say the other day that he had several lives on his hands...?”

Chapter 0009: All Legalists Are Virgos with OCD

“Disorder in the court—flogging!”

Before Henry could respond, the fierce-looking bailiff Mark glared and pointed at Edward. Immediately, two armed officers on standby came over and pinned Edward to the ground!

“I only wanted to clarify something about the case...”

Edward cried out in protest, but rules were rules. Mark personally took up a bamboo board and struck him across the back and buttocks!

Henry could only close his eyes helplessly, listening as the bamboo board struck ten times and Edward cried out ten times before this impromptu punishment ended.

Well, the defendant wasn’t beaten, but the plaintiff got the board first. But really, Edward had only himself to blame for speaking out of turn.

Flogging was the lightest corporal punishment; apart from the pain, it caused no serious injury. When it was over, Jack finally asked Edward what information he had to offer the authorities.

This time, Edward was much more obedient and recounted in detail what the bandit Clark had said that day.

Jack nodded after hearing this and looked at the bandit: “Clark, is this true?”

“That was just me talking nonsense at the time,” Clark still tried to get away with it, flatly denying it—because he knew what the consequences of murder would be.

“Very well. Since you deny any other crimes, then listen to this.”

Jack unfolded a bamboo slip in front of him and read aloud: “In the ninth month of the twentieth year, Jia Yin day, the deputy magistrate of Jingling County respectfully reports to the deputy magistrate of Anlu County...”