Chapter 228: Mutual Encouragement
After seeing Wei Ruolan leave angrily, Lin Delu's face changed several times before he finally calmed down.
To be honest, if he had a choice, he wouldn't want to offend Wei Ruolan.
Unfortunately, he had no choice at the moment.
Turning back to the hall, Lin Delu bowed and said, "My Lord, as per your instructions, I have sent Assistant Magistrate Wei away."
"Hmm."
Sun Shaozong responded indifferently, then turned to Zhao Wuwei and instructed him, "Follow him and see if he stays long in the Minister's office or if he's having a good conversation with the Magistrate."
Zhao Wuwei hurriedly obeyed.
Lin Delu hesitated for a while and couldn't help but inquire, "My Lord, who do you think Assistant Magistrate Wei will get closer to?"
"Well it depends on how much ability and insight he has."
"How much ability and insight?"
"That's right."
Sun Shaozong extended three fingers and said, "He has only three options now. First, he can use his identity and ability to reconcile the conflict between Minister Han and Magistrate Jia. If he can gain the support of both, he can do whatever he wants in this prefecture."
Lin Delu was surprised to hear this and couldn't help but question, "After what happened with former Governor Liu, can Minister Han and Magistrate Jia still make peace?!"
"Where there's a will, there's a way."
Sun Shaozong said nonchalantly, "As long as enough benefits are offered, not only can they make peace, but they can also be closely bound together."
"The disadvantage of doing this is that it is difficult and not something that an ordinary person can achieve."
"As for the other two options, naturally, he can choose between Minister Han or Magistrate Jia. He can choose Minister Han to save face or Magistrate Jia to gain an advantage. Whether face is more important or an advantage is more practical, that depends on one's personal opinion."
Lin Delu thought deeply about the words advantage and face repeatedly, as if he had understood something. He couldn't help but ask, "If it were you, My Lord, which option would you choose?"
"Me?"
Sun Shaozong laughed heartily. "I don't have that good of a fortune to have a sister who married Prince Beijing."
Saying this, he waved his hand and said, "Enough of these idle thoughts. Even if the sky falls, I'll bear the weight. First, sort out the recent official documents and see which ones need to be reviewed by Assistant Magistrate Wei."
As mentioned earlier, the special role of an Assistant Magistrate was the power to review cases. No matter which office was investigating the case, it must be reviewed by the Assistant Magistrate before it could be formally closed.
Therefore, quite a few prisoners were waiting to be dealt with in the jail of the Central Judicial Office, such as Jia Qin and the Hu couple who were sentenced to death, as well as the lewd monks from the Tielan Temple who were sentenced to castration and banishment to Yungui. It took a good half hour to deal with these matters.
After finishing the official business that needed to be taken care of, Sun Shaozong was preparing to stretch his muscles according to his usual routine when he saw Zhao Wuwei come in from outside, rubbing his hands and stamping his feet as he said, "Master, I have found out for sure that Assistant Magistrate Wei has stayed at the Minister's Office for a long time, but only sat for a moment in the Magistrates Office, and now he's coming this way."
"After all, he chose face over substance." Sun Shaozong smiled knowingly. "Hes keeping with his usual style of showing off."
Although he had already guessed that Wei Ruolan would probably choose "face" over allying with Jia Yucun, the vassal of the Rongguo Mansion, hearing this exact news still made Sun Shaozong breathe a sigh of relief.
Wei Ruolan was nothing more than an unexpected trouble for him, but Jia Yucun was the true opponent. If the two joined forces, it would be quite tricky.
Moreover, the alliance between Wei Ruolan and Han Anbang would inevitably arouse Jia Yucun's vigilance, which would naturally reduce the pressure on Sun Shaozong.
As Zhao Wuwei had just finished reporting, Wei Ruolan came back.
He strode to the front of the hall, saw that the door was not closed, and walked straight in without hesitation. He looked at Sun Shaozong, who was standing, and arched his hand casually, saying, "Governor Sun, I have already met the Magistrate and Minister. Can I now officially take over the office?"
This guy neither called Sun Shaozong "Master" nor used the appropriate title, but rather referred to himself as "I" as if he didn't regard Sun Shaozong as superior.
He was really a typical "in-law party. With the courtesy of others, he smoothly completed several tasks and became a bit overbearing!
Although Sun Shaozong couldn't do what Jia Yucun did, spitting on his face and welcoming him with a smile, he wouldn't be so foolish as to follow his rhythm, lower his IQ to the same level, and be defeated by his "rich experience of doing stupid things."
So he raised his hand, pointed to the stack of files on the table next door, and said coolly, "After the Ministry of Experience and Justice has reviewed and approved the documents, you have officially taken office. These are the files accumulated in the past month. You can take a look and see if there is anything you don't understand."
When he heard the words "files," Wei Ruolan's eyes lit up, but he didn't bother to examine them. He raised his head and chest and said, "Speaking of files, I have a case here, and I want to ask Governor Sun for advice!"
Without waiting for Sun Shaozong's response, he sneered, "I heard that on the nineteenth of the first month, Governor Sun had a trial on a case of disobedience case. For some of your actions during the trial, I really cant agree with them. If I have to evaluate it, I'm afraid I can only describe it as absurd.
Hehe~
Seeing this guy's "aggrieved" expression, Sun Shaozong couldn't help but sneer.
Even if he lacked the talent, Wei Ruolan came prepared. Speaking provocatively without caution, there was surely an implied meaning behind it.
Opposing head-on would only lead to falling into a trap. The correct response should be to avoid direct confrontation and be subtle.
"Absurd?"
Sun Shaozong stood up in surprise, facing Wei Ruolan's even more surprised gaze, and said with a bow, "This is my first time presiding over a case in Court. There may be some mistakes, so please don't hesitate to teach me, and I will improve myself."
Faced with this "sincere" attitude, Wei Ruolan was dumbfounded.
The case had been praised as a great success outside. According to reason, it should have been Sun Shaozong's pride and joy. After being belittled for no reason, how could he just admit defeat?
This was completely different from the script he had designed earlier!
What happened to his youthful enthusiasm?
It took a while for Wei Ruolan to regain his composure. He thought to himself that at least the other party had admitted defeat, and although it didn't make Sun Shaozong lose face as he had expected, it was still a gain.
Thinking of this, Wei Ruolan said in a deep voice, "Our country advocates filial piety for nation-building, but Governor Sun lightly sentenced those two disobedient people. Such protection of two unfilial persons is extremely absurd."
As expected, he brought up this point!
In fact, Sun Shaozong had anticipated it earlier, as Lin Delu had pointed out the issue of lenient sentencing before.
"So, why don't you draft a statement and send it to me, and I'll re-sentence it heavily?" Sun Shaozong said with a smile.
This
Did he agree to re-sentence it?
As a newly appointed court official, shouldn't he try everything to maintain his authority?
Wei Ruolan was stunned again but saw that Sun Shaozong's expression became solemn, and he said seriously, "Assistant Magistrate Wei, I have taken your advice to heart, but here I also have some heartfelt words to share with you."
"The Central Judicial Office is not the military. When facing superiors, we cant be careless without etiquette. We are all martial officials, but if you behave as you did earlier and offend the Minister and the Magistrate, what will become of you?"
Who offended the Minister and the Magistrate?
He was clearly just targeting him on purpose!
Wei Ruolan thought to himself, but in the government office, this reason couldnt be clearly stated.
"Lin Delu!"
Sun Shaozong shouted again and asked, "I heard that Clerk Chen writes well. Is that true?"
"Indeed, many people come to ask for his handwriting every month," Lin Delu replied quickly.
"Then go and ask him to write two scrolls for me, one with the words think carefully and be cautious and hang it in my room. The other with the words be humble and avoid arrogance and send it to Assistant Magistrate Wei's room."
As he spoke, Sun Shaozong solemnly bowed and said, "Assistant Magistrate Wei, let's take this opportunity to encourage each other."
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