60: Chapter 60 The elder brother is arrested and imprisoned

[Simulation Day 13, you harvested three taels of sea salt]

[Simulation Day 14, you harvested five taels of sea salt]

[Simulation Day 15, you harvested eight taels of sea salt]

[Simulation Day 16, you harvested one jin of sea salt]

[...]

[Simulation Day 20, there is already ten jin of sea salt at home]

[Simulation Day 21, you secretly sold this salt to a private salt merchant in town and received one thousand copper coins. In the evening, you and Yingzi each had a beggar's chicken; it was so delicious!]

[Simulation Day 22, something happened. In the evening, a large squad of government officials rushed to your doorstep on horseback, beat you up, nearly beating you to death, and then dragged you away to be imprisoned in the county jail. It turned out someone had reported you for selling salt. Fortunately, Yingzi had gone out to pick perilla and only returned after dark; she wasn't beaten and escaped arrest...]

"Yingzi, your elder brother has been taken away by the government officials!"

Upon hearing this news, the perilla in Yingzi's hands quietly slipped away. Her small frame trembled violently, and she was instantly at a loss, not knowing what to do...

Immediately after, she silently walked toward home. When she witnessed the house turned upside down and in complete disarray, and then saw bloodstains on the floor, her tears gushed out like a bursting river.

"Elder brother! Elder brother! What should I do!"

"Wuwuwu..."

Yingzi knelt on the ground alone, wailing loudly.

There was no one around to comfort her, and no one to offer her any advice. The villagers were all barely able to feed themselves; how could they care about the life or death of others...

...

Simulation Day 25.

Donglin County government office, prison cell.

Su Fan crouched in the cell, his hands and feet shackled. His face was covered in blood, two of his teeth had been knocked out, and his lips were stained with bloody foam...

When the jailer came to deliver food, he begged the jailer: "Big brother, I have a younger sister at home. I'm very worried about her. Could you help me send a message to her? Just tell her I'm doing fine in the cell, and tell her to be careful when she goes to the latrine, don't fall in, there's something in the latrine..."

Most of the money he had earned in these past days had been confiscated by the government officials, but he had hidden three hundred copper coins in the latrine for emergencies.

He was worried that his sister would go hungry, so he wanted to use the message to tell her—there was money hidden in the latrine. He believed that with his sister's cleverness, she would definitely be able to understand the hidden meaning.

Who would have thought, the jailer just waved his hand, threw a bowl of swill-like vegetable slop onto the ground, glared at the young boy in front of him with disdain, and snorted: "Hmph, at such a young age, you dare to sell salt privately. You really don't want to live!"

"Big brother, I didn't sell salt privately. This is salt I dried from seawater!"

"You brat... The sea belongs to the commandery, it belongs to the imperial court. Drying salt from seawater? You actually thought of that! Whether it's salt or seawater, it all belongs to the imperial court. Without the court's permission, and you still say you didn't sell salt privately? I think you're really looking for death, you're completely thick-headed!"

"Big brother, will I be sentenced to death?"

Su Fan thought to himself, his simulation this time was supposed to last 15 years; he wouldn't be offed this quickly, would he?

The jailer's words made him breathe a little easier: "Rest assured! You won't die. You're not even 15 yet! According to the laws of this commandery, those under 15 are not subject to beheading."

Su Fan had just stroked his chest and caught his breath when the jailer sat sloppily on a stool, but the next sentence made him freeze—

"However, while the death penalty can be avoided, living punishment is inevitable. In your situation, there are only three outcomes."

"Big brother, please tell me, what are the three outcomes?"

Su Fan gazed eagerly at the jailer sitting on the stool. The jailer, with his back to him, took a sip of wine before continuing:

"The first outcome: exile for three thousand li, becoming a mine slave, digging mines for a lifetime, until death..."

"The second outcome: no need for exile for three thousand li, you will..."

"What will happen?"

"Little guy, you have to know that the mines of our commandery are mainly in the Northern Frontier. Let alone exile for three thousand li, even with exile for two thousand or one thousand li, you might freeze to death on the way..."

Hearing this, Su Fan's heart skipped a beat. Both outcomes were very bad. Even if he survived, he would have to dig mines for a lifetime in darkness; this was too desperate...

Thinking of this, he hurriedly asked: "Then what about the third outcome?"

"As for the third outcome..."

The jailer used his chopsticks to pick up a peanut from the plate, tossed it into his mouth, chewed slowly for a while, and then continued in a slow, gentle voice: "As for this third outcome, after the County Magistrate passes judgment, noble people will come to buy slaves. As long as you are not a death-row prisoner, it is possible to be bought by these nobles. It just depends on whether you have the fate to be bought..."

"Why is that? If the criminals are all bought by nobles, how will the county answer to the imperial court?"

Su Fan asked the jailer with a face full of confusion.

The jailer looked back at him and let out a disdainful sneer: "Are you stupid? The imperial court evaluates the performance of local officials based on two things: first, the amount of local tax revenue, and second, local public security and population growth. The County Magistrate sells some criminals to nobles and then closes the cases. Firstly, it increases the county's fiscal revenue, and secondly, it reduces the number of public security cases. What a perfect solution, how wise!"

"Isn't that bending the law for personal gain?"

Su Fan looked at the jailer and said in a low voice.

The jailer grabbed his chopsticks, reached inside, and violently struck Su Fan on the head twice: "Are you tired of living, brat! Our County Magistrate makes money, we subordinates get to drink the soup, and you have a chance to survive—three benefits in one... tell me, are you tired of living!!"

After being rapped on the head twice, feeling his head buzzing, Su Fan dared not argue with this guy anymore.

He thought to himself, even if he went to be a slave for someone, life probably wouldn't be easy, right?

He sighed in his heart. Ah, one misstep really leads to everlasting sorrow. No wonder those villagers didn't follow suit and dry salt; it seems they all understood that this is a capital crime...

...

Outside the County Government Office.

A small figure was pacing at the main entrance of the county government office. Her thin, weak frame appeared very lonely in the crowd. She gripped a stick tightly in her hand, sniffing from time to time, looking at the coming and going crowd with a lost expression...

Walking from the coastal fishing village to the county town took her an entire day. Her small feet had developed blisters, and for these past two days, she hadn't had a single full meal. When hungry, she would dig up wild vegetables and perilla to eat.

Because her elder brother had told her that one must have dignity as a person, and one should not accept handouts even if starving to death.

One cannot kneel and kowtow to others just for a bite to eat.

Even more so, one cannot harm others for the sake of one's own survival.

So she would rather eat wild vegetables and perilla than steal, rob, or beg.

Being still young, she didn't know whom to beg to save her elder brother. She kept pacing outside the county government office. Seeing someone beat the drum to file a complaint, she also wanted to beat the drum, but her small frame couldn't reach the drum mallet at all, so she had to give up...

Finally, she saw an old grandfather holding a petition, looking very kind-hearted. She asked the old man how to save someone from the county prison.

The old man kindly instructed her: "If he was wrongly accused, you need to find connections, give bribes, explain the situation, and then submit a petition requesting a public trial by the county office. If it is proven that he is indeed innocent, the county magistrate will naturally release him..."

Upon hearing "silver," Yingzi's face showed difficulty.

She didn't even have a single copper coin on her; where would she get silver?

But hearing that she could also rely on writing a petition to plead for justice, she immediately hugged the old grandfather's leg: "Grandfather, my elder brother was wrongly accused. Please help me, help me write a petition!"

Seeing that she was a pitiful little girl, the old grandfather agreed: "Then tell me, how was your elder brother taken away? From beginning to end, tell me in detail..."

"It's like this: that day, my elder brother was drying seawater on the beach, and then he got some salt, and then... and then..."

Yingzi recounted the whole process in detail.

Unexpectedly, after hearing this, the old grandfather's face turned black: "Privately selling salt is a capital crime! And you say he was wrongly accused? Sigh, this is all fate! This old man cannot help you either!"

After speaking, he walked away without looking back.

Yingzi watched the old grandfather leave with a disappointed look. Afterward, she begged a few more people who looked kind, but the answers she received were all the same.

No one could help her.

"Sigh, elder brother, what should I do..."

Yingzi walked on the street with a dejected face, feeling more and more miserable as she thought about it, her tears falling onto the street surface pitter-patter...

Just at this moment, a group of half-grown children suddenly appeared in front of her. The leader, about thirteen or fourteen years old and looking like a beggar, pointed at her and laughed: "Beggar woman! Beggar woman!"

"Don't think that just because you braided your two smelly pigtails, I wouldn't recognize you, you beggar woman!"

"Hahahaha! Last time, your elder brother's head was smashed open by me with a stone. Beggar woman, come and hit me!!"

Hearing these mocking words and looking at the person in front of her, Yingzi's eyes instantly turned bloodshot. Without a word, she grabbed her stick and swung it fiercely at the person!

This half-grown child was a famous Young Beggar in the county, known as the "Young Beggar." Because he knew a few moves of martial arts, he was quite prominent among the beggars and had become a small leader.

At this moment, facing the stick Yingzi swung, he didn't dodge at all, intending to catch it with his bare hands.

Who would have thought, the stick in Yingzi's hand carried a gust of wind, a force of True Qi that secretly aligned with the martial Dao. As this stick swung down, the Young Beggar not only failed to catch it, but blood was streaming from his palm...

It turned out that the gust of wind was like a blade, directly cutting his palm.

He thought there was some hidden weapon on the stick, so while groaning in pain, he pointed at Yingzi: "Beggar woman, today I must kill you!"

"Everyone, come at her together, kill her!"

A group of Young Beggars swarmed up and surrounded Yingzi.

Just at this moment, on the roof, a woman in white, wearing a bamboo hat and a veil over her face, saw the scene just now.

"Eh? True Qi Spiritual Root?"

"She is indeed a good seedling for the martial Dao. Our Great Yan Empire is in need of warriors, so this trip won't be in vain..."

As she spoke, she descended, released a gust of True Qi, and repelled the group of Young Beggars.

Afterward, she grabbed Yingzi's hand and leaped onto the roof...