White Cat Legend Episode 7 Recap
> White Cat Legend Recap
Li Bing took Chen Shi to Court of Judicial Review's Mingjing Hall to tidy up the room. Everything was neat and tidy, and Chen Shi, having nothing to do, felt uncomfortable all over. Li Bing told Chen Shi to slowly get used to it. Early the next morning, everyone in Mingjing Hall was yawning. They had discussed the new Deputy Minister's past all night and didn't sleep well.
Especially Wang Qi, who slept next to Sun Bao, said Sun Bao's snoring was thunderous in the latter half of the night, and he barely closed his eyes all night. Past noon, several people saw that the two Deputy Ministers hadn't appeared yet. It being the first day in a new position, everyone unanimously agreed that whoever arrived at the main hall first would be at a disadvantage.
Chen Shi, holding steaming hot meat buns, invited the officers to eat buns. Just after they finished eating, Li Bing and Shangguan Qin arrived in succession. Li Bing exchanged a few familiar words with everyone, while Shangguan Qin directly announced that every Mengchun (first month of spring) was the season for Court of Judicial Review officials' assessments. She asked everyone to prepare well, stating that merits would be rewarded accordingly, and those whose performance was unsatisfactory would be ruthlessly eliminated.
Wang Qi secretly cursed the cruelty of the system. Li Bing interjected, saying that this system was precisely proposed by him back then. Because it was reasonable and practical, it was initially only implemented in Mingjing Hall and was later promoted to the entire Court of Judicial Review. Shangguan Qin brought up the past year's performance of the four officers in Mingjing Hall, stating that besides the Caisheng Zheshu case and the demon cat case, they had done nothing else.
Several people exchanged glances. Shangguan Qin handed over the responsibility of Mingjing Hall to Li Bing. Li Bing instructed the several people to prepare their reports as quickly as possible. Returning to Mingjing Hall, Li Bing felt a sense of familiarity. When he was in his teens, he had followed his father to work in Mingjing Hall. Now, things were different, which couldn't but evoke a sense of感慨 (melancholy/reflection). The several people took turns giving their reports.
Wang Qi served as the manager of Mingjing Hall. As he came from a Yangzhou merchant family, his thinking was unique and his perspective broad. He oversaw various matters. Cui Bei was responsible for recording and drawing portraits of criminals. Sun Bao primarily handled external matters. Alibaba was diligently preparing for the Court of Judicial Review编制 (official position/examination). Since Alibaba was a 胡人 (Hu/foreigner), Li Bing took out a token from a 胡寺賭坊 (Hu Temple Casino) for Alibaba to identify.
Alibaba hadn't seen a similar style, but decided to discreetly inquire about it later. Hu Si came to Mingjing Hall to distribute salaries to the several people. It was only a few taels of silver. Hu Si explained that Court of Judicial Review paid salaries based on performance. Because the four people in Mingjing Hall had only solved two cases in the past year, they were only allocated a small salary.
After Hu Si left, Wang Qi explained that Court of Judicial Review cases were divided into four categories: Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding. They had indeed received a few Ding category cases, but even solving them didn't bring a sense of achievement, so they had piled up on their desks with no progress. Li Bing scolded the several people for only wanting to claim credit.
From now on, no matter whether a case was Jia, Yi, Bing, or Ding level, they must take it seriously. Chen Shi, not having been assigned a new task and being unable to stay idle, cleaned the inside and outside of Mingjing Hall thoroughly every day.
One day, while buying groceries in the street, a simple-minded girl saw the Court of Judicial Review waist token hanging from Chen Shi's waist and followed him to Court of Judicial Review to beat the drum and appeal for justice. Shangguan Qin told Li Bing that the simple-minded girl was the younger sister of an official from the Ministry of Justice, and she had come to Court of Judicial Review to report a case more than once.
However, after verification, the girl's brother, Yuanwailang (a type of official), had committed suicide by hanging in the Ministry of Justice office three months prior. The case was handled by the Ministry of Justice, and a conclusion had been given. Court of Judicial Review was on the same level as the Ministry of Justice and had not conducted further in-depth investigation, only performing a symbolic review.
The simple-minded girl did not intend to leave and kept kneeling in front of the hall, crying out that she was wronged. Li Bing asked Chen Shi to take the simple-minded girl away first. When Chen Shi took the girl to the dining hall to eat, several managers from Jicitang (a charitable institution) burst in, demanding to take the girl back. The girl was very resistant, retreating repeatedly.
Chen Shi asked the several people to let the simple-minded girl stay at Court of Judicial Review for a few days, but the other party disagreed. Li Bing arrived in time and stated that the simple-minded girl was the plaintiff. Before the case was solved, it was reasonable and appropriate for her to stay at Court of Judicial Review.
