The "hard-necked" County Magistrate Fights The Princess

"Boom, boom, boom!" Early in the morning, the sound of drums in front of the Luoyang County government office suddenly rang out, startling Luoyang County Magistrate Dong Xuan, who was having breakfast, and he hurried to the court.

The person who complained was a woman who claimed to be the wife of a jeweler. She said that in the morning, a man named Gao Pingfu came to their jewelry store and wanted to buy a pearl necklace for his wife. He insisted that the jeweler sell it to him at half the price, but the jeweler naturally refused. But Gao Pingfu was arrogant and overbearing. When he could not reach an agreement on the price, he punched the jeweler and made him bleed from the nose. The jeweler did not show weakness and fought with Gao Pingfu. The vicious Gao Pingfu pulled out a dagger from his body and killed the jeweler with one knife. He took the pearl necklace and walked away as if nothing had happened.

Dong Xuan was furious when he heard this. Luoyang City was the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty. How dare someone commit murder so blatantly under the feet of the emperor? This is outrageous! He immediately ordered the detectives to arrest the murderer Gao Pingfu. But the detectives seemed not to hear him and stood in the hall without moving. Dong Xuan was a little puzzled and asked sternly: "Why are you standing there? Bring the criminal to the hall!" But the detectives in the hall still did not move. After a long time, a yamen runner whispered to Dong Xuan: "Sir, Gao Pingfu is the coachman in the Huyang Princess's mansion. After he killed someone, he hid in the princess's mansion. We can't get in at all. Besides, even if we get in, what can we do to him? If the princess gets angry, I'm afraid you will be in trouble!"

Dong Xuan was even more furious after hearing this. He shouted, "The prince broke the law, and he is guilty of the same crime as the common people! Someone committed a crime in Luoyang City. If I, the magistrate of Luoyang County, don't investigate, what is the point of my being a parent official? Let's go! I will go with you to catch the wanted criminal. I don't believe that Princess Huyang will eat me up."

Princess Huyang was the eldest sister of Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu. She relied on her brother being the current emperor to be arrogant and do whatever she wanted. Even the servants in her house ignored the court's decrees. No one dared to offend her, whether in the court or outside. There were many royal relatives in Luoyang City who often made troubles by imitating Princess Huyang. Dong Xuan had long wanted to punish these dignitaries.

However, the bailiff was right. When Dong Xuan led the detectives to the princess's mansion, the servants in the princess's mansion stood in front of the mansion gate with arrogance, sneering at Dong Xuan, the small magistrate of Luoyang County, and did not take him seriously at all. Dong Xuan wandered outside the princess's mansion for a long time, but still could not get in. The servants in the princess's mansion were waiting to see Dong Xuan's joke and see how he would step down. Unexpectedly , Dong Xuan was not in a hurry at all. He knew that Princess Huyang was arrogant and wanted to save face. The more respectful he behaved, the more she would look down on him. He thought to himself: "Since you don't let me in, I will wait for you to come out!"

He had a chair moved and sat on the street in front of the princess's mansion, patiently waiting for the murderer to appear. Although Princess Huyang did not take Dong Xuan seriously, she also heard that he was honest and fearless. If he insisted on making things difficult for her, it would be difficult to deal with him. Moreover, she was in the wrong. Besides, as a princess, she was fighting with a county magistrate. It would be unfair and laughable. It was better to ignore him and let him retreat. However, she had also made up her mind that if Dong Xuan did not know the seriousness of the matter and continued to pester her, she would go to the emperor to complain, accusing Dong Xuan of not doing his job and wandering around the street every day.

Dong Xuan waited outside the princess's mansion for three days in a row, but got nothing. He was secretly anxious. The yamen had a lot of official business to deal with, so he couldn't spend every day here. He rolled his eyes and thought he could only act rogue. He turned and entered the teahouse opposite the princess's mansion, chose a seat by the window, and drank tea, but his eyes were fixed on the gate of the princess's mansion. Then he called a young constable to him and whispered a few words to him. The young constable was stunned, then laughed and turned away. Not long after, an old man selling turtles suddenly appeared on the street in front of the princess's mansion. He put the turtle on the street and shouted at the top of his throat: "I'm selling turtles that shrink their heads. Pure turtles that shrink their heads. If anyone doesn't believe it, you can make a bet with me. Whoever can make this turtle stick its head out, I will pay him ten big bucks!"

The street was paved with large bluestone slabs, which were hot enough to roast eggs in the June noon sun. The turtle was so scalded that it shrank into its shell, motionless, and dared not stick its head out. The old man's shout immediately aroused the interest of passers-by. No one had ever encountered such a new thing, so they tried it one after another, and the turtle really didn't move at all. Everyone's interest was even higher, and more and more people gathered to watch. Someone shouted: "Big turtle, why don't you come out? Are you scared?" Others shouted: "Turtle is born timid, how dare it come out when seeing so many people?"

Princess Huyang stayed at home and was able to keep calm at first, but when she heard these words, she was so angry that her face turned green. She knew that this must be Dong Xuan's trick to humiliate her, but if he and the people in the government office did not show up, she would not be able to find any evidence against him to complain to the emperor. However, she had been spoiled since she was a child and had a stubborn temper. In the past few days, Dong Xuan had been guarding the door of her mansion, saying that he wanted to catch the murderer, which had already made her lose face. Now that he made such a fuss, she finally couldn't bear it anymore and shouted: "Dong Xuan, this princess has been tolerant of you again and again, you are too much!" She brought a large number of servants and asked Gao Pingfu to drive the carriage for her, and came out of the mansion in a mighty manner.

Dong Xuan was sitting in the teahouse and saw everything clearly. He shouted to the detectives, "Catch them!" and rushed over first, blocking the carriage of Princess Huyang. Seeing that Dong Xuan really didn't take her seriously, Princess Huyang was so angry that she stomped her feet in the carriage and said angrily, "Dong Xuan, don't you want to live?" Dong Xuan bowed to Princess Huyang and said, "As a princess, you should share the worries of the emperor, but you indulge your servants to do whatever they want, which is not the duty of a princess. I only ask the princess to hand over the murderer who killed people and stole treasures, and stop making things difficult for me. I will naturally be grateful to you!"

Princess Huyang was so angry that her face turned blue when she saw Dong Xuan scolding her in public. She pointed at Gao Pingfu in front of the carriage and said sternly, "Gao Pingfu is right here. How dare you do anything to him?" Dong Xuan knew that there was no point in arguing with Princess Huyang, and there was no need to argue with her. She waved her hand to the detectives and said, "Catch the murderer. I will bear all the consequences!"

The yamen runners were already fed up with Princess Huyang's arrogance. After hearing what Dong Xuan said, they cheered and rushed forward, pulling Gao Pingfu off the carriage. Gao Pingfu was so scared that he shouted, "Princess, help me! Lord Bao, help me!" Princess Huyang yelled at Dong Xuan, "You are so bold, you dog slave. I will report you to the emperor. Let's see how you will explain yourself. Let him go!"

Dong Xuan knew that Princess Huyang was not lying. If the emperor believed her, it would be very difficult to deal with. So he decided to go all out. He suddenly drew his sword and shouted, "Killing people and stealing treasures is a heinous crime! Such a villain should be executed immediately!" He waved his sword and executed Gao Pingfu on the spot.

Princess Huyang did not expect Dong Xuan to enforce the law in front of her. She was so angry that she almost fainted. She immediately rushed to the palace and cried to Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu, saying that Dong Xuan bullied her. Liu Xiu was also very angry after hearing her one-sided story and immediately summoned Dong Xuan to the palace.

After killing Gao Pingfu, Dong Xuan was ready to die for the law. Without waiting for Liu Xiu to speak, he said sternly: "Your Majesty revived the Han Dynasty by showing benevolence and eliminating violence. Now your majesty condones the princess to protect the murderous slave. I wonder how you can govern the world?" Liu Xiu was speechless and sent people to find out the truth of the matter. He knew that Dong Xuan did nothing wrong for the country and the people, and it was all Princess Huyang's fault. But she was his own sister, and he couldn't embarrass her too much. He had to give her a way out. After a pause, he said: "If you kowtow to the princess and apologize for your crime, I will not pursue your fault and spare your life."

Dong Xuan said loudly: "I am acting in accordance with the law. I have done nothing wrong. I have no crime to kowtow to!" Liu Xiu did not expect Dong Xuan to be so tough, and he was a little angry. Princess Huyang fanned the flames and said: "Your Majesty, Dong Xuan is too arrogant. He doesn't even take Your Majesty seriously!"

Liu Xiu snorted and ordered the eunuch to press Dong Xuan's head to the ground, forcing him to kowtow and apologize. But Dong Xuan supported himself with both hands, gritted his teeth and held on, but refused to bow his head. The eunuch was sweating all over and said to Liu Xiu: "Your Majesty, this man's neck is too hard, we can't press it down."

Seeing this, Liu Xiu was so angry that he laughed. He knew Dong Xuan's character and stopped making things difficult for him. He waved his hand and said, "Kick this stubborn guy out!"

As a result, Dong Xuan was nicknamed the "hard-necked" county magistrate. Later, Liu Xiu not only did not punish Dong Xuan, but also rewarded him with 300,000 yuan. However, Dong Xuan distributed all the money to the yamen runners who helped him catch the murderer. From then on, the arrogant and powerful people in Luoyang City restrained themselves much more than before.

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