Hu Xingzhi, who was persuaded by Ren Qiying to watch the Public Trial Rally, wore very ordinary clothes. As a clan elder near the county town, even if he had some reputation, it didn't mean that most people in the county had met him. On the contrary, as a cadre of the People's Party, Ren Qiying often went in and out of the troops and the Reclamation Brigade for work; far more people knew her than Hu Xingzhi. Comparatively speaking, the number of common people paying "attention" to Ren Qiying far exceeded those noticing Hu Xingzhi. For this young female cadre of the People's Party, the gazes of everyone contained more envy, respect, and curiosity. Ren Qiying was already accustomed to being watched by the public like this. She looked calmly at the rostrum, not caring about the surrounding gazes at all.

There were also many people Hu Xingzhi knew among the common people. Not knowing if it was psychological, Hu Xingzhi felt that these common people treated him quite coldly. seeing Hu Xingzhi appear, the friendly ones at most smiled at him. More people just glanced at Hu Xingzhi a few times, and then looked excitedly at the public trial stage. Hu Xingzhi wasn't used to it at first, but soon he got over it. For more than half a year, Hu Xingzhi basically hadn't appeared in front of the common people; those who saved the common people were from the People's Party Insurance Corps. The common people naturally didn't buy Hu Xingzhi's account much anymore. Moreover, the trial rally had already begun, and the common people's attention was all focused on those landlords on the stage.

The first process of the Public Trial Rally was airing grievances. Relatives of victims had already jumped onto the stage, pointing at the landlords with gnashed teeth and beginning to recount their grievances. The common people were previously scattered in various villages; although beating people to death was a big event, most were just various rumors. When the relatives of the deceased pointed at the landlords and began to state their grievances, that feeling was truly indescribable.

The first one dragged out was Liu Yixuan. This landlord, who had explicitly expressed support for the People's Party, firmly supported Chen Ke when Chen Ke borrowed land from landlords back then. He never expected that the People's Party would actually turn hostile and not recognize people. Let alone the promised "People's Representative" was not honored at all, now they were actually preparing to take his life. Among the landlords, Liu Yixuan felt he was the most "wronged." But when a woman dressed in mourning walked onto the stage step by step towards Liu Yixuan, that feeling of grievance vanished immediately.

"Chairman Chen, this woman is a famous beauty in Liu Yixuan's village. In order to occupy this woman, Liu Yixuan failed to seduce her and simply used force. The woman's husband discovered this matter and was actually beaten to death by Liu Yixuan." Xu Dian and Chen Ke stood on the simple watchtower; Xu Dian introduced the situation to Chen Ke.

Chen Ke sneered. "An ugly wife, nearby land, and a tattered cotton-padded jacket. Comrade Xu Dian, these are called the Three Treasures of a farm family. Actually, who doesn't like beautiful girls? But farmers often can't keep their own wives. Hmph, my hometown is not very far from the Shaolin Temple. The Shaolin Temple is the biggest landlord in Songshan and also rents land to farmers. The monks in charge of renting land dared to say blatantly: those with good wives rent good land, those without good wives rent bad land, and those without wives have no land to farm."

When responsible for investigating the case files, Xu Dian already hated the evil deeds of the landlords extremely. Hearing Chen Ke say this, Xu Dian gritted his teeth tightly, eyes flashing with angry light. "Chairman Chen, when interrogating this guy Liu Yixuan, he actually dared to cry injustice, saying you promised him the official position of People's Representative."

"I did promise him at that time, that's right." Chen Ke admitted the fact frankly. After speaking, Chen Ke asked: "Comrade Xu Dian, you actually didn't run to ask me about this matter; I am very satisfied."

Xu Dian sighed and said somewhat embarrassedly: "I actually wanted to ask you at that time, Chairman Chen. But Comrade Lin Shenhe stopped me. He said since it is trying a case, the judicial organ interrogates criminals; it has nothing to do with whether these criminals are People's Representatives or not. So he didn't let me go find you."

"Oh? Comrade Lin Shenhe grasps principles very well. This point is worth learning." No emotion could be heard in Chen Ke's voice. Xu Dian looked at Chen Ke curiously, but saw Chen Ke looking at the stage of the Public Trial Rally expressionlessly. nothing else could be seen from his face.

"Chairman Chen, did I do something wrong?" Xu Dian felt the meaning in Chen Ke's calmness was not quite dissatisfaction. He asked.

"Xu Dian, don't bring your personal thoughts into work. I asked you to try cases, not to express your attitude to me. Don't think you want to be a Blue Sky Great Master [Upright Official] who fears no power. Even if you are a Blue Sky Great Master, wait until there is power oppressing you before you show me fearlessness of power and adherence to the law. Now no one said this Liu Yixuan cannot be tried, yet you want to make an issue of whether he is a People's Representative; why bother? Are you afraid someone will retaliate afterwards? Or are you afraid people won't know you dare to lay hands on anyone?"

As soon as Chen Ke finished speaking, Xu Dian's face turned red to the root of his neck. Chen Ke didn't even look at Xu Dian, but continued: "Xu Dian, striking criminals. For the people, this is a way to vent their anger. For the social system, this is a way to maintain order. For politics, this is a way to implement political programs. Every different level has different needs to satisfy. And all this is for one purpose: to let everyone live a better life. Not to show off your own prestige."

When Chen Ke turned his head to look at Xu Dian, he saw Xu Dian lowering his head deeply, turning his body slightly sideways, as if he dared not let Chen Ke's gaze fall on him. Chen Ke quickly patted Xu Dian's shoulder. "Comrade Xu Dian, doing this can be said to be because of youth; young people always want to establish their own achievements. This is very normal; I am not angry at all, nor do I find it surprising. In my view, haven't you thought in your heart that you don't want to be like those engaging in law under the old system? You want to be an honest, upright, fair, and just judicial worker. You hope there is no high or low before the law, and everyone is equal before the law. I know; you have always hoped so. I also hope Comrade Xu Dian you can always adhere to such an attitude and always have the backbone to fear no power. This is the attitude a legal worker should have."

After speaking, Chen Ke patted Xu Dian's shoulder again.

Chen Ke's words actually spoke out many things in Xu Dian's heart. The reason why Xu Dian strongly hoped for judicial independence was indeed largely because he wanted to achieve personal reputation. Those famous judges in Chinese legends, whether Bao Zheng or Di Renjie, were hard bones who feared no power and dared to struggle. An honest official needs character. Although he studied law in Japan, and Western law at that, in his bones, Xu Dian still had that "Qingliu" [Upright Scholar] attitude. He hoped he could also leave his name in history and be praised by future generations. That was why Xu Dian maintained a kind of resistance and negation towards Chen Ke's persistence in political leadership over law.

Having that bit of selfishness in his heart exposed straightforwardly by Chen Ke, Xu Dian's shame was far more intense than he imagined. Because of unbearable shame, Xu Dian dared not raise his head all along.

"Raise your head and look at me." Chen Ke's voice was deep and powerful. Xu Dian gritted his teeth, with a face full of annoyance and shame, but finally raised his head and looked at Chen Ke.

Chen Ke pressed his hands on Xu Dian's shoulders, looking at Xu Dian with an encouraging smile. "Comrade Xu Dian, you joined the revolution for ideals. Making these mistakes counts as nothing in my view, because I also did such things when I was young. I probably did more than you, not less. It's just that later I understood: if a person wants to realize his value, just like you want to be a good judge who leaves a name in history, your starting point is not to perform what a good judge should do, not to let others see. But when you face work, you judge cases well from the bottom of your heart. Not to let others see that you are judging cases well."

Just at this time, a burst of shouting suddenly came from in front of the stage of the Public Trial Rally: "Kill him!" "Kill him!" "Kill Liu Yixuan, this dog thing!" Not many people shouted at first, but soon more people began to shout. Chen Ke and Xu Dian both turned to the stage. They saw the woman in mourning on the stage crying loudly while pouncing madly to beat the head of Liu Yixuan kneeling on the ground. The staff were afraid the woman would beat Liu Yixuan to death, so they hurried up to pull the two apart. And the common people below the stage shouted slogans angrily.

Because of the distance, one could only see the woman's shoulders heaving violently while crying bitterly, but couldn't hear the sound. Watching such a scene, even the ashamed Xu Dian felt the emotions in his heart gradually being driven by the people's anger. After a good while, the wave of the masses' anger subsided slightly. Xu Dian turned his head to look at Chen Ke, only to see Chen Ke staring at the stage of the trial rally, still with a calm and serious face, as if he wasn't affected by the masses' emotions at all.

But when Chen Ke turned his head to look at Xu Dian, Xu Dian discovered that Chen Ke's gaze had become extremely sharp.

"Comrade Xu Dian, don't be a good judge for yourself; you have to be a good judge for these people. When those landlords slaughtered the people back then, the people were as angry as now. But at that time, there was no People's Party of ours and our army to back up the people. The people had grievances with nowhere to appeal, and had to be retaliated against by those landlords and bullies. Now with the people's team, there is justice belonging to the people. Justice is the sharp sword of the people's revolution, but the goal of the people's revolution is not just to complete judicial justice. It also wants to let the people live a better life. So I have always opposed the statement that politics cannot interfere with justice; I think this is wrong."

"I was wrong on this matter." Xu Dian admitted his mistake to Chen Ke for the first time. "In this regard, I will learn from Comrade Lin Shenhe."

"Comrade Lin Shenhe is different from you. Comparatively speaking, I would rather you keep your current appearance." Chen Ke raised an objection without hesitation.

"Why?" Xu Dian felt very surprised.

"Because you are a revolutionary; you believe your justice and strength come from an ideal and pursuit. What you are loyal to first is the ideal of revolution. But as I see it now, Comrade Lin Shenhe is an excellent bureaucrat. For bureaucrats, the object of their loyalty is the system that gives them power and benefits. What Comrade Lin Shenhe is loyal to now is the new system we established through revolution. On this point, you and Comrade Lin Shenhe are different."

Xu Dian, who thought he understood Chen Ke's thoughts a bit just now, began to be confused again. What exactly is the difference between a revolutionary and a bureaucrat under the revolutionary system? Xu Dian was not clear now.

Chen Ke didn't want to explain too much either. He simply gave Xu Dian an operational goal. "You will understand in the future. I now require you to maintain your current state, just don't think about being a judge for your own reputation anymore, but judge cases well for the people. If you can't maintain such a state, I will remove you. Comrade Lin Shenhe has his advantages, and you have your irreplaceable strengths. Before you figure out the difference between the two, I require you to maintain your current self. Do you remember?"

Although still not clear about what exactly was going on, Xu Dian still answered categorically: "Yes, I remember."

"Alright. You go down now. Soon it will be your turn to go up and exercise the duties of a judge. Remember, think of nothing; follow your own ideal, justice must be fair. Do it according to such a concept." After speaking, Chen Ke slapped Xu Dian's shoulder heavily.

Watching Xu Dian go down the watchtower, Chen Ke sighed slightly.