He waited there until it was the time of the night that the manager would come and check the towers.
When he passed, nobody was watching, so Jie snatched him into his hiding spot. He covered his mouth, and told
him there was a conspiracy against the money scandal against his parents.
“
Here is the conspiracy notes, believe me or not, but this is my only chance. Help.” Jie said, slowly
releasing the manager mouth from his hand. The manager nervously looked away from Jie and down at the
notes.
“
I will only do my job – And this is what I have to do…” The manager said.
“
Thank you. I rely on you completely, and should I really trust that you won’t go and tell on me…?”
“
You’ll have to trust me.”
Jie let him go, and was gone within seconds. The next day, at the execution arena, his parents were
there on the stage about to be hung. Their hands tied behind their backs, and the floor, waiting to open.
“
Any objections before these ‘cheaters’ get hung? Anyone?” The executioner provoked.
“
Yes…” Out of the crowd. A voice. Nervous? Scared? “I have… proof! They didn’t do anything…”
The manager squeaked.
“
I’m telling you, we didn’t do anything!” Jie’s father screamed.
“
Silence! What proof?” The executioner provoked again.
“
Here! Notes! It’s all a conspiracy!” The manager piped up a little bit. Jie listened silently, nervously,
watching the executioner’s hands. They were carelessly moving around the lever that would trigger the floor to
open.
“
Give them here…!” The executioner took them, glanced at it and folded it, and put them away. “This
isn’t proof of anything!” Jie came from behind and in an instant, had his arm around his neck, threatening him to
move. The dagger, dug into his back.
“
This IS proof! Release them, or I’ll take revenge on every single official alive, and I will take down
the whole Chinese army!” He shouted. The executioner looked around as if he didn’t know what to do. The
guards did the same. What were they going to do? It was their choice.
Jie took the notes out, and read them to the crowd. He used the executioner as a backup for the
audience to believe him, like he even had a choice to disagree. The audience nodded and looked around. The
guards did the same. They went up to stage, ignored Jie, and took his parents down. They ignored their bruised
neck and ran to Jie. He hugged them, and greeted them. He was extremely relieved that it worked. He gave his
trust into a manager, and he did as he should have.
The next morning, when Jie woke up, everyone was talking about rumors about the government being
put into prison for the act of treason. There also were some changes in the village itself - there were fixes on
buildings, things were cleaner, and the prices of things decreased as well. It must’ve been because the taxes
decreased. Everything was going fine, and Jie’s father was still working at the bank, despite the government
framing him for stealing money there.
Jie went and climbed up into church tower, easier than he did before, and sat at the top ledge. What
else was to come? He stared down at his village, as a hero would to his city.
* * *