CHAPTER 56: CHAPTER 55: REDEMPTION THROUGH PAYMENT

"Are your family members harmed by thieves?" Zhu Yu actually already had suspicions in his heart, but he deliberately led Dou Dajiang to speak for himself.

Dou Dajiang had been very calm earlier, but now his eyes were moist, and he shook his head: "They were all killed by my brother.

The neighbors said they heard screams coming from our yard. Without knowing what happened, they climbed up the wall to see what was going on. They saw my brother holding a knife, chasing and hacking at my wife...

They were terrified and hurried to report to the authorities, but by the time the officials arrived, my brother was gone, and the rest of the family was dead with knife wounds...

Later, they found my brother’s corpse outside, saying he died with blood flowing from his seven orifices. No one knew what happened, and even the coroner couldn’t figure it out.

They all said my brother suddenly went mad and killed the whole family, but I felt something was amiss.

My brother had been mentally slow for so many years and never harmed the family before. Why would he suddenly go berserk that day, hacking his own kin to death? I felt there was something strange about this case.

Later, when I returned home to clean up, I found that the powder I had ground that day had been mistakenly used by my wife as incense. She threw it into the censer to burn, and I suspected there was an issue with the fake goods sold to me by a swindler, which indeed turned out to be suspicious.

After that, I couldn’t continue living in my hometown, overwhelmed by grief day and night. I sold off everything, exchanged it for silver, and set out to search for that group of swindlers to seek justice.

But this search took several years. I’ve been everywhere, and not only have I never encountered those swindlers again, I haven’t even come across items resembling what I bought. Finding them feels as hopeless as finding a needle in a haystack."

He wiped his face with his hand, roughly: "Enough! I have no way to avenge myself, so I empathize with the mute.

I’ve indeed killed them. If you want to take off my head, go ahead! At worst, I’ll meet with my parents, wife, and children in the afterlife sooner!"

Zhu Yu waved to the runes standing by: "Take these two away!"

The two brothers followed the order, immediately stepping forward to capture Dou Dajiang and the mute, dragging them off, leaving only Li Wencai lying on the ground, unable to rise.

"Bring the County Magistrate and Chief Clerk up." Lu Qing, who had remained silent earlier, now spoke.

A few government officials dragged and hauled two people up.

If Lu Qing hadn’t mentioned their identities, Zhu Yu wouldn’t have recognized who had been dragged up.

The County Magistrate and Chief Clerk clearly had been beaten, now looking like Li Wencai, with disheveled hair. More importantly, both their hands appeared as if the fingers had been broken. Their faces were bloodstained and their mouths were cracked and bruised, evidently having been slapped.

"These two have long been Li Wencai’s minions, helping him create chaos in Qingshui County. Not only did they tamper with accounts and documents, deceiving superiors and betraying the law, but right in front of this officer they lied through their teeth, distorted facts, and attempted to deceive superiors and the court.

Tonight, these two corrupt officials shall be bound and hung at the entrance of the county government office. They shall remain there until the new County Magistrate is appointed!"

Lu Qing’s icy words were slow but piercing as daggers into the County Magistrate and Chief Clerk, although he never uttered the word "death," clearly leaving them no way out.

Even death would be tormenting.

The imperial guards outside, following orders, dragged them out, tied their hands with ropes, and hung them at the entrance of the county government office. The height was meticulously executed, with their toes barely off the ground, a most torturous distance.

Unlike the two, whose eyes rolled back ready to faint, the surrounding people of Qingshui County were ecstatic. As soon as the imperial guards had hung them, the crowd started gathering. Some picked up stones to throw at them, others followed suit, quickly exhausting the supply of stones on the ground.

Someone reminded: "Let’s not accidentally stone these scoundrels to death! That would be too merciful!"

Upon hearing this, everyone hurriedly stopped, turning to spit on the two.

In no time, the Chief Clerk and County Magistrate resembled someone hung to dry after being bathed, completely soaked.

Li Wencai, who had been lying on the ground moaning in pain, now made no sound. It wasn’t because he had fainted but because when he heard the Lord Imperial Censor’s sentence for his Chief Clerk and County Magistrate, he dared not utter another word.

At this moment, his not-so-bright mind was still calculating the silver he had spent, considering how he had paid no shortage of homage to those in power over the years, surely something would result.

Regardless of the bitter punishment the Imperial Censor might give him now, once he returned to the Capital, someone would find a way to protect him; after all, they were all in the same faction and looking out for each other was beneficial mutually.

Though he had no method to deal with the Golden-faced Imperial Censor, the figures in the Capital were skilled and resourceful, potentially possessing solutions!

Thus, he lay on the ground, enduring the fiery pain on his buttocks, not daring to make a sound, afraid of inadvertently angering this Gold-faced Imperial Censor and losing his life before reaching the Capital.

Fortunately, after dealing with the Chief Clerk, the Lord Imperial Censor seemed disinclined to bother with anything else, only instructing to lock him up in the jail, finding a doctor later to apply some antiseptic medicine to his buttock wounds.

Though it was merely basic treatment, it rekindled hope in Li Wencai, secretly thinking the Imperial Censor indeed dared not let him die.

On the other side, Lu Qing and Zhu Yu were unaware of Li Wencai’s thoughts. After dismissing the court, the two went to the jail, needing to ask Dou Dajiang some questions.

Although, earlier in court, Zhu Yu being pushed to center stage acted quite confident and capable, now in the back hall, she discreetly rubbed her chest, with her heart still pounding.

Lu Qing noticed her subtle movement, glanced at Zhu Yu: "Chief Historian displayed great skill earlier, forcefully punishing Li Wencai, doing so moved the mute and saved much talking afterward while appeasing the Qingshui County citizens outside the hall, truly a win-win."

"You flatter me, sir." Zhu Yu waved her hand, "I merely imitated what you did when you executed the two wicked shopkeepers that day."

"If you did not know much about conviction matters beforehand, you possess keen insight."

"In my free time, I roughly browsed through the books in my father’s study, possessing some knowledge." Zhu Yu replied.

She spoke truthfully, only without mentioning her deliberate search for judicial literature related to the Four Seas and Five Countries, especially taking note of the laws of Jin Country after receiving a marriage grant.

After all, being married to a completely unfamiliar place alone, knowing the laws provides reassurance.

Lu Qing nodded, refraining from further commentary, walked a few steps, then suddenly addressed Zhu Yu again: " Do you know that according to the Great Jin Laws, flogging, beating, exiling, and death can all be redeemed by paying copper?"

"I know." Zhu Yu nodded, "Redemption for imprisonment requires twenty catties of yellow copper per year, increasing by ten catties for each reduction.

Exile requires one hundred catties of yellow copper per thousand miles reduction, and death requires one hundred twenty catties."

"A single piece of Blazing Jade outweighs a hundred catties of yellow copper." Lu Qing glanced at her.

Zhu Yu understood, nodding at him.

The runes and Fu Lu had accompanied Lu Qing for years, possessing deep understanding between master and servant. Earlier, they found the most secluded corner cell in the prison.

When Lu Qing and Zhu Yu approached, the mute was clutching Dou Dajiang’s sleeve, crying till breathless, while Dou Dajiang seemed genuinely indifferent to life and death, consoling the mute gently.