AEOGA CH41

The advisor dared not speak another word.

“How are the disaster relief efforts in Quling progressing?” Xie Chongjin inquired of the Metropolitan Governor.

The Metropolitan Governor bowed and replied: “In response to Your Majesty, the grain has been fully distributed, the displaced refugees have been allocated funds for settlement, and civilian laborers are currently being mobilized to construct water conservancy projects to prevent flood disasters next year.”

When the imperial envoy’s entourage had first arrived in Quling, although the personnel arranged by the Prefect had put on a false display of a “warm welcome,” the true populace had been extremely unwelcoming of their arrival.

The so-called imperial envoys who had come in previous years had not been personally dispatched by Xie Chongjin, but rather assigned by the game system. The player paid no mind to state affairs, and those sent down were no good officials either; all of them colluded with local officials to prey upon the villagers, layer by layer embezzling the relief silver sent by the court. Not only did the populace fail to receive relief, but they were also exploited even more severely due to the arrival of the imperial envoy.

This year, however, was different from before. The imperial envoy sent down seemed to truly get real work done, engaging in not a single act of squandering or enjoyment, but genuinely observing and understanding the people’s condition. The relief money and grain fell into the hands of the populace without a single fraction missing. Homeless refugees built new houses with the court’s assistance, and were even helped with job arrangements so they could earn a living to support their families.

Having eaten hot, white rice porridge and moved into new houses that could shelter them from wind and rain, the populace saw what the court had done with their own eyes. Their hostility toward the imperial envoy was no longer as great, all saying that a rare good official had arrived this time.

Yet this good fortune was merely temporary. If the local corrupt officials were not eliminated, the misfortune would be long-lasting.

Xie Chongjin said: “Pass down Our order: today, We and the Empress shall personally hold a public trial. All the populace of Quling may attend and observe.”

The Metropolitan Governor said: “Your servant obeys.”

Xie Chongjin then took Lu Xuechao’s hand: “The Empress and We shall go change our clothes first.”

Since they were facing the populace in their capacities as Sovereign and Empress, there was no longer any need to conceal their faces from others.

…

By the time Xie Chongjin and Lu Xuechao changed their garments and returned once more to the main hall, everyone present instantly held their breath, either stunned or dazed, feeling only that they were witnessing divine beings.

The news that the Emperor and Empress had personally arrived in Quling and were holding a public trial at the Qiuling yamen quickly spread outward.

The populace of all Qiuling, and even citizens from neighboring counties and towns, swarmed over from all directions upon hearing the news, eager to catch a glimpse of the true countenances of the legendary Emperor and Empress.

Those were His Majesty and His Highness the Empress! People who they originally would never have had the chance to see in their entire lives—if they could steal a look from afar, it would be something they could brag about for a lifetime.

A curious heart is shared by all people; with such an opportunity placed before them, almost no one would let it pass by. What was more, His Majesty was personally trying the case; the people of Qiuling all knew in their hearts how absurd the original Qiuling County Magistrate was, so who did not look forward to watching the corrupt official brought to justice by His Majesty?

When a man from a neighboring county arrived in Qiuling on his donkey, a dense, dark crowd of people was already gathered outside the yamen, packed so tightly that not a drop of water could leak through, all of them having hurried over to watch the spectacle after hearing of the imperial presence.

The courtroom was solemn and quiet; with the Emperor and Empress present, the populace outside did not dare speak loudly, conversing only in hushed whispers.

Standing at the back of the crowd, he jumped with all his might, yet could only catch sight of a sea of the backs of heads. Listening to the people ahead gasping in low voices about the peerless, otherworldly demeanors of His Majesty and His Highness the Empress, he scratched his head and ears in anxious desperation.

Just what did His Majesty and His Highness the Empress look like?

With great effort, he finally caught an opportunity to squeeze through from the back all the way to the very front. Glancing up at the two men sitting side by side in the high hall, his eyes instantly went straight.

What others had praised was truly not exaggerated in the slightest.

Several thick stacks of case dossiers were laid out on the judge’s desk. The young and handsome purple-robed Emperor took the magistrate’s place, sitting beneath the plaque engraved with “Bright Mirror Hanging High,” while the original magistrate knelt on the floor in full body tremors to await judgment.

In the blink of an eye, their identities and circumstances had completely inverted. The one being interrogated sat high in the bright hall, while the one who had tried cases now awaited his sentence.

Just this sight alone made many commoners who had long suffered under Magistrate Zhang feel a secret sense of satisfaction.

Xie Chongjin had a chair brought over, letting Lu Xuechao sit by his side.

Xie Chongjin wore a deep purple imperial robe, embroidered with five-clawed golden dragons soaring through clouds and mist, noble beyond words. With his mask removed, his sword-like eyebrows and phoenix eyes, high-bridged nose and thin lips, carried an aura of majesty without anger.

Lu Xuechao wore a vermilion phoenix robe, with a white phoenix spreading its wings at the collar, upright, elegant, and dazzlingly gorgeous, as radiant as vibrant peaches and glamorous plums, bright and enchanting beyond measure.

They were originally the Black and White Immortals, now turned into the Vermilion and Purple Pair of Sovereigns. Standing apart, each was a uniquely peerless figure unsurpassed in the world; only when together did one realize that there truly existed in the mortal realm a pair of flawless jade figures who shared equal brilliance.

The first glance brought breathtaking awe, but the second glance made one bow their head, not daring to look again.

It took the man quite a while to recover before listening carefully to what was currently being tried.

The Emperor and Empress were trying an old, long-standing case.

“In the sixth month of the second year of Xichao, Liu reported to the court, stating that Li had defiled him. Li admitted he could not restrain his passions, and in the end, it was ruled that Liu be married to Li as a concubine,” Xie Chongjin read out calmly. “Which law was this ruled under? How is it that We were unaware of it?”

Magistrate Zhang stammered: “…A gentleman fulfills the beauty in others. That Liu had lost his chastity, so no one else would want him anyway. This lower official bringing them together was also for… for Liu’s own good.”

He truly thought so, not feeling at all that there was anything wrong with saying this in front of His Majesty.

“It seems you do not know either,” Xie Chongjin said indifferently. “Qingshu, tell him.”

Lu Xuechao said: “Article 279 of the Changli Legal Code: Anyone who forces another person, whether seeking pleasure, indulging in pleasure, or receiving pleasure, shall be sentenced to castration.”

The so-called castration penalty was the punishment of physical emasculation, which was far more tragic than that of actual palace servants. Palace servants of Changli merely ingested medicine that temporarily caused them to lose their male capabilities, for which an antidote existed. But if one committed the crime of coercion, it was direct physical castration, rendering them forever unable to offend again.

“Magistrate Zhang is truly learned and talented, even knowing that ‘a gentleman fulfills the beauty in others,'” Lu Xuechao commended without the slightest hint of sarcasm in his voice. “I wonder if you know the complete sentence: ‘A gentleman fulfills the beauty in others, but does not fulfill their evil. A petty man does the reverse.'”

This was stating directly that Magistrate Zhang was a petty man.

“Rule the marriage between Liu and Li invalid; sentence Li to castration, with half of his family property awarded to Liu as compensation,” Xie Chongjin did not even utter the word “divorce”. What divorce was there to speak of; the marriage between these two had been absurd and utterly devoid of sense to begin with.

“Yes, yes…” Magistrate Zhang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Speaking of divorce, Xie Chongjin saw another case dossier, his voice growing colder and colder as he spoke: “In the ninth month of the second year of Xichao, Sun reported to the court, stating he suffered long-term beatings from his husband and could no longer endure it, requesting a divorce; ruled no divorce. The following day, Sun’s family reported to the court that Sun had been beaten to death by his husband; ruled to strike the husband with twenty heavy wooden planks, whereupon the case was closed—”

Xie Chongjin hurled it forcefully, the heavy dossier carrying considerable strength as it slammed directly onto Magistrate Zhang’s face, causing blood to flow profusely from Magistrate Zhang’s forehead. Painful as it was, he did not dare utter a word.

The observing populace also took a collective step back, terrified by the Sovereign’s sharp and fierce aura into not daring to breathe heavily.

Yet in their hearts, they were all secretly cheering.

That was exactly how it should be done; it should have been done long ago. Watching Magistrate Zhang get hit, they felt as joyful as if celebrating a grand festival.

“Matching those who shouldn’t marry like a foolish matchmaker, yet refusing to grant a divorce to those who should. Is a human life worth only twenty wooden planks? Which law is this again that We have never heard of?”

Magistrate Zhang said in panic: “Your Majesty, it wasn’t your servant who wanted to rule it this way! It was… it was him! He was the one who told your servant to rule it like that! He said even an upright official finds it difficult to judge domestic affairs, and that a married couple quarreling and slipping up in the heat of the moment was not a crime worthy of death, which was why… why only twenty wooden planks were struck…” He pointed at the advisor kneeling to the side.

The advisor’s body shuddered. That case had indeed been settled by him; Sun’s husband had stuffed a few taels of silver into his hand, so he turned intentional murder into accidental homicide, using domestic affairs as a pretext to brush it off, letting the man off almost scot-free.

That man later married a new wife and, refusing to change his nature, continued to beat his wife daily. The wife suffered beyond words, yet hearing that his previous wife had been killed precisely because she reported to the court, she didn’t even dare to propose a divorce.

“On what logic should a crime be treated leniently just because it involves domestic affairs? Once a family is formed, does a life become cheap and worthless?” Lu Xuechao said. “Changli has no such rule.”

“A life for a life,” Xie Chongjin said coldly. “Go arrest him immediately.”

With a cold face, he flipped to the next dossier.

“In the first month of the third year of Xichao, a certain Wu fell into the water; a certain Zhou was present at the scene, and a certain Wang passed by and reported to the court; sentenced Zhou to death, to be executed in autumn…”

Xie Chongjin knitted his brows, intending to skip over this one and turn to the next dossier.

Looking at just a few lines of text, the true circumstances of this matter could not be known; with no other evidence currently available, judgment could not be passed for the time being and required careful investigation before a decision could be made. He would neither wrongly accuse a good person nor let off a bad one.

Suddenly, a person stood out from the crowd: “Big Zhou definitely didn’t kill anyone! Big Zhou is warm-hearted, usually helping us neighbors with work. He had no grievances or enmity with that man, how could he possibly have killed him?! It was clearly him saving a person!”

“That’s right, back when my child ran a fever in the middle of the night, I couldn’t leave the child’s side, and it was him who braved the rain in the night to fetch a doctor.”

“Last time my old father fell on the mountain, it was also Big Zhou who carried him down…”

More and more people stood up to speak for Big Zhou, testifying to his character.

Big Zhou was usually righteous, warm-hearted, and well-liked. When he was sentenced to death back then, a group of people had pleaded for mercy on his behalf, but Magistrate Zhang had stubbornly insisted on his own course.

Today, with His Majesty trying the cases, the populace had originally been deterred by imperial majesty and dared not say much; but watching His Majesty judge several cases with complete reason and justice, a sense of conviction was added on top of their awe, empowering them to speak freely before the throne.

Having heard this out, Xie Chongjin asked Magistrate Zhang: “You say he committed murder; aside from him being the only one present at the scene, is there any other evidence?”

Being present at the scene could mean saving someone just as easily as committing murder. Without sufficient evidence, the presumption of innocence should have been applied, and he should have been acquitted.

Magistrate Zhang: “…”

Naturally, there was none.

Xie Chongjin said in a chilly voice: “Without evidence, how dare you pass judgment on a person’s life?”

“Is that certain Zhou still in prison?”

A yamen runner replied: “In response to Your Majesty, he is still there.”

Since it was said he was to be executed in autumn, and it was currently still summer, Big Zhou was naturally still detained in prison. Such a long period in between was spent waiting for reports to be submitted to the Ministry of Justice for approval.

“Bring him up.”

“Yes.”

Before long, an upright-looking young man wearing prison attire was brought up. He had thought he was being dragged out for execution, and was already prepared to denounce the corrupt official before dying heroically; who knew that upon entering the courtroom, he would actually see Magistrate Zhang kneeling, and two…

Two immortal-like figures sitting above.

Big Zhou was stunned for a moment.

A yamen runner barked: “His Majesty and His Highness the Empress are before you, why do you not kneel!”

Big Zhou: “…???”

Had he gone mad from sitting in prison for half a year, coming out only to see His Majesty and His Highness the Empress?

Lu Xuechao stared at him and asked: “Half a year ago, was it you who killed the man?”

He asked very directly. Lu Xuechao was exceptionally skilled at observing words and expressions to begin with; honed through countless lifetimes, his ability to see through human hearts had reached perfection, making him practically a human lie detector, with few ever able to hide a lie from him.

Stared at by a heavenly beauty who was also His Highness the Empress of the current dynasty, Big Zhou felt a bit dizzy, but upon hearing the question, he still said with absolute certainty: “I didn’t kill anyone!”

Magistrate Zhang said urgently: “If you didn’t kill anyone, why did someone see you sitting by the river crying at the time?! Was it not out of a guilty conscience and fear after killing someone that you cried?!”

He knew it was difficult for him to escape his fate now, yet he still harbored a ray of fluke hope; if he hadn’t misjudged this case, perhaps he could make up for his mistake with this merit…

Big Zhou’s eyes revealed pain: “I regretted failing to save him.”

Even though he was wrongly accused because of it, he did not regret jumping into the water to save a person back then; he only regretted that he had not successfully saved him.

The self-reproach in his eyes was by no means fake.

Lu Xuechao whispered softly: “He didn’t lie.”

Xie Chongjin rubbed his temples and pronounced sentence: “Acquitted on the spot, granted… a residence and gold and silver as slight compensation. You may leave.”

Big Zhou was bewildered. Just through a single question and answer like that, he was acquitted right in court?

And could even receive court compensation?

Had he encountered living deities…

Dazedly, he walked out of the yamen, where several commoners outside who had received his help in the past immediately surrounded him in joy: “His Majesty is wise! His Highness the Empress is wise!”

Xie Chongjin and Lu Xuechao held the public trial continuously until dark, going through the dossiers and overturning cases one by one. He had dealt with ten thousand matters daily as Emperor, while Lu Xuechao assisted by his side; handling the affairs of a single county now was as effortless as fish in water, with extreme efficiency. Where there were points of doubt, they inquired of the local officers and commoners to understand the detailed facts. Magistrate Zhang and the advisor were initially evasive, attempting to conceal details, but Lu Xuechao could always perceive their lies and deduce the truth, leading them to simply give up entirely and confess everything.

By evening, as the setting sun sank in the west, none of the populace outside the yamen dispersed, and no one was discussing the appearances of His Majesty and His Highness the Empress anymore. Every time the Emperor and Empress finished reviewing a case, a wave of cheers erupted from the populace. What had started as mere curiosity and fear toward imperial authority gradually transformed into complete, deep respect and devotion.

This move by Xie Chongjin was for the people, and also to win back the hearts of the populace.

There were too many dossiers to finish reviewing in a single day, so the rest had to be handed over to the new County Magistrate for gradual re-investigation.

As for the current one…

Xie Chongjin’s knuckles rested on the judge’s desk, tapping lightly, yet it sounded more deafening than a heavily slammed gavel.

“Execute them on the spot.”

Magistrate Zhang turned ash-pale, kowtowing frantically: “Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, spare my life!”

Regardless of how they begged for mercy, the yamen runners still raised their executioner blades and pressed Magistrate Zhang and the advisor down onto the execution block.

Xie Chongjin said softly: “Qingshu need not look.”

A scene far too bloody would soil Lu Xuechao’s eyes.

Lu Xuechao said: “I am not afraid of watching this.”

As someone who had studied medicine, why would he fear seeing blood?

Instead, it was Xie Chongjin who was the one afraid of seeing blood, yet right now he showed no intention of avoiding it at all.

He wanted to watch; he wanted to watch these people who brought disaster upon the populace and the realm brought to justice, receiving the retribution they deserved.

The blades fell as hands were raised, blood splattering in all directions as heads hit the ground.

Xie Chongjin watched calmly without blinking an eye, yet his hands suddenly clenched tight.

They were so afraid of death, screaming so loudly before dying, begging so pitifully, spilling blood that was so filthy.

Qingshu had never begged him; the person most afraid of pain had never once cried out in pain when it hurt the most, only quietly gazing at him, clean blood staining white robes like red plum blossoms blooming in the snow, only to wither in tragic brilliance afterward.

Lu Xuechao grasped his hand: “Don’t think too much.”

This scene was far too prone to triggering Xie Chongjin’s traumatic memories.

Xie Chongjin virtually could no longer face any imagery related to death directly, for it would remind him of Lu Xuechao’s death.

Xie Chongjin snapped out of his reverie, gripping Lu Xuechao’s hand tightly, interlocking their fingers.

Though the populace outside felt fear, what they felt even more was jubilation, finding it immensely satisfying.

They knelt down in unison, shouting excitedly: “Long live His Majesty! May His Highness the Empress live for a thousand years!”

It was not kneeling out of compulsion from imperial power, but a complete submission born from the bottom of their hearts.

Watching Magistrate Zhang’s head roll to the ground and the splattering blood even landing on his face, the Prefect of Quling was scared so pale he lost all color, his legs shaking uncontrollably.

He had sat for a day, yet it felt as if he were undergoing torture, terrified that he would be the next one.

“The cases of Qiuling Town shall end here for today,” Xie Chongjin said.

The Prefect of Quling breathed a slight sigh of relief: “Then where will Your Majesty stay tonight…”

“Does the Prefect truly think it ends here?” Xie Chongjin said with a sneer, “Our Imperial Envoy has uncovered many interesting things.”

“Next up is trying you.”