Zhao Liu deliberately pretended to be confused. He touched his chin and chewed his teeth. "According to what you said, those people are really hateful! You just came to ask for an explanation for your daughter, but you were beaten by them! Is that so?"

Upon hearing Zhao Liu's words, Luo Cheng naively assumed that Zhao Liu would side with him. He immediately jumped up, pointed at the group of people who had just beaten him, and continued, "Yes, yes! It's this group! Your Honor, you must seek justice for me! Arrest them and throw them in jail! I also demand that they compensate me for my clothes!" As he spoke, he showed Zhao Liu his barely-clothed night-shining gauze clothes.

Zhao Liu nodded, glancing at Luo Cheng with feigned seriousness. "Hmm, they should indeed compensate, but do you know who I am?"

“You…” Luo Cheng opened his mouth, his eyes darting around, and he began to think rapidly.

"Yes, this place is called Lujia Village, which is within the jurisdiction of Changning Town. Changning Town is in turn under Pingxi County. There is a magistrate named Duan in Pingxi County, so it must be him!"

"You are Magistrate Duan!" The words had barely left his mouth when everyone around him nearly burst out laughing.

Luo Cheng was probably stunned by the beating and didn't understand why the people around him were laughing at him. He looked at Zhao Liu with a pious expression and said, "Magistrate Duan, you must help me!"

"Hahahaha!" Zhao Liu couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter.

Even if Luo Cheng was stupid, he understood some things. His face turned cold, and he cursed Zhao Liu viciously, "You fucking lied to me?"

“He’s not lying to you, he really is Magistrate Duan’s…side attendant!” Magistrate Duan said to Luo Cheng as he got off the carriage.

Luo Cheng felt a buzzing in his head. Looking at the gloating expressions on everyone's faces, Luo Cheng knew that he had completely lost face this time.

Anger consumed Luo Cheng's reason. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at Magistrate Duan and shouted, "You're Magistrate Duan? Then I'm the Prefect!"

Before he finished speaking, he walked over to Jiang Ling and raised his hand to hit her: "You bitch, you made me look bad in public, I won't let you get away with this! What are you guys standing there for? Strip this filthy woman's clothes off!"

As he spoke, Luo Cheng glared angrily at the servants he had brought with him.

"You dare!"

"Let's see who dares!"

Everyone swarmed around Jiang Ling again, all ready to fight once more.

Jiang Ling, however, immediately intervened when the situation spiraled out of control, saying, "Don't worry, everyone, with Magistrate Duan here, he won't do anything to me!"

To everyone's surprise, Luo Cheng had lost all reason at that moment. He simply couldn't believe that it was such a coincidence that the magistrate would appear just because he came to cause trouble for this wretched woman.

He spat at Jiang Ling and cursed, "You bitch, are you trying to pull this charade with us? Fine, if you love playing these charades so much, my servants will keep you company!"

Luo Cheng's vulgar and offensive words only fueled the crowd's anger.

Magistrate Duan realized that the situation was getting out of control, so he quickly said to Zhao Liu, "Take him, her, and him away!"

Zhao Liu nodded, took out the constable's token and waved it in front of Luo Cheng. Luo Cheng felt as if he had been struck by lightning. His original anger vanished, leaving only boundless panic and a wildly beating heart.

Before he could react, Zhao Liu had already tied him up tightly. The servants standing nearby were so frightened that they knelt on the ground, trembling like leaves on a chopping board.

...

County government office.

The gavel slammed down on the table, and almost everyone shrank back.

Magistrate Duan sat upright, looking at the crowd with a serious expression.

"What exactly happened in Lujia Village?" Magistrate Duan's voice echoed through the county government office, chillingly cold.

Jiang Ling gently kowtowed and told Magistrate Duan the whole story. Before she could finish speaking, Luo Cheng glared at her and was about to refute her.

"Did I give you permission to speak?" Magistrate Duan slammed his gavel again and reprimanded Luo Cheng.

Luo Cheng shuddered and remained silent.

“Linghui Academy is under the jurisdiction of Pingxi County, but now the matter has developed in Lujia Village. Zhao Liu, you would like to make a trip to Linghui Academy to investigate the situation!” Magistrate Duan said, glancing at Zhao Liu beside him.

He then turned his gaze to the crowd below the hall. Although Magistrate Duan did not want to imprison Jiang Ling as well, there was no evidence at the moment. Although Magistrate Duan had absolute faith in Jiang Ling, there were many eyes watching him inside and outside the court. He could not release Jiang Ling and Village Chief Lu on the spot.

Thinking of this, the magistrate coughed lightly, his voice filled with remorse and conflicted emotions, and said through gritted teeth, "There is currently a lack of evidence. Take everyone to prison and await further instructions!"

Although Magistrate Duan said this, he was inwardly screaming, "Jiang Shi, this really wasn't my intention! Please don't be angry with me about this. Don't worry, I'll definitely teach that brat Luo Cheng a lesson!"

Jiang Ling was unmoved by these words, but Luo Cheng started shouting.

He flung away the constable who was grabbing his arm and angrily cursed at Magistrate Duan, "Do you know who I am? A mere seventh-rank magistrate dares to touch me? You're tired of living!"

"Oh ho? There's an unexpected bonus?" Magistrate Duan pondered, stroking his chin.

Magistrate Duan was an honest and upright official who didn't care about these powerful figures at all. He glanced at Luo Cheng without showing any emotion and said with a forced smile, "I don't care who you are. Even if the King of Heaven himself committed a crime on my turf, I'd still arrest him! You two take Luo Cheng away. If anything happens, I'll take responsibility!"

Upon hearing their leader speak, the constables dragged and pulled Luo Cheng into the jail.

A few rays of the setting sun shone there, but were swallowed up by the boundless darkness, leaving no ripple on the dilapidated mud wall. It was like a coffin sitting in this remote corner, low and filled with oppression.

This was Jiang Ling's first impression of the place.

The people of Pingxi County are generally honest and law-abiding, and fortunately, there aren't many people in the prison at this time.

The yamen runners knew perfectly well how Magistrate Duan treated Jiang Ling, and even if they brought Jiang Ling in, they couldn't really treat her like a prisoner.

They politely sent her and the village chief to a prison with relatively good conditions.

As for Luo Cheng, the yamen runners chose a place where three people were imprisoned.

The environment was filthy, filled with filth and stench, and occasionally huge rats would scurry anxiously under the prisoners' feet.

Luo Cheng, who was used to a life of luxury, had never suffered like this before. He lay on the prison gate and shouted angrily at the outside, but unfortunately the guards ignored him and didn't even bother to listen to him.

Luo Cheng was not giving up. He tried every method, including coercion and bribery, but the result was always the same: no one paid any attention.

Finally, Luo Cheng's nagging annoyed his fellow inmates.

He slapped Luo Cheng on the back of the head with a straw hanging from his arm and roared, "Damn it, if you keep yelling, believe me, I'll cripple you!"

Although Luo Cheng was usually arrogant, he was also a seasoned veteran. Faced with his fellow inmate who was taller than him and had a scar on his face, he could only admit defeat and cower in the corner of the cell, thinking about how to take revenge on Lu Family Village and Magistrate Duan.