Chapter 3063 Severe Punishment (Update)
A guard lit a torch to illuminate the people coming and found that there were more than thirty people, which was equivalent to most of the conscripts.
Bai Shan pushed aside the guards blocking his way and stepped forward to look at them. "What brings you here so late at night?"
The crowd, which had been noisy, with people pushing and shoving each other but no one stepping forward to speak, suddenly fell silent. The few people standing in the front hesitated for a moment, then fell to their knees with a thud, "Please, sir, spare my life—"
When one person knelt down, dozens of people behind him knelt down on the ground without a second thought, not caring whether the ground was dirt or stone, and kowtowed randomly, "Master, please spare my life, Master, please spare my life..."
Bai Shan: ...
The guards and yamen runners also fell silent and turned to look at Bai Shan, but their hands holding the hilt of the knife did not loosen.
Bai Shan stepped forward and said, "If you have anything to say, please speak slowly."
But everyone did not stop, but became more anxious, shouting at the same time: "Please spare our lives, sir, spare our lives, we will never dare to do it again."
Bai Shan was overwhelmed by the noisy voice and his anger suddenly rose. In his irritation, he shouted directly without waiting for the people behind him to come forward to take his place: "I order you to shut up!"
The crowd suddenly became quiet, and those who had been kowtowing raised their heads fearfully and looked at Bai Shan with some fear.
Bai Shan's face was extremely grim. The anger that had been pent up since he discovered the problem yesterday afternoon suddenly burst out. "Don't you understand what I'm saying, or don't you want to listen to me?"
"If you don't want to listen to me, go back to where you came from. There's no need to kneel before me. If you don't understand..." Bai Shan's face darkened, and his voice grew a little gloomy. "I don't find my words difficult to understand, but it seems you still don't want to listen."
The servants were startled, most of them stammering and unable to speak. The few kneeling in front hurriedly said, "Forgive us, sir. There were too many people. We didn't hear you, not because we didn't want to listen..."
Bai Shan sneered. Everyone knew the truth. He tilted his head slightly and looked behind him.
However, the guards were not very good and no one could understand what he meant. However, Bai Erlang, who was lying at the door looking out, saw him turn his head behind him and immediately reacted. He went back to the house in the dark, picked up a chair and sent him out.
Bai Erlang placed the chair behind Bai Shan.
Bai Shan glanced at him, then lifted his robe and sat down. More and more torches were lit around him, and he could see the kneeling person more clearly.
He looked down at the kneeling group of people and asked expressionlessly, "Tell me, what do you want this county to forgive you for?"
The servants were silent for a moment.
Bai Shan suddenly slammed his chair and asked angrily, "Why, you came to my door late at night just to howl like that?"
The servants kneeling in front, facing Bai Shan's kind face, felt the pressure doubled. Cold sweat trickled down their foreheads. Several of them swallowed hard and spoke for the others, saying, "Sir, we know we were wrong. We will never cut corners again. Please let us go. Spare our lives."
Bai Shan looked at them coldly, his eyes sliding across their faces one by one. He had a good memory and quickly connected their faces with their names.
"Sheng Dagen? Are you a stone mill driver?"
The person kneeling in front was stunned for a moment and then responded "yes", with a bad feeling in his heart.
Bai Shan called out the names of several people and asked, "Are you all the stone mill drivers?"
Those people were also very uneasy. They didn't expect Bai Shan to remember their names.
A few people nodded nervously and replied "yes".
Bai Shan's eyes shifted to the side, and he called out a few more names and asked, "Are you the soil carriers?"
"yes."
The kneeling person became even more nervous.
Bai Shan scoffed and said, "Originally, the county was planning to fine all sixty of you ten days of labor in the official fields, but today we've changed our minds. You all will go to Longchi to build the ferry. Sixty of you will be fined twenty days, and those of you who came to disturb the officials tonight and kneeled here will be fined an additional twenty days."
The kneeling man was frightened and shouted quickly: "Sir, you can't do this..."
Some were so excited that they even stood up and rushed forward to ask Bai Shan for an explanation.
A guard immediately drew his sword and held it in front of Bai Shan, shouting, "How dare you! Do you want to rebel?"
The murderous aura was overwhelming, and the crowd suddenly became quiet, not daring to look directly at the guard and the cold sword in his hand.
Bai Shan said slowly, "This is the Leng guard of the princess's mansion. He is a former imperial guard. If anyone offends the prince consort, he has the right to behead him."
The person standing in front couldn't help but take two steps back, and the one who wanted to rush forward to beg for mercy took several steps back and dared not move forward.
Seeing that they had behaved themselves, Bai Shan looked at them quietly, with no expression on his face.
As time passed, the servants subconsciously avoided Bai Shan's gaze and looked down at the irregular soil under their feet. They regretted that they should not have followed them.
Didn’t they say that if there were too many people, the county magistrate wouldn’t punish them?
Bai Shan made all the servants bow their heads before speaking in a deep voice, "Disturbing an official late at night is a serious crime, and this county will punish you according to the law. If you refuse to accept, continue making trouble here. This county doesn't mind if you upgrade the charge to assassinating an official. Anyway, this county has killed many people this year, so sending a few more heads to the vegetable market won't be a big deal."
The servants were scared away.
Even the few people standing in the front who thought they were braver turned pale, their legs trembling, and finally they ran away with shaking legs.
County Magistrate Fang breathed a sigh of relief and said to Bai Shan, "Fortunately, they only asked for mercy and had no intention of harming you, sir. Otherwise, I would be blamed for this."
Mr. Cui said, "It's fortunate that we brought enough guards and yamen runners."
Originally, they were several groups of people, and because they had to go back to the county town, and this was the only way to go, they met here by chance.
Before, when Bai Shan went out, he not only brought the yamen runners with him, but also brought three guards from his family. Bai Erlang also brought two yamen runners and several guards.
Not to mention Yin Huo, he would always be accompanied by no less than ten people whenever he went out, so they had quite a few guards and yamen runners.
County Magistrate Fang exhaled and hurriedly tried to appease Bai Shan, "Sir, please go back to your room and rest. I'll lecture them tomorrow."
Bai Shan asked, "Why tomorrow?"
"ah?"
Bai Shan turned to the yamen runners and guards and said, "Go, strike the gongs and wake up all the runners. Go to the flat ground in front where the food is served. The county magistrate wants to give them a lecture."
He sneered and said, "Since no one is sleepy, then don't sleep tonight."
Yin Huo also recovered and had the energy to joke with him, "Are you going to be a strict county magistrate?"
Bai Shan said with a stern face, "I think County Magistrate Fang is right. If some unruly people are not severely punished, they will not know their own mistakes, and it will not be enough to serve as a warning to others."
Since that was the case, he fulfilled their wish.
There is a price to pay for scaring him!
What's this about begging for mercy? So many people came to my house in the middle of the night. It's more like coercion than begging for mercy. Do they really think Bai Shan is made of clay and has no temper?
See you tomorrow
(End of this chapter)
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