Chapter 36 Forged Letter Now...can we talk properly?
The huge hall fell silent instantly, with only the jarring sound of chains clanging together.
The word "accuse" reached everyone's ears, but only the three people in the prefect's office were unsettled, while the rest of the people stared at them intently.
The man with the mustache, Liu Changshi, tugged at Gao Ge's sleeve unconsciously, his eyes flashing with a hint of anxiety.
Gao Ge remained unmoved, merely lowering his eyes slightly and flicking his sleeve to gently deflect the other's hand. True to his role as a staff officer, his expression remained composed.
Zi Jing took all of this in, but his expression remained calm and composed.
Zhao Shuhuai glanced at He Chenlao on the ground, then looked at Zijing with an uncontrollable fierceness in his eyes, and drawled, "Captain... what is the meaning of this?"
Zi Jing calmly stood up: "Prefect, you are joking. What could I possibly mean? It's just that Young Master He has volunteered to atone for his crime by doing good deeds in order to reduce his sentence, saying that he wants to... catch an even bigger fish."
He sat back down in the official's chair opposite Zhao Shuhuai, picked up the white porcelain teacup beside him, and smelled it under his nose: "Merit must be rewarded, and crimes must be punished. Since Lord He wants to make merit offset his mistakes, for the sake of the integrity of Beiye, how can I betray this loyalty?"
"The He family's case has already been concluded. If He Chenlao really had some leverage over him, why didn't he say so earlier, instead of waiting until today? Moreover..." Zhao Shuhuai twirled the camel bone gilded Buddhist beads on his wrist, glancing sideways at Zijing opposite him: "It's common for a convicted person to implicate others in order to save his life. How credible are his words? Furthermore, I came here today specifically to clarify my connection with the He Renzhi case, yet the officer deliberately brought this stray dog before me."
"Does the captain mean to say that the person he is going to report is me?"
The hall was silent, and everyone's eyes were focused on Zi Jing.
Someone has already revealed the answer, so Zijing doesn't need to waste any more words.
Outside, the wind howled, rattling the windowpanes and causing the candlelight to flicker, casting long and short shadows.
He took a sip of tea, put down the teacup, and looked at the other person's arrogant face with a slight smile in his cool gaze: "I have long heard of the prefect's exceptional intelligence, and seeing him today, I can confirm that his reputation is well-deserved."
With a loud bang, Liu Changshi walked around to Zijing's side, slammed his fist on the table, and protested on behalf of his master: "My prefect is honest and upright, yet the captain ignored the documents we had compiled and sent a prisoner instead. This clearly shows that he doesn't trust us!"
As he spoke, Liu Changshi leaned closer to him, squinted, and lowered his voice, saying, "You ignorant and narrow-minded son, you should think carefully. Falsely accusing an official of the court, the son of a prince, can cost you your head."
The moment the phrase "son of a poor family with a simple home" left his lips, Gao Ge's expression changed drastically. He immediately stepped forward and grabbed Liu Changshi's sleeve: "Changshi! Changshi, be careful what you say..."
He used considerable force, dragging the man back half a step. He turned and bowed deeply to Zijing, his voice filled with apology: "Commander, please understand. Chief Clerk Liu acted rashly in the heat of the moment, saying things he shouldn't have... He had no intention of offending your family. I hope you will forgive my mistake and not hold it against him."
As the last note faded, Gao Ge glanced at Zi Jing and saw a half-smile on his face, making it impossible to tell whether he was happy or angry.
Suddenly, a muffled thunderclap rolled past the window, making the sky seem as if it were about to crack open.
Liu Changshi was still in a daze. He knew how harsh those words were, but he stubbornly refused to bow his head, shaking off Gao Ge's hand with an expression that seemed to blame the other for pulling him.
Zhao Shuhuai's sense of smell was far inferior to that of his advisors.
He leaned back in his chair, scolding Gao Ge for making a fuss, and said sarcastically, "Gao, there's no need to be so nervous. What our Chief Secretary said wasn't wrong. His words were a bit harsh, but he's not a high-ranking officer, and he wasn't talking nonsense."
Seeing how foolish Zhao Shuhuai was, unable to see the situation clearly, and unable to recognize that the person in front of him was someone who was not afraid of power and would even resort to violence at any cost, he continued to flaunt his official power.
Gao Ge lowered his eyelids, suppressing the surging frustration and anxiety in his heart. He couldn't help but curse the two men in his mind. If he had known that he would have to clean up their mess today, he would never have stepped into the prefect's mansion more than a year ago, even if a knife was held to his throat.
Despite his dissatisfaction, he still had to get things done. He and Zhao Shuhuai were now bound together by fate, sharing both glory and ruin; they were in the same boat, and neither could escape the consequences.
He secretly regulated his breathing, suppressing his pent-up complaints, straightened his clothes, and stepped forward again. He wanted to minimize the matter and resolve it peacefully.
He had just bowed with his hands clasped, not having a chance to utter a single word of comfort.
Zi Jing suddenly chuckled, his bony knuckles tapping casually on the armrest: "The Prefect is right, Chief Clerk Liu's words are absolutely correct."
As he spoke, he stood up and walked toward Chief Secretary Liu behind the high pavilion: "The words are fine, but I have a question I would like to ask Chief Secretary Liu."
"Captain, ask your questions quickly, but I may not be able to answer them," Liu Changshi said arrogantly.
Upon hearing this, Gao Ge, a colleague, frowned. He looked quietly at the person who was just a step away from him and vaguely felt that something was wrong.
Xie Cheng saw through Zi Jing's intentions. Lu Jinshi wanted to stand up for his young master and wished he could chop the sharp-mouthed, monkey-faced chief clerk of the prefectural government in half with a single stroke, but Xie Cheng held him back.
Liu Changshi had barely finished speaking when Zijing said calmly, "Of course, I didn't expect Changshi to be able to answer either."
Chief Secretary Liu was beaming with pride, thinking that he had suppressed the dignified Captain of the Xuan Ce Army and gained face in front of his master. He was sure he would be rewarded when he returned.
"It seems the captain..." He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes suddenly widening.
But Zi Jing remained calm as he drew a knife from a guard. Before anyone could see what he was doing, a flash of cold light appeared, and warm blood spurted out. Something rolled across the ground and only stopped when it hit the threshold.
When the blood mist dissipated, everyone looked closely and was horrified.
Beside the threshold was none other than the head of Liu Changshi, who had just been speaking.
The head was wide-eyed and gaping, its hair and beard stained with blood; it looked utterly terrifying.
Zhao Shuhuai, stunned and motionless for a long time, was stunned as his own man was decapitated right before his eyes and sprayed with blood.
The stiff corpse collapsed before him with a thud, blood still gushing from its severed neck, flowing over the brightly colored wool carpet and meandering into a glaring red on the ground.
This scene terrified He Chenlao, who was kneeling on the ground, so he screamed. He tried to escape, but the guards escorting him held him down tightly.
Zhao Shuhuai remained frozen in his seat, his face deathly pale, the front of his official robes soaked with blood. His lips trembled, and his fingers, hanging uncontrollably in his sleeves, convulsed uncontrollably; he was clearly terrified.
A few drops of crimson blood splattered on the front of the high-ranking robe standing to the side, starkly contrasting against the plain fabric. He stared at the bloodstains spreading, his throat tightening, his breath catching in his throat.
As soon as they heard He Chenlao's shouts, a series of chaotic footsteps and the sound of armor clashing came from the courtyard. The entourage of the prefectural governor had just rushed to within ten meters of the hall when they were surrounded by the Thousand Continents Iron Cavalry surging from all directions.
"You...you bastard..." Zhao Shuhuai, recovering from his shock, no longer spoke with arrogance, but with utter terror: "You actually dared to...dared to kill people from my household?!"
Zi Jing's long sword was still dripping with blood. He glanced at Zhao Shuhuai and said in an extremely calm tone and expression, "What gave the governor the wrong impression that I dare not kill?"
He sheathed the knife in his hand and, seeing that he wasn't stained with blood, felt a little relieved. He turned around and finished the cup of tea he hadn't finished.
After pouring himself a cup of tea from the teapot, he turned to Zhao Shuhuai and said, "The prefect is not strict in managing his subordinates. I see that none of the people in your prefect's mansion can speak properly, so I'm giving them a little lesson."
Zhao Shuhuai's face twitched violently. He opened his mouth, but no word came out.
He was used to being arrogant because of his lineage, and some people had never shown him any respect, but no one dared to be so audacious as to kill his people in front of him.
Seeing his terrified expression, Zi Jing gave a cold sneer, then sat down: "Now...can you speak properly?"
Having probably never seen such a scene before, Zhao Shuhuai originally wanted to step on his head, use some pre-arranged accounts to fool him, and also wanted to buy time, waiting for that life-saving talisman to arrive so that all these troubles could be resolved.
Unexpectedly, the person before him was so arrogant and audacious. Gao Ge gestured to him from the side, signaling him not to act rashly.
Zhao Shuhuai had no choice but to swallow his anger for now, secretly thinking that he would settle this score with him sooner or later.
When Zi Jing asked him a question, his tone was still not submissive enough, but it was much better than before: "What does the captain want me to say?"
"Of course I'm talking about you, for betraying your country and colluding with the enemy, for conspiring with your father-in-law, for exchanging favors, for disregarding human life, and for oppressing the people."
Zi Jing raised his hand, and Xie Cheng immediately took out a sealed letter in vermilion ink from his bosom and respectfully handed it over. He held the thin letter between his long fingers and waved it in the blood-soaked room. The prefect's seal on the wax seal was faintly visible in the candlelight: "Inside is irrefutable evidence of your collusion with He Renzhi in treason. In the letter, you ordered He Renzhi to sell the old weapons that had been replaced in the prefecture to the Rouran, the Xiutu Khanate, and others for a thousand taels of gold. In addition, you instructed him to melt down the collected gold into horseshoe-shaped gold ingots and transport them to the prefect's mansion along with the money from selling grain to those tribes last time."
"Slander! This is slander!" Zhao Shuhuai suddenly stood up: "I have never written such a letter to He Renzhi. Where did you get such a letter? It's impossible for me to have written it!"
"Oh?" Zi Jing glanced at He Chenlao on the ground: "This letter was given to me by Young Master He. He is willing to use this letter to exchange for a chance to live. As for whether it is true or false... Young Master He should know better than me. Don't you think so, Young Master He?"
He Chenlao's body trembled violently. The once arrogant and domineering son of the county magistrate was now like a rat crossing the street, wishing he could bury his head in the ground. His forehead was pressed against the back of his scarred hand, and his voice was hoarse: "Your Excellency, please see... the seal and handwriting on that letter... I saw the prefect affix them with my own eyes, and I saw him write them himself. If you don't believe me, Your Excellency can send someone to verify it..."
"Nonsense! You vile woman, how dare you slander me!" Zhao Shuhuai roared in fury. He lunged forward, his face contorted with rage, and grabbed He Chenlao by the neck, completely disregarding the bloodstains on his hands. "Who ordered you to do this? Was it your father?!"
"Cough cough..." He Chenlao's eyes turned red from being pinched, and he was about to have trouble breathing.
Zi Jing coldly watched Zhao Shuhuai's disheveled appearance as he rushed towards her, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes. He then kicked Zhao Shuhuai in the shoulder. The kick was extremely powerful, and Zhao Shuhuai groaned as he tumbled away, his golden crown askew and his hair disheveled.
Seeing this, Gao Ge disregarded the bloodstains on his robes and rushed forward to help him, whispering, "My lord! My lord, be careful..."
When Zhao Shuhuai was helped up, he happened to see a head very close to him, which frightened him so much that his face turned pale and his lips trembled.
He pointed at Zijing and said sternly, "You, how dare you treat me like this? I am the son of the Prince of Yan. How many heads do you have to lose!"
Zi Jing scoffed, his tone dismissive and condescending: "I killed the son of the Prince of Yan. I don't care how many of my heads will fall, but Prefect, your head will soon be in danger."
“This letter wasn’t written by me. You’re just delusional to think you can arrest me without concrete evidence.” Zhao Shuhuai was helped to his feet. He stared at Zijing and said, “Although you are acting on Huan Xun’s orders, you should still ask the governor before you can punish me. Now that you want to arrest me, you should also consider what the governor thinks.”
Zi Jing said coldly, "Prefect Zhao seems to have forgotten that Commander Huan holds the imperial staff in the northwest and has the power to execute first and report later. Even the governor has no right to govern him. If I were the commander-in-chief in person, killing a parasite like you would be more than enough."
Zi Jing straightened up and lazily waved his hand: "Someone, take Lord Zhao to the prison and treat him well. Let's see if he can remember whether he has anything to do with He Renzhi's case."
The guards obeyed and immediately stepped forward to arrest Zhao Shuhuai.
Knowing this was no joke, he finally realized how audacious the man before him was. He dared not gamble on whether he would survive in prison. He flung away Gao Ge's hand that was supporting him, his eyes flashing with malice, and said, "I have already requested an imperial decree from the court. No matter what crime I have committed, I must be brought back to the imperial prison for trial. You cannot detain me here!"
Zhao Shuhuai still dared not do something that would amount to treason—local officials leading troops. Gao Ge also felt that this move was too risky, especially since the Xuan Ce Army was backed by Yan Yue. Zhao Shuhuai was arrogant and disrespectful, but Gao Ge knew very well that if the other side came to settle scores, they, as pawns, would only become scapegoats.
Therefore, another reason he sent Zhao Shuhuai to Huaiyuan to buy time was that, as early as when He Ren was imprisoned, he had already written a letter, requesting the Prince of Yan to issue an imperial edict to rescue Zhao Shuhuai and bring him back.
As long as he returned to the imperial court and left the influence of Xuan Ce's army, he wouldn't die. The Empress Dowager also favored the Prince of Yan, so she asked him to intercede on his behalf, and all the blame was placed on the He family. The matter was thus dropped.
Zi Jing remained silent. Xie Cheng and Lu Jinshi were waiting for his verbal order; they would obey it to the death if he gave the order.
Zhao Shuhuai assumed the person in front of him was hesitant and worried because he was not speaking. Confident in his superiority, he walked up to Zijing and said, "You think you can turn the tide for Huaiyuan? You think you can kill me with a fake secret letter?"
He glared at him and said angrily, "Dream on!"
Zi Jing stared at the person in front of him for a long time, then chuckled, "If it's real, it's real. Where would a fake letter come from? Besides..." He narrowed his eyes and said, "You're not exactly good at convicting someone of forging letters."
His words startled Zhao Shuhuai. In all his years as an official, the only time he had forged a letter was in the Cheng family massacre several years ago.
But... how could the person in front of me know about this?
To remind him of the past, Zijing continued, "You committed a heinous crime, yet you've lived this long. Heaven has been too kind to you?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Shuhuai was stunned for a long time before he suddenly realized: "I was wondering why you were so persistent with me. So... so you came to take revenge on me."
Zi Jing stared at the face that haunted his mind day and night, and replied, "Revenge? What revenge?"
Seeing that he didn't want to admit it, Zhao Shuhuai knew he couldn't stay any longer. He stopped talking to him and made a move to leave.
He had barely taken a step when Zi Jing drew the knife from the guard's body. With a flash of cold blade, Zhao Shuhuai's hair ornament fell to the ground.
Immediately afterward, the knife in his hand was pressed against the other man's throat: "Prefect Zhao, take another step, and my knife will not discriminate."
Zhao Shuhuai's forehead was covered in cold sweat, and his body trembled as he said, "Huan Zijing! If you dare to touch me, my father will not let you off!"
Seeing this, Gao Ge quickly stepped forward to smooth things over: "Sir, everything can be discussed. Swords have no eyes; it would be better to damage the harmony."
Just as Zhao Shuhuai was about to continue his harsh words, a loud announcement suddenly came from outside the door: "The imperial edict has arrived—"
The imperial edict sounded like heavenly music to Zhao Shuhuai, who felt as if he had seen a savior. He turned to look at Zijing, his words mocking: "Did you hear that, Commandant Huan? The imperial edict has arrived! Now you want to kill me? You'll miss your chance."
Zi Jing's thin lips were pressed tightly together, and his eyes gleamed with a cold light.
Considering that the imperial edict had arrived, Xie Cheng, despite his reluctance, stepped forward to avoid trouble for Zi Jing: "My lord, now that the imperial edict has arrived, we should hurry and receive it."
He heard all of this, but what he saw before him was a scene of blood staining the ground, countless corpses lying haphazardly together, a horrific sight of corpses strewn across the field.
Those lingering memories overlapped with the arrogant face before me.
In the blink of an eye, Zhao Shuhuai continued his provocations.
Amidst the sounds of wind and thunder, the once arrogant man suddenly clutched his neck, his eyes widening in terror, and staggered back into the courtyard, still clutching his neck.
His bloodied finger pointed at the stern-faced man: "You, you... the imperial edict..."
The people inside the house were horrified, and the men and horses in the courtyard were also terrified.
Following the other person's steps, Zi Jing slowly walked to the door. Zhao Shu Huai hadn't taken more than a few steps when he finally collapsed on the stone steps with a thud.
The words "Imperial Edict" were uttered only once before silence fell, and the person stared blankly at everything that was happening before their eyes.
Zi Jing lowered his eyes and looked down at the corpse that had twitched a few times and then stiffened, then suddenly grinned at him: "Where is the imperial edict...?"
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