Upon hearing this, Jing Zhe realized something was wrong.
Magistrate Xu has been locked up in prison since yesterday. Only a few people knew when Baili Xing came to deliver the letter, so it's impossible for him to know the contents of the letter.
But he accurately stated the matter of the rebellion, and Jing Zhe's mind instantly became very confused.
At this moment, the only thing Jing Zhe could think of was that, apart from Emperor An, most of the important officials in the court knew about the alliance between Prince Jin and Kadan, which was preparing to betray the country, since this matter had been discussed before.
Therefore, Prefect Xu's mentor, Bai Qingyuan, must have known as well. Perhaps he told Prefect Xu in advance, which is why he was able to say it.
Jing Zhe thought about it and it seemed that this was the only explanation!
He then sneered, "Xu Wenchang, you know quite a lot!"
"..."
Prefect Xu was taken aback, realizing he had spoken out of turn. His eyes darted around in fear, and he dared not say another word.
However, Jing Zhe did not dwell on his mention of the rebellion, which relieved Prefect Xu.
"However, I'm not going to bother anyone with something this simple! I'll finish handling your three cases today!"
"..."
Jing Zhe shouted loudly, and the three people in the cell felt an invisible pressure. Then they heard Jing Zhe say, "Xu Wenchang, as the Prefect of Jiangling and an official appointed by the court, cannot serve the people wholeheartedly. Instead, he colludes with the old monk Kongjing to extort money from the people, committing fraud and embezzlement of a huge amount. According to the laws of Da'an, he should be dismissed from his post and be executed."
"..."
Prefect Xu's legs trembled, and he knelt on the ground. He now realized that something was wrong—could it be that he really wanted to kill me? But I am, after all, the former prefect of Jiangling. Such a major case must be reported to the court, and decided by His Majesty.
"After that, Xu Wenchang, as the local official of Jiangling, not only failed to serve the people, but also colluded with the Feng family to force the Zhou family to sell their restaurant. When the Zhou family refused, they killed him. Although Xu Wenchang did not take action, he did not stop them, but instead instigated them. His actions were heinous. According to the laws of Da'an, he should be dismissed from his post and be beheaded."
"..."
After speaking, Jing Zhe glanced at Prefect Xu and said, "There's no need to mention the other crimes. These two crimes combined should be punished with execution."
"no!"
Now that things had come to this, Prefect Xu felt he had no choice but to fight for it himself: "I am, after all, the former Prefect of Jiangling, a fourth-rank official! The power of life and death over me is in His Majesty's hands! Even if he were to kill me, it would be His Majesty who would personally interrogate and issue the order. Although you are a second-rank official, you cannot act on behalf of His Majesty, can you? Or are you trying to deceive the Emperor?"
Now that things had come to this, Prefect Xu had no choice but to try anything, so he righteously rebuked Jing Zhe, hoping to frighten him.
However, he overestimated himself and underestimated Jing Zhe.
After hearing this, Jing Zhe sneered and then reached into his robes.
Seeing Jing Zhe reach into his robes, Magistrate Xu's heart sank: Can you please stop cheating? Every time I need to talk to you, you pull out the Emperor's Sword? Does having the Emperor's Sword make you awesome?
The answer is, that's awesome!
As expected, Jing Zhe did not disappoint Prefect Xu's trust. He directly drew the Emperor's Sword, pointed it at him, and said, "With the Emperor's Sword bestowed by His Majesty for my protection, do you think I can kill you?"
"This... you'd better wait for His Majesty to interrogate me personally! Otherwise, if someone uses this to attack you later, saying that you're abusing your power outside because of the Emperor's Sword bestowed upon you by His Majesty, how will you defend yourself?"
Prefect Xu said with a serious expression.
"Oh my, I didn't expect Magistrate Xu to care about me so much. I really thank you and your family!"
"..."
Magistrate Xu's face was ashen, and his eyes were filled with grief.
I'll settle the score with you later!
Jing Zhe glared at him, then turned to look at Master Feng and Master Kongjing, and said, "Although Feng Huanyou has retired from the military, he once served as an official in the court. After returning to his hometown, he colluded with Xu Wenchang and burned down eleven members of the Zhou family. His crimes are heinous and, according to the laws of Da'an, he should be beheaded!"
"thump…"
Master Feng was old after all, and he had used up all his strength fighting Magistrate Xu. When he heard Jing Zhe pronounce him dead, he completely broke down and knelt down.
"Kneeling to me won't do any good. The people you should really kneel to are the eleven innocent souls of the Zhou family who were burned alive by you!"
Jing Zhe said with some disgust, he would not pity Master Feng just because he was old, after all, the evil he had done was too great!
The only one yet to be tried, Master Kongjing, was already trembling with fear. He originally thought that compared to the other two, he had not committed murder or arson, but had only been greedy for money. Moreover, he had handed over more than two thousand taels of silver and implicated Prefect Xu for twenty thousand taels of silver. Although he was guilty, his crime did not warrant the death penalty.
But seeing Jing Zhe slashing left and right, Master Kongjing was completely dumbfounded—could he also want to kill me?
At this moment, disregarding the terrified and kneeling Feng, Jing Zhe turned to Master Kongjing again and said, "As for you, your values are distorted and your mind is impure. It's one thing to impersonate a monk, but you also colluded with Xu Wenchang to swindle money from the common people's incense offerings. You have utterly disgraced the Buddha! Even if I forgive you, the Buddha will not forgive you. Therefore, you will be executed along with him!"
"..."
Master Kongjing was right. Jing Zhe had become addicted to killing today. He was ready to kill all three of them at the slightest provocation!
Before coming here, Jing Zhe had already thought it through. Based on the crimes of the three of them, perhaps only Master Kongjing could be spared the death penalty. The other two would be sentenced to death no matter how they were judged!
Moreover, Jing Zhe was also aware of their backing. Perhaps as soon as he left Jiangling, Bai Qingyuan would have a way to get them out, and it would be difficult to kill them again.
Therefore, Jing Zhe planned to eliminate all potential threats before leaving! However, as Prefect Xu just said, although he had the Emperor's Sword, he had killed many people along the way. If he killed Prefect Xu as well, even if Emperor An did not blame him, others would inevitably use it as an excuse to attack him. Therefore, he had to be careful!
He had to find a reason, a reason to kill the three of them, a reason that would never be found to be flawed even if someone investigated later!
"You may all leave! No one is allowed to enter without my order!"
"Yes, President Jing!"
After Jing Zhe finished speaking, all the constables left.
Upon hearing this, Prefect Xu and the other two turned ashen-faced, because they believed that Jing Zhe had dismissed all the constables in preparation for taking action against them in the prison!
At this moment, Jing Zhe had already made up his mind and said, "Although the sins of the three of you are serious, I still intend to give one of you a chance. If he can seize the opportunity, I will give him a way out!"
"..."
Upon hearing this, even the seemingly dying Master Feng immediately perked up.
————
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