This is the story of a dragon-slaying boy who eventually becomes the dragon himself.
And it happened very quickly.
He spent a full twenty years slaying dragons, but in the end, he transformed from a dragon-slaying boy into a dragon himself in less than a year.
What an irony!
Chen Jiulin felt extremely ashamed at this moment. Looking into Liu Laowu's eyes, which were fixed on him, and at the complex, helpless, and disappointed expression on his face, he was filled with many emotions and could only sigh heavily.
"His Majesty!"
"Your subject confesses his crime!"
At this moment, Chen Jiulin willingly knelt heavily on the ground, no longer calling him "older brother" or "old buddy."
He no longer tried to cultivate a relationship with Liu Laowu, but instead knelt before the emperor as a completely repentant subject, without any further emotion.
"Listen up, all of you!"
"Grand Commandant Chen Jiulin has committed numerous evils. Since becoming a founding hero, he has embezzled 300,000 taels of grain and salary, caused the deaths of hundreds of pregnant women who died with their unborn children, and seized 53,000 hectares of farmland from various places by trickery and coercion. His heinous acts are intolerable to Heaven and Earth!"
"Today I hereby resign, before Your Majesty, earnestly requesting to resign from all official positions, abolish my title of prince, and return all that I have forcibly seized and embezzled in full, Your Majesty!"
Chen Jiulin let out a heavy sigh:
"This guilty subject requests to be imprisoned in the death row to await his fate."
Liu Laowu remained silent and did not continue speaking, but it was clear that he had no intention of pardoning Chen Jiulin.
Looking at his old friend from years ago, he had initially felt that this friend had become a stranger, but now this friend seemed to have become familiar again. His childhood friend, Chen Jiulin, had returned...
Chen Jiulin did not make things difficult for Liu Laowu. He arranged for a prison cart, ordered himself to be locked up, and followed Liu Laowu back to the capital.
"Eighth Brother, this is your fiefdom. You are in charge of handling the rest."
Liu Laowu remained silent for a long time, only gripping Liu Fu's hand tightly, before gritting his teeth and saying:
"The emperor is selfless. You are like the emperor in your own fiefdom. For the sake of the common people, you should also be selfless!"
With Liu Laowu's words, Liu Fu felt relieved.
The meaning of my father's words is that for the sake of the common people, the emperor cannot have personal feelings, and he also uses this to admonish himself. This statement is very clear, and he will also be selfless in dealing with Chen Jiulin's matter.
The pregnant woman case, the land grabbing case, the embezzlement of military funds case... and the case of illegally using the tiger tally to mobilize troops across borders in an attempt to murder the royal guards... With several cases happening at once, Chen Jiulin's fate is predictable.
But even Chen Jiulin, who had become an evil dragon, now had memories.
Liu Fu did not intend to exonerate him, but this man was his adoptive father, who had saved his father's life and was a meritorious official in the founding of the Han Dynasty. At this moment, he had also come to his senses and, in order to avoid making things difficult for Liu Laowu, he took all the blame for his own actions.
Liu Fu also bowed and clasped his hands in a salute to Chen Jiulin:
"Godfather."
"One should take responsibility for one's actions. Your courage to take responsibility proves that you have not forgotten your original aspirations. I bow to you."
Chen Jiulin sighed deeply and bowed to Liu Fu as well:
"Alas! I am utterly ashamed!"
"You lad, you're resourceful, strategic, and capable. It's a blessing for the people of Liaodong to have you governing the country. In the future, you should assist your father in governing the country well, and also teach your subordinates well, so that they don't go astray like I did."
After Liu Laowu retrieved the tiger tally, he bid farewell to Liu Fu and led his troops back to the capital.
Liu Fu used his reputation points to breed two more treasure-hunting rats, leaving them for his father to keep him company and also to protect him.
The next day.
The prefect Zhou Chunxuan has been arrested, and Prefect Liu has been dismissed and is under investigation.
"Bring Fei Zhengchuan to the court on my behalf."
When Magistrate Fei hurried to Yanshan Prefecture and arrived at the main hall of the prefectural government, he immediately saw Liu Fu sitting in front of the hall.
"Hey, you audacious criminal wanted by the imperial court, how dare you sit in the prefect's courtroom! Guards, quickly tie him up with me!"
Fei Zheng gave a shout, but the constables on both sides remained unmoved.
Looking around, Prefect Liu had already been stripped of his official hat, and Governor Zhou Chunxuan was kneeling on the ground, trembling as if he had been electrocuted, his whole body shaking uncontrollably...
Fei Zheng looked puzzled until he saw the imperial sword hanging behind Liu Fu. He was so frightened that he fell to the ground with a thud. As if he had remembered something terrible, a yellowish-white substance flowed down his crotch and onto the ground...
"Someone come here."
"Take this incompetent and treacherous Magistrate Fei to Jin Family Village, set up an execution platform right in front of Jin Wenhua's mansion, and have him executed by slow slicing!"
Fei Zheng shuddered; he was terrified out of his wits!
"You...you are a prince?"
"How could this be..."
Fei was so frightened that he fainted. At this moment, Liu Fu looked at Prefect Liu and Magistrate Zhou, who were kneeling on the ground.
"Please have our magistrate accompany me to his residence. He must identify and arrest all the corrupt officials who are colluding with him, and imprison them in the dungeon. No tricks, just a complete purge of corruption from the entire Liaodong region. I have an imperial sword bestowed upon me to patrol in place of the emperor. Anyone who dares to cheat, deceive, or take advantage of the situation to break the law is welcome to test the sharpness of my imperial sword!"
Liu Fu's words immediately startled everyone.
"Prefect Liu, although you have cooperated with me and made some contributions, there is no reason to undo the evil you have committed over the years. I am fair in my rewards and punishments. Originally, I was going to throw you into the oil cauldron to appease the people, but now I can behead you to spare you the torment of death. As long as your family members have not committed serious evils, after returning the property and compensating for the losses, I can give them a chance to start anew and spare your entire clan. I hope you will think twice before you do so."
Liu Qianglin cried out, and finally had no choice but to kneel down and kowtow, tears streaming down his face...
A dying man's words are often kind. Now that I'm in this situation, as long as I don't implicate my family, I'm fine with dying. This can be considered the prince showing me leniency.
If this were to be investigated seriously, it's possible that their entire clan would be exterminated.
With a sigh, Prefect Liu was taken away.
"Guards, tomorrow Fei Zheng will be executed by slow slicing at Jin Family Village. I will personally oversee the execution. You must quickly send men to spread the good news by beating drums and gongs everywhere, and gather the people together to vent their anger!"
Later that same day, a large number of officials in black robes began beating gongs and drums near Jinjiazhuang:
"Fellow villagers, the Loyal and Martial Prince has arrived! The upright and just magistrate has come!"
"For many years, Magistrate Fei has oppressed the good and treated human life like dirt. Tomorrow at noon, His Highness will order him to be executed by slow slicing. His Highness has avenged us all. Remember to come and watch tomorrow!"
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