The atmosphere at the scene was extremely silent, because the officials present could hardly believe what they were seeing.
They saw that the young man, who in their eyes probably had no background or status at all, actually took out a Crown Prince's token from his person.
This immediately shocked the officials present, as no one would have expected that the Crown Prince would appear in this place at this moment.
It should be noted that the whereabouts of the Crown Prince have always been a matter of great concern to the officials of Goryeo. They are all worried that His Highness the Crown Prince might secretly go to certain places and conduct various tests in secret.
But despite all the planning, no one expected that Zhu Yunwen would actually appear in this place.
This immediately alarmed the prefect, and it was obvious whether he had ulterior motives.
After all, it's certainly not a good thing to find out that someone like the Crown Prince is acting so recklessly in this place and protecting his subordinates.
But even so, how could he dare to have any other thoughts? Could he possibly deal with the Crown Prince?
This is obviously unrealistic, since probably no one in the world has the ability to do anything to this grandson of the Ming Dynasty.
Furthermore, no one would actually dare to kill the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty.
So this thought only flashed through my mind for a fleeting moment.
The prefect immediately forgot about it, and then, with lightning speed, knelt down abruptly and spoke directly:
"Your subject pays respects to Your Highness the Crown Prince. May Your Highness live a thousand years..."
Zhu Yunwen hadn't expected that this prefect would have such a strong mental fortitude.
The other officials also realized what was happening, and the county magistrate quickly knelt on the ground.
The prefect has already made his stance clear, so how could he dare to remain passive?
Judge Zhang also immediately knelt down.
At the same time, he was extremely anxious. Zhu Yunwen had publicly stated in court that he had problems with his judgment, and that he had even sent people to beat Zhu Yunwen and drive him out of the city.
Upon learning Zhu Yunwen's identity, the judge immediately realized that something terrible was about to happen, and that he was probably doomed today.
The magistrate naturally thought the same thing. Now that it was confirmed that Zhu Yunwen was the one who beat his daughter, his daughter's unreasonable and violent behavior on the street, and the fact that the magistrate had issued a county-wide warrant for Zhu Yunwen's arrest, meant that he couldn't escape the consequences.
Thinking of this, the county magistrate was on the verge of tears.
But since it had already happened, they just hoped that Zhu Yunwen could show leniency.
However, the truth was quite the opposite. Zhu Yunwen wanted to crack down on the bad behavior of various officials along the way, and now he had found such a thing in Goryeo. Naturally, he could not let this go well.
And so, Zhu Yunwen spoke calmly:
"The officials of your Jiangzhou Prefecture, from top to bottom, are utterly corrupt. If I hadn't seen it myself, I would have found it hard to believe. How could such a thing happen under the rule of my Great Ming?"
"A county magistrate of such high rank has dared to act so tyrannically in his locality, not only committing crimes himself but also condoning his children's bullying and misbehavior. He's utterly despicable!"
Upon hearing this, the county magistrate's legs went weak with fear, and he quickly kowtowed to Zhu Yunwen. However, Zhu Yunwen had not yet finished speaking and continued:
"If the county government is like this, I never expected that the prefectural government would be the same. The prefectural magistrate openly distorted the truth in court and did not handle the case according to the rules of the court. He also secretly accepted bribes and even prepared to kill those who raised questions. He is simply outrageous."
The magistrate hurriedly kowtowed, his face pale, and he almost fainted.
The prefect hurriedly spoke up:
"Your Highness, I have failed in my duty to govern this region and manage my subordinates. I cannot escape my responsibility. Please punish me, Your Highness."
Zhu Yunwen's eyes turned cold, and he suddenly looked at the prefect of Jiangzhou and reprimanded him:
"Of course you are guilty. I don't need you to remind me. As the local prefect, you have failed to manage your subordinates effectively and have shown a tendency to indulge them."
Now that things have escalated to this point, as you have seen and heard with your own eyes and ears, these two officials have even brought their troops to this place, ready to fight each other.
However, you still just tried to smooth things over, showing favoritism to both sides, without imposing any punishment or reprimand, and without following the rules of the court.
"What, how much have you taken from them to warrant such protection? Tell me the truth."
When it comes to Zhu Yunwen's domineering and imposing manner, he was second to none in the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, when he uttered these words, the prefect and several officials were all trembling with fear.
Zhu Yunwen's meaning was clear: all those present bore inescapable guilt and responsibility.
Therefore, Zhu Yunwen was bound to hold them accountable.
In this situation, things definitely can't be resolved peacefully. So they were all very nervous.
After all, Zhu Yunwen had been known for his severe punishments of officials who had made mistakes throughout his travels, so they were quite worried. What kind of punishment would Zhu Yunwen inflict on them?
Just as they were wondering, Zhu Yunwen spoke again:
"To avoid any dissatisfaction from you, I will publicly accept the case today, so that you will be convinced."
Before they could understand Zhu Yunwen's meaning, Zhu Yunwen directly gave the order:
"Open the Court of Judicial Review and notify all constables in the prefectural and county governments, and all parts of the county, that the Crown Prince has arrived here to seek justice for all the people, except for cases related to the local officials."
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