Chapter 190 Sweeping away the treacherous and corrupt, sweeping across the world…
Zhang Ting's beautiful and flawless face, however, appeared to Feng Tongzhi like a deadly demon, chilling and terrifying. A coldness shot up from her tailbone and instantly spread throughout her body, making her teeth chatter uncontrollably.
Almost instantly, she collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably, "Lord Zhang, my lord... I was just confused for a moment... The grain was distributed to the disaster victims, but the amount each person received wasn't... not as much as I saw earlier..."
"It was I who embezzled 30,000 shi of grain, but the higher-ups all ate some of it. As the sages said, 'Great perfection seems flawed, and one should blend in with the world.' If I didn't collude with them, how could I possibly survive?"
"I didn't expect Lord Feng to be so well-versed in Taoist arts." Zhang Ting smiled faintly, his gaze deep, and brandished his sword at her neck, as if measuring that inch of flesh to make a move. "Although this sentence comes from the Tao Te Ching, it says that 'the most perfect things seem to have flaws, and need to conceal their brilliance and mingle with the dust of the world.' It doesn't mean that Magistrate Feng should collude with others to harm the people."
"My lord... my lord, I have learned my lesson. Considering this is my first offense, I beg you to show leniency!" Magistrate Feng trembled as he grabbed her feet, his face streaked with tears and snot.
She kicked him over and angrily rebuked him: "If you want me to spare you, then tell the truth! Do I have to peel back the layers of your secrets?" Her voice was extremely penetrating, as if she could see into all the darkest parts of everyone's heart.
The minor officials were so frightened that they were soaked to the bone, and they knelt on the ground with their faces pressed to the ground, wishing they could bury themselves in the earth as well.
These words sent chills down Feng Tongzhi's spine; he was terrified, as if he had seen a living Yama. She really knew; she really knew everything…
Kicked to the ground, she scrambled back to her knees and confessed the truth: "I did indeed conceal something. Although I withheld 30,000 shi (a unit of dry measure), before the relief grain arrived, the officials of this prefecture ate some of the local granaries... What was originally intended for the people wasn't enough. Thinking that if it were divided equally, no one could survive, some officials, acting on their own initiative, drove some people into the mountains to fend for themselves..."
"When the time comes, treat them as if they have drowned or been separated from their families in the flood, and report it to the court."
She wept bitterly, filled with remorse: "It was all the officials below who acted on their own. I beg you, Your Excellency, have mercy! I beg you, Your Excellency, have mercy and spare my life!"
Zhang Ting licked his lips. How else could such a corrupt official like Magistrate Hu have emerged? Clearly, Yinzhou Prefecture was a place with a certain character. From top to bottom, it was a bunch of black-hearted, treacherous officials.
She sheathed her sword and kicked Magistrate Feng to his feet. "Hurry up and lead the way. Magistrate Feng, your life depends on whether you can atone for your crimes this time."
He tilted his head and said to the group of minor officials, "You all come along too."
His voice was icy cold, and the murderous intent it carried nearly made the minor officials faint; they were practically on the verge of tears. "With something like this happening in our prefecture, Lord Zhang must think they're in cahoots, but they truly know nothing about what happened today!"
The dozens of guards behind Zhang Ting also sheathed their blades and stood respectfully behind her.
The sound of sheaths being sheathed startled Feng Tongzhi again. He shrank back and gave her a fawning smile, saying, "This humble official will, will, will try his best to atone for his sins." He carefully got up and led the way.
Passing through withered forests and desolate paths, the setting sun casts its rays, its warmth utterly devoid of any warmth; the deeper one goes, the colder it grows.
Zhang Ting squinted as she observed the terrain. Although they were going deeper into the area, they were still on high ground, making it difficult to set up an ambush. But better safe than sorry, she quietly ordered her guards to maintain a state of emergency.
Several crows watched the procession, then cawed and flew away.
As they approached their destination, a pungent, fishy stench assaulted their senses, causing a strong sense of unease to rise in everyone's hearts.
Feng Tongzhi staggered forward, but dared not retreat, her back pressed against the cold blade.
The group was led to a deep cave. The entrance was narrow, allowing only three people to pass at a time. The rock walls were steep and difficult to climb, but the bottom was open and faintly lit, capable of accommodating more than a hundred people.
Magistrate Feng: "Sir, the people are all here. You must keep your promise and resign from your post..."
Zhang Ting ignored her and gave a wink to his personal guards.
The guards rushed forward and shouted into the deep cave, "Is anyone down there? The Imperial Envoy has come to rescue you!"
After that shout, there was a long silence below, and after a while, an echo came: "There...there's someone!" The voice was rough and hoarse.
Immediately afterward, someone climbed down from the bottom of the cave to check. Overjoyed to see what was happening, they turned to the others and said, "Someone has really come to save us!" They then returned to the people above, crying and pleading, "Please, sir, save us! We can't survive..."
More chattering could be heard from below, indicating that there were quite a few people.
They're all alive, they're all alive. Magistrate Feng wiped away his cold sweat and breathed a slight sigh of relief.
Zhang Ting immediately ordered someone to bring a long rope, tie it to the tree, and felt that the rope could reach the bottom.
She let Feng Tongzhi go down first.
Feng Tongzhi shook his head frantically, "My lord, I will not..." He swallowed hard when he touched the other's hand holding the sword, "I will go right away, I will go right away."
Although Magistrate Feng was physically weak, he landed safely, which shows that there was no danger inside the cave and that the rope was sturdy.
So everyone went down one by one, leaving a few soldiers to guard the outside.
As soon as Zhang Tingfu landed, she smelled an unbearable stench from inside the cave. Her throat itched, and she quickly covered her mouth and nose. The clerks were vomiting incessantly, and even many of the personal guards who came down couldn't help but gag.
The people who had just begged for help were now hunched over in the corner, their eyes silently watching them.
In the light streaming in, their faces were ashen, their bodies filthy, and their eyes were empty and vacant, like walking corpses.
Zhang Ting frowned, endured the stench, and took a step forward. As soon as he opened his mouth, they all shrank back like frightened birds, their eyes filled with unspeakable fear.
Something's not right, something's very wrong.
Even if it were a secluded cave, the stench from the excrement of over a hundred people wouldn't be this foul.
Zhang Ting closed her eyes. She had smelled the stench of corpses before, and the current situation had already given her the answer. Some people had probably starved to death in the cave.
She tried her best to appear more approachable and reliable, reassuring everyone: "Gentlemen, my name is Zhang Ting. I am an imperial envoy appointed by the Emperor himself, in charge of the flood control in Yinzhou Prefecture. Today, after interrogating the wicked officials, I learned that you are all imprisoned here, so I have come to rescue you."
Approaching them discreetly, I broke down their defenses. "Eight years ago, I escorted three notorious bandit leaders to court in Qishan County. Do you all remember that? Four years ago, when Yinzhou Prefecture suffered a disaster, I devised a plan to save hundreds of people from being forced to flee their homes. I was originally the magistrate of Fengxian County in Zhangzhou Prefecture, but I was promoted to prefect for my meritorious service in flood control. Do you all know anything about my name?"
"Now that the court has appointed me as Imperial Commissioner, I will surely rectify this prefecture, eradicate the floods forever, and never again let everyone suffer from hunger, displacement, and torment by corrupt officials!"
"Please follow me out of the cave. I will have food and shelter distributed to you one by one."
Zhang Ting's candor finally broke down everyone's defenses.
This renowned and virtuous official, whose deeds they had often heard about, and who had longed for such a good official to govern them.
But when the time actually came, no one could laugh.
A deathly silence pervaded the entire cave, and a mournful wail echoed from the depths of the soul.
It was a long time later, like a century had passed.
An elderly woman with white hair crawled out from the crowd. Her cheeks were so thin that you could see the bones. She was numb and lifeless. She fell and got up again. The aura of death permeated every pore of her body.
She finally knelt before Zhang Ting, bowed her head and kowtowed, and said heavily, "This humble subject is guilty!" Her sharp and desperate cries echoed throughout the cave.
This sound seemed to completely shake everyone back to their senses. They followed the old man in bowing, their bodies pressed tightly to the ground, radiating a silent despair.
The guards and minor officials were utterly bewildered. They had never heard of a victim being required to confess to a crime.
Zhang Ting frowned, puzzled, and asked, "Please rise, everyone. What crime have you committed?" He then tried to help her up, but the old woman was about the same age as her teacher and her knees couldn't take the strain.
The old man then revealed a shocking truth: "We common people have been trapped here for over a month, without water or food, and many have starved to death..."
“If this continues, everyone will die of starvation… As an elder, I have ordered everyone to share the bodies of those who have starved to death…” Tears welled up in her eyes with sorrow. “I have not lived up to my duty as a human being, please, Your Excellency, grant me death!”
A restless commotion arose among the crowd.
"Sir, we didn't kill anyone, they're all dead..."
"We want to live so badly, sir...we want to live so badly."
"My daughter is only eight years old! I don't know if she's dead or alive. I have to go find her!"
"My lord, my mother is ill in Jeju Prefecture. I want to go back alive to see her one last time."
Faces came into view, so real yet so blurry. Zhang Ting pressed her forehead and shook her head. The tinnitus made her unable to hear anything. Suddenly, her stomach churned, and she finally couldn't help but bend over and vomit.
"grown ups!"
After vomiting, he was helped up by his guards, but he still felt dizzy and disoriented, as if he were no longer human.
This cannibalistic world—only those who have truly witnessed it can understand its darkness.
Her face was pale, and even her words were pale: "Let's go up first."
Go up first.
Soldiers helped the people up one by one. The setting sun had disappeared outside, the air was fresh, but no one felt relieved.
Night fell, a chill filled the air, and eerie bird calls echoed around.
They were all trembling, all afraid, but they didn't know what they were afraid of.
Power is a toy for those in high positions and flesh and blood for those in low positions.
Zhang Ting looked up at the sky. The moon hung high in the dark sky, so full and so bright. Could it also illuminate the path of the unjustly killed? Guide them to seek revenge, to repay kindness with kindness.
She lowered her eyes, and a tear slid down her left eye. Never before had she hated herself so much, for it had come so late, so very late.
If those who die unjustly have nowhere to seek justice and nowhere to avenge themselves.
She would rather sacrifice corrupt officials and wicked bureaucrats to heaven to comfort the souls of the dead.
...
Before dawn the next day, Yinzhou Prefecture underwent an unprecedented purge. The iron-willed guards dragged countless people out of their beds, including high-ranking officials and lowly yamen runners. Anyone on the list of those confiscated for corruption was sent to the execution platform without exception.
The orderly procession of heavily armored soldiers marched past with a solemn sound, startling the common people so much that they dared not show their faces.
Not far away, in the dense and dimly lit woods, a group of young people were plotting.
"Boss, look what's going on here? These soldiers dragged out so many people before dawn. I bet a lot of them have betrayed us before!"
"Yeah, that's really strange! Could it be that they knew we were about to start an uprising and deliberately arrested these corrupt officials to put on a show for us?"
Those with more volatile tempers would say directly, "In my opinion, let's just rush out and kill all these corrupt officials! What kind of behavior is this, dragging things out like this? And that damned imperial envoy, let's chop him up too! Do you think we hundreds of sisters are afraid of her?"
Someone immediately stopped her, saying, "Fifth Sister, don't be impulsive. The imperial envoy sent by the court this time is Lord Zhang from Zhangzhou Prefecture. He is renowned for his virtue and has indeed done many good deeds. He is deeply loved by the people of Zhangzhou Prefecture. If we want to start a rebellion, we should not only not kill him, but also try our best to win him over."
"The strategist is right. Lord Zhang is exceptionally wise and virtuous, and her reputation is widespread. She is highly influential and charismatic among scholars and common people alike. If we can get her help, taking Yinzhou Prefecture will be a piece of cake."
"Easy for you to say! He's a high-ranking official of the imperial court, with a bright future ahead of him. Why would he even look at a few desperados like us? We'd be lucky if he didn't kill us!"
"Stop arguing, the boss hasn't said anything yet! Let's all listen to what the boss says."
The woman in black stared intently at the officers making the arrest, her gaze deep and serious. She issued a solemn order: "Until the situation becomes clear, everyone remain still!"
The hot-tempered woman complained, "Boss, tonight is our best chance. If we miss it, we'll regret it!"
The woman in black replied, "What timing? The lives of each of us sisters are far more important than this. If we weren't being tortured to death by these corrupt officials, who would be willing to risk their lives to rebel?"
She looked at everyone and said, "Everyone remember this: we have gathered here not for fame or fortune, but to earn a way to survive for ourselves and for the people of Yinzhou Prefecture!"
After saying that, she added, "Let's split up and blend into the crowd at dawn to see if this new imperial envoy is a man or a ghost, and what his intentions are!"
Soon it was dawn, the soldiers left, and the people came out to watch the spectacle at the execution platform.
This execution platform was built overnight by Zhang Ting specifically to deal with these corrupt officials.
If Yinzhou Prefecture can produce so many corrupt officials, the people's hearts cannot be much better. What's worse, when she went to inspect that area a couple of days ago, the harmonious scene between officials and the people that she saw was all a performance put on for her by these people.
Thus, these villains were beheaded in front of the people to appease them and stabilize the foundation of the government.
The first one brought in was Feng Tongzhi, the second-in-command of Yinzhou Prefecture. She cried out, "Lord Zhang, you can't kill me! You promised me you'd atone for your crimes and not kill me!"
Zhang Ting replied calmly, "The offending official has committed heinous crimes. A petty attack cannot atone for his evil deeds. I am acting on the orders of His Majesty the Emperor, and may execute him first and report later. Detain him and execute him!"
Magistrate Feng was dragged away by his guards. "Zhang Ting, you broke your promise! You deserve to die a horrible death!" After a moment, he struggled with both feet and said, "I have a past relationship with Prime Minister Gao. You have no right to kill me! Let me go! Lord Zhang... if you don't want to become mortal enemies with Prime Minister Gao, then order your men to release me!"
Zhang Ting didn't even bother to lift her eyelids. Gao Qiu? She'd been hoping for her death for a long time. Did she need the other party to hate her even more?
The executioner pinned the man down, raised his knife, and the man's head fell to the ground.
One after another, it seemed that everyone who walked to the guillotine had to give a few "eloquent speeches," cursing Zhang Ting mercilessly and even her ancestors for eighteen generations.
Zhang Ting didn't care; he considered it a kind gesture to let them say a few more words before they died. Afterward, he calmly ordered the yamen runners to hang the heads of these people above the government office as a warning to others and to deter other villains.
Those who were planning to rebel but were mingling in the crowd were all taken aback when they saw him: Good heavens! This imperial envoy is a ruthless character!
After the execution was completed, the stench from the execution platform filled the air, but she paid no heed. She took a scroll of names and walked down to the crowd, displaying the names one by one before them.
"Fellow citizens, the treacherous officials and villains who have plagued Yinzhou Prefecture for many years have all been executed. This list contains 137 officials and 30 yamen runners. You can come to the front of the prefectural government office later and compare their faces to see if they match. If there is any discrepancy, please report it to me. Zhang Ting will mobilize all the officers and soldiers to bring the villains to justice, quell the public anger, and sweep away the wrath throughout the world!"
This completely put the people's minds at ease, and the former victims covered their faces and wept bitterly.
"Lord Zhang, you are a good official and a good man, but... you have killed so many corrupt officials who bullied us, including high-ranking officials' lackeys, for us insignificant people like duckweed. How are you going to explain this to your superiors?!"
The commoner knelt before her, saying, "Your Honor, please accept this humble bow. My young son was raped and murdered by an evil official, and I had no way to seek justice. When I went to the government office to appeal, the bailiffs broke my left leg. If it weren't for you, my son would not be able to rest in peace!"
“Sir, there’s me, there’s me! My family was once very wealthy, but this thieving official targeted us. He had us thrown into a ditch at night, and all our money and even my husband were robbed by the thieving official. He lied and said it was a bandit problem, leaving me with no choice but to suffer in silence!”
"You are our savior, Lord Zhang! Please accept our humble bow. We have hindered your future!"
Zhang Ting sighed deeply and lifted the people up one by one. "What I did today was what I should do. Executing 167 evil leaders is the only way to comfort the innocent. May their souls rest in peace."
"As for the court's criticism, today's matter is mine to bear, and Zhang Ting will take full responsibility! It has nothing to do with anyone else."
"Fellow villagers, there is no need to be sad. Now that I have been appointed as the imperial envoy for disaster relief, I should speak up for the people and punish the villains. If I cannot even do this, then I, Zhang Ting, need not serve as an official."
These words resonated deeply within the people, who thronged around the central figure—no, their god—shed countless tears. The people's hearts were united; never before in history had the people's spirits been so high. At this moment, they would gladly face death.
The 'prospective rebels' on the outer circle were also deeply moved, wiping away tears.
They all said with emotion, "Lord Zhang is a good man; he's managed to govern Yinzhou Prefecture well. Boss, shall we still rebel?"
"If anyone dares to lay a finger on Lord Zhang again, I'll fight them to the death!" the hot-tempered woman said, covering the upper half of her face; she was urinating in her eyes.
The woman in black wiped the corner of her eye and said, "We won't rebel anymore. But if the court wants to harm Lord Zhang, then we'll rebel with Lord Zhang! We'll tear a hole in the sky!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
