Chapter 200 Imprisonment
More and more people joined the beating. Prefect Xu lay at their feet. He had lost his mind and was like a mad dog wandering a mass grave, cursing anyone he could get his hands on. He cursed the common people as worse than pigs and dogs, and he cursed the indifferent censor Dou and the governor for being heartless and unworthy of being human.
Gradually, his loud shouts turned into groans, and his angry curses turned into cries for help.
Imperial Censor Dou had a grim face. He stared intently at the chaotic scene below, and when he saw blood in the cracks, he called for a halt.
The governor remained silent throughout, but when Xu Ang's figure was revealed as the chaotic crowd dispersed, a fleeting smile crossed his face.
Meng Qing caught a glimpse of it, and quickly turned her gaze back, noticing the lingering mockery in the governor's eyes.
The governor noticed someone staring at him. He looked over and saw Meng Qing looking behind him. He turned around and saw Du Min hurriedly trying to straighten his expression, but the upturned corners of his mouth betrayed his thoughts.
"My lord?" Du Min gave an awkward smile.
The governor snorted and turned to look down the steps.
Xu Ang's brocade clothes were torn to shreds, his exposed skin was covered with footprints, and there were bloody scratches scattered under the footprints. His face and neck were covered with scratches, and half of his face was stained red with blood flowing down from his head.
The military commander was a martial artist and knew best about external injuries. After examining the wounds, he said, "The villagers all know what's going on. No one was really hurt; these are just superficial injuries."
Xu Ang was so angry that he shoved him.
The commander, having lost his strength, took several steps back.
Upon seeing this, Imperial Censor Dou scolded, "Xu Ang, behave yourself, or you'll be punished with a beating."
Xu Ang stood up. "I remember you. You're from the Dou family in Henan, right? I'll remember how you humiliated me today."
"So what if I remember? Are you going to drag out your father, the prime minister, to scare people again? To tell you the truth, I went to the prime minister's residence to visit Prime Minister Xu. Guess what he said? Your father asked me to clean up his disloyal and unfilial son." Imperial Censor Dou looked disappointed. Prime Minister Xu was too sensible. He was almost dead, yet he had little fatherly love and didn't fight for his own son.
Xu Ang could no longer maintain his forced composure.
"Did you order the killing of Li Sima and the Five Military Advisors?" Imperial Censor Dou asked.
"All five military advisors have been killed?" The onlookers were shocked.
"My father was killed?" The son, who was serving in the judicial system, cried out in grief and anger, "Xu Ang, you are worse than an animal! My father did so many wrong things for you, and you actually killed him... You are worse than a pig or a dog, you deserve to die a thousand deaths, and you will have no place to be buried after you die!"
Xu Ang burst into laughter. He turned to Imperial Censor Dou and said provocatively, "Yes, I ordered them killed. These traitors wanted to betray their master and escape. They deserved to die. You should thank me. If it weren't for me, they would have already fled."
"Imperial Censor Dou, Your Honor, please do justice for me!" A thin woman rushed out and knelt on the ground. "My family is from Xiawazi Village, south of the city. Five years ago, my parents were still alive, and I had five brothers. We owned more than 400 mu of fertile land, but unfortunately, Governor Xu took a liking to it and sent people to forcibly buy it. My father refused, and two days later, a fire broke out, and all 27 members of my family perished overnight..."
She cried out in injustice, her eyes brimming with tears as she sobbed, “Three generations of my family, my youngest nephew just turned one month old, twenty-seven people in total, not one of them escaped, all perished in the fire. The villagers who fought the fire that night said they smelled kerosene and didn’t hear any cries for help. I suspect my parents were murdered before the fire started. I went to the authorities and requested an autopsy, but the autopsy results showed that the entire family had suffocated. I don’t believe it, because the witnesses who initially claimed to have smelled kerosene have changed their stories; they must have been threatened. Lord Dou, please do justice for me and reopen the case of the fire in Xiawazi Village five years ago.”
Imperial Censor Dou lost his composure and grabbed Xu Ang by the collar, demanding, "Did you do this?"
Xu Ang remained silent.
"Investigate! Investigate immediately! Who owns those four hundred-plus acres of land from back then?" Imperial Censor Dou roared. "Who was the magistrate who adjudicated the case back then?"
“It’s me…” Magistrate Yu’s face was ashen, but his expression was calm. The other boot that had been hanging in the air had finally fallen to the ground, and he no longer had to worry.
"The criminal accepted five hundred strings of cash as hush money from Magistrate Qian, and ruled this murder and arson case as an accidental fire." Magistrate Yu confessed, then knelt down the steps and said, "I am guilty, I submit to the law."
Du Li suddenly took two steps forward and kicked Magistrate Yu from behind. Magistrate Yu staggered and fell, hitting his head on the bluestone steps, drawing blood on the spot.
"Damn you, you beast!" Du Li pointed at him and cursed, "A whole bunch of beasts! Aren't the lives of ordinary people lives too? You think you can just trample on them like that? They farm the land obediently, pay their taxes diligently after harvesting, and perform their corvée labor hard during the off-season. What crime have they committed? They just refuse to sell the land that their ancestors have relied on for their livelihood, and you want to kill them!"
Du Li felt nothing upon seeing the corpses of Li Sima and the five military advisors, but he trembled with rage upon hearing of their persecution of the common people. He looked around, then walked to the horse tethered to the stone lion. He took off his whip, strode towards Xu Ang, and with the strength he used to have when digging in the fields, lashed out at Xu Ang fiercely.
Imperial Censor Dou took two steps back without making a sound.
Xu Ang was beaten until he fell to the ground and rolled around.
"Good! Well done! Hit him hard!" the onlookers cheered.
“Young Master Du, stop!” the governor said. “You’ve only inflicted superficial wounds; they’re useless. Let the guards take over. Execute the punishment: fifty lashes, not a single one less.”
Upon hearing this, the guards immediately went to the gatehouse and brought out a long bench, where they tied Magistrate Yu and Prefect Xu to the bench and had them whipped.
The whip woven from horsehide was as hard as iron. With one lash, Magistrate Yu, who had fainted, immediately regained consciousness, but his mouth was gagged, so he couldn't make a sound.
The guards carried out the punishment, each lash drawing no blood, but after twenty lashes, blood began to seep from under the skin.
Thirty lashes later, Magistrate Yu fainted again. Prefect Xu, being thick-skinned, remained conscious but was too weak to struggle.
After forty lashes, Governor Xu also fainted.
Fifty lashes, and the soil on the ground was soaked in blood.
After the execution was completed, two guards brought out two buckets of cold water and poured them over the bodies. Magistrate Yu and Prefect Xu slowly regained consciousness, groaning weakly.
While they were being tortured, Censor Dou heard about two more wrongful convictions: one was that Military Advisor He had forcibly taken another man's wife, and the other was a revenge killing in which the murderer was not imprisoned.
"All the officials in Hanoi County have been imprisoned. I will judge them one by one. I want to see if they are officials or bandits under their skin," said Censor Dou angrily. "Fellow villagers, if you have any grievances, come to the yamen to submit your petitions within ten days. I will personally handle the cases."
The governor glanced at Du Min and said, "Censor Dou, you've never served as a county magistrate before, what case are you going to handle? Let Chief Clerk Du temporarily serve as the magistrate of Hanoi County. He previously served as the magistrate of Heqing County, let him handle the case."
At this point, even Du Min was not entirely trusting of Imperial Censor Dou.
Du Min knew this was an opportunity to make a name for himself among the people of Hanoi County, so he spoke up and said, "Please rest assured, Censor Dou and the elders and folks, Du Min is dedicated to public service and will never show favoritism. I will definitely make a fair judgment."
"Imperial Censor Dou, you've gone to act as the county magistrate, leaving this whole mess to me?" The governor pointed to the prefectural government office behind him. "You're the chief judge, and I'm just an assistant."
“Very well, then let Chief Clerk Du temporarily take over as magistrate.” Imperial Censor Dou pointed to four guards, “You go and assist Chief Clerk Du in handling the case.”
"Yes." The four guards accepted the order.
"Come on, follow me to arrest them." Du Min was also worried that the clerks in the county government would run away upon hearing this.
Meng Qing thought for a moment, then stepped forward and said, "Let me interject. From today onwards, Qingniao Bookstore will provide free legal writing services. If you have been wronged and cannot find a lawyer, you can go to Qingniao Bookstore."
"From this day forward, we will go to the library every day to write petitions and plead for the people!" shouted the scholars in the crowd.
"And me too."
"I'll go too."
"We'll all go."
The intellectuals in the crowd responded one after another.
"Let's go, we're going right now," Meng Qing commanded. "Anyone with a grievance to report, please come with us."
Du Min led one group of people away, and Meng Qing led another group away, and the congested street outside the governor's mansion was suddenly passable.
"Disperse, everyone disperse, don't disturb the adults' work." The guards dispersed the crowd.
"Will Governor Xu be sentenced to death?" someone asked. "Will his father save his life?"
"Wait patiently for news; the court will make a judgment," the guard replied.
Imperial Censor Dou glanced at the two men groaning in pain and ordered, "Summon a doctor to save their lives. Don't let them die."
"Yes." The guard accepted the order.
"Give them paper and pen and let them write their own statements." Imperial Censor Dou pointed at Cui Jin, Military Advisor Zhao, and Qian Shouguan, and instructed them, "Keep them in separate cells to prevent them from colluding."
"Is Yang the Commandant Yang, the same Yang from the Yang clan of Hongnong?" the governor asked as he came down.
"In reply to your question, sir, I am indeed from the Yang family of Hongnong," the Commandant of the Vanguard replied.
"You performed well today. I believe you're not in cahoots with them since Chief Secretary Du was able to persuade you. I'll give you a task: lead your troops to surround the Prefect's residence, the Military Advisor's residence, and the residences of the Six Military Advisors. Don't remove them until the case is closed," the Governor instructed.
“He also took my money,” Xu Ang interjected.
“He’s framing me. I haven’t accepted any money,” Commandant Yang calmly retorted. “Military and political affairs are separate. I have troops under my command, so he wouldn’t dare to lay a hand on me. Since the military doesn’t get involved in politics, I was afraid he would harm me. Over the years, I’ve been aware of something unusual in Huai Prefecture, but I haven’t dared to investigate. I beg you to punish me, sir.”
The governor chose to believe him and told his guards, "Take Xu Ang away and have the doctor administer the strongest medicine."
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Author's Note: There will be another update at 12 o'clock.
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