Chapter 179 Interrogation of Prefect Xu
Xuzhou.
When Governor Xu learned that the person impersonating the divine doctor was Physician Lin, he sent men that very night to arrest Lin's close relatives, friends, and neighbors.
At this moment, he was unaware that Lord He, along with his guards, had infiltrated the Xu family's villa and found the skeletons of more than a dozen women in the well.
Several of the bodies had severely deformed bones, and it was clear to the naked eye that they had suffered severe blows and abuse before their deaths.
Even though Lord He and his guards were used to dealing with corpses, they couldn't help but feel horrified.
These are all young women who have not yet given birth, and their ages are approximately 14 to 18.
The guards who went down to retrieve the body also saw marks made by fingernails on the stone wall inside the dry well.
There were also words written in blood on the wall, accusing Xu Shi'an of his crimes against them.
The guards copied down their testimonies written on the wall.
Some of the stones are loose.
Lord He directly ordered his guards to take the remains and the body ashore as evidence.
The next day, Magistrate He ordered his men to push the corpse to the front of the prefectural government office and beat the drum to appeal for justice, "Bang bang bang!!!"
The local people heard the commotion and ran over to watch, but there was still no movement at the gate of the prefectural government office.
Undeterred, Lord He continued knocking louder and louder, "Bang bang bang!!!"
"Squeak~" Several yamen runners opened the door and came out, adjusting their hats and belts as they opened their eyes and said impatiently, "It's so noisy. Who is beating the drum and appealing for justice so early in the morning?"
"If it's not something important, believe me, I'll give you twenty lashes."
"Please take a look, sir." Lord He lifted the white cloth.
The constables didn't recognize him and assumed he was an ordinary citizen. With so many corpses, they figured the perpetrator must be a heinous criminal, and they would be doing a great service if they could catch him.
They hurriedly inquired where the body came from and who the murderer was, and immediately went to arrest the person.
Then, I heard Lord He say that the remains were actually found in the villa of Governor Xu.
His expression changed drastically, and his attitude underwent a complete 360-degree turn.
They accused him of spreading false rumors and misleading the public, and sent people to drive him out.
Lord He sneered, "You serve the court, which means you serve the people. Is this how you treat the people? Do you, the governor, know this?"
"You still want to see our lord? Do you want to die? If our governor knew, you would have lost your head long ago. Get out of here, and leave your corpse behind!"
What if I don't stay?
The constable sneered, "You have no choice but to keep them!"
Xu Shi'an was always causing trouble, and Governor Xu had secretly ordered that anyone who came to Xu Shi'an's office should be thrown out.
The yamen runners immediately surrounded Lord He and his cart, making it clear that if they didn't give it to him, they would simply rob him and destroy the evidence.
Lord He raised his hand, worried that he wasn't afraid of them, but worried that a fight would damage the remains and physical evidence, be disrespectful to the deceased, and prevent the murderer from being brought to justice.
"I am He Shenyuan, the Censor-in-Chief!"
The yamen runner burst into mocking laughter when he heard him say that he was the prefect. "Haha!! You're the prefect? Aren't you afraid of biting off more than you can chew? If you want an imperial censor, then I'm the prime minister."
"I'm still a general, how can a high-ranking official not wear his official robes?"
"Furthermore, the gates of Xuzhou are heavily guarded. When officials sent by the imperial court enter Xuzhou, someone will definitely report to our governor. So where did you come from? Did you just pop out of the ground?"
"How could a rat possibly emerge from the ground? It probably flew in from the sky."
"So, it's a bat that flew in from the sky, impersonating an imperial censor?"
"Guards! He dares to impersonate an imperial censor! Seize him and hand him over to the officials for punishment."
Lord He unbuttoned the outer sleeves of his robe, pulled it open, revealing the blue official robe underneath.
A guard behind him removed his shawl and put on an official hat.
"You don't need to know where I come from. Just know that I am the Imperial Censor in charge of inspecting the cities around the capital. Cooperate with me to investigate the injustice and restore political order to Xuzhou."
Lord He held a token with the four characters "Supervisory Censor" written on it, and stepped forward to let the yamen runners see it clearly.
His aura was imposing, all previous respect had turned into coldness, and his official authority was like an invisible mountain pressing down.
The constable, remembering the mockery he had just received, felt his knees buckle and he fell to his knees with a thud, trembling like a leaf.
Although Lord He was wearing a green official robe, he was an imperial censor from the capital. Even their prefectural governor dared not offend him, let alone dare to offend him.
"Lord He, please calm down. Please forgive my poor eyesight; I didn't recognize you. I will send someone to invite the governor right away."
"Hmph!" Lord He placed one hand in front of him and the other behind his back, his back straight, his eyes like frost, and his chin slightly raised.
A constable scrambled out of the room.
The Xu residence was not far from the prefectural government office, just two streets away, and soon Governor Xu arrived in a carriage.
The yamen runners quickly sent someone to report to Governor Xu.
Governor Xu respectfully bowed to him with a smile and asked.
"Lord He, your presence is an honor. I am so sorry for not greeting you properly. Lord He, how could you not have informed me of your inspection tour? I would have sent someone to the city gate to welcome you."
Although Lord He is only a seventh-rank official, while he is a fourth-rank official, in principle there is no need for Lord He to bow to him; it should be Lord He who bows to him.
What he feared was the authority of the Grand Censor. The Censor was responsible for supervising all officials and maintaining order in the court, and could impeach all officials, including the prime minister.
Wherever the censors went, they caused headaches and trouble for the local officials.
Therefore, Governor Xu respectfully addressed him as "I am here."
Lord He inquired about the origin of the remains.
On the way here, Governor Xu and his advisor Xu had already come up with a plan.
Governor Xu told Lord He that the other party had rented the place to a wealthy merchant for a year or two, but then suddenly moved away, and those skeletons had nothing to do with them.
They're all just skeletons now; who knows how they died?
Master Xu asked who had given him the message.
The other party must have a grudge against the Xu family and deliberately fabricated evidence to frame them.
No matter what Lord He said, they always had excuses and reasons to refute and exonerate the Xu family.
Lord He pretended to believe him at first, and said that the other party was directing him to the dry well to find the body, which must be to use him to achieve some purpose. He did not let the other party achieve his purpose and temporarily confused Governor Xu.
He was new to the area, and the governor refused to admit his guilt, leaving him helpless.
They could only investigate while simultaneously reporting what had happened in Xuzhou to the imperial court.
at the same time--
Doctor Lin and Song Yan used disguise techniques to forge fake travel permits and sneak back to Xuzhou.
They secretly visited the girls who had been persecuted by the Xu family, hoping they would come forward together to accuse Xu Shi'an. They had received compensation from the Xu family and were already planning to let it go.
Most importantly, in Xuzhou, the Xu family is the emperor, and the governor is Xu Shi'an's father. What good would it do to file a complaint?
They turned around and advised Lin Tiande and Song Yan to let go, saying that people should look forward, otherwise they would only harm themselves and others.
They were also told that people close to them had been arrested and imprisoned by the yamen runners on some pretext.
Lin Tiande wanted to tell Lord He that he would stand up for them, but he was afraid of alerting Lord He and making things difficult for him in the future, so he held back.
No sooner had they left than someone went to the government to report them.
Governor Xu is summoning his retainers to discuss countermeasures.
Master Xu connected their arrival with Lord He's sudden visit to Xuzhou and immediately dispatched men to hunt down Lin Tiande and Song Yan in the city.
Xu Shi'an's wounds were ulcerated. In order to force them to show themselves, they framed Lin Tiande's nephew for murder and dragged him to the execution ground to be beheaded.
It was noon at 3:45.
Governor Xu, seated at the head of the table, threw down his command arrow and shouted, "Execute!"
Lin Tiande appeared in the crowd at the execution ground to stop them, shouting, "Wait!"
Lin Dabao, whose head was pressed against the guillotine, saw him and shouted urgently, "Second Uncle, Second Uncle, they're after you! Run! Don't worry about me..."
Governor Xu gave the executioner a look.
The executioner's blade swung down.
They have plenty of hostages; one more won't make a difference.
From the crowd, an arrow shot out from a rooftop not far away, deflecting the butcher's knife with great force, "Clang!"
"cut!"
Lin Tiande shouted, "Stop!"
The executioner wouldn't listen.
Then another arrow grazed the judge's cheek, cutting it.
Governor Xu tumbled off his chair, "Ouch...who...who did this?"
An old man pulled a butcher's knife from his robes, his aged eyes bloodshot and fixed on Prefect Xu and the officials, his gaze filled with hatred. He gritted his teeth and said, "That beast Xu Shi'an stole my daughter-in-law! My son beat Xu Shi'an up, and you killed my son! Now, to force Doctor Lin to show himself, you want to kill his nephew! This is outrageous! You're a monster, worse than a pig or a dog..."
With that, he raised his butcher's knife and charged at the governor, shouting, "Today I will avenge my son!"
The officials responsible for maintaining order lined up in front of the people, drawing their swords in an attempt to scare them away.
"Stand still and don't move! Back up! Don't come any closer, or don't blame our knives for being merciless."
"Blind? When did your knife develop eyes? You don't kill the bad guys, but you target us poor people!"
The angry people broke through the coffin defenses and rushed onto the platform, gathering knives and various weapons to smash at Governor Xu.
Under the escort of his advisor Xu and two constables, Governor Xu attempted to escape from the side.
But Lord He stopped him, "May I ask where Lord Xu is going? What crime has Lin Dabao committed?"
"He committed murder, he deserves to die!"
"Murder? Who did he kill? As far as I know, it was Lord Liu who targeted Lin Dabao to settle a personal score!"
Lord He pretended to accept bribes from Governor Xu, spending money to buy off the servants of the Xu household, and secretly contacted the families of those who were not persecuted by the Xu family.
The crimes committed by the Xu family are too numerous to count. "Today, the Imperial Censor will interrogate this Prefect in front of the people of Xuzhou."
"You dare!"
“I am the governor, my rank is above yours, what right do you have to judge me? Do you believe I will have you tied up?” Governor Xu ordered the yamen runners to do so.
The two guards beside Lord He were both experts, and they quickly knocked more than a dozen guards to the ground.
Governor Xu also wanted to mobilize troops
Lord He did not give her the chance and interrogated Prefect Xu on the spot. Ten thousand people wrote a petition in blood demanding that Prefect Xu and his son, who had committed numerous evils, beheaded and displayed to the public.
His incriminating evidence was sent to the capital by Lord He via express courier, traveling 800 li at breakneck speed.
During the journey, Xiao's secret guards secretly escorted them, blocking several waves of pursuers. After eight hours, they finally arrived in the capital.
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