In the City God Temple of Chang'an Prefecture, City God Sun Yanling and others stood trembling in the hall. Fang Jian sat at the very top, looking at them quietly.
Soon Sun Yanling and others could not bear it anymore. Being stared at by Fang Jian like that made them feel more frightened than if they were directly sentenced to death.
At one point, Sun Yanling and the others knelt on the ground, kowtowed to Fang Jian and confessed their guilt, but Fang Jian still didn't say anything. He just sat on the steps of the palace and looked at them.
Sun Yanling and the others were even more frightened now. They would feel relieved even if Fang Jian sentenced them to death, because the unknown outcome was more frightening than the known one.
An incense stick of time passed, half an hour passed, and soon another hour passed.
Sun Yanling and the others were already on the verge of mental collapse. If this continued for another stick of incense, they would definitely collapse.
But Fang Jian seemed to know this, and the next moment he spoke, "Sun Yanling, the City God of Chang'an Prefecture."
Sun Yanling was instantly as if he had heard a heavenly sound. His heart, which was about to collapse, was instantly pulled back. He quickly responded, "Your subordinate is here."
"Do you admit your guilt?" Fang Jian asked.
"I know my crime, True Lord Hongqing. I have failed the people and this official robe. I, Sun Yanling, know my crime." After saying this, Sun Yanling knelt on the ground.
Fang Jian said, "If there is a crime, there must be punishment. This is the law of nature. Do you understand?"
"I understand," Sun Yanling said quickly, "Please ask True Lord Hongqing to punish me."
Fang Jian said, "Article 13 of the 'Heavenly Laws: Laws for Immortal Officials' states: Any immortal official or divine official in the Heavenly Court who abuses his power for personal gain, or who suspends the affairs of the Heaven and Earth Yin-Yang Divine Palace for personal gain, shall be punished according to the severity of the offense, with the most severe punishment being capital punishment."
"Although you have stopped the affairs of the Divine Palace for three months, you repented halfway and did not cause any disasters, so the circumstances are relatively minor. I sentence you to be demoted to the third grade and sentenced you to three hundred years in Lei Ze. After you are released, you will go to the underworld to be a ghost soldier." Fang Jian said lightly.
Those unfamiliar with Fang Jian might be puzzled by this verdict. How could you call that 'light'? Lei Ze served three hundred years, demoted directly from a fifth-rank immortal official to an eighth-rank immortal official. He went from a city god who dominated the affairs of the underworld to a mere underworld soldier. How could that be considered light?
But Sun Yanling, an immortal official, breathed a sigh of relief. For Fang Jian, this was the lightest punishment. After all, in the past, Fang Jian would basically sentence anyone who violated the heavenly rules to death.
"I accept the punishment and kowtow to thank the True Lord Hongqing." Sun Yanling kowtowed hurriedly.
Fang Jian raised his hand and wrote a written approval document and handed it to Lei Bing who was standing beside him. Then he said to Sun Yanling, "As for your marriage, I am also a reasonable person. I will allow you and your wife to continue with your wedding after you go to Lei Ze."
Sun Yanling's face twitched for a moment, and he immediately bowed again, "Thank you, True Lord Hongqing, for your great kindness. I will never forget it."
Then Fang Jian ordered the thunder soldiers to take Sun Yanling and Princess Quanyin back to the Thunder Department with his imperial edict and directly send them to the Lei Ze Prison.
After Sun Yanling and Princess Quanyin were taken away, Fang Jian looked at the judges of the Chang'an City God Temple and the generals of the underworld in the hall.
"You clearly know that stopping the affairs of the Divine Palace for personal gain is a violation of the Heavenly Law, so why don't you report this to the Southern Heavenly Palace?" Fang Jian asked the civil and military judges of the City God Temple and a group of generals from the underworld who were standing below.
When these people heard Fang Jian's questioning, they dared not argue and fell to the ground to plead guilty. Fang Jian then demoted them all to ghost soldiers and ghost messengers according to the laws of heaven, and they still served in the City God Temple in Chang'an Prefecture.
As for the ghost soldiers and ghost messengers originally in the City God Temple, Fang Jian did not make things difficult for them. After all, they were just the lowest-level immortal officials, with the lowest official rank and the lowest salary, and they were the ones who did all the hard work. You cannot force them to risk their lives to report their superiors and punish them. It is unfair.
"Yes, we accept the punishment." The civil and military judges, and the generals of the underworld bowed their heads and kowtowed.
Fang Jian immediately issued an imperial edict and sent it directly to Taixuandu Province. Within just a hundred breaths, fairy light flashed on the bodies of several people, and then the fairy official robes on their bodies disappeared instantly, and together with the fairy official jade books, they turned into the regulations of the ninth-rank ghost officials.
Just after Fang Jian finished dealing with everyone in the City God Temple of Chang'an Prefecture, he suddenly saw a dark fog rising in the City God Temple, and then two figures appeared above the Yin Hall of the City God Temple.
Fang Jian took a closer look and saw that the leader of the group was wearing the robes of a second-rank underworld immortal official. He was tall, with eyes like lightning, upright and awe-inspiring. He was none other than Lu Zhidao, the judge of the Chacha Division, one of the four great judges of the underworld.
Following behind Lu Zhidao was the Ghost King of Mangshan, who had been ordered by Fang Jian to be escorted to the underworld and handed over to King Qin Guang for disposal.
Seeing Lu Zhidao leading the Ghost King of Mangshan to the Yin Palace, the surrounding ghost soldiers and ghost messengers hurriedly bowed to greet him, and Lu Zhidao went straight forward to greet Fang Jian and said, "Your humble servant, Lu Zhidao, the judge of the Underworld Investigation Department, pays homage to the True Lord Hongqing."
Fang Jian asked with a smile, "Judge Lu, I just sent the Ghost King of Mangshan to your underworld. Why did you bring him back?"
Lu Zhidao quickly said, "Your Highness, Hongqing Zhenjun, I am here on the orders of His Highness, Prince Qin Guang, to escort the Ghost King of Mangshan to take up his post."
"Oh?" Fang Jian raised his eyebrows and asked, "To take up the post?"
"Yes," Lu Zhidao said, "The Ghost King of Mangshan, Duan Zaidao, has been demoted by His Royal Highness Prince Qin Guang to the position of City God of Chang'an Prefecture."
"Is that it?" Fang Jian asked in surprise.
Lu Zhidao said, "True Lord Hongqing, please allow me to report. His Royal Highness Prince Qin Guang has stated that if Duan Zaidao can serve as the City God of Chang'an Prefecture for a thousand years and pass the ten-year assessments held by the Underworld, he will be able to continue serving as an Immortal Official after a thousand years. If he fails even one assessment, all his Immortal Official rank and authority will be immediately revoked."
"Oh." Fang Jian replied calmly, "Then please tell fellow Daoist Qin Guangwang that I will also pay close attention to the assessment."
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