Public sentiment boiled like water, already at its peak. Fire poured over oil—one spark would set it ablaze...
Incide public sentiment and oppose Zhang Prefecture! Outrageously bold!
"Three Divisions of Yamen Runners, heed my order! Set out at once for the Temple of Literature. Bring weapons and suppress the riot!"
"By your command!"
The Three Divisions of Yamen Runners converged from all directions, gathering more than three hundred men in the blink of an eye.
Set out! ...
Before the Temple of Literature, only the final two men remained. Their faces were pale as clay. They were not particularly close to the Zhang Family, so how could they know of its crimes? Whatever little rumors they had heard had already been voiced by those before them. They truly had nothing left to say.
"Can't say anything? Then run! Run and shout!" Lin Su said coldly.
"Brother Lin, we truly..."
"Don't want to honor the wager?"
His voice was icy.
The Literary Altars of the two men creaked...
Their souls flew from their bodies. At the same time, they stripped off their clothes, charged into the crowd, and shouted in unison, "I'm trash..."
After staring in astonishment, the crowd found it amusing and made way for them.
The people began to see this harmless Third Young Master Lin in a different light.
This kid... had made up his mind to go toe-to-toe with the Zhang Family to the bitter end.
In his policy essay, one timeless line had nailed Zhang Wenyuan to the pillar of historical shame.
Now, a case involving more than two hundred lives had fallen upon the Zhang Family's head as well.
In Haining, the Zhang Family had become so loathed that the entire city regarded them as enemies.
The Lin Family had originally been crushed so badly by the Zhang Family that nearly everyone expected them to become like the countless other households that had offended the Zhang Family—miserable beyond words from then on. Yet in barely two months, the Lin Family had launched a desperate strike.
Swift, precise, and ruthless!
Every blade struck a vital point!
The show before the Temple of Literature was over.
The flow of people in the streets began to converge, and the center of the storm shifted toward Zhang Prefecture!
More than ten thousand people roared, "The Zhang Family deserves ten thousand deaths!" as they surged toward Zhang Prefecture.
At the Prefectural Manor, Prefect Lei raised his hand and used the Official Seal in his palm to capture the movements across the city. At some point, a cruel smile had appeared on his face. Good!
Lin Su, you had finally made a mistake!
Once the crowd rioted, you, the instigator, would never be able to shake off this grave crime. Strip you of your Provincial Examination title, take your head, seize your secret formula—it would all depend on a single thought from me...
Just as the tide of people reached a boiling point, someone suddenly appeared directly before the crowd with his arms spread wide. It was none other than Lin Su.
When the fury of more than ten thousand commoners had been ignited, who in the world could stop them?
Even if officials and soldiers appeared, weapons would likely have to meet weapons. But one person was different.
That person was Lin Su.
The Zhang Family's crimes had been exposed because of him today!
Naturally, he was the one to lead them in settling scores with the Zhang Family!
The more they hated the Zhang Family, the more they respected him!
"Fellow townsmen!" Lin Su shouted. "I know you are filled with fury toward the Zhang Family. I know your hearts are brimming with grief and indignation. But with the saints above us and the bright heavens overhead, the state has its laws and households have their rules. We must not act rashly! Otherwise, our righteous act will be stained with dust!"
With those words, the procession suddenly fell silent.
An old man cried out, "Top Scholar Lin, tell us what to do, and we'll listen to you!"
"Very well. Everyone, choose one hundred representatives to accompany me to the Prefectural Manor and present our grievance to Your Excellency the Prefect. I believe that Your Excellency, having taken office to benefit the people of this land, will surely punish this tyrant in wrath and return justice to the common people!"
The moment he said that, the crowd below exploded.
"Top Scholar Lin, you don't understand the situation at all. This Prefect is a dog raised by the Zhang Family!"
"That's right! The Zhang Family has committed every kind of evil and run roughshod over others for years. Which of those things didn't happen right under the Prefect's nose?"
"There's no use going to the Prefect..."
Lin Su raised a hand. "Didn't you all say you would listen to me? If you listen to me, then do as I say!"
For that last sentence, he used the power of the Literary Altar, and his voice suddenly rose. The ears of the ten thousand people below all buzzed at once...
The scene was subdued!
Once the hundred representatives had been chosen, Lin Su and Qiu Mochi led a group of old men toward the Prefectural Manor.
Prefect Lei's Official Seal was linked to the Temple of Literature and monitored the entire city. When it suddenly caught this scene, his brow furrowed sharply, and he felt as though he had stepped on air.
Lin Su had questioned twenty-three people, causing the Zhang Family to suffer the impact of the anger of the masses. But did that count as inciting a mob? No. He had merely been honoring a wager—and that wager had received the recognition of saintly intent! No one dared say that he had done anything wrong.
If he had ridden the momentum of his great victory to organize the people and attack Zhang Prefecture, that would naturally count as incitement. But the problem was that when the mob set out, Lin Su had not only failed to add fuel to the flames, he had even personally stopped them.
He had proposed selecting representatives to go to the Prefectural Manor!
What was wrong with that?
There was not the slightest fault in it, no matter where one looked!
Yet Prefect Lei suddenly felt a faint unease. He had originally been a spectator standing safely on dry land, holding the sword of imperial authority, surveying heaven and earth as the mediator of the affair, ready at any time to pass judgment on others. But now, this hot potato had suddenly landed in his own hands...
This outsider had become a player in the game in the blink of an eye.
Could that brat be laying some grand scheme?
In truth, he had really overestimated Lin Su.
What grand scheme could Lin Su possibly be laying?
Lin Su himself was already at a loss.
Having Zhang Haoyue personally reveal his father's crimes had indeed been a trap. Lin Su had naturally calculated that Zhang Haoyue would deny everything to the bitter end. The moment he denied it, he would be lying. What sort of thing was Zhang Wenyuan? How could he possibly have done no deeds that harmed heaven and reason? Once he lied, the wager could take effect. Crippling or killing him would carry no suspense at all.
As for the other twenty-two people, Lin Su had truly only used them to disgust the Zhang Family. His original idea had merely been to make the Zhang Family infamous throughout the region. He had never thought that this alone could directly wipe out the Zhang Family, because he knew that was fundamentally impossible. The Zhang Family was a towering tree with deep roots. How could a few rumors destroy them?
But he had not expected the Zhang Family's crimes to run so deep!
More than two hundred lives!
The moment Zhao Ji opened his mouth, Lin Su knew things would spiral out of control!
Sure enough, once more than two hundred crimes were exposed, the fury of the entire city was ignited. The people boiled over and directly converged into a raging torrent that sought to wipe out the Zhang Family.
If they truly stormed into the Zhang Family like this, whether the Zhang Family would perish was still uncertain.
But he himself, and the Lin Family, would definitely be destroyed—without the slightest suspense!
What a joke. Organizing more than ten thousand people, ignoring the law, and directly leveling the ancestral home of the Minister of War! Who in the world could tolerate that?
Leaving aside the Minister of War, even the old emperor would directly order every participant thrown into prison. If he, the "organizer," were not punished by the extermination of his entire clan, heaven's justice itself would not allow it!
Therefore, he had to stop them!
The situation had already spun out of control. The only thing he could do now was hand the matter over. Hand it over to whom? The local parental official.
Of course, Lin Su also had his own little calculation. The local Prefect was said to be nothing more than a dog of the Zhang Family. Fine, then. I'll put this hot potato in your hands and see how you deal with it.
The three hundred yamen runners at the Prefectural Manor had already sharpened their blades, ready at any moment to suppress the riot. But suddenly, the situation took a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn. The people were no longer rioting; they had become rational and selected a group of representatives to go to the Prefectural Manor and lodge a complaint...
What were they supposed to do now?
The leader of the yamen runners did not know what to do.
Lin Su had already arrived before him and cupped his hands. "Sir, please inform Your Excellency the Prefect that one hundred Village Elders seek an audience with him to collectively present a shocking case. We hope Your Excellency will uphold saintly intent above and show compassion for the people below, and grant us an audience!"
Utterly refined and courteous.
This was the renowned Provincial Examination top scholar!
After hesitating for a moment, the yamen runner leader returned the salute. "Please wait here, everyone. Let me report to His Excellency before making a decision."
The Prefect paced twice on the Steps, then finally sighed. "Let them in!"
When one hundred Village Elders sought an audience, the Prefect should receive them. This was also an established custom.
Lin Su met with the Prefect. The Prefect seemed not to know that he was the Provincial Examination top scholar, watching him with a smile that was not quite a smile as he listened to the case...
After Lin Su finished, the Village Elders behind him began adding details.
With their additions, the public sentiment that the Zhang Family deserved execution of the entire household leapt vividly from the page...
The Prefect said, "Everything you have said is merely hearsay, without solid evidence. Based on the matters reported by the Village Elders, this office will assign specialists to investigate and will inform you all of the results on another day."
Lin Su's eyes narrowed slightly. "May I ask, Your Excellency the Prefect, which day is this 'another day' you speak of? Could you give us an exact date?"
The Prefect said, "Cases handled by the authorities must be rigorous. The investigation has not yet begun, and the facts are unknown, so naturally I cannot give you an exact date."
Everyone was choked with anger. They had known it would turn out this way.
The Prefect was a dog raised by the Zhang Family. Could one expect a dog to bite its master?
This so-called investigation was merely an excuse. He would surely drag it out until nothing came of it.
Lin Su said, "Your Excellency the Prefect, may this student understand it this way? Even after ten or twenty years, there may still be no result."
"This office also hopes to resolve it quickly. But the state has its laws and households have their rules. We can only do our utmost. Before the matter is clear, no outcome may be presumed." Amusement glinted in the Prefect's eyes, and his answer was steady as Mount Tai.
An old man below suddenly stood up. "Since officials shield one another and refuse to uphold justice for the people, then we..."
The old men behind him all straightened at once.
The Prefect's face darkened sharply. "What are you doing? Trying to rebel? This office warns you: anyone who dares take illegal action will be treated as a rioter. Their households will be confiscated and their clans exterminated, with absolutely no leniency!... See the guests out!"
He flicked his sleeves and rose.