Disposition

Wei Qing flicked the blood droplets from his blade and sheathed it.

He announced coldly:

"From today onward, everyone in Fang Manor is confined to the premises pending investigation. Without an order from the Imperial Court, no one may leave the manor." His gaze swept across the crowd, and several martial artists who had been itching to move instantly froze where they stood. "Anyone who violates this..."

"Lord Wei, have mercy!" The steward dropped to his knees with a thud. "We are merely servants of Fang Manor. We truly knew nothing of Fang Xiang's collusion with demons. Please, my lord, show us leniency."

"My lord."

Zhu Huan happened to rush into the courtyard with over a dozen constables.

"Captain Zhu." Wei Qing gave a slight nod. "Deploy three shifts of constables to guard Fang Manor in rotation. If even one person leaves, you alone will answer for it."

"Yes, my lord."

Before entering the city, Wei Qing had instructed him.

To avoid suspicion, they still addressed each other by their official titles in public.

"My lord, Lord Fang is kneeling outside Fang Manor, waiting for you."

Outside Fang Manor.

Fang Youting knelt on the ground, his back hunched.

He was not yet fifty, yet at this moment, he looked like an old man of seventy or eighty, a candle flame guttering in the wind.

After learning that his eldest son, on whom he had placed such high hopes, had colluded with demons, his once ink-black hair now seemed covered in frost, fluttering wildly in the wind.

"Lord Fang, why are you doing this?"

"My lord, the ground is cold. Please get up first, then speak."

The surrounding townspeople swiftly gathered around. Some asked after him with pained concern, while others tried to pull him up by the arms.

Fang Youting was like a clay statue devoid of feeling, kneeling motionlessly on the ground.

"What exactly happened?"

"I just saw people from the Heavenly Realm Division enter Fang Manor. Could this have something to do with the Heavenly Realm Division?"

"Hmph, just because they are from the Heavenly Realm Division, does that mean they can act with utter disregard for the law? Over these years, Lord Fang has led us in reclaiming wasteland, building bridges and roads, punishing crooked merchants... Who doesn't know he is our upright magistrate, a good official who truly treats us common folk like people?"

The crowd stirred. Several men rolled up their sleeves, fire blazing in their eyes as they prepared to charge into Fang Manor.

To seek justice for this parental official who had poured his heart and soul into Qingcheng.

Common people were like this.

Whoever treated them well, they would surely repay a hundredfold.

Old Sun, the charcoal seller, shakily raised his cane. "This old man's life was saved by my lord during the snow disaster ten years ago. Today..."

"Everyone, do not act rashly. It is Fang's fault for failing to teach his son properly. It has nothing to do with the Heavenly Realm Division."

Fang Youting hurriedly spoke up to stop them.

Just then.

The tightly shut gates of Fang Manor opened, and Wei Qing led his men out in a file.

When he saw Fang Youting kneeling on the ground, he halted. His gaze lingered for a long while on that head full of glaring white hair.

"Lord Fang, why must you do this?" Wei Qing's voice was unusually gentler. "This matter has nothing to do with you..."

"My lord, it is all Fang's fault, for failing to teach his son properly." Fang Youting slammed his forehead to the ground. When he raised his head, blood ran down from his brow. "This humble official is willing to accept punishment. I only ask that, for the innocent people in the manor, my lord put in a good word to the Imperial Court."

Under Great Zhou law: those who colluded with demons were punished by the extermination of nine clans.

The Fang clansmen within Fang Manor all fell within those nine clans.

The manor's servants, barring unforeseen circumstances, would also be buried alongside their masters.

"Lord Fang, you know as well..."

"Fang understands."

Seeing that Wei Qing had not explicitly refused, Fang Youting did not press the matter. He bent down and knocked his head against the ground once more.

"My lord, what exactly happened?" Old Sun stepped forward on his cane, his eyes fixed tightly on Wei Qing.

"Will Lord Fang... be all right?"

"Fang Xiang of the Fang Family colluded with demons and harmed the people of Qingcheng. The evidence is conclusive. Fang Xiang has already been executed."

Wei Qing's voice was not loud, yet it exploded beside everyone's ears like a clap of thunder.

"What?"

Old Sun's cane clattered to the ground from his hand, and his withered body swayed.

A deathly silence instantly fell before Fang Manor's gates. The watching townspeople all drew in sharp breaths.

"This... how is that possible?" The knife in Zhurou Rong's hand clattered to the ground.

That Young Master Fang who always wore white and helped the townspeople at the market?

That eldest son of the Fang Family who handed out porridge at the City God Temple on the tenth of every month?

That gentle young gentleman who had paid Scholar Chen's medicine bill the day before yesterday and said, "Study hard, and one day bring benefit to the people."

Secretly, he had actually been a human traitor who colluded with demons!

Could it be that... "My lord, was my son's disappearance related to Fang Xiang?"

Zhurou Rong suddenly began trembling violently, his eyes flooding with blood. He recalled how his son had vanished half a month ago, and Fang Xiang had led people to search with him for an entire night.

Fang Xiang had even comforted him, saying that his son would surely be found.

The frantic desperation he had shown then—was it not a joke in Fang Xiang's eyes...

Zhu Huan stepped forward and placed the bundle in his hands on the ground, gently opening it.

"These items were found in Fang Xiang's room. Take a look and see whether you recognize any of them."

Crash!

As the bundle opened, hairpins, handkerchiefs, longevity locks, jade pendants, and other items spilled across the ground.

Several people instantly rushed out of the crowd.

"This is my daughter's hairpin!"

"This is the jade pendant Xiao'er's grandfather gave him for his birthday last year!"

"My son!"

Zhurou Rong's eyes were bloodshot, veins bulging across his thick arms as he clenched a snow-white boning knife in a death grip.

"You beast! I'll strip that beast hide right off your body!"

He suddenly shoved through the crowd, strode to his stall, snatched up the coldly gleaming butcher's knife from the chopping block, and charged toward Fang Manor.

"That's right—wouldn't death be letting that beast off too easily?"

"Skin him!"

"Pull out his tendons!"

Several townspeople who had recognized the items could no longer suppress the rage in their hearts. Their eyes red and their breaths harsh, they followed behind Zhurou Rong and lunged toward Fang Manor.

"Stop them!"

Wei Qing shouted sharply. Several constables rushed forward from behind and blocked them firmly before Fang Manor.

Zhu Huan moved in a flash, raising his hand to seize Zhurou Rong's wrist.

"Brother Rong, you still have Hai'er and your wife. Don't do anything foolish."

Zhurou Rong felt his wrist bone go numb, and his palm involuntarily loosened. The pig-blood-stained knife flipped through the air before Zhu Huan caught it steadily.

"Hah... hah..."

Zhurou Rong's throat gave off beastlike pants. He swung up his right hand and slapped himself viciously across the face with a crack.

His right cheek instantly swelled red. With reddened eyes, he unwillingly took a step back.

The other townspeople still trying to storm Fang Manor were temporarily restrained by the constables.

Wei Qing stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Fang Xiang colluded with demons. The Imperial Court will deliver its own judgment. I have ordered Fang Manor sealed for the time being."

"During this time, no one is to cause trouble."

"Zhu Huan, take Lord Fang into custody for the time being!"

"Yes."

Zhu Huan waved his hand, and two constables stepped forward.

Fang Youting shakily rose to his feet. He cast one last look at Fang Manor, its inner gates standing open, then turned and slowly followed the constables toward the yamen.

The long street was solemn and silent.

The townspeople automatically made way for him.

Their gazes toward Fang Youting held anger and unwillingness, but even more, a reluctance to see Qingcheng's upright magistrate brought low.