Young Master Wang Lin of Prince Jiang's Estate had run wild and lawless, sending his subordinates to murder an innocent student of Shuidu Academy and seize the student's treasure.
After the incident, he had shoved all responsibility onto that subordinate while remaining free and unpunished himself.
Of course, that was the version discussed in secret among the students and passed from mouth to mouth among the common people.
The official answer given by the Xuanjing Division of Two Rivers Prefecture was:
Everything had happened because the martial artist named "A Da" was simple-minded, impulsive, and hot-tempered, and had murdered a student of Shuidu Academy.
Outside Shuidu Academy.
Along the forest path, a woman in plain cloth slowly limped over.
Her aged face was covered in wrinkles, her powerless eyelids drooping over cloudy, dim eyes.
Those eyes were still, lonely, and hollow.
Leaning on the cane in her hand, she looked at the deathly pale snowflakes around her, her face utterly numb.
"Tap~"
Perhaps sorrow had filled her heart.
She failed to notice the pebble before her. With one careless step, she landed on it, her foot twisted sharply, and she fell straight to the ground.
Ignoring the pain from her fall, she trembled as she rose and looked toward the gates bearing the words "Shuidu Academy."
"Thump~"
She knelt on the ground, her streaked white hair pressed against the icy stone steps.
"I beg the Academy... give my son justice..."
Her voice was incomparably hoarse. She could no longer squeeze out tears, and so her eyes were terribly dim.
She could no longer shout. She could only force out a few words through a throat already bitter and ragged with grief:
"My son Zhang Lun died a miserable death, while the murderer remains at large... Heaven's justice is unfair, Heaven's justice is unfair..."
She had knelt before the offices of the Xuanjing Division.
Yet they had ruthlessly driven her away.
With nowhere else to turn, she had come to kneel outside the Academy.
She remained kneeling for a long time.
Before long, many students had gathered outside the Academy gates.
"Sigh~"
Naturally, some had heard her words.
At last, someone could not bear it any longer and came before the old woman.
"Old madam, the case was settled long ago... there is no overturning it."
The old woman's expression remained numb as she merely muttered again and again:
"Heaven's justice is unfair..."
"The one who killed your son was my guard. He has already faced the law. Old madam, why must you persist so stubbornly?"
A fairly gentle voice rang out.
The woman stiffly raised her head.
With a trace of pity on his face, Wang Lin approached the old woman and gently placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Go home quickly. Do not catch a chill."
"It was you... it was you... you killed my son! Young Master Wang Lin of Prince Jiang's Estate!"
Upon hearing those words, the old woman abruptly raised her head. Her voice was terribly hoarse, but the grief and fury in her tone were like blades scraping across Wang Lin's face.
The old woman revealed her withered face, her gaze filled with a venomous hatred that made one's skin crawl.
"You may eat recklessly, but you cannot speak recklessly. Your son's death has nothing to do with me. If you continue spouting madness here, the righteous lords of the Xuanjing Division are not paid to sit idle!"
Wang Lin's voice gradually turned cold.
"What are you all gathered here for?!"
As the Dean, Qin Shouchang naturally received word immediately. He rushed over without stopping for breath.
"Dean, this old woman insists on slandering me..."
When Wang Lin saw Dean Qin emerge, an innocent expression appeared on his face.
"Shut up!" Qin Shouchang stared at Wang Lin with a gloomy expression. "Did you read all those books of the sages for nothing?!"
"Dean, seek justice for my son... I beg you, Dean, seek justice for my son..."
When she saw the Dean, the old woman seemed to have found a lifeline. Strength appeared from nowhere as she knocked her head against the ground again and again with frantic speed. Blood appeared on her forehead in the blink of an eye, yet she paid it no heed.
"Old madam."
How could Qin Shouchang dare accept such obeisance? He hurried forward and helped her up.
"This matter was jointly tried by three courts and settled beyond dispute. There are no hidden circumstances. Do not believe the rumors drifting through the streets."
Hearing this, the old woman's entire body trembled, and she looked up in disbelief.
Qin Shouchang looked into those despairing, vacant, numb eyes.
His heart clogged up as well, and he turned his head aside.
"Go home. Do not make a scene again. If Zhang Lun knows in the underworld, he would not wish to see you like this."
The old woman's lips trembled, her face filled with a miserable smile.
Just as she was about to speak, the grief in her heart overwhelmed her, and she fainted on the spot.
"Old madam... Old madam..."
"Quick, fetch a physician!"
"..."
"Hehe, Brother Tongyu died because of me in the end. I will pay the physician's fee."
Wang Lin looked at the unconscious old woman, the corners of his mouth spreading into a benevolent smile.
Zeng Anmin stood expressionlessly amid the crowd.
He had seen Wang Lin's utterly hypocritical performance in its entirety.
Without a word, Zeng Anmin closed his eyes and sensed the Ornate Dagger floating within his Purple Mansion space.
After a long while, he opened his eyes, and a grim chill filled their depths.
"Since Confucian Law cannot punish you, it just so happens that I know a little about blade techniques as well."
That night.
On the official road of Liangjiang Prefecture City.
Though it was late, there were still several carriages and a sparse handful of pedestrians.
A fine horse snorted, its hooves clopping against the road.
The man on horseback was none other than Wang Lin, Young Master of Prince Jiang's Estate.
A cold wind suddenly rose, and snowflakes drifted down.
"If I had known it would snow, I would have taken a sedan chair back to the estate."
Wang Lin's expression was exceedingly displeased.
He gave A Er, who was leading his horse, a faint glance.
A Er rubbed his bald head and immediately gave a foolish grin.
"Two more turns and we will reach the estate. Young Master, please endure a little longer."
"Oh." Wang Lin expressionlessly raised his head.
He looked at the pitch-black alley ahead, and for some reason, a restless feeling arose in his heart.
Wang Lin took a jade pendant from his waist. It was Zhang Lun's Shuidu Order.
Looking at the Shuidu Order in his hand, Wang Lin let out a scoff.
"That old hag still wants the one surnamed Qin to seek justice for her?"
"Never mind whether that Qin fellow has the guts. Even if she brought the matter before the Sage himself, what crime would I have committed?"
His voice was thick with mockery.
Upon hearing this, A Er pursed his lips. He blankly looked at the jade pendant in Wang Lin's hand, unable to understand.
What was so good about this jade pendant?
Because of this jade pendant, his eldest brother had lost his life.
"There is nothing truly satisfying under heaven. The most satisfying thing is death."
A Er suppressed the restlessness in his heart and blurted out a muddled reply.
He was just about to say something more.
When he noticed something strange from the corner of his eye.
In an instant, a streak of silver light flashed.
It sliced through the falling snow of the frigid night in a thin line.
Even the white breath escaping their mouths as they spoke in the cold scattered to either side.
"Slice~"
An almost imperceptible sound rang out.
A Er wore a confused expression. Before he could realize what had happened, he heard Wang Lin on horseback staring at his own neck in horror.
"Blood?!"
Blood? What blood?
A Er was about to say something else when he felt waves of heat rising from his neck.
He lowered his head and saw countless drops of blood splattering across his collar.
Only then did he realize that the Young Master had said blood.
"This is... my blood?"
As that final thought surfaced in his mind, he lost consciousness.
"Thump."
The corpse hit the ground.
From the darkness, a hooded figure slowly emerged.
It was a black hood, molded into the shape of a cartoon cat.
If there had been a transmigrator present, he would surely have been unable to resist mocking the sight of the impartial Black Cat Sheriff being worn on this fellow's head.
"Y-you, who are you?"
Wang Lin stared at the unfamiliar hood.
Everything had happened so suddenly that he had been caught completely off guard. Apart from terror, his face showed deep breaths as he tried his utmost to calm himself.
The Black Cat Hood held an incomparably sharp dagger in his hand.
He said nothing, only slowly, step by step, walking toward Wang Lin.
"Stop, do not come any closer!"
Wang Lin understood the other party's intentions as well. He racked his brains, desperately searching for words to soothe him.
"Whether you seek money or power, whatever you want can be discussed. Money? I can give it to you right now!"
His body swayed uncontrollably as his trembling fingers pulled out a stack of banknotes from his chest.
For a moment, he even forgot to urge the horse beneath him onward.
"Smack!!"
The Black Cat Hood reached out, grabbed Wang Lin's hand, and yanked him directly to the ground.
"Bang~" Wang Lin landed flat on his back.
The banknotes scattered across the ground.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
That figure slowly walked forward.
"Don't..." Wang Lin desperately scooted backward on his buttocks.
"Don't be rash. I am the Young Master of Prince Jiang's Estate! My father is Prince Jiang, personally enfeoffed by the current Sage!"
"Think carefully about my status. If I die, all of Two Rivers Prefecture will be thrown into chaos. Finding you will only be a matter of time..."
"Killing me will settle everything once and for all, but think of your parents, think of your family!"
His voice trembled.
The Black Cat Hood halted, and the Ornate Dagger in his hand brewed an icy chill.
Seeing him stop, Wang Lin thought his words had worked, and joy surged in his heart.
He hurriedly added more fuel to the fire.
"Think carefully, think very carefully. Do not commit an irreparable mistake."
A moment later, a familiar voice sounded from beneath the black hood.
"Mistake? Brother Tongyu is already dead. I no longer have the heart to distinguish right from wrong."
Wang Lin shuddered violently and raised his head in disbelief. "You... you are..."
His voice cut off abruptly.
Blade-light swept past, and a silver line suddenly flashed.
Blood sprayed across the Black Cat's eyes, adding a sharp edge to them.
"Urgh..."
Wang Lin desperately clutched his throat, yet he could not stop the life draining from his body.
"Thump~"
Black Cat Hood slowly crouched down.
He took a jade pendant from Wang Lin's waist. Without saying anything, he tucked it into his own robes.
"Ah!!!!"
Only then did the terrified screams of passersby ring out on the street.
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