The members of the Diao Household in the courtroom were dumbfounded. However muddleheaded they might be, even they knew Fang Yun might be about to come down hard on them!
Only now did they dimly realize that Fang Yun was different from the officials who had come before him.
One member of the Diao Household hurriedly said, "Please see the truth, Your Honor! This matter has nothing to do with humble commoners like us! We only came to serve as witnesses. We haven't done anything!"
"Not a single decent person lives in Longxi Village! Perjury is a crime, and so is murder. Guards, take all these people to prison. They will be tried tomorrow!"
Several members of the Diao Household wanted to kick up a fuss, but remembering what had happened to Diao Nengchen and his mother, they immediately abandoned the idea.
An old man said darkly, "Magistrate Fang, don't forget that this is Ning'an City. You may be a Void Sage, but you're also a county magistrate! If you lose your post as magistrate, you can forget about becoming this year's Zhuangyuan!"
"Oh? Can you not recognize that I am already wearing a Hanlin Academician's robes?" Fang Yun rose and strode outside.
The old man stared at Fang Yun with wide eyes, struck speechless.
Watching Fang Yun and the large group of officials leave the county offices, the members of the Diao Household slowly stood and trudged after the bailiffs.
"This is bad! What do we do? It looks like he's going to Longxi Village to arrest people!"
"Don't be afraid! Never mind a Hanlin Academician-what could even a Grand Academician do? The Left Prime Minister is powerful enough, isn't he? Even when he was governor of Mi Prefecture, he didn't dare do anything to Longxi Village!"
"Exactly! When