Fang Yun used the power of his Legalist Canon, cultivated as a secondary discipline of the Legalist School, to interrogate all four men at once. Apart from the eldest, who remained silent, the other three had already confessed and were willing to expose Young Master Gou's crimes.
Fang Yun struck the Court-Shocking Gavel and withdrew the Legalist Canon.
The four suspects looked dazed. It took them quite some time to recover fully.
Fang Yun looked at the eldest of the four and said, "Cha Yue of Ning'an County, you colluded with Gou Po to murder Ai Weijiang. The evidence stands like a mountain and admits no dispute. Your refusal to repent compounds your crime. You are sentenced to twenty years in the Dingyuan Army's Death Row Camp! Guards, put him in a cangue and leg irons. Once this case is concluded, escort him to the Dingyuan Army with the next supply convoy!" As he spoke, Fang Yun tossed out a command tally.
"Yes, sir!" Two bailiffs came in and led Cha Yue away.
From beginning to end, Cha Yue said nothing.
Fang Yun sighed softly. "A man like him should have achieved great things. Even if he could not gallop across the battlefield, he ought to have made his mark in the literary world. Yet once such a man takes the wrong road, unchecked, he will inevitably cause greater harm than an ordinary person. To prevent more people from suffering, only severe punishment can reveal the thunderous might of the law and shelter the common people! Thus, his loyalty may be righteous, but his crime is not!"
Fang Yun's voice resonated with the strange power within the county government offices, carrying throughout the entire compound.
Many officials in the offices nodded, sincerely convinced.
Ao Huang gently shook his dragon head