Wei Yong weighed every word. "We all serve the court. Do nothing, and you make no mistakes; do something, and mistakes are inevitable. Your affair is neither particularly grave nor particularly trivial, but once you have a conviction against you, even if you pay the Crime-Expiation Silver, I fear you'll still be expelled from the Night Guard."
"Fabricating charges to seize another man's property-is this how a General Who Assists the State conducts himself?" Li Qingxian remained perfectly calm.
Tang Enxuan glanced at the sky. Fearing that a long night would breed more nightmares, he said decisively, "When it comes to fabricating charges, how could I compare with your Li Family? I, Tang Enxuan, made mistakes in the past, but now I act openly and honorably! I have no time to stand here watching you pretend to be calm. I'll ask you one thing: do you agree or not? Agree, and our accounts are settled. I'll offer you a toast myself, and if the opportunity arises, we can share wine and good cheer. Refuse, and I'll have words tattooed on your face, a cangue draped over your shoulders, and chains locked around your ankles, and make you crawl out of the Divine Capital! Guards, bring in the accused and the witnesses!"
Tang Enxuan lifted his head high, his eyes cold as shattered ice in the dusk.
"Such arrogance!" A slightly hoarse voice rang out with a Wu Region accent.
Everyone turned toward the voice and saw Zhou Chunfeng stride inside in green robes, followed by a man dressed in purple. Behind them, Yu Ping and Zheng Hui wore ocher hemp prison uniforms.
Everyone froze, then looked closely at the man behind Zhou Chunfeng.
He wore purple robes, with a rank badge edged on all four sides in gold thread sewn