There was no explosive rage, no rebuke. Even Liu Yin's livid complexion gradually settled into a brooding expression. He looked at Wang Yang and spoke slowly, his tone surprisingly calm:
"So you think I'm a bastard, is that it?"
Wang Yang looked innocent. "I never said that."
Liu Yin said gravely:
"Since entering office, I have neither hoarded wealth nor acquired property. I rise before dawn to handle official business and remain awake past the hour of the pig. Never once have I slackened.
Working through my leave and questioning prisoners all night are commonplace. The law alone occupies my heart.
Everything I say and do follows the Qi Code. I enforce the law impartially, sparing neither nobles nor imperial relatives.
Countless cunning scoundrels have rotted in prison; more villains than can be numbered have met their punishment beneath the executioner's blade!
Though I have put many to death, seldom has anyone been wronged. I do not bend the law to save those I love, nor twist it to destroy those I hate.
Though some may deem me harsh and ruthless, living in this age, I have no choice but to employ severe laws.
How else could I curb wickedness and fraud, and uphold order?"
He stared into Wang Yang's eyes and asked, enunciating every word:
"Do you think a man like me is a bastard?"
Wang Yang pondered for a moment, then said:
"If everything is as you say, then you certainly aren't a bastard. But you claim that 'everything I say and do follows the Qi Code,' so let me venture a question. You let Du Shubao go, then helped him silence witnesses to eliminate future trouble. You didn't even spare that girl named Jiao Jiao. Was that following the Qi Code? You sent Protector-General Fang to use