Appearing in Court
The minor official was so flustered that he became incoherent. Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng, yelled at him and even put a talisman on him, but it didn't wake him up.
Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng, looked extremely grim. He and Gun Shilu had a friendship that had been forged in the crucible of death. It would be a difficult task for anyone else to exonerate the younger generation of their colleague.
But to Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng in charge of criminal matters in a prefecture, this was nothing more than a trivial matter. He had done this countless times before, always handling it smoothly and flawlessly. Why did something go wrong this time?!
"What am I supposed to say to Brother Gun?!" Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng, sighed, then turned to the junior clerk and said angrily, "Wasn't it Lord Wen who presided over the trial just now? Even if he's relying on the fact that he's an old man that Lord Gun brought from the Dali Court of Judicial Review the capital, he shouldn't have given me this little bit of face!"
The minor official stammered for a long time, unable to get a word out Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng, stood up in anger, first comforting Kang Dabao before saying gently, "Don't worry, my dear nephew, I'll go and settle accounts with him. I'll make sure you don't suffer any more trouble!"
Kang Dabao stammered in agreement. This unexpected turn of events had completely shattered any lingering hope he had held, leaving him feeling no relief whatsoever. Upon hearing Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng's words, he merely offered a few perfunctory words of thanks.
Before Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng, had left, he saw Acting Sima Gun, approaching. The latter had a bloody gash across his face, which looked rather horrifying.
"Brother Gun," Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng, was stopped by Acting Sima Gun, who clasped his hands in a gesture of apology. The latter sighed, "Brother Meng, I have implicated you this time. I will make it up to you in the future."
"What do you mean?" Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng, his eyes widening in surprise, a hint of panic in them.
"Lord Bo has arrived," Acting Sima Gun said in a hoarse voice. "He is personally presiding over the trial in court. Everything was going smoothly, and my scoundrel was almost released. But Lord Bo suddenly appeared, and after questioning him, he was executed on the spot. Wen Gong was also stripped of his official title and is said to be exiled to the Liangxi border."
"This... that... I..." Now it was Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng, who stammered. The presiding judge, Wen, had been exiled for committing the crime of coercion, so how could he, who was in cahoots with Acting Sima Gun, be punished?
Sect Leader Kang Da heard it clearly; now his chances of saving his head were even slimmer.
The gourd can indeed save lives, but only once. What about all those Foundation Establishment in the hall?
How many can they take away? Even if they take Kuang Liuting with them, so what? As long as they can't wipe out the Immortal Dynasty's royal family, it's only a matter of time before the Chongming Sect, led by the Chongming Sect Leader Kang Da, is destroyed.
Kang Dabao had thought it through clearly; that's why he hadn't brought the gourd with him before coming here, and had hidden it along with all the other good things in the sect leader's secret chamber.
Yuan Jin now roughly knows that place. The Sect Leader Kang Da thinks that even if he can't go back, with the foundation he left behind, he should be able to get Yuan Jin to shamelessly agree to be his ancestor of the restoration.
"Lord has summoned me to bring you two to the court now," the Acting Sima Gun sighed again, then said to Kang Dabao, "Once you're up there, be careful with your words and actions. As for Sima and me, well, we'll just have to leave it to fate."
"Thank you Military Commandant Gun." Kang Dabao seemed much calmer than Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng beside him, upon hearing this, which made Acting Sima Gun look at him with new respect.
The three men, each with a different expression, entered the bright and solemn courtroom together.
At this moment, a mangled green-robed official lay on the floor below. Judging from the expressions of the Acting Sima Gun and the Criminal Bureau Assistant Meng, it was clear that this must be the judge Wen who had been presiding over the case, as they had mentioned earlier.
Kuang Liuting sat in the main hall, looking different from before.
The Sect Leader Kang Da had met this Earl of Nan'an three times. The first time was on the day of his wedding to Fei Shuhe. The Earl was kind and approachable, and even gave him a Second Tier flying sword, just like a kind elder.
The second time was on his return journey with the Daoist Black Shoes. Although Kuang Liuting had come for the Daoist Black Shoes, he was still as warm and friendly as ever when facing Kang Dabao.
The third time is today. The Earl of Nan'an sits in the main seat, his expression stern as ice, yet his smile is as clear as the Yellow River.
There were two seats below the main seat, which were originally occupied by Judge Wen's deputies, but after Kuang Liuting arrived, they were all sent away.
Fei Nanying occupied one seat, and the remaining empty seat, according to Kang Dabao, must have been where Acting Sima Gun sat before he was whipped.
Outside the hall stood more than a dozen high-ranking officials from the state government, most of whom were at the Foundation Establishment stage. Chief Secretary Buse and Commander Qin Sufu were among them, their expressions varying as they watched Kang Dabao being escorted into the hall.
"Meng Xuan, you've been a criminal clerk for so long, how many guilty people have you released, and how many meritorious officials have you framed?" Kuang Liuting had no intention of spending much time on the two people below him, and went straight to the point with a reprimand.
"My lord! My lord! Meng Xuan confesses! Meng Xuan confesses! This humble official deserves to die ten thousand times! Ten thousand times!" Meng Xuan first bowed deeply with a "thump" before daring to explain, "My lord, this humble official has failed in his duty, and is mediocre enough not to distinguish between good and bad people! I am willing to resign from my post and go to the Liangxi border to serve the country!"
"Hmph, you've got some good plans!" Kuang Liuting snorted coldly, slamming his fist on the desk in anger, startling the still-standing Sect Leader Kang Da, who suddenly knelt down.
Kang Dabao could tell that Meng Xuan was being sophistical. Kuang Liuting was clearly accusing him of violating the law, but he was arguing that he had neglected his duties.
The results of the two may not be much different, but their nature is completely different; the former was intentional, while the latter was unintentional. In addition, Meng Xuan took the initiative to offer his loyalty to the country, which truly scratched the itch of the Earl of Earl of Nan'an.
Everyone in the state court knew that Kuang Liuting's favorite people were loyal ministers, even if they were just pretending.
"As expected of a seasoned criminal investigator who's always helping people escape punishment, Meng Xuan really does have some skill," Sect Leader Kang Da thought to himself.
He could also tell that Kuang Liuting was a stubborn mule; although his tone was harsh when he slammed the table, his anger had subsided considerably.
Even an outsider like Kang Dabao could see that Sima Fei, as a confidant of the Marquis of Earl of Nan'an, naturally knew to step forward at this time to give Kuang Liuting a way out.
He stepped forward to the front of the hall, bowed respectfully, and said loudly, "My lord, please allow me to report. I know that Meng Xuan's crimes are unforgivable, but with foreign enemies at hand and at this critical time when we need capable people, it would be more beneficial to the country to keep him under our wing."
Although Meng Xuan was mediocre, he joined the army to serve his country starting in the 367th year of the Qianfeng reign. He first joined the Red Cloud Guard to fight demons in Liangxi, and then followed Marquis of Pacifying Waves to suppress bandits in Haibei. His tent contained three heads of Foundation Establishment pirates and six corpses of Second Tier Demon Beast, Qi Refinement killed countless Qi Refining monsters.
The reason I'm mentioning this scoundrel's meager contribution at this time isn't to exonerate him, but because I don't want the Immortal Dynasty to lose a valuable soldier for nothing. It's better to let him die on the battlefield against the demons. This will both demonstrate Your Excellency's benevolence and magnanimity, and ensure this fellow has a proper end."
"Meng Xuan is hereby stripped of all his official posts and temporarily appointed as acting head of the Ministry of Justice. He is also fined 100,000 Spirit Stone, which must be paid to the Ministry of Revenue within ten days without delay."
"Lord Lord, you are so kind!" Meng Xuan was immediately moved to tears and bowed in gratitude.
"Lord is wise!" all the officials in the hall, including Sima Fei, sang in unison.
"Get out of here," Kuang Liuting's expression remained unpleasant. After yelling at Meng Xuan to leave, he looked at Kang Dabao but didn't ask him anything. Instead, he pointed to an old man with a straw-colored turban beside him and whispered, "Go! Examine the injuries."
"Yes, sir," Old Xiu said, not daring to delay, and jogged over to Sect Leader Kang Da in hand.
Kang Dabao, this country bumpkin, thought he was going to be stripped naked on the spot, but to his surprise, the other party simply held up a bronze mirror, which emitted a spiritual light, and saw Sect Leader Kang Da's entire body clearly.
"How is it?" Old Xiu had only been carefully examining himself in the bronze mirror for a few breaths when Kuang Liuting, sitting at the head of the table, asked impatiently.
"Reporting to Your Excellency, this man is covered in wounds, both inside and outside, of varying severity. Some of these injuries are quite serious, damaging his foundation to some extent. Without medicinal remedies, it will take him more than ten years to recover," the old cultivator replied respectfully.
"Oh?" Kuang Liuting glanced at Kang Dabao with some surprise, then looked at Fei Nanying, whose expression was calm and showed no sign of guilt.
The battle was far-reaching, and Kuang Liuting couldn't possibly know every single detail. He generally believed whatever his meritorious subordinates said.
However, since the Jiazi Xu Mountain was one of the few places where the state government lost ground in this battle, he impulsively took the state government officials to the Ministry of Justice to see how the criminal officials were being tried.
Gun Qiushou was indeed covered in wounds, but they only involved the skin and flesh, and were all fresh wounds inflicted by the soft whip. Kuang Liuting could see through the trick at a glance.
He seized Wen Pan's position on the spot, and after a few words of intimidation, Gun Qiushou couldn't withstand the pressure and confessed everything about his defeat and escape.
Kuang Liuting was furious. He not only beheaded Gun Qiushou on the spot, but also punished Gun Shilu, whom he trusted, by whipping him in the face for protecting his nephew.
He still remembered Kang Dabao, after all, he was the one who pushed him out as a scapegoat, and this time he was chosen as a flagpole, hoping that Kang would either make his whole family loyal martyrs or make new contributions.
Unexpectedly, Kang Dabao led his followers and fled in disarray.
Upon hearing this, Kuang Liuting was naturally angered. He had assumed that Fei Nanying, his own nephew-in-law, was in Gun Qiushou, but he never expected that the events would unfold in a way that was not what he had imagined.
"Tell me in detail, from the moment you led the local militia to gather at Little Wu Mountain, to how you lost the battle and fled. Don't miss a single detail." The Earl of Nan'an's expression became much more amiable.
Fei Nanying also gave Kang Dabao a wink, urging him to seize this chance to live.
"Replying to Your Excellency, after receiving Your Excellency's decree, this humble subject led almost all of my disciples from the sect to the Pingrong County office." Sect Leader Kang Da dared not be negligent in the slightest and recounted the entire course of the battle in detail, excluding the fierce fight with the Fire Dragon Daoist.
The hall was completely silent, with only the slightly rough voice of Sect Leader Kang Da echoing inside.
Kuang Liuting's expression had been grim ever since he heard of the deaths of Song Hui and Dong Liu'er. Only when he heard that the Clear Cloud Alliance's Foundation Establishment attack was injured by the crossbow bolts of Sect Leader Kang Da did his brows relax slightly.
After that, two Foundation Establishment from the Clear Cloud Alliance were killed by the combined forces of the Chongming Sect members and the Fire Dragon Daoist, and a look of joy appeared on their faces.
Upon hearing that most of the Chongming Sect disciples had been killed or wounded and were no longer able to fight, forcing them to flee back to their sect, Kuang Liuting's face showed displeasure.
He immediately raised his hand to stop the Sect Leader Kang Da from speaking, whose voice was trembling with tears. He turned to the aide who had first advised that the entire Chongming Sect should volunteer for the campaign and asked sternly, "When did I ever say that I would conscript even eleven or twelve-year-old children from his family to go to war?"
The officer, holding his official tablet, stepped forward from the crowd. Hearing Kuang Liuting's rebuke, he looked troubled. "This humble official merely felt that this would better demonstrate loyalty and righteousness."
"You bastard! Loyalty! Loyalty! If you are so loyal, why don't you let your children and grandchildren go to war with the Chongming Sect's kids?!" Kuang Liuting's anger did not subside. He threw the tiger-shaped paperweight and smashed it on the officer's head, causing blood to flow freely.
All the subordinate officials were so frightened that they fell silent. The officer who had been hit was so terrified that he didn't even dare to cover the wound on his head, letting the blood flow freely in the clean hall.
Not satisfied with smashing one person, Kuang Liuting pointed out another and angrily shouted, "Buse, come out here!"
"Your humble servant is here!" Buse inwardly groaned, but dared not move, he squeezed through the crowd and stood below the hall.
"Gun Shilu is far away in the rear suppressing the rebellion, and he knows to send the Fire Dragon Daoist to support the Jiazi Xu team. You are right under the Little Wu Mountain formation, yet you don't know?" Kuang Liuting asked sternly again.
Buse knew he couldn't offer any answers at this moment that emphasized considering the bigger picture.
Although he was indeed no match for the Clear Cloud Alliance's allied forces at the time and couldn't spare any troops, Kuang Liuting was probably too preoccupied with such matters to bear at this moment, so he could only mutter in response, "It was indeed my poor command that led to this; I humbly beg Your Excellency to punish me!"
"Punish me! Punish me! Ten days ago, when the state court was recognizing merits, why didn't you jump out and confess your crimes?!"
Kuang Liuting, annoyed, sent Buse back again, then glanced at all the officials under the prefectural government, and finding no one else to scold, turned to Kang Dabao and said:
"The military order I gave you was to fight to the death and Buse retreat. You were scared away by two Foundation Establishment cultivators? You're a spineless coward. How will you ever be able to shoulder great responsibilities in the future?!"
"Yes, this sinful subject has failed in his duty and let down the Immortal Dynasty." Sect Leader Kang Da kowtowed again in a very straightforward manner.
"Hmph, of course you're a traitor! Serving the country loyally is your duty! After killing two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Clear Cloud Alliance, why didn't you think of gathering manpower to reclaim the Jia-Xu position?!"
After Kuang Liuting finished speaking, there was little more blame in his tone, but his words were still as offensive as ever, making many of the officials in the prefecture feel a chill in their hearts.
Kang Dabao couldn't answer, keeping his head down and not daring to look up.
"Ah, I know you don't want to die for the Immortal Dynasty," Kuang Liuting sighed softly, then turned to the officials in the hall and said in a deep voice, "Even they, though they all appear dignified on the surface, don't actually want to die for the Immortal Dynasty either."
"The officials are guilty!"
"My lord, please calm your anger!"
The two Sima (military officials) were the first to kneel, and the officials under their jurisdiction followed suit without delay.
"How can I blame you? How many of the princes, nobles, and high-ranking officials in the court are willing to share the fate of the country?" Kuang Liuting's words were so heavy that they were like a boulder falling to the ground, so shocking that no one present dared to speak.
"Kang Dabao, raise your head." Kuang Liuting ignored the group of officials below and called out softly.
Kang Dabao looked up in response, his face already covered in sweat.
Kuang Liuting's anger had subsided, and he spoke gently to Kang Dabao: "You have committed a crime, a serious one; but you have also made contributions, even greater ones. In principle, contributions are contributions, and faults are faults, and the two should not cancel each other out."
But before and after your defeat, you fought valiantly for the state, and the entire sect sacrificed their families to relieve the nation's distress; you can be called a loyal and virtuous person. The blame for the defeat lies with you, the Sima Office, the state government, and me.
If I were to punish you without even knowing the facts, it would be too harsh on a meritorious official, and I would be a laughingstock.
Kuang Liuting paused here, and then spoke not only to Kang Dabao, but also looking down at the crowd below, speaking in a deep and calm voice.
"I know you all feel that the Immortal Dynasty is cold- Immortal Dynasty, and has no future, so you are all unwilling to die for the Immortal Dynasty. No problem, just follow me, the Earl of Nan'an, and see how I do things! One day, you will change!"
None of the people below dared to answer; they remained silent.
"Send the physician bestowed upon me by the Prince of the South to the Chongming Sect. He must depart immediately. Medical supplies spirit medicine will be provided by the manor; do not be stingy. Kang Dabao, stay in Xuanwei City for a few more days until I have decided how to reward you. Do not return empty-handed!"
Thank you for the 100 points reward on Yingchun Road.
Thanks to book friend 20220323175551116, radish mixed with cabbage, book friend 20220513205620865, love reading novels during the Double Ninth Festival, the tenth set of radio gymnastics, book friend 161201125510244, identification method, book friend 20210809110228898, ashes, two monthly tickets from several brothers
Thanks for the passing of time, book friend 160520141721210, I am a captain, Zhang Pan, Nian Nian Baba, book friend 20230906140751652, book friend 3302121 2302480, Meeting is a poem, France, the filial son of God 002, Little Han Lang in green shirt, Book friend 20170514104015635, Book friend 20200325235236584 , book friend 20230515224723813, Xiacheng Xingxing, Zhoushi Master, good-for-nothing boy, divine boy zz, dusty lone red, leaves falling in the wind, hhwwxx75117, divine whisperer Monthly votes from Cao, Xiao Yulou, Book Friends 161216132541291, Book Friends 160713221609673, Readers 1674244554100543488
Thank you everyone for reading, subscribing, commenting, and voting. Thank you all!