FID – Chapter 988

Chapter 988 You still have two hands left unbroken—why are you running?

Inside the yamen’s main hall, Liu Yusheng, Feng Qingbai, and the other two were already standing at the center.

The trial bench before them was empty, which was not a surprise. The prefect was also nowhere to be seen.

Zhu Xian sat to the side in a grand armchair. After staring at them for a moment, he rose and walked over, circling them slowly.

He scrutinized them from head to toe. When his gaze fell on Liu Yusheng and Liu Ya, he no longer bothered to disguise his ill intentions. His expression made everything clear.

That look made Liu Ya tremble violently with fear. Her vision darkened as memories of past horrors surged into her mind. She wanted to scream, to lash out, to find a safe place to hide.

Sensing that Liu Ya’s emotions were spiraling toward collapse, Liu Yusheng quickly pulled her into her arms, gently patting her back to soothe her.

At the same time, she met Zhu Xian’s gaze directly. “Since you claim we’re fugitives and dragged us into the yamen, you should be opening court to investigate the case and allow us to prove our innocence. Where is the presiding official? Where is the clerk?”

If she didn’t break this tense atmosphere soon, her husband would kill Zhu Xian in the next moment.

Just now, the way Zhu Xian had stared at her had sparked a murderous intent in Feng Qingbai. She was most sensitive to his changes, so she noticed it first.

“Oh? The beauty seems to know quite a lot,” Zhu Xian teased. Seeing her remain calm and composed at a time like this only made his desire sharper. “Alright, if you want a trial, we’ll have a trial.”

He turned and walked to the grand armchair, deliberately missing the glance the man in purple gave him. Zhu Xian spoke casually, “Name, place of origin—state it.”

So he intended to hold a private trial.

“You are neither an official nor a clerk, yet in a yamen representing the authority of the state, the son of a minor bureaucrat dares to act beyond his station and hold a private trial, even mobilizing yamen officers and guards?” Feng Qingbai raised his long eyes slowly, dark and penetrating. “Do you treat the laws of the Nanling Kingdom as nothing?”

“Law?” Zhu Xian paused, then erupted into arrogant laughter. “In Cangzhou, I am the law!”

“Do you know what my law entails?” With a wave of his hand, Zhu Xian continued, “These fugitives are stubborn and won’t admit guilt. Throw them in jail and deal with them properly. Then make them sign and seal! As for the two beauties, send them to my chambers. I’ll personally administer their punishment! Hahaha!”

Liu Yusheng looked at the man laughing madly with cold eyes—so this was his intent.

It was directed at her and Liu Ya.

Arbitrarily framing someone with a crime, then using yamen guards to ‘officially’ arrest them, only to secretly violate women once inside the yamen. Everyone knew what he was doing, but with the yamen as cover and no concrete evidence, the common people could do nothing. If the victims cried out, he could even twist it to accuse them of false charges.

He was the son of the Commandery Administrator; officials protected one another.

That was why Zhu Xian could run rampant in Cangzhou. The people dared to feel anger but not speak. No wonder that along the way, the onlookers’ eyes had shown nothing but sympathy and pity.

This trick? Zhu Xian had likely used it more than once.

And with such a grand display of guards seizing people, the yamen’s inner offices could not have been unaware. Yet until now, no magistrate had even appeared to check.

Clearly, they were deliberately shielding and allowing him free rein.

Following Zhu Xian’s orders, the yamen guards moved again, aiming to drag Feng Qingbai and Wei Zi down into the jail.

“Break his hands and feet first. Let’s see if the prefect dares to come to court,” said the man, his gaze cold and his voice crisp, cutting through the air. “If he doesn’t come, then we’ll force him out.”

Wei Zi’s lips curled slightly. He had been waiting for his master to say this for a long time.

The approaching yamen guards didn’t even understand what was happening before they were hit by a force that sent them flying backward, smashing into the penalty instrument racks on either side of the hall. The racks collapsed with them, and they felt as if their entire chest had been shattered.

The scene made Zhu Xian’s wild laughter freeze on his face.

“You dare injure people in the yamen? You’re courting death! Someone—Guards! Quickly, seize them!”

Only now did panic finally surge in his chest. He had been careless. He hadn’t thought to put shackles on them when arresting them!

Judging from the speed the black‑clad man had shown just now, he was clearly an expert. At such a close distance, if he wanted to strike, he wouldn’t be able to block it at all!

Zhu Xian turned and bolted toward the back courtyard while shouting. But the moment he took his first step, a sharp pain shot through both his legs. “Ah—!”

Zhu Xian collapsed onto the ground, clutching his broken leg bones and wailing, staring at the black‑clad man walking toward him step by step. His pupils shrank violently, his eyes bloodshot with terror.

“Master said to break your hands and feet first. You’ve still got two hands left. Why are you running?” Wei Zi said.

He had rarely spoken in the past, but this time he couldn’t help it. He wanted to drag the man on the ground through the deepest pits of agony, body and mind.

“No—no…” Zhu Xian shook his head, trying to shrink back. They really meant to break his limbs! “Who—who are you people? I’m the Commandery Administrator’s son! My father is Cangzhou’s Commandery Administrator! If you dare do this to me, my father won’t let you—AHHHHH!”

Wei Zi didn’t finish him swiftly. Instead, he stepped on Zhu Xian’s arm and crushed it inch by inch.

He magnified and prolonged Zhu Xian’s suffering several times over.

Liu Yusheng looked at the man on the ground, his face contorted in pain, and gently patted the girl in her arms. “Liu Ya, it’s alright now. Look—the bad guy has been taken down.”

Hearing the soft, soothing voice repeated beside her ear, Liu Ya slowly turned to look. Her unfocused gaze gradually sharpened, and finally she buried her face in Liu Yusheng’s shoulder, crying out in full force.

Outside the hall, the sound of footsteps quickly approached. Soon, a swarm of guards with swords pushed in, drawing their blades and surrounding Feng Qingbai and his group.

“Wei Zi, sound the drum,” Feng Qingbai said in a calm voice, without even glancing at the guards. He stepped forward and planted his foot on Zhu Xian’s chest.

“AHHHH!” Zhu Xian screamed in agony again, stopping the sword-wielding guards from advancing and instilling fear in them.

Feng Qingbai’s lips curled coldly. With something like this at his side, what could the guards dare to do?

Thump, thump, thump—

The redress drum at the yamen gate was struck, its sound carrying far and wide.

The citizens who heard the drum exchanged glances, then hurried toward the yamen.

The redress drum! 

No one in Cangzhou had struck it in years. To the common people, it had long seemed like a mere ornament!

No matter what, they had to go see what all the commotion was about. Who had the audacity to strike the redress drum!

At the yamen gate, Su Manyu was just about to get into her carriage to leave when she heard the drum. Her expression changed slightly. She hurriedly lifted the curtain and looked toward the drum, seeing a tall, imposing black figure.

It was one of the four from earlier.

Zhu Xian was definitely in trouble!

It seemed her intuition had been correct; the identities of these four were far from ordinary!

The drumbeat thudded, each strike resonating and shaking people’s hearts.

Soon, more and more citizens gathered at the entrance of the yamen hall. When they saw what was happening inside, their eyes widened in disbelief.

At the same time, their hearts felt immensely satisfied.

Zhu Xian, who had acted with impunity in Cangzhou, the son of the Commandery Administrator, was now firmly pinned to the ground, unable to move.

And judging by the position of his arms and legs, bent at extremely unnatural angles, they were clearly broken.

He had run into someone he couldn’t handle!

Served him right!