Chapter 534 I Can Kill You
Yang's house ranks among the top ten in Suzhou Prefecture. This does not refer to its spaciousness, but its exquisite layout.
The small bridge and flowing water are self-evident, the rockery stands in a forest, and the paths lead to secluded places. Beside a few clumps of bamboo, there suddenly appeared a small pavilion, where three or two people sat and talked quietly.
Not far away, there were many people sitting by a pond. Some were throwing fish food, causing the koi in the water to scramble for it; some were drinking and laughing heartily from time to time.
The host, Yang Bai, was sitting by the pool, raising his glass and saying, "Everyone."
When everyone looked over, Yang Bai said, "I wanted to go out of the city with you today, but there are bad guests in the city, so I have to inconvenience you to stay in this humble room."
Someone said, "Mr. Yang is too polite. That guest is not just a bad guest, but an uninvited guest. However, the scholars in Suzhou are united and will give him a head-on blow."
Yang Bai nodded, "In the capital... many people say that Suzhou is a place of outstanding people and beautiful scenery. After this, I will take the best of you to the capital, which can be regarded as a study tour, so that we can gain some knowledge and experience."
——Whoever contributes the most this time, I will take him to Beijing after the mission is accomplished and reward him according to his merits.
There is no fool among those who are invited, and there is a glimmer of light in their eyes.
"Don't worry, Mr. Yang. Now that this beast has come, he is the public enemy of the scholars in Suzhou Prefecture. We must beat him hard!"
"Does he think this is his hometown and I will line the streets to welcome him?"
"He's just the son of a son-in-law, the descendant of a whore, is he worthy?"
"Hahahaha!"
Everyone laughed.
Yang Bai knew that it was best to stop talking, so he raised his glass and invited him to drink.
At this time, a servant came over and whispered in his ear: "Jiang Qingzhi suddenly appeared from the city."
"In the city?" Yang Bai's face changed drastically. "The show of force we prepared was to catch him off guard, but he sneaked into the city... He must have gained something. Not good!"
……
The woman pounced over, and everyone seemed to timidly dodge to form a passage, at the end of which was Jiang Qingzhi.
The woman rushed over with gnashing teeth.
A giant man suddenly appeared in front of Jiang Qingzhi, raised his palm-leaf fan-sized hand, and grinned...
"That's Sun Chonglou who was beside Jiang Qingzhi. This guy even killed women!" someone shouted in the crowd.
The woman slammed on the brakes and one of her embroidered shoes was rubbed off by the ground.
She staggered and fell to the ground, suddenly howling, "He killed someone in the street, and the person he killed was my cousin. According to the law, shouldn't he be executed? Where is the law of the Ming Dynasty, Yin'er."
"Miss!"
A maid came over upon hearing the noise and helped the woman up.
"Where is the great edict?" the woman asked.
"Here it is!" The maid opened the bundle and took out the Ming Dynasty Edict.
The woman held up the Ming Dynasty Edict and saluted towards Yang Changhe with a solemn look. "My husband, Ye Tian, was murdered in the street by his cousin Jiang Qingzhi in the 27th year of Jiajing. Afterwards, the government sentenced Jiang Qingzhi to be exiled to Taizhou Prefecture. I am dissatisfied. Now, in front of the Lord, I sue Jiang Qingzhi for murder... Please make the decision, Lord."
In the early Ming Dynasty, Emperor Taizu Gao, who came from the lower class, knew the nature of the officials below him. He listed the punishment measures for officials in the Ming Dagao, ranging from beheading to chopping off hands, but it still could not stop the trend of corruption and abuse of power. So he issued a rule: if the people had grievances, they could take the Ming Dagao to Beijing to file a complaint. If anyone dared to stop them, they would be severely punished.
He even encouraged the people to take decisive measures against corrupt officials, causing officials all over the world to feel insecure.
That was the most difficult period for officials in the past thousand years. After Emperor Chengzu passed away, as the authority of subsequent emperors fell, the Ming Dagao became just a piece of paper to wipe one's ass.
The so-called going to the capital to file a complaint under the Ming Dynasty's imperial edict became a mere decoration.
Who dares to go?
I'm afraid you'll be kidnapped before you even leave the city, severely beaten, and thrown into jail, where you'll die without any clear reason that night.
Now the woman brought out the Ming Dynasty's Great Edict, and the key point is that she did it in public.
It's fine for Confucians to use Ming Dagao as a piece of paper to wipe their butts, but that's in private.
In front of countless people, even if the Taoist priest was here, even if Yang Tinghe was reborn, he would have to admit his mistake.
Huang Jing's eyes flashed with joy, "Good tricks, Yang Bai is really good."
The woman held a large edict on her head and slowly knelt over, "Greetings to the Lord."
Yang Changhe hesitated for a long time, looking at Jiang Qingzhi several times, his expression struggling, Huang Jing said: "Your Excellency, the ancestral rules are important!"
Yang Changhe sighed, "Get up, this matter...I will take care of it for you."
The woman stood up, pointed at Jiang Qingzhi and said, "The murderer is right here, please arrest him."
What the hell!
This woman is really imaginative!
The onlookers couldn't help but laugh. Someone said, "This is an angel. Who dares to take him?"
"So what if he's an angel? Do we still need to be afraid of him in Suzhou?" someone clamored.
Decades later, when the so-called angels came to Suzhou Prefecture to collect taxes, they were beaten to a pulp.
Decades later, when the capital fell and the emperor died for his country, the southern scholars and wealthy merchants rejoiced, saying that all their shackles were finally gone.
"Kill someone and pay them with their lives, and pay your debts!" Someone in the crowd shouted, "Are we just going to watch the murderer get away with it? Wouldn't it be embarrassing if the news got out?"
"So what if they are royal relatives? This is Suzhou Prefecture!"
The crowd became a little restless and began to rush towards the city gate.
"Master, be careful." Huang Jing whispered, "It's impossible to capture him, but... create momentum..."
Yang Changhe nodded, pretending to be panicked, "Chang Wei Bo, please take shelter for a while!"
But if Jiang Qingzhi tried to avoid it, the Suzhou government would spread rumors that he had fled in disgrace. His reputation would be ruined before he even started.
Jiang Qingzhi didn't move at all.
The corners of his mouth curled up slightly. "Mo Zhan!"
"exist!"
"Bring him here!"
"Yes."
Mo Zhan walked to the back, grabbed a man by the collar with one hand, and kicked him to his knees in front of Jiang Qingzhi.
Sun Chonglou grabbed the man's hair and pulled it up suddenly.
When the woman saw this man, her eyes narrowed, "Changqing!?"
The man looked to be in his thirties, with a bruised face and nose. He shouted, "My lady, I had no choice, I had no choice!"
The woman's face changed drastically.
Jiang Qingzhi said: "Come, tell all the elders and fellow villagers of Suzhou Prefecture why I stabbed that idiot Ye Tian to death!"
The man glanced at Yang Changhe, and Mo Zhan pulled out a section of his long sword behind him. The voice frightened the man, and he hurriedly said, "Back then, someone instigated the young master to go to the street to block Jiang Qingzhi... No, block Lord Bo, saying that if you block Lord Bo and humiliate him in the street, Lord Bo will definitely take action, and then fight back... Beat him up, and then the clan will take action and easily seize the family business..."
The oncoming crowd suddenly stopped.
"Prefect Yang." Jiang Qingzhi said calmly, "Since we are going to try the case, what are we waiting for?"
Yang Changhe did not expect that Jiang Qingzhi had already prepared for this. He was startled and said immediately, "Returning this to the government office..."
Jiang Qingzhi looked at him with cold eyes, "I didn't hear you say you would go back for questioning before, what's the matter, do you have something to hide?"
Yang Changhe secretly groaned in his heart, but he had to cheer up, "Your name is Changqing?"
The man nodded and said, "My name is Ye Changqing, and I am a servant of the Ye family."
"Tell me what happened in detail. If you lie, I will punish you severely!"
"Yes." Ye Changqing glanced at the woman and said, "Before Ye Xuan passed away, he left all his family property to Jiang Qingzhi. The family members were dissatisfied and said that the son of a son-in-law was not worthy. But Ye Xuan insisted and even went to the government to find connections to testify."
Jiang Qingzhi closed his eyes, memories flooding back.
An old man took him by the hand and led him into the government office. He found his good friend and said, "I don't have much time left. I think the day when I will meet the eldest lady is not far away. It is a cause for celebration. The only thing I am reluctant to part with is my only flesh and blood.
If I go, the Ye clan members are like wolves and tigers. For the sake of the family business, it might bring disaster to the child. I also ask Brother Chen to help me and be a witness..."
The child stood by, staring blankly at his grandfather and the official discussing in low voices.
I don’t know what means Ye Xuan and Brother Chen used, but it didn’t take long before the matter was settled.
From then on, whenever Jiang Qingzhi met members of the Ye family, they were obviously more hostile.
Once, my grandfather took him shopping and bought him a piece of candy. He asked, "Would Qingzhi be afraid of being alone?"
The child shook his head, "I'm not afraid."
My grandfather laughed, and I could vaguely hear him say, "...that fool...can't be stopped..."
Jiang Qingzhi opened his eyes, and Chang Qing continued, "...After Ye Xuan passed away, the clan tried to seize Ye Xuan's family business, but although Jiang Gan was simple-minded, he was stubborn. He didn't know what Ye Xuan said before he passed away, but he just stayed at home and didn't move no matter what methods anyone used to tempt or threaten him..."
——"Jiang Gan, someone is suing you for stealing someone else's property!"
——That is my father-in-law’s property! Jiang Gan replied, “My father-in-law promised to leave it to Qingzhi.”
"Leaving it to a son-in-law is criticized, but Ye Xuan was left to Jiang Qingzhi." Chang Qing lowered his head. "The clan was angry. Someone found the young master and persuaded him to block Jiang Qingzhi. They humiliated Jiang Gan to anger him, provoked him to take action, and then beat him up... He is weak, if he falls ill and can't get up... it would be the best..."
The crowd was silent, looking at Jiang Qingzhi with complicated eyes.
So this is what happened to Jiang Qingzhi back then?
Chang Qing said, "That day, the young master blocked Jiang Qingzhi in the street and humiliated Jiang Gan, saying that he was a son-in-law, and that a son-in-law was a whore. He said that he was the son of a whore, and that Jiang Gan was a beast who took advantage of the Ye family and would go to the eighteenth level of hell after his death..."
This is a curse!
Xu Wei couldn't help but look sideways, "Too damn cruel!"
The crowd was buzzing.
Huang Jing glanced at the woman, expecting her to fight back, but she looked pale and even seemed to be retreating.
Chang Qing continued, "The young master reached out and slapped Jiang Qingzhi, saying, I beat the son of a bitch today, what can you do?"
He humiliated and cursed his cousin's deceased father, and then humiliated his cousin...
Killing people is not the right thing to do!
"I was right behind him, laughing, when I saw Jiang Qingzhi suddenly snatch the butcher knife from the butcher next to him." Chang Qing shuddered as if he had sensed Jiang Qingzhi's murderous intent. "Then he stabbed the young master with a knife. He whispered: I can kill you!"
There was silence inside and outside the city.
Everyone was looking at Jiang Qingzhi.
Jiang Qingzhi walked slowly over to the woman and picked up the Ming Dynasty Edict.
He looked down at the woman and asked, "Are you still going to sue?"
The woman trembled, "No...I won't sue anymore."
"louder please!"
Jiang Qingzhi shouted.
"No more sue." the woman screamed.
Jiang Qingzhi turned around and smiled, as if he was talking to the void: "Did you hear that? She said she won't sue."
He walked in front of Changqing, who looked up and gave him a flattering smile.
Jiang Qingzhi suddenly hit Changqing with the Ming Dagao, and Changqing fell to the ground with his hands covering his face and screaming.
Jiang Qingzhi looked at everyone and asked, "Is this the show of power that Suzhou Prefecture has prepared for me?"
(End of this chapter)
