Royal Gold Magistrate

“Ah!!”

On the city wall, only Liu Xun’s wails could be heard continuously.

The people below were dumbfounded.

Fang Zheng immediately opened his eyes. The imagined blood splatter hadn’t occurred; only a wound had been inflicted on Liu Xun’s neck, with blood trickling out.

The imperial sword in his hand… had broken into two pieces.

Fang Zheng picked up the broken sword, his forehead covered in cold sweat.

Damn it! How could this thing be of such poor quality! I was too careless…

Below, the crowd still had their mouths agape, waiting for the show. Suddenly, Liu Xun started laughing “hehe,” turning his head to look at Fang Zheng, his eyes full of mockery.

The deputy prefect beside him immediately burst into loud laughter: “Hahaha!! Heaven has eyes!! Heaven has eyes!!”

“This Fang Zheng is killing good people!! The heavens have opened their eyes! Did you all see that?”

“Fellow citizens, he’s the real villain! He’s deceiving you! Don’t be fooled by this man!!”

Fang Zheng’s brows immediately furrowed, and he kicked the deputy prefect hard in the ribs, abruptly stopping his cries.

Below, many people began to doubt after hearing this shout, starting to point and discuss among themselves.

Widespread murmuring began to spread through the crowd.

The common people were not only superstitious but also easily swayed. If this continued, things might go awry.

Fang Zheng’s face darkened, and he immediately instructed the yamen runner beside him: “Bring a knife…”

Before he could finish, shouts erupted from the crowd below.

“Heaven has eyes!! These two villains stole our grain! Don’t let them die quickly!!!”

Then came a series of about ten similar shouts.

Fang Zheng, who had turned to get a knife, quickly leaned over the battlement upon hearing the shouts, looking down constantly.

Suddenly! In the crowd, he spotted a grimy young man, showing two rows of white teeth as he grinned at him.

Beside him were ten very familiar people.

Fang Zheng stared at the young man in surprise.

The Crown Prince… I didn’t expect him to come too! He’s not afraid of causing trouble for me. He just issued a fake edict and now he’s here, isn’t he just passing the buck to me again?

But… since he’s here, let it be.

Their eyes met (purely), and a slight smile gradually appeared on Fang Zheng’s face.

He picked up the broken sword again and shouted: “Indeed! This is heaven’s will!”

“Even the heavens can’t bear the crimes of these two villains! Then today, this official shall carry out heaven’s justice!!”

Saying this, he started banging the broken sword on the deputy prefect’s head with a series of clangs.

The deputy prefect wailed continuously, his voice carrying far.

He struck for who knows how long, and who knows how many times.

The deputy prefect still howled with full strength, but his head was now covered in small wounds, blood flowing all over his face, turning him into a bloody mess.

This gruesome sight chilled everyone who saw it.

The people below watched with secret satisfaction!

Indeed! Indeed, it was heaven punishing them, otherwise why would they suffer this torment?

The deputy prefect, his head pounding with pain and his mind in chaos, cried out: “Kill me, just kill me… I’ve committed heinous crimes, but heaven wants to torment Liu Xun, not me!! Lord Fang, give me a quick death!”

Hearing this, Fang Zheng tossed aside the broken sword: “Bring a knife!”

Taking the knife handed by a yamen runner, Fang Zheng took a deep breath, made a couple of practice swings, closed his eyes, and struck at the deputy prefect’s neck!

With this strike, the head rolled…

Attendants quickly came forward with white cloth to collect the deputy prefect’s body.

Fang Zheng slowly opened his eyes and walked towards Liu Xun, knife in hand.

At this moment, the wound on Liu Xun’s neck was still bleeding, and he was somewhat delirious.

Fang Zheng looked at him calmly and said: “Don’t worry, this official doesn’t like torturing people. I’ll give you a quick death.”

“I’ll ask you one last time, who’s behind all this? Paper and brush are ready. If you’re willing to tell, just nod.”

Liu Xun closed his eyes and stretched out his neck.

Fang Zheng raised the knife, closed his eyes, and said: “Very well, you’re a tough man too. Go in peace!”

Another slash!

Liu Xun’s head fell…

“Collect their bodies and bury them properly.”

After giving the order, Fang Zheng walked back to the battlement and shouted: “The criminals have been executed!”

“This official has a few more words to say!”

“Why did we publicly execute these corrupt officials? Because they treated the people like grass, and human lives as nothing! Executing them is to let everyone know that the court cares about you!!”

“His Majesty takes the disaster in Jianjiang so seriously that not only did he send this official, but even the Crown Prince has personally come to Jianjiang!! The Crown Prince has come, Jianjiang will be peaceful! The Crown Prince has come, justice will prevail!”

“This official promises you! Starting tomorrow, the porridge in the relief stations outside the city will get thicker day by day!”

Upon hearing that the Crown Prince had personally come to Jianjiang, the entire crowd immediately knelt down in excitement, shouting: “Long live the Crown Prince!”

Even the reporters who had come with Li Yuanzhao knelt down, while Li Yuanzhao crouched down among the crowd.

In the distance, Nie Zheng listened with trepidation, looking around everywhere.

The Crown Prince is here!? Where? Why didn’t Fang Zheng tell me about this?

Seeing that things were basically over, Fang Zheng waved his hand: “That’s all for today, everyone go home.”

“The days ahead will only get better!”

As soon as he finished speaking, Fang Zheng slumped against the battlement.

Shouting had consumed too much energy, and honestly, he felt a bit nauseous after beheading two people.

Although these two had indirectly caused the deaths of hundreds, he didn’t feel too much psychological burden killing them.

This kind of work really shouldn’t be done personally; it should have been delegated to Zhang Biao.

After resting for a moment, Fang Zheng immediately got up and ran down to the city gate.

At this time, the people outside the city gate were orderly walking into the city under the inspection of the officials. Fang Zheng waited on the side, his eyes constantly searching the crowd outside the city.

After a long while, he saw that familiar figure again.

Waving his hand, he called out: “Old Fang!!”

Fang Zheng waved back in response.

Behind Li Yuanzhao, Shen Yi and a group of reporters also showed their smiling faces.

“Come! Let’s go somewhere else to talk.”

Fang Zheng led everyone to the prefectural office. After dispersing the crowd in the public room, he smiled at Li Yuanzhao: “How come Your Highness is here?”

Li Yuanzhao chuckled: “Old Fang! You’re really something! Wherever you go, you can stir up such a big scene!”

“You even dared to kill the prefect!”

All the reporters looked at Fang Zheng curiously, surprised to see such a shocking drama as soon as they arrived in Jianjiang!

They felt an itch to write, but unfortunately, their newspaper office wasn’t here.

Fang Zheng pulled Li Yuanzhao aside to a corner: “Your Highness, why did you come, and why did you bring the newspaper people?”

“Are these people on a business trip or on vacation?”

“Vacation.”

That’s good, Fang Zheng sighed in relief.

“When you go back, have them make up for the work hours.”

“Oh, I’ve already told them.”

Li Yuanzhao was now completely relieved, waves of fatigue washing over him, his eyelids growing increasingly heavy.

He looked at Fang Zheng with a pained expression: “Old Fang… first find us a place to eat and sleep. I’ll talk to you after I wake up.”

“I haven’t slept well for more than ten days, I’m about ready to eat and sleep on the spot…”

“You should have received the imperial edict. They don’t know about my fake edict, don’t let it slip…”

Fang Zheng nodded: “Alright, come with me. I’ll find you a safe place to get some sleep!”