Compared to those powerful magnates in Di'an City who held great authority in their hands, the officials of a county yamen were, in a sense, far better able to enjoy life.
At the very least, they did not have to drag themselves out of bed in the dead of night to prepare for the dawn imperial audience.
The shadow cast by the gnomon on the sundial outside the yamen hall had already crept to the hour of the dragon as the morning sun climbed in the east, yet the yamen remained utterly quiet. Only early-rising servants and a handful of clerks on duty tiptoed quietly among the corridors.
Yet today, this stillness held several notes of eeriness compared to usual.
The guards on duty, the servants sweeping fallen leaves, and even the private secretaries helping the magistrate handle administrative affairs all glanced toward the deepest recess of the yamen from time to time amidst the silence.
Amid this hush, another young nobleman clad in sumptuous, expensive robes leisurely strolled into the county yamen.
The constable on duty at the yamen gates instinctively moved to intercept him. Not recognizing the stranger, duty dictated that he should halt him, but taking in the visitor's clearly priceless attire, he silently stepped aside and let him pass.
Every one of these early risers had witnessed the shocking scene from earlier.
In less than a quarter of an hour, nearly every ranked official, eminent gentry member, and prominent merchant proprietor in all of Huizhou County had swarmed in haste toward the hall situated in the deepest recesses of the yamen.
They did not know why these big shots were gathering in the yamen at the crack of dawn, but they knew well that such matters were far beyond what lowly folk like them had any right to discuss.
Entering the yamen unhindered, Xu Yuan took in the layout with keen interest.
By his standards, the structures and facilities were fairly standard, but for a county-level yamen—a hub for public governance—it was renovated rather too lavishly.
High walls, expansive courtyards, waterside pavilions, zither parlors, and library corridors; it had every facility one could ever want for recreation and daily living.
After passing through several courtyards, Xu Yuan even came upon a sizable artificial lake.
The rockeries looked lifelike, schools of koi swam beneath the surface, and right in the center of the lake stood a mid-lake pavilion.
Pausing for a moment to appreciate the scenery, Xu Yuan suddenly caught sight of several maids escorting a woman past the lakeside.
Her hair was uncoiled and she wore no makeup. With an alluring, youthful figure, her generous bosom bounced rhythmically with every step.
She seemed to have just woken up, likely without even putting on an underbodice.
The woman seemed to sense Xu Yuan's gaze as well. She turned back with an unfriendly glare, looking to see which blind fool dared to be so insolent.
Yet the moment their eyes met and she took in his handsome features, the hostility in her eyes softened into a blush of coyness. Tightening her robes, she batted her lashes seductively and hurried away with reddened cheeks.
Watching her retreating back, the corners of Xu Yuan's lips curled faintly. Glancing at the reflection of the handsome young lord in the lake water, he gave a light shake of his head.
She was likely part of the county magistrate's household; after all, yamens in Great Yan also served as residences for magistrates.
A luxurious estate, beautiful women, and absolute power in his grasp.
This magistrate truly knew how to enjoy life.
Xu Yuan exhaled softly, chuckling under his breath.
"'Three years an honest prefect yields a hundred thousand silver ingots.' This magistrate must be a paragon of clean governance, haha."
His voice faded into silence. Circulating his cultivation technique, Xu Yuan's figure leaped and vanished from the spot.
When he reappeared, he was already perched atop the courtyard wall of the main hall deep inside the county yamen.
Looking down, Xu Yuan raised an eyebrow.
It was quite lively in here.
The hall's courtyard remained deadly silent. A towering ginkgo tree stood in the middle, and a neatly paved flagstone path led straight inward, carpeted by the golden leaves of autumn. But at this moment, the entire hall was packed with kneeling figures.
There were officials in official robes and gentry clad in expensive silks.
Each one was an eminent figure who could make the entire city tremble with a stamp of their foot, yet right now they knelt on the ground like frightened quails.
When the hall could hold no more, they knelt in the courtyard.
Since no one inside spoke, they continued to kneel.
Amid the heavy silence, Xu Yuan lightly dropped down from the courtyard wall.
Immediately, he spotted two corpses dumped in a corner. Judging by the official robe, one appeared to be a county commandant, while the other seemed to belong to the City Defense Bureau.
Beside them lay seven or eight men in head constable uniforms.
They were piled haphazardly in the corner like dead dogs.
Right, that was definitely how his older sister handled things.
Clack.
Clack.
Clack.
The sound of boots stepping on the stone ground was faint, yet it fell like hammer blows upon the hearts of these dignitaries. Not a single person dared to look up.
In truth, they had no idea what had happened; they only knew that before dawn broke, the magistrate had sent subordinates to shake them awake from their sleep, claiming an important dignitary from the imperial court had arrived.
At first, they assumed it was just another inspector dropping by to extort some silver and go through the motions. But the moment they arrived, they discovered that people were already dead.
County Commandant Cao was dead.
The third-ranked authority in Huizhou County, an eighth-rank official personally appointed by the court, had been decapitated on the spot without any formal report filed?
This was fucking rebellion!
The director of the City Defense Bureau, who commanded the city defense array, had mobilized the city-protecting array while remonstrating aloud, asserting that this violated proper regulations and that he would memorialize the prefect.
And then, the director of the City Defense Bureau died as well.
Even under the protection of the city-protecting array, his head had been lopped off in a single strike.
After that, nobody dared utter another word.
The newcomer was at least a Grandmaster. In front of an existence at that level, even if one felt aggrieved, one had to swallow it. Whoever spoke again would die.
The footsteps moved from the courtyard into the hall, and a warm, youthful male voice drifted out quietly: "Big Sis, how is the investigation here going?"
Xu Yuan let his gaze sweep across the officials kneeling on both sides before landing on the enchanting woman seated in the main seat. "How many of these people are clean?"
The voice echoed through the cavernous hall.
Lou Ji leaned languidly against the soft backrest of her chair, her long, shapely jade legs crossed and resting straight atop the desk. She idly skimmed a stack of dossiers in her hands. Hearing Xu Yuan's question, she lifted her eyelids slightly and chuckled casually:
"Clean? That depends on what you mean by 'clean,' Changtian. If we go by the laws of Great Yan, every single person here, without exception, deserves the death penalty."
At those offhand words, the officials and clerks in the hall stirred slightly, but the lingering terror of this woman's casual butchery kept them from daring to make a sound.
Xu Yuan cast another glance over these malingerers holding sinecures, then walked up to the magistrate's desk. "What do you mean?"
Lou Ji handed the dossiers to Xu Yuan and smiled as if it were all completely ordinary. "Collusion between officials and merchants resulting in the extermination of entire households, hiring assassins, abducting children for human trafficking, condoning martial apprentices committing violent assaults in broad daylight, illegally freeing prisoners... There's far too much. See for yourself."
Xu Yuan took the documents and skimmed them briefly, his eyelid twitching involuntarily.
How could a tiny county have so many 'talents'?
Dammit, the crimes listed here could practically fill an encyclopedia of Great Yan law.
Casually tossing the papers onto the ground, Xu Yuan did not wish to waste more breath; after all, he still had to deal with the impending assassination.
His voice was very soft. "Give them a chance to explain. If they can't offer a satisfactory reason, then slaughter them all."
"Alright."
"You are committing treason!"
Their conversation had not been concealed, and a buzzing murmur erupted instantly.
A middle-aged man wearing official robes embroidered with crested teals abruptly stood up. Glaring at the pair on the dais, he barked in fury, "Even if you hold an Imperial Envoy's medallion, I, Liu, am a seventh-rank official appointed personally by the court! I have spared no effort in serving Huizhou County with utmost devotion—how can you convict me on such baseless charges?!"
Hearing this, Lou Ji said nothing, merely glancing sideways at Xu Yuan with a smile.
She cared nothing for the officials and gentry of a single county. When Li Yaoxuan ascended the throne back then to purge and rectify official corruption, the officials whose households were ransacked and seized were counted by entire prefectures.
Under Great Yan law, everyone kneeling below deserved death. But from her perspective, there were still usable talents among them, so wiping them all out was not strictly necessary.
However, if Changtian had made up his mind, then she could only borrow their heads.
Looking at the handsome middle-aged man, a flicker of murderous intent crossed Xu Yuan's eyes. Chuckling under his breath, he asked, "You say you've spared no effort?"
"Naturally!"
The middle-aged man stood tall in the hall, his words ringing out resolutely. Cupping his hands, he bowed respectfully toward the heavens. "When I first arrived here, monsters roamed wild and bandits plagued the land; poverty and weakness had festered for decades! During my decade-plus tenure governing here, the people have become prosperous and the land peaceful!"
Xu Yuan sighed, then smiled. "Don't be in such a rush, Magistrate Liu. Compared to when you took over, you truly have accomplished some practical deeds over the past dozen years, and your abilities can be considered quite outstanding."
"That is only natural."
The middle-aged man frowned, fixing his eyes on the noble youth whose identity remained unknown. "Under my governance, Huizhou County has exceeded its quota of tax silver every year! As for bandits and monsters, I personally spearhead fundraising drives each year, recruiting righteous warriors to exterminate them and returning peace to the common folk of Huizhou!
"With the turmoil in the Northern Border lasting over a decade, I even took the initiative to gather local gentry and raise over three hundred thousand taels of silver in military funds for the prefectural governor to deploy!"
"......."
Hearing the end, Xu Yuan nearly burst out laughing.
"Fundraising? By the customary rules of fundraising, the gentry's money is returned in full, while the commoners' donations are split seventy-thirty. Magistrate Liu, this young master is very curious—just who gets that seventy percent? Is it you, the magistrate, or these fine gentry?"
The middle-aged man frowned, instinctively thinking the young man had failed to grasp his point.
Xu Yuan stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Silent, are we? It seems that seventy percent went to that prefectural governor, then? Tsk, tsk, to embezzle so much silver from a single county over just a dozen years..."
"Sir, please watch your words."
Magistrate Liu could not gauge the depths of the people before him, murmuring with a furrowed brow, "My humble words carry little weight, but Lord Xu is not so easy to deal with."
"What does it matter if he isn't easy to deal with?"
Xu Yuan chuckled and shook his head. Leaning back against the desk behind him, he looked down at the middle-aged man below and said in an easy drawl, "If that Lord Xu of yours were here right now and failed to give me a satisfactory explanation, this young master would slaughter him along with the rest of you."
"......."
Magistrate Liu's eyes wavered at those offhand words. He was now utterly unable to gauge the background of these two.
Xu Yuan waved his hand with a smile. "Don't flaunt your bureaucratic connections and superiors in front of me; such things are useless against me. If you have no other explanation, then go outside obediently and await your death."
Magistrate Liu pursed his lips, his Adam's apple bobbing. "My... my political achievements in office are known to everyone throughout the prefecture! Repairing waterworks, opening up fertile farmland, introducing merchant guilds..."
"I already said that you truly did accomplish some practical deeds and that your abilities are indeed outstanding."
A trace of impatience showed in Xu Yuan's eyes as he enunciated each word: "Yet everything you just cited—isn't that what you, as an imperial official, are supposed to do in the first place, Magistrate Liu?"
"......." Magistrate Liu's face turned pale.
Xu Yuan pushed himself up from the desk.
"Truth be told, I don't object to you officials being greedy for wealth, nor do I object to you indulging in luxurious worldly pleasures here. After all, you are human too, and humans have desires. Even if you didn't embezzle, others would pressure you into it.
"However,
"Everything must have its limits, doesn't it?
"The explanation this young master demands is this: what gives you the right to treat human lives like grass? What gives you the right to condone martial apprentices committing acts of violence? What gives you the right to make the commoners under your rule dread officials and power as if they were ferocious tigers?!"
"......."
Silence descended upon the grand hall as his words fell.
Xu Yuan sighed. "It seems you cannot explain it."
As he spoke, Xu Yuan turned around and walked directly toward the rear of the hall.
Lou Ji also slowly rose from her chair, trailing behind Xu Yuan with a beaming smile.
"Under the laws of Great Yan, even if I am guilty, I must be judged by the law! You have no regard for royal law!"
Magistrate Liu seemed to realize what was coming and hurriedly shouted at their retreating backs.
Yet the two seemed not to hear him at all, talking and laughing as they disappeared behind the main hall.
And the last sound Magistrate Liu heard seemed to be:
"Big Sis, can dead men still talk?"
As the words fell, Magistrate Liu’s vision spun in a dazed backward glance—the heads of more than a hundred gentry and officials throughout the vast county hall tumbled to the ground simultaneously, bright crimson blood washing like a brook over the golden fallen ginkgo leaves in the courtyard...
Chapter 423