Flourishing of the Ming Dynasty Novel - Chapter 41

Chapter 41 Convict
Under everyone’s puzzled gaze, Lu Zhen pointed to the other two servants below and said, “You two, go and continue executing.”

The two people who were pointed at were obviously stunned for a moment, but since someone had already made a move earlier, their psychological pressure and resistance were much lighter. Soon, they walked over and replaced the two of them.

This time, the two servants didn’t dare to hold back any longer. Just like before, they exerted their full strength and ruthlessly slapped the board on Zheng Fu’s body, causing the miserable scream that he had just eased to resound again, but it was even more intense than before.

After they played five rounds, Lu Zhen stopped again, and then ordered two new people to take turns. In just a short while, Zheng Fu’s buttocks had already been torn open, and fresh blood was flowing everywhere, making him look very miserable. His miserable scream also became low as the slab whipped. In the end, he could only moan softly. If he didn’t listen carefully, he wouldn’t be able to hear anything.

At this moment, fear appeared on the faces of the people outside. They could tell that County Magistrate Lu was going to punish Zheng Dianshi fiercely. Furthermore, he hated him to the bone and constantly used the new forces to torture him. This was truly shocking.

Only a few people had guessed the deeper purpose. Hou Xiancheng and Shen Zhubu exchanged glances and saw the fear in each other’s eyes. Lu Zhen did this not only to make Zheng Fu suffer more, but also to divide the relationship between the servants and Zheng Fu. Now that both of them had attacked him, it was impossible for the two sides to be as united as before.

Even if Zheng Fu could hold back his anger because of his own interests and not care about it, he was afraid that these officials who had made a move would still have some misgivings and fall towards Lu Zhen. Such a strategy of killing two birds with one stone made Zheng Fu angry, made him look ugly, and divided the relationship between the two sides. It was truly brilliant.

Just as everyone was shocked by the situation in front of them, two more servants stepped forward. After two blows, one of them suddenly stopped and shouted, “Lord, four … Zheng Fu fainted.”

This burst of solid boards actually knocked Zheng Fu unconscious. This made people gasp again. Counting the number of boards he had received, if he had truly beaten it, it would only be around twenty boards now. If he had really beaten it up, Zheng Fu would have lost half of his life even if he didn’t die.

Just when everyone thought that Lu Zhen would let people continue to use torture, he waved his hand and said, “Alright, drag him back. This official still has something to ask him!”

The two servants heaved a sigh of relief. If they beat someone to death while they were executing their torture, it would be difficult for them to stay in the county in the future. Hearing this, he hurriedly pulled the man up from the ground and dragged him back to his original place of standing. Along the way, bloodstains were left on the bluestone paved ground, causing many people’s scalps to go numb.

Lu Zhen glanced at Zheng Fu, who was lying on the ground like a dead dog. Then, he turned his gaze to Tian Kui and said, “Tian Kui, don’t you admit your guilt?”

Although his tone this time was much softer than before, Tian Kui’s entire body trembled as if he had been struck by lightning. Just now, Zheng Fu’s fate was truly too terrifying, making him dare not argue-even the dignified Zheng Dianshi had been beaten to such a state. If a commoner like him really angered the county magistrate, wouldn’t he die?

Thinking of this, He quickly kowtowed and said, “The villagers know their guilt, what they accused before is the truth …” Before, there were some troublesome interrogations, but because of Zheng Fu’s matter, it was completely resolved. This was somewhat beyond Lu Zhen’s expectations, and the surrounding civilians weren’t too surprised. The impact of Zheng Fu’s punishment on them was too great, so Tian Kui’s guilty plea was nothing.

However, Lu Zhen did not let him go because of this. Instead, he stared deeply at him once again, “When wang Shiwu complained about his grievances, he also sued Zheng Fu, the official of the county government. Afterwards, this official also discovered that there were indeed people from the yamen behind this case. Let me ask you, what was all done by Zheng Fu?”

Tian Kui’s body trembled again, but at this time, he was already scared out of his wits. How could he still dare to lie? He could only tell the truth.

Just as Lu Zhen had guessed, it was Zheng Fu who helped him settle the matter of killing and seizing land before. On this matter, he had also obtained tens of thousands of dollars in benefits. Comparatively speaking, more than half of the Wang Clan’s wealth that the Tian Clan had seized had fallen into his Zheng Dianshi’s hands.

These words naturally caused a commotion in the audience outside the hall. Some of them began to curse boldly. If it wasn’t for the magistrate’s dignity, they would have picked up the stones on the ground and smashed them at the corrupt official.

Lu Zhen paused for a moment before glancing at Tian Kui, “I see. Give me the confession and ask him to sign it!”

The documents recorded on the side hurriedly responded and brought the shorthand confession to Tian Kui. With a quick sweep, he knew that it was all the crimes he had confessed. Although his heart was filled with misery and unwillingness, under the pressure of County Magistrate Lu, he could only sign his name with a pen and then put on a fingerprint.

After Lu Zhen took the confession and scanned it carefully to confirm that it was correct, he heaved a sigh of relief. With this confession in hand, he was completely invincible. It seemed that he had done the right thing this time. Even if Zheng Fu had a backer, it was impossible for him to reverse the case.

Thinking of this, he glanced at the unconscious Zheng Fu and said, “Bring me a ladle of water and wake him up.”

Since the servants below had boarded the ship, they naturally had no way to turn back. They could only agree and rush outside to fetch the bone-piercing ice-cold water and pour it on Zheng Fu’s head. Originally unconscious, he was stimulated by the cold water and immediately woke up. However, his entire body did not have any energy, and he even looked in front of him in a daze.

“Zheng Fu, apart from the crimes you just committed, there is also evidence that you colluded with the Tian Clan to commit corruption and violate the law. What else do you have to say?” Lu Zhen lit up the confession in his hand and asked coldly.

Zheng Fu’s already deathly pale face became even uglier. Although he couldn’t see the contents of the paper clearly because of the distance, he knew that Lu Zhen was not bluffing. He was indeed caught by the other party’s evidence.

All year round, the geese didn’t want to be pecked by the geese today. Zheng Fu didn’t know how to react when he was defeated by the young county magistrate who had always looked down on him. He could only stare blankly in front of him, unable to say anything.

When his reaction fell into the eyes of others, it was a sign that he was intimidated by Lord Lu’s official might and righteousness, and did not dare to refute and admit his guilt at all. This caused many people to look at Lu Zhen with even more reverence. This was the Great Master of Azure Heaven that everyone needed!

Lu Zhen did not delay any longer and immediately shocked again, “Although this case has been investigated, it involves three innocent victims and is related to the court officials. This official does not dare to specialize, so I decided to report it to the Datong Prefecture’s yamen and let the superior yamen handle the case.”

After a pause, he deliberately added, “Today, I will tell you what I have said. Zheng Fu must have committed more than this. I will definitely continue to investigate. I hope that everyone can return everything you know to the government to settle their grievances and retreat from the court!”

As soon as he left the hall, the servants on both sides immediately cheered up and shouted out their might. This scene was much more majestic than the scene when they ascended the hall just now.

Many of the people outside the hall were lost in thought. Many of them had been bullied by the Zheng Clan. Should they continue to report him according to the county magistrate’s wishes?

Looking at the thoughtful expressions of the crowd, Hou Xiancheng and Shen Zhubu’s eyes revealed even more peculiar expressions. The two of them quickly retreated to the Second Hall. When they reached a distance, they couldn’t help but sigh, “This County Magistrate Lu is really smart. He is intertwined!”

“That’s right. Actually, his initial target was Zheng Fu. No wonder You Chang ended up like this.”

At this point, the two of them stopped and understood something. “So it seems that he was probably the one who deliberately pushed this lawsuit today” This made their backs feel cold. This young man really dared to do it, and his methods were vicious!

Hou Xiancheng asked softly, but he didn’t dare to say anything else. “How many points do you think he has? You should know that Zheng Fu is not the only one. He also has the Zheng Clan, and” Hou Xiancheng asked softly.

Shen Zhubu was silent for a moment. “If I had said before today, I would have said that he didn’t even have a chance of winning. But now, it’s hard to say. Although our county magistrate Lu is young, he is very thoughtful. No one knows how he will react to the next situation.”

Hou Xiancheng sighed softly, but his eyes were filled with worry. He knew how difficult it was to deal with the Hilly Eight Great Soldiers. Once he really provoked them, it would be hard to explain why a scholar would encounter a soldier.

Unlike the two of them, the ordinary people were quite excited about this result. After coming out of the yamen, they began to recite how wise Lord Lu Zhen Lu was.

After this interrogation, But it took a lot of effort, Starting with the drum beating in the morning, it had been a few hours since the ascension. Now, the sun was already setting and everyone was hungry for half a day. However, everyone did not feel the slightest bit hungry. They only wanted to tell the people they had seen and heard about everything they knew. It was extremely exciting.

As a result, today’s incident in the county government was quickly spread throughout the city, and quickly spread to a large mansion. This was the Zheng Clan’s mansion.

When an old man with a gray beard heard the news, he was so shocked that he couldn’t come back to his senses for a long time. Finally, he said slowly, “Go and invite Mr. Wang over. This matter is no small matter …”

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