Chapter 117
Chapter 117
Cui Niu collapsed to the floor. He knew he was finished.
When he imagined what awaited him, panic seized him. He could not die like this!
“My lord, I was wrong! Evil clouded my mind. I listened to Wuxinzi’s slander and tried to frame you. Please show mercy and spare my life!”
Cui Niu repeatedly knocked his forehead against the ground.
Liu Ye sighed.
“Look what a mess this has become. I already admi-”
Before he could finish, the crowd erupted in a deafening roar.
“Magistrate Liu sees every detail with perfect clarity!”
“Magistrate Liu is Justice itself, walking among the living!”
“Magistrate Liu is wise and mighty! May he rule for ten thousand generations and unite all under hea-”
Someone beside the flatterer clapped a hand over his mouth before he could finish. They had finally smoothed over the rebellion business. Why was this fool steering them straight back toward it?
“You’re embarrassing me with all this praise,” Liu Ye said helplessly.
He looked down and immediately spotted Wuxinzi.
“Ah! Witless-zi, come here. This case involves you too.”
Wuxinzi fell silent.
He had never expected Cui Niu to confess. Wuxinzi had clearly placed a spell on him, yet somehow it had failed.
“My lord, Cui Niu speaks nothing but nonsense. This humble Daoist spent all of yesterday cultivating at the temple and never came down the mountain. My fellow disciples can all testify to that. Please investigate with your renowned discernment and restore my good name!”
Wuxinzi sneered inwardly. He had an airtight alibi, and this time he had not even entered the courtroom. Cui Niu’s word alone could never touch him.
To his surprise, Liu Ye’s expression turned cold. He slammed the magistrate’s block against the table.
“What are you babbling about? The problem is that this magistrate called you, yet you dared not come inside. What enormous nerve! Men, beat him until he can’t take care of himself!”
Wuxinzi stared at him.
What a tyrant! Does holding office mean you can ignore all reason? You beat me yesterday because I came inside, and today you’re beating me because I didn’t?
He tried to run, but the court runners seized him and pinned him to a bench.
“Don’t worry, Daoist Master. We’ll go easy on you. Please cooperate,” one whispered.
Wuxinzi immediately relaxed. He knew how to put on an act.
Then Liu Ye spoke again.
“Hey, what are you doing? You beat his backside yesterday, and now you’re hitting it again? Do none of you have any humanity?” he demanded.
Wuxinzi was surprised. He had not expected Liu Ye to say anything so considerate.
The court runners, however, looked troubled.
“My lord, if we don’t strike his backside, where should we hit?” one asked.
“Turn him over and beat the front,” Liu Ye said helplessly.
His staff truly lacked capable people. How could they fail to understand something so simple?
He was beginning to miss Advisor Qi. If only he had not left her at home to care for the Old Master.
Wuxinzi fell silent.
So did everyone else.
Eunuch Wu hid his face behind a handkerchief. How brutal.
The court runners looked at Wuxinzi with genuine sympathy. They had no way around this. Even using less strength would not make much difference.
“No, wait, you-aaaah!”
Wuxinzi’s screams rang through the hall. The court runners feared retaliation for beating an immortal, but at the moment, they feared Liu Ye even more.
Liu Ye turned back to Cui Niu.
Cui Niu was trembling violently, kneeling on the floor and knocking his head against it without pause.
Liu Ye sighed at the sight.
“Cui Niu, your crimes may be monstrous, but I am a kindhearted official who cannot bear the sight of death. So I won’t have you beaten to death.”
Cui Niu’s face lit up. As long as he survived, he could endure anything.
The woman was already dead. Once he sacrificed that little girl to the River God and stole himself another wife, life would be wonderful again.
He was still lost in the fantasy when Liu Ye spoke.
“Men, beat him until death would feel like mercy!”
Cui Niu fell silent.
“My lord! Have mercy! My lord, please spare me!”
His screams did nothing to help him. The court runners might have held back when beating Wuxinzi, but they showed Cui Niu no mercy whatsoever.
His Lordship had ordered them to keep the man alive, so they absolutely would not let him die.
They would also make certain he wished he had.
“Anything else? If not, I’m leaving.”
The crowd looked at the two men being beaten and shook their heads frantically. Who would dare speak now?
Liu Ye left while munching sunflower seeds.
Being an official was incredibly fun!
When he returned to the rear residence after court, he found Eunuch Wu cradling a tiny infant.
She was Cui Niu’s daughter, the baby who had nearly been drowned.
Eunuch Wu held her up excitedly.
“Magistrate Liu, look! She’s smiling at me!”
“You like girls, Eunuch Wu?” Liu Ye asked.
“Of course I do. Look how pink and delicate she is-absolutely precious. I’m not like those rotten bastards who can bring themselves to throw such a tiny child into a river.”
“No one ever tried to stop this before?” Liu Ye asked curiously.
Eunuch Wu rocked the baby and sighed.
“Of course they did, Magistrate Liu. Several magistrates before you banned the practice, but it was no use. The children remained in their parents’ hands. How could the law watch them every moment?
“You should visit the riverbank yourself. I am not ashamed to admit that after seeing it once, I couldn’t close my eyes for several nights.
“And none of those previous magistrates met a good end.”
There were things Eunuch Wu left unsaid.
He had once secretly reported the matter to the palace. His godfather had ordered him severely paddled and strictly forbidden him from involving himself again.
That was when he understood this was more than an ugly folk custom.
Magistrate Liu was capable, but how long could he hold out?
The thought prompted Eunuch Wu to speak.
“Magistrate Liu, may I ask an impertinent favor?”
“Huh? Who do you want me to ask?” Liu Ye replied blankly.
Eunuch Wu fell silent.
“Magistrate Liu, I feel a bond with this little girl. Would you allow me to adopt her?”
Eunuch Wu truly liked the child, but he also hoped to soothe an old regret. Even now, he could not forget the way that baby had looked at him all those years ago.
“Of course.”
It was a good thing. Liu Ye had no reason to refuse.
Eunuch Wu’s face blossomed into a smile. He immediately took out money and ordered a servant to hire a wet nurse.
“Oh, and buy several lengths of cloth for diapers. Remember, choose the finest material. There’s no need to save my money. A baby’s skin is delicate.”
The servant curled his lip. Why treat a girl like something precious? Better to sacrifice her to the River God and get a son.
Eunuch Wu had already lost the ability to continue his family line. Why not at least adopt a boy to carry on his name?
The servant had only just stepped outside with the money when Qiqi came running in with a letter, panic on her face.
“Boss! Your father is gone!”