Even though he harbored dissatisfaction toward the Great Zhou court and these lackeys of the Great Zhou court, they were ultimately not Dongyi people—they were all his compatriots.

The dazed butcher was taken away by the constables. Once the constables left, the tavern patrons also hurriedly fled this place of trouble, leaving behind the tavern’s complete mess and the waiters staring helplessly at the bloodstains on the ground.

That very night, news of the constables arresting scholars who discussed Prince Han’s affairs in the tavern, and the butcher who wanted to go to Dongyi to retrieve Prince Han’s body, spread rapidly—and the story became completely distorted in the telling.

Some said those scholars had merely expressed dissatisfaction with the Great Zhou emperor for ignoring Prince Han, who had sacrificed himself for the people, while the emperor only focused on the national gamble with Yan. They had a few drinks at the tavern and complained a bit, only to be thrown into prison.

As for the butcher, he had said after finishing his drinks that he would go to Dongyi to retrieve Prince Han’s body. The constables, fearing this would provoke war with Dongyi and bring blame from the court and emperor, forcibly arrested the butcher. In the struggle, the butcher stabbed a constable to death and was now also imprisoned.

Later, news came that the constable hadn’t died—that the butcher was experienced after all. Though it looked like one thrust made two holes with blood gushing out dangerously, he hadn’t struck the constable’s vital points and barely managed to save his life.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Anyone familiar with the butcher knew he was a righteous character. Now that the constable had survived, the butcher could also keep his life.

Privately, countless coastal people cursed the Great Zhou court and reviled the current emperor as worthless.

But unexpectedly, the next day, the butcher died in prison.

It was said the butcher’s wife had spent money and used connections to finally gain entry to the prison to see her husband, only to find him covered in wounds. When she got closer to look, he was already dead.

This woman also had a fierce temperament. Seeing her husband dead, she immediately wanted to leave the prison and go beat the complaint drum.

The four scholars who had been thrown into prison with the butcher the night before quickly called out to the sobbing woman: “Sister-in-law! Sister-in-law! Don’t blindly go beat the drum to lodge complaints like this. Going to beat the drum this way won’t create any splash, and with those officials protecting each other, it might even implicate your family! You’ll be destroyed along with them!”

“Mother…” The butcher’s daughter was also crying breathlessly. “These gentlemen are right! I’m not afraid to die seeking justice for father… but mother, if we’re gone, what about little sister, grandfather, and grandmother? Little sister is still young… grandfather and grandmother are old!”

The woman was already in extreme pain and despair. If not for her thirteen or fourteen-year-old daughter supporting her, she probably couldn’t even stand: “Your father was the pillar of our family! Now that pillar has collapsed, I can’t care about anything else! If I can’t get justice for your father, I’ll smash my head against the stone in front of the county office!”

“Mother!” The daughter was frightened and hugged her mother’s arm tightly.

“They say husband and wife are birds of the same forest who fly separately when disaster strikes! But sister-in-law’s devotion to Brother Butcher is deeply admirable!” One of the scholars wearing an azure straight robe was moved by the couple’s affection and bowed deeply to the woman. “Both big brother and sister-in-law are people of deep sentiment and righteousness! I… am willing to help sister-in-law seek justice for big brother!”

With that, the scholar turned around, lifted his azure robe, and tore off the hem of his inner garment: “Sister-in-law, even if you want to beat the drum and file a complaint, you can’t do it without a petition! Brother Butcher was a man of sentiment and righteousness who died seeking justice for Prince Han! I’m also willing to do my part for Brother Butcher!”

The scholar swept away the straw on the ground with his arm, spread the torn cloth on the floor, knelt and crawled on the ground, bit his finger to draw blood, and used his blood to help the sister-in-law write the petition: “I’ll write the petition for sister-in-law!”

The other three scholars looked at the woman outside the cell door and said: “Sister-in-law… listen to me. When you go beat the drum, don’t just shout that your husband was beaten to death! You must let everyone know why Big Brother was beaten to death!”

The scholar crouched in the cell, quietly instructing the woman: “Sister-in-law, remember clearly what I’m about to tell you! Only by making this incident big… can big brother get justice, and can your life be saved!”

The woman nodded repeatedly, pulling her daughter to kowtow to the four scholars: “Thank you, righteous gentlemen, for this great kindness and virtue… I’ll repay it in the next life!”

One was writing the petition while three huddled together teaching the woman what to say when beating the drum. The woman’s daughter wiped her tears while listening and remembering. Her father had gone out drinking because he was depressed about Prince Han’s affairs, but this drink meant he would never return home. If you said the daughter felt no hatred in her heart… that would be impossible!

Soon after the petition was finished, the three men, talking one after another, had clearly instructed the woman and girl. Only then did they advise the mother and daughter: “It would be best to find more people to accompany you when beating the drum, preferably fishermen who were once protected by Prince Han when they returned. This way… the government, faced with public sentiment and anger, won’t dare touch you mother and daughter.”

After speaking, the scholar who had given advice and taught the woman what to say stood up again and bowed to the mother and daughter: “Sister-in-law is willing to be the pioneer, seeking justice for her husband, willing to contribute to retrieving Prince Han’s remains. This is righteousness—please accept my bow.”

They had once been subjects of Great Liang, and Prince Han had also died for the former subjects of coastal Great Liang. Even the butcher had wanted to retrieve Prince Han’s remains through his own strength, to let Prince Han’s soul return to his homeland. How could these scholars not give their all?

However, now that they were trapped in prison, they could only work with the situation… and let this sister-in-law take the lead.

After leaving the prison, the woman steeled herself and cried to the government office entrance, shouting that her husband had stabbed a constable. If the constable had died, paying with his life would be acceptable! But the constable her husband stabbed was still alive—so why was her husband beaten to death in prison?

The news of the butcher being beaten to death in prison was like hot oil hitting water, immediately igniting the people’s anger. The government uses its power to bully people and beat someone to death in prison—this kind of official oppression of civilians most easily arouses common people’s indignation. Naturally, the people would follow the government office to see what explanation the authorities would give.

Who knew that this matter was more complex than the people who originally came to watch the excitement had imagined? After all the commotion… yesterday, this butcher knew the emperor could never personally go to Dongyi to retrieve Prince Han’s body, and also knew… that Great Zhou, at this critical moment of the national gamble, would never fight Dongyi over Prince Han and the deaths of those soldiers…