“If I cannot seek justice for my elder brother, this commoner girl does not fear death either!”
Accompanied by the sound of the rod striking flesh, these words shouted with all the strength the woman being punished could muster almost made the eardrums of all the onlookers tremble.
Even men would find it difficult not to fear such punishment. Judge Tan also found it hard to believe that such a delicate woman could endure more than ten strokes without ever begging for mercy.
“Sir…”
A bailiff holding the blood-stained rod finally showed a hint of reluctance on his face.
“How many strokes has it been?”
Judge Tan looked at the woman lying motionless on the punishment bench.
“Twelve strokes already.” The bailiff looked cautiously at the judge.
Judge Tan’s face showed a trace of hesitation, but after pondering for a moment, he still composed himself and said, “The law cannot be abandoned. Eight more strokes remain.”
“Yes…”
The bailiff had no choice but to raise the rod again.
As the rod fell, scattering glimmering dust in all directions, Xu Hexue’s lapels were almost dyed a circle of shocking red. His slender fingers exerted force, peeling away the silver-white glow from his body and gently wrapping it around Ni Su’s form.
It was the pain of flesh being torn.
It was the heaviest and most humiliating punishment he had suffered while alive.
His clean garments were soaked through, the mottled bloodstains making him look even more wretched than her. Ni Su’s pale lips trembled as she shook her head at him.
She couldn’t call out his name loudly.
She couldn’t speak to him in front of so many people.
Her tears streamed down her cheeks, her fingernails almost embedding themselves into the cracks of the punishment bench.
“Judge Tan, Ni Su is a woman—sixteen strokes are already enough!” As the sixteenth stroke fell on Ni Su, someone pushed through the crowd and stood outside the Drum Court gate, declaring loudly.
Judge Tan looked up at the sound and saw a young man dressed in black robes. He raised his hand to signal the bailiff to stop, then said, “Who are you? How dare you disturb the court!”
“Zhou Ting, Deputy Commander of the Night Watch Bureau, greeting the judge.”
Zhou Ting showed his Night Watch Bureau waist token to the bailiff guarding the door, then looked behind him. “This subordinate official has been ordered to escort Young Master Wu to the Drum Court for direct confrontation with the plaintiff.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Judge Tan saw the common people outside part to both sides, making way. A group carried a sedan chair, upon which sat a pale-faced young man in brocade robes who appeared to be ill.
When someone filed a grievance, the accused needed to be present. Judge Tan immediately ordered people to let Zhou Ting and his party enter.
Seeing that Wu Jikang was about to be carried inside, Cai Chunxu ignored her husband Miao Yiyang’s attempts to stop her and, when no one was paying attention, spat viciously at Wu Jikang.
The spittle landed on Wu Jikang’s body, and his expression changed completely.
“Since he’s the accused murderer, why is he being carried in? Does he have no legs? Make him get down and walk in himself!”
Cai Chunxu shouted.
Voices of agreement immediately rose from the crowd: “That’s right! Make him get down!”
Rotten vegetable leaves and stinking eggs came flying from somewhere. The servants who hastily set down the sedan chair tried to block them but failed, and Wu Jikang was hit squarely. His eyes widened in shock, unable to bear the filth on his body. His face grew increasingly strange, his chest heaving as he was about to lose his temper, when he heard Zhou Ting say calmly from beside him, “Young Master Wu, please rise and enter the Drum Court for trial.”
Zhou Ting spoke the two words “for trial” slowly, deliberately reminding Wu Jikang of his current situation.
Wu Jikang stood up awkwardly, supported by a servant beside him, and slowly walked through the Drum Court gate.
Under the bright sunlight, he immediately saw the woman lying on the punishment bench. Her back was almost soaked through with blood, and her entire body twitched unconsciously.
Wu Jikang instinctively tightened his grip on the servant’s wrist, thinking hazily—having received such punishment, why wasn’t she dead yet…
“Young master.”
The servant reminded him in a low voice to ascend the steps.
But it was too late. Wu Jikang stumbled and nearly fell to his knees before the steps. Supported by the servant, he straightened his body and bowed to Judge Tan seated in the main position: “Greetings, Judge.”
“Sir, should we continue the beating?”
The bailiff asked cautiously from the side.
Judge Tan was also in a difficult position, unable to say whether to continue or stop for a moment.
“Judge, the Drum Court administers punishment before hearing cases to prevent false accusations and disrespect to the Emperor. This punishment is meant to test the plaintiff’s sincerity and resolve—its purpose is not to punish, but to test their honest heart. Does Your Honor believe this woman’s heart is still not sincere enough?” Zhou Ting walked into the hall, pointing at Ni Su who was being punished outside in the sunlight.
“But twenty strokes are the Drum Court’s rules.”
Judge Tan frowned. “Without rules, there can be no order.”
“Sir! This student is willing to receive punishment in her place!”
From outside the Drum Court gate, an urgent voice suddenly rang out.
In an instant, everyone’s gaze focused on the young man gripping the arm of the bailiff at the entrance. It took Ni Su a while to sluggishly shift her gaze.
It was actually He Zhongping.
He fell to his knees with a thud and shouted loudly, “Brother Jiming lived like uncarved jade and pure gold. Alas, when a tree stands tall in the forest, the wind will destroy it; when earth rises above the bank, the current will sweep it away! I received Brother Jiming’s care and was his friend. If today I watch with open eyes as his only sister seeks justice for him alone, then I, He Zhongping, have read the classics of the sages in vain! Murderers pay with their lives—this has been so since ancient times. Though Brother Jiming is dead, we students of humble origins still remain! This student, He Zhongping, is willing to receive punishment and seek justice for my friend Ni Qinglan!”
Just in the time it took for Ni Su to beat the Petition Drum and enter the Drum Court to receive punishment, news of this matter had already spread throughout the streets and alleys of Yun Jing. Not only had He Zhongping rushed over upon hearing the news, but other scholars from humble backgrounds like him had also abandoned their academy classes and hurried here.
“We aspire to serve in office for the people, for justice! This is the principle our academy teachers taught us! But now who will give all the scholars from humble backgrounds throughout the land justice? You must know that today’s Ni Qinglan could very well be any of us in the future!” One scholar spoke, then gathered his robes and knelt beside He Zhongping. “This student is willing to receive punishment and seek justice for Ni Qinglan!”
“What are you waiting for? Are you all truly inferior to a delicate woman in knowledge of courage?” Another scholar looked around, then knelt down.
More and more scholars knelt down.
“This student is willing to receive punishment and seek justice for Ni Qinglan!”
“This student is willing to seek justice for Ni Qinglan!”
“This student is willing to seek justice for Ni Qinglan!”
Judge Tan truly had a headache. He wiped the sweat from his brow and heard those common people watching the excitement also chattering in unison, “Sir, don’t beat her anymore.” He had no choice—at this point, it would not be appropriate to continue ordering punishment. He waved his hand, telling people not to restrain Ni Su.
He Zhongping and the others were allowed into the Drum Court. The bailiffs brought several more punishment benches, and these scholars competed to lie down on them.
Judge Tan felt depressed, not knowing how this matter had escalated to this degree. He worked in the Remonstrance Court and knew well that if this case was not judged properly, those people in the Hanlin Academy would likely be triumphant.
But given the current situation…
Judge Tan looked up at those scholars receiving punishment outside. He only felt his headache worsen.
“Wu Jikang, this woman accuses you of murdering her elder brother, and you have already confessed to this crime in the Night Watch Bureau prison. Is this true?” Judge Tan collected himself and began questioning Wu Jikang.
Wu Jikang deeply regretted having so easily confessed to the crime in the Night Watch Bureau. He hated even more those successive cries of agony from outside. “But I didn’t mean to kill him. I just, I just imprisoned him, and then he starved to death. He starved to death on his own—it has nothing to do with me…”
“If you hadn’t imprisoned him, hadn’t tortured him, how could he have contracted soul-separation syndrome?” Ni Su tried to support herself with her hands on the punishment bench to straighten up, but her wrists had no strength.
“How would I know?”
Wu Jikang’s thoughts grew more confused. “I said, I didn’t mean to kill him. No matter what, my crime doesn’t deserve death, doesn’t deserve death…”
“If you don’t die, I, Ni Su, will never rest in this lifetime!”
Ni Su couldn’t forget his vicious laughter at the Night Watch Bureau entrance that day. She wished she had a knife in her hand—if this world ultimately could not give her brother justice, she would stab him to death, one knife at a time.
So he could never laugh again, could never use that triumphant gaze to scorn her brother’s life.
The irritation in Wu Jikang’s heart made him continuously scratch at his own neck. He hated her gaze to the extreme. If only there weren’t those meddling scholars.
“I truly didn’t mean to kill anyone. Why don’t you tell me—how should I compensate?” Wu Jikang took a few steps forward to stand before her, lowering his posture, hunching his body in a seemingly bewildered manner. But the eyes with which he looked at her were cold and vicious. “Do you want money? Or what?”
His voice was pressed very low.
Ni Su wished she could tear off his facade on the spot. Her whole body trembled even more violently, but then she saw Wu Jikang suddenly stagger back several steps, and immediately after, his expression became extremely strange.
Silver-white glowing light like silk threads wound around his neck. Ni Su followed the light source with her gaze.
In the sunlight, Xu Hexue’s hands were pale and bloodstained, his tendons and bones flowing smoothly. He pressed two fingers together, and the light seeped like fine threads through Wu Jikang’s garments, inch by inch tearing at the whip wounds Wu Jikang concealed beneath his robes.
Wu Jikang was terrified. He couldn’t see what was wrapped around his body, but he could feel those thread-like things tearing open the scabs on his wounds one by one, cutting into his flesh. The pain made him unable to stop himself from rolling on the ground screaming.
“Ni Su, rest assured—I will not use sorcery to kill.”
Xu Hexue’s clear, cold eyes gazed at Wu Jikang rolling in the dirt on the ground. He didn’t turn to look at the young woman on the punishment bench, only saying calmly to her, “It’s just that the sixteen strokes he caused you to suffer—those should be repaid.”
Ni Su wanted to speak, wanted to tell him not to do this, not to let his form become even fainter, or else it would snow again today.
But she couldn’t.
She feared all these people would discover his existence.
Feared he would have no way to manage himself.
Ni Su watched helplessly as his fingers exerted force, the silver threads piercing into Wu Jikang’s flesh. Like controlling a marionette on strings, he made Wu Jikang madly bash himself against the ground until his forehead was covered in blood. The servants from the Wu household and the bailiffs from the Drum Court rushed forward to restrain him, almost unable to hold him down.
Wu Jikang screamed hoarsely, “There’s a ghost! There’s a ghost!”
Xu Hexue had almost grown accustomed to the pain in his own body. His fingers curved slightly, the glimmering dust transforming into threads as he coldly observed Wu Jikang’s disgraceful state.
“Don’t be sad, and don’t lose heart. The justice you seek—there are others who want it just as much as you do.”
Xu Hexue’s form had already become as faint as mist. He looked at those young men lying on the punishment benches receiving their punishment and said to her:
“The officialdom is cold, but the blood of some people is still hot.”