Being an emperor is not something he can do, so he can only rely on his connections.

After Chen Longchang was dragged away by the yamen runners like a dead dog, the air in the courtroom seemed to freeze. Everyone's eyes were focused on Zhou Lun, who knelt on the ground. He lowered his head, his body trembling slightly, and beads of sweat oozed from his forehead.

Zhang Jingwei's gaze fell upon him as if it were real, and his voice was cold: "Zhou Lun, Chen Longchang has been executed. Do you have anything else to say?"

Zhou Lun shuddered suddenly, raised his head, his face filled with panic and a hint of lucky flattery: "Sir... Sir didn't ask, I... I don't know where to start..." He tried to use this vague wording to delay and find a chance to survive.

"I don't know what to say." Zhang Jingwei's lips curled up in an icy arc. "That's easy. Come here!" His voice suddenly turned stern. "Take this man away and throw him into the medicine pit under Gaoyang Tower!"

"No! No! My lord! My lord, please be wise!" Zhou Lun was so frightened that his soul left his body. He crawled forward two steps, his voice shrill, "It's unfair! I am innocent! My lord! I just... just had to make a living, so I rented... rented a broken cave that was unused under my name to the Shi family! That Shen Kaiyang... he... he didn't give me anything! I didn't take a penny! My lord! I... I don't take that damn elixir! I... I have never sold a single stone medicine! I swear to the sky! If I say even a word falsely, I will be struck by lightning!" He pointed to the sky and the earth, swore, and tried to distance himself from the matter.

"Oh? Forced to make a living? Without taking a penny?" Zhang Jingwei leaned forward slightly, his eyes sharp as a knife. "Then explain to me why the largest barn on the outskirts of the city, owned by you, is stockpiled with tons of Arab liquor, enough to fill three large ships?!"

Zhou Lun's face turned pale, but he still argued: "Sir! That Dashi wine... it... it is not stone medicine! It's just ordinary wine! Besides... besides, it is brewed with flat beans from Dashi. According to the laws of the court, flat beans are not staple food. It is not only legal, but also... it is a commodity that enjoys tax reduction! What's wrong with a commoner trafficking in this thing?" He seized on the two points of "legal" and "tax reduction" in an attempt to confuse the public.

"Legal? Tax reduction?" Zhang Jingwei slammed the gavel, the sound shaking the roof tiles. "That's right! Dashi wine itself is not a stone medicine! But Zhou Lun! Are you hoarding such a huge amount of Dashi wine just to open a wine shop and benefit the people of Gaoyang?!" His voice suddenly rose, with the sharpness of a person who saw through everything, "I have already investigated it! The Five Stones Powder has a strong and hot medicinal property. After taking it, it feels like being burned by fire! It needs to be supplemented with a large amount of iced Dashi wine to slightly suppress the bone-eating and heart-searing pain, making the feeling of 'floating in the air' even more intense! The mountains of Dashi wine in your barn are the vital material used by the Shi family to 'feed' and 'serve' those medicine men who are tortured by drug addiction and are living a life worse than death! Without your wine, how could the Shi family's drug den operate so 'smoothly'?! Although you don't directly sell drugs, you are a crucial link in this poison chain, helping the evil!"

Zhou Lun was forced to retreat step by step by the barrage of questioning and revelations, his face drained of blood, but he still gritted his teeth and made a final struggle: "Words... words are not enough! Sir! Everything must be based on evidence! What evidence... what evidence do you have to prove that my Dashi wine is specially for medicine makers? I... I can also say that it is intended to be shipped to other places for sale!" He tried to grasp the "chain of evidence" as a life-saving straw.

Zhang Jingwei watched him, his expression unwavering, a complex emotion flickering in his eyes. It wasn't anger, but a heavy, oppressive scrutiny. He slowed his tone, but with a deeper sense of oppression: "Zhou Lun, I consider you a scholar, and I offer you a piece of advice: Confess and receive leniency; resist and receive severity. You are fortunate to have met me."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the hall. His voice, low but clearly heard by everyone, said, "I have read your son Zhou Jue's writings. His writing is brilliant, his insights are unique, and he truly possesses the talent to govern the world. Yunzhou's Governor Liu also holds him in high regard, once saying to me, 'Gaoyang's Zhou Wenqing is a gem in the rough. He deserves more attention and careful cultivation.'"

When Zhou Lun mentioned his son, his body shook violently, and his eyes were instantly filled with astonishment and a glimmer of hope.

Zhang Jingwei stared at him intently, his every word like a hammer hammering at his heart: "Zhou Lun, you are denying everything here today, resisting stubbornly. You are personally destroying your son's bright future! You are personally destroying all his hopes of bringing honor to our family after ten years of hard work! You must think carefully!"

Zhou Lun hesitated for a long time, unable to blow a fart. Then he took a deep breath, as if waiting for a sense of relief. "I... I... Your Excellency... Your Excellency! I have something to say! Your Excellency... do you want to hear it?"

"Tell me." Zhang Jingwei sat up straight, his tone serious.

Zhou Lun seemed to have exhausted all his strength and spoke slowly, his voice filled with a sense of desolation and deep helplessness as he recalled the past:

"Sir... I... am not from Hedong. My Zhou family... is originally from Jiangnan, in Suzhou Prefecture... and we are... somewhat wealthy. When I was young... I studied very hard, studying hard, hoping to... win the imperial examination and bring honor to my family..." A long-lost glint flashed in his eyes, but was soon shrouded by a deeper haze. "However... Jiangnan, the path to the imperial examination has long been controlled by those entrenched noble families! Even if a poor student is well-educated, it is difficult for him to succeed! I... have failed in every exam... I am disheartened and hopeless..."

He took a deep breath, as if the unbearable past still suffocated him. "In the end... I lost my heart. I sold my property and took my only savings. I left my hometown and came to Gaoyang County in Hedong Road. I just wanted... just wanted to be a law-abiding businessman and live out the rest of my life... But unexpectedly... fate did not fulfill my wish! The barbarians invaded from the south, their iron hooves trampling the mountains and rivers! The property I had painstakingly accumulated... was wiped out in an instant! My family was separated, and there was no news from them... They all thought... I had died in the war... I... I also thought I would die alone on a remote farm...

His voice was choked with sobs, filled with the sorrow of being adrift in troubled times. "Until... until Yunzhou was liberated and the imperial court regained control of Hedong... then, like ghosts and wild spirits, I emerged from that dilapidated village and tried to rebuild a small... humble livelihood on the ruins..."

Zhang Jingwei listened quietly without interrupting. He could sense the deep despair in Zhou Lun's words and the powerlessness of the little people in the tide of the times.

Zhou Lun paused, looking at Zhang Jingwei with a strange and complicated emotion: "Sir...your father, Old Master Zhang Lian...I have met him. At that time...Yunzhou was just beginning to be established, and everything was in ruins. The remnants of the Rong people were still wreaking havoc...It was Old Master...who raised his arm and called on all the gentry and wealthy families in Yunzhou to contribute money and manpower, organize a militia, and fight against the Rong bandits together! I...I was among them at that time. Although my family was meager, I gave everything I had and donated food...Old Master...was a man of great talent and strategy, and unparalleled benevolence...What a pity..." He sighed deeply, his voice filled with regret and a hint of imperceptible resentment, "What a pity...he shouldn't have...shouldn't have gone head-to-head with the Shi family...who was at the peak of their power...and were as hostile as water and fire..."

At the mention of his father, Zhang Jingwei's eyes instantly grew sharp as a knife. He abruptly interrupted Zhou Lun, his voice cold and filled with suppressed anger: "So, you, the 'gentry' who received my father's kindness and were once protected under his wings, are ungrateful and turning against the Shi family after the Shi family became powerful? You are dividing up and swallowing up the assets that my father left in Gaoyang, which he painstakingly cultivated to benefit the village?! Zhou Lun, is this how you mean to 'rebuild your livelihood'?"

Zhang Jingwei's voice suddenly rose, filled with thunderous fury. "My father is kind-hearted, and out of consideration for our ties, he rarely argues with you! But what about you?! You are greedy and aid the tyrant! Now you are colluding with the Shi family to harm the people of Gaoyang! Let me see with my own eyes how you trample on the land my father protected! How you poison the people my father protected!"

This heart-piercing question, like thunder, exploded in Zhou Lun's ears! It also exploded in the hearts of some of the old Gaoyang people watching outside the hall! Some of the older people had complicated expressions on their faces, as if they were recalling the old days when Zhang Lian organized the anti-Jiang movement.

Zhou Lun was completely crushed by this barrage of questioning and revelations! He felt as if every bone in his body had been pulled out, and he collapsed to the ground. Zhang Jingwei's accusation of "ungratefulness," combined with his own recounting of his life of displacement and the favors he had received from Zhang Lian, created a massive, irrefutable pressure of public opinion! This judgment, born of morality and conscience, was even more humiliating to him than the cold letter of the law! He had colluded with the Shi family, not only harming the people but also betraying Zhang Lian, the man who had once given him a glimmer of hope and dignity in these troubled times!

"I...I..." Zhou Lun's tears streamed down his face, his lips trembling, unable to argue any longer. The immense shame and despair for his son's future finally overwhelmed him. He kowtowed heavily to the hall, his voice hoarse and broken, filled with complete resignation:

"I... I admit it! I... colluded with the Shi family and hoarded the medicine man's supplies... bringing disaster to the village... I... admit my guilt!"

Zhang Jingwei watched him completely collapse and confess. He felt no joy in his heart, but instead a heavy sense of fatigue. He waved his hand and said, "Huang Liang, pronounce the verdict."

Dianshi Huang Liang immediately stepped forward, unfolded the verdict he had prepared long ago, and read aloud:

"Criminal Zhou Lun, await sentencing! Zhou Lun, a merchant, disregarded national laws and colluded with the Shi family, hoarding large quantities of a key material (Dashijiu) needed to feed and control drug dealers for a long time. This provided crucial support for the Shi family's drug den, indirectly causing numerous civilians to suffer from drug addiction and the destruction of their families! Although he didn't directly sell drugs, he aided and abetted the evil, and cannot escape responsibility! The evidence is irrefutable, and he has confessed! According to the Celestial Empire Laws, including "accomplice," "harboring," and "endangering the local area," he is sentenced to 50 strokes of the cane! Three years in prison! Three years of hard labor! Confiscation of all property involved in the case! Sign your signature!"

Zhou Lun shuddered again at the words "fifty strokes of the cane," "three years' imprisonment," and "three years' hard labor." Compared to Chen Longchang's 3,000-mile exile, this was a lighter sentence. With his heart broken, he no longer had any intention of resisting. He obediently extended his trembling hand and, with the help of the yamen runners, pressed his fingerprint on the verdict.

"I thank you, sir, for sparing my life." His voice was weak, as if all his strength had been drained away. He collapsed to the ground, allowing the bailiffs to drag him away. A murmur of discussion rose again from the crowd below, but this time, their gazes toward Zhou Lun held not only contempt but also a complex, unspoken sigh. Zhang Jingwei, leveraging the legacy of his father, Zhang Lian, and the pressure of public opinion generated by past events, successfully broke down Zhou Lun's last psychological defenses and pried him open.

Finally, Zhang Jingwei specifically instructed the strong team to be more decisive and use less force so as not to beat the man to death outside the ceremonial gate.