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

The next day.

Zhang Jingwei rubbed his aching temples and forced himself to sit on the cold stone bench in the yard.

The lingering smell of alcohol mixed with fatigue lingered around him. He looked at the yamen runners already standing in the hall and the prisoners being brought in one after another, and couldn't help but grumble softly, "I can't stand it anymore... Why did people in ancient times have to report for duty so early? They weren't released until the evening hour. This... isn't this straight up '007'?" His voice was quiet, yet it carried the raspy sound of a heavy hangover and the resentment of a modern soul.

Zhang Liu, standing by, whispered, "Master, you drank too much last night and stayed up late. How about... resting a little longer?"

Zhang Jingwei waved his hands and tried to open his eyes wide to dispel his sleepiness: "I'm not drunk, I just drank a little late, and made some noise with Hanzi and the others." He thought of the midnight snack he had with Jia Dayong and the maids last night, and a smile unconsciously appeared on the corner of his mouth.

Zhang Liu's face showed disapproval, and his voice lowered even more: "Young Master, you and those maids were laughing and playing in the dining room last night, making quite a noise. If the Young Madam saw you, or if some rumors got out... With her temper, I'm afraid she would have scolded you again."

"Tsk," Zhang Jingwei said unconcernedly. "Sixth Uncle, what are you thinking? They're just half-grown children, almost like my own sisters in my eyes. I just saw how timid and unhappy they were on a daily basis, so I told a few jokes to cheer them up. Besides, your young master's taste... is still very high." He laughed self-deprecatingly and changed the subject. "By the way, didn't my father-in-law come home last night?"

"The Marquis didn't return all night," Zhang Liu replied. "The garrison sent word that the Marquis was drinking with his old subordinates and probably... fell asleep."

"Where's Ling'er? She hasn't come back yet?" Zhang Jingwei asked.

"Young Madam?" Zhang Liu's face showed helplessness. "I went to Sun Yaolang's house to pick her up before curfew, but the Young Madam and Miss Jiu'er were talking passionately, inseparable. Divine Doctor Sun also said that the Young Madam's pulse was stable and it would be fine for her to stay overnight. So I had no choice but to return."

"Alright," Zhang Jingwei nodded, breathing a sigh of relief. "Send her some more silver so she and Jiu'er can go out for a stroll and buy some things they like. She's been really bored staying in the mansion these past few days."

……

The lobby of the government office.

Zhang Jingwei sat upright, trying to suppress the discomfort brought on by his hangover. His gaze swept over Shi Chongshan, who knelt in the hall. Overnight, the old man's energy and spirit seemed to have been completely drained, but the dignity of a noble family was still etched in his bones, and his back was still straight.

"Shi Chongshan!" Zhang Jingwei's voice was solemn, echoing in the silent hall. "You are old and lack wisdom, dim-witted and ignorant, yet you blindly believed the heretical teachings of the evil Taoist Shen Kaiyang of the Nine Lords Sect! As a result, over 200 innocent people in Sangshui, Yangxia, and Chongzi Pass suffered disaster, becoming drug slaves and tragically dying! Do you acknowledge your guilt?!"

Shi Chongshan slowly raised his head, his cloudy eyes calm and composed, as if he had already accepted this outcome. He offered no excuses, nor did he exhibit the hysterical indignation he had shown that morning. He simply uttered two words, clear and steady:

"Old man, I'm guilty!"

The decision was so decisive that even Zhang Jingwei was a little surprised. He nodded slightly and looked at Huang Liang standing beside him. "Dianshi Huang, pronounce the verdict."

Huang Liang unfolded the verdict he had prepared long ago, his voice loud and solemn:

"The criminal, Shi Chongshan, a native of Anzhou in Huainan Dao, is the principal offender in the Gaoyang Five-Stone Powder case! Upon investigation, it has been confirmed that he disregarded national law, colluded with a cult, and persecuted the people. The evidence is irrefutable! In accordance with the Celestial Empire Laws, the Shiyao Law, and the Merchant Law, the following verdict is hereby rendered:

1. All of Shi Chongshan’s property in Gaoyang shall be confiscated and stored in the treasury!

Second, sentence Shi Chongshan to death. Immediately escort him to the Ministry of Justice to be executed in the autumn...

After the verdict was announced, Huang Liang handed the verdict and the ink pad to Shi Chongshan and said, "Master Shi, please sign your name."

Shi Chongshan didn't hesitate, not even glancing at the verdict. He reached out his bony yet remarkably steady hand, picked up the pen, and signed his name at the end of his confession. He then dipped the pen in ink and firmly pressed his bright red fingerprint. His movements were calm, as if he were simply signing an ordinary contract. This calmness, a reckless indifference to life and death, startled the yamen runners present.

Zhang Jingwei watched this scene without much emotion. He turned to the other stretcher and said, "Shi Jincheng, although you are ill, your crimes are unforgivable! For years in Gaoyang, you have bullied men and women, tortured and murdered wives and concubines, and committed all kinds of evil! Today, you will accompany your father on the road to the underworld! Huang Liang, pronounce the verdict!"

Huang Liang began to pronounce his verdict again:

"The criminal, Shi Jincheng, is from Anzhou in Huainan Province. He was an accomplice in the Gaoyang Five-Stone Powder case! However, despite repeated warnings, he refused to change his ways, repeatedly taking the banned drug Five-Stone Powder in public. His behavior was outrageous! He even tortured and murdered his wife and three concubines during their marriage. His actions are appalling! The previous county magistrate, out of favoritism, acquitted him! Now, the case has been reopened and the evidence is overwhelming! According to the "Laws of the Celestial Empire," the "Criminal Law," and the "Laws on Shiyao," Shi Jincheng is sentenced to be escorted to the Ministry of Justice and executed in the autumn!"

Next, there are other criminals closely related to this case:

"A mute girl, a slave with no household registration, is an accomplice in the Gaoyang Five Stones Powder case! Bewitched by a demonic spirit, she attempted to poison Shi Jincheng but failed! Considering her own humiliation, the law of the land cannot tolerate it! According to the Celestial Empire's Statutes and Criminal Code, the mute girl is sentenced... to exile in Lingnan!" As the verdict was announced, Huang Liang couldn't help but glance at the thin, yet remarkably calm woman standing in the corner. Upon hearing the verdict, she simply lowered her eyelids, without moving.

"Shi Tou is a slave with no household registration! Last year, he avenged his master and killed two slave maids privately, and he confessed to the crime! Considering his young age and not yet an adult, his crime is pitiable. According to the Criminal Law, he can be spared the death penalty once! Now I sentence Shi Tou... to exile to Shannan Road!" The young man was brought into the court, his face still showing childishness and lingering hatred. When he heard about the exile, his body trembled slightly, but he stubbornly did not beg for mercy.

It was still dark, the faint light of dawn barely filtering into the courtroom. Already early that morning, the verdicts had come down like a torrential downpour, dealing with a whole host of criminals.

It went much more smoothly than Zhang Jingwei had expected. He hadn't even used any of the intense confrontation scenarios he'd replayed in his dreams the previous night. This smooth process, on the other hand, gave him a slight sense of unreality.

"Bring Shen Kaiyang!" Zhang Jingwei's voice suddenly rose, carrying a sharpness that had been accumulated for a long time!

Two burly yamen runners practically dragged Shen Kaiyang into the courtroom, looking utterly miserable. The most striking thing about his hands was their thumbs, shackled behind his back in a pair of specially made, exceptionally sturdy iron cuffs! It was an extremely painful and humiliating position, his shoulders forcibly pulled backward, his entire upper body hunched. It was precisely these cuffs Zhang Jingwei had "tailor-made" for him.

The immense pain caused Shen Kaiyang's face to twist and veins to bulge on his forehead, but he still forced himself to raise his head. His bloodshot eyes stared at Zhang Jingwei, filled with resentment and indomitable will.

Zhang Jingwei leaned forward slightly, his eyes like a cold blade, piercing Shen Kaiyang: "Master Shen, after a whole night, you still won't say a word?"

Shen Kaiyang squeezed out a hoarse voice from between his teeth, with extreme humiliation and provocation: "If you have the guts... kill me now!"

"Kill you?" Zhang Jingwei sneered, "To kill you, we must use the law! Not a butcher's knife!"

Shen Kaiyang suddenly revealed a twisted and strange smile on his face, as if he had grasped the last bargaining chip: "Kill me... those 'living dead' (medicine men) you found... will all be hopeless! They will always be walking corpses! Only I know... the 'immortal guide' to awaken them!" This is his last trump card.

Zhang Jingwei's eyes did not fluctuate at all, but instead held a kind of sarcasm that saw through everything: "Oh? Really? If I don't kill you, those living dead can be saved? Shen Kaiyang, do you think I'm a three-year-old child? You simply... don't know how to make them return to normal! Right?!" He decisively exposed Shen Kaiyang's lies.

Shen Kaiyang's pupils shrank suddenly, and a barely perceptible panic flashed across his face, but it was immediately covered up by a deeper madness: "Do you want to take a gamble?! Bet on their lives!"

Zhang Jingwei's lips curled up in a cold and resolute arc, and he leaned back in his chair. "Alright. Then I'll make a bet with you. I bet your 'gun'... is empty! Verdict!"

Huang Liang took a deep breath and unfolded the final and heaviest verdict:

"The criminal, Shen Kaiyang, is from Huangshan, Huainan Road..."

Shen Kaiyang suddenly struggled and roared, interrupting Huang Liang, "Wait a minute... I'm from Wuzhou! From Wuzhou Chixian!"

Huang Liang was interrupted and looked at Zhang Jingwei in bewilderment: "Sir, this...his memorial to the people does say..."

Zhang Jingwei waved his hand impatiently, his eyes icy. "Huang Dianshi, where his ancestral tomb is located has no bearing on the verdict! Continue!"

Huang Liang calmed himself down and raised his voice:

"The criminal, Shen Kaiyang, is from Chi County, Wuzhou! He is the mastermind and the ringleader in the Gaoyang Five Stone Powder case! He is a member of the evil cult 'Nine Lords', spreading lies and misleading the people! He privately refines banned drugs, harms civilians, and experiments on living people, causing devastation. His crimes are monstrous! The evidence is irrefutable and the list of crimes is too long to list! According to the 'Laws of the Celestial Empire,' the 'Criminal Law,' and the 'Laws of Stone and Medicine...' Shen Kaiyang is sentenced to immediate execution!"

"Execute him immediately?" Zhang Jingwei slammed the gavel with a thunderous bang, shaking the entire courtroom. He stood up suddenly and pointed at Shen Kaiyang, his eyes burning with a rage that could burn everything. "Such a heinous criminal, hated by both humans and gods, how can a mere execution comfort the more than 200 wronged souls? How can it deter the evil spirits of the world? How can it appease the hatred of the people of Gaoyang?!"

He turned to Huang Liang and said in a firm voice, leaving no room for doubt: "Dianshi Huang! What kind of sentence are you giving? Shen Kaiyang, that bastard, deserves death! He should be sentenced to the ultimate punishment - Lingchi!"

Huang Liang's face paled, his voice trembling, "Sir! My...my dynasty has abolished the cruel punishment of lingchi since Taizu founded the country, out of respect for our benevolence! It hasn't been used for a hundred years! This...this is against the law!"

"Is it against the law?!" Zhang Jingwei shouted sternly, "Laws are determined by people! This beast's crimes are a hundred times greater than those of ordinary death row prisoners! His evil deeds are beyond the reach of ordinary law! Today, I will set this precedent! I will be the first person to do so after the abolition of capital punishment!" He stared at Huang Liang and spoke word by word, "Wait until the Yunzhou Criminal Court's review order arrives! Immediately take this demon to the vegetable market in the west of the city! Cut him into pieces with a thousand knives! As a warning to others!"

Huang Liang was intimidated by Zhang Jingwei's aura, and thinking of Shen Kaiyang's heinous crimes and the public outrage, he gritted his teeth and picked up his pen to make significant revisions to the verdict: "Then... change the sentence to capital punishment—lingchi! After the higher-ups have verified it... execute it!"

"Lingchi? Cut into pieces?" Shen Kaiyang, instead of feeling fearful upon hearing the verdict, burst into a maniacal laugh. He straightened his body despite enduring the severe pain, staring intently at Zhang Jingwei with eyes filled with utmost hatred. "Hahaha! What's the death penalty? Aren't you just afraid? Afraid that I'll die, and your little bit of 'benevolence' won't save those medicine men? Zhang Qi! Do you think that if you cut open my flesh, I'll beg for mercy? That I'll tell you what you want to hear? Dream on! Even if I'm skinned to a skeleton, I'll curse your Zhang family to have no descendants! I curse Gaoyang to have no peace! Come if you dare! I'm waiting!"

"What nonsense!" Zhang Jingwei was irritated by his vicious curse and shouted, "Sign it!"

The bailiff forcibly restrained Shen Kaiyang's body, which was trembling violently with pain and anger. He seized his intact finger, dipped it in ink, and pressed it fiercely onto the confession that sentenced him to death! A twisted, bright red fingerprint, like weeping blood, was imprinted on the paper, as if imprinted on the end of this bloody morning. In the courtroom, only Shen Kaiyang's heavy, resentful breathing and Zhang Jingwei's icy gaze remained.