The temporary judge wants to cultivate immortality

Xiao Liu didn't have a good impression of Wu Sangui to begin with, especially after the kick he gave Wu Sangui that just now. He wondered if it would cost money to fix it. Now that his reputation was being brought up again, he said, "Do you resent Kangxi for forcing you to rebel, or do you resent the unfair history books for ruining your reputation?" He deliberately portrayed Wu Sangui's Chongming as a rebel.

"It's all their fault!"

Xiao Liu tapped the incense table lightly with his fingers: "That's hopeless. This book doesn't have many readers to begin with. If you finish complaining and then have to write another chapter, all the readers will probably leave!"

Seeing that he was caught in a dilemma, Wu Sanpang immediately compromised and said, "Then, I resent that Emperor Kangxi forced me to raise an army to rebuild the Ming Dynasty."

Xiao Liu gave a soft hum: "How did he pressure you?"

Wu Sangui slowly said, "The imperial court allocates four million taels of silver to Yunnan and Guizhou every year. But you don't know that from the Ministry of Revenue to the prefectural and provincial governors, there are layers of embezzlement. In addition, officials in the capital embezzle and pay tribute privately. In reality, less than two million taels of silver actually reaches me. I had no choice but to ask the imperial court for more tribute. But who knew that Emperor Kangxi would say that I was threatening the imperial court!"

Xiao Liu continued banging on the table: "You can reduce the army. Before the rebellion, you had 400,000 soldiers, and when you rebelled, it immediately became 700,000. It seems that the Qing Dynasty only allowed you to maintain an army of 150,000. Did your soldiers all come from your own offspring?"

Wu Sangui frowned slightly, then quickly composed himself: "My lord, you are unaware that banditry is rampant in Yunnan. I have no choice but to station troops there to defend the border."

Xiao Liu said coldly, "Well, so they secretly set up rice granaries, forged weapons, sold refined salt, and purchased military horses in Yunnan and Guizhou?"

Wu Sangui was no longer as composed as he had been when dealing with Li Zicheng. He declared passionately, "If the imperial court can't provide the military with the necessary funds, and I don't support myself, am I supposed to watch my soldiers starve to death?"

Xiao Liu closed his eyes and said, "You also colluded with the Dalai Lama of Outer Tibet, exchanging money, grain, and military supplies, also for the purpose of defending the border?"

Wu Sangui asked with a grave expression, "What law has this violated this time?"

Huang Simao initially sat on the side, smiling as he watched Sanpangzi. But when he realized that the situation had taken a sharp turn for the worse, he quickly patted Shen Xiaoliu and whispered, "His Highness was just confused for a moment. Let's be lenient with him."

Shen Xiaoliu swung his arm and cursed, "You guys took his dirty money, but I didn't. Huang Simao, listen up. Even though I failed as a writer, I still have basic integrity and national righteousness. If you can let Sanpangzi get away with something like this, then what kind of judge are you?"

Huang Simao was also getting a little anxious: "Shen Xiaoliu, you think you can use a chicken feather as chopsticks? We brought people here just so you could take them in for a while, and you really think you're something special?"

Shen Xiaoliu grabbed Huang Simao by the collar and said, "Can the King of Hell let me sentence people to the eighteenth level of hell?"

Huang Simao was taken aback and didn't answer, but then quickly said, "Xiao Liu, calm down!"

But it was too late. Xiao Liu had already slammed his fist on the incense table: "Judging from Wu Sanpangzi's previous acts of betraying the country and amassing military power, and his later collusion with Dasai to rebel and cause trouble, he is sentenced to treason, possession of weapons, bribery, and land grabbing. He will be sent to the eighteenth level of hell."

He looked at Wu Sanpangzi with disdain and said, "You were also born of a father and mother. Do you know how many people died in China during the thirty years from the Dachengzi Rebellion to your rebellion? One hundred million! And you still complain that history books ruin your reputation?" Xiao Liu slammed his hand on the incense table again: "Eighteenth floor, get out of here immediately."

Wu Sangui had lost his composure. With red eyes, he rushed forward and leaned close to Xiao Liu. Just then, a bolt of lightning struck Wu Sangui's side. Xiao Liu was so frightened that he jumped onto the stool. Even Huang Simao was startled.

"Damn it, why didn't you tell me I had this protective spell sooner?" Shen Xiaoliu asked Huang Simao, still shaken.

Huang Simao looked at him with a puzzled expression: "When did you learn the Heavenly Thunder Technique?"

A "ding" sounded in Xiao Liu's mind: "Because the host has a clear sense of right and wrong, the system rewards you with the basic passive Heavenly Thunder Technique to ward off evil enemies."

Xiao Liu didn't expect this unexpected gain. Although he still didn't understand what "basic passive lightning spell" meant, it was ultimately beneficial to him.

Wu Sangui slumped to the ground, his eyes vacant, the ground still black from the lightning strike.

Xiao Liu, shameless as ever, said to Huang Simao beside him, "He was sentenced to the eighteenth level of hell, how come he's still alright? Are the eighteen levels full?"

Seeing that there was no hope, Huang Simao shook his head helplessly with a mournful face: "The soul will be taken away at midnight, and the physical body will naturally disappear." Then he sighed softly: "Alas, you have cut off the source of income for a lot of people in the underworld."

Xiao Liu pursed his lips and asked Sanpangzi, "Do you have any other wishes?"

Wu Sangui kept his head down and said mournfully, "It's all gone, all gone. Could you prepare some wine and dishes? Let this old man drink three more cups with Brother Li."

Li Zicheng slapped his thigh: "What are you doing, Third Brother? What's the point of this? You might as well stay in the underworld."

Wu Sangui forced a smile, patted Li Zicheng, and said, "Brother, don't worry about it. This is fate." He then turned to Xiao Liu and said, "There has always been a last meal before someone's execution. Would you gentlemen allow me to bid farewell to Brother Li in a pleasant manner?"

Just then, the door suddenly opened, and Er Ya came in carrying a lantern. Seeing Li and Wu sitting on the ground and the incense table on the kang, she was taken aback and asked Xiao Liu, "What are you doing?"

Xiao Liu quickly jumped off the kang (a heated brick bed): "It's nothing, Sanpangzi is in debt and needs to go into hiding. We're trying to figure out a way to help him."

The other six eyes in the room were all watching Xiao Liu and his wife arguing, but no one called them out. Even Da Chengzi just squatted down by the wall, slapped his thigh hard, and sighed heavily.

Er Ya looked at Xiao Liu, her expression not good: "We still have more than ten coins left from the money we used to pawn our bracelets to buy wine today. Didn't you have seven or eight coins yesterday at the market? Let's pool our money and see if it's enough to pay off our debt?"

She was kind, at least to Xiao Liu's friends, she was impeccably kind, except for her face.

Wu Sanpangzi stood up, looked up at Xiao Liu, and smiled again as he said to Er Ya, "If I had met people as kind and innocent as you, my sister-in-law, there would have been no defeat at Hengyang."

Xiao Liu knew that Sanpang was thinking about Wang Fuchen's defection, so he quickly interjected to explain to Er Ya, "I was cheated when I was selling horses in Hengyang, that's why I owed the debt. It can't be solved with just a few coins. Go to sleep."

Er Ya didn't ask any more questions. She nodded and said, "Take these coins for your travel expenses. I'll also pack you some steamed buns. Even if you're poor, don't suffer on the road." After saying that, she turned and ran to the kitchen.

Sanpangzi stood guard at the door, watching Er Ya lose herself in the night, before giving Xiao Liu a wry smile and a thumbs-up: "What more could a man ask for than a wife like this? I would like to ask you for a favor, Brother Liu."

Upon hearing this, Xiao Liu wondered if this grandson wanted to transfer his wife's property.

Sanpang smiled and said, "If Sixth Brother doesn't mind, I would like to become sworn siblings with Lingzheng. The first bite of food I ate in this life was fed by my mother, and the last bite of food came from Lingzheng. So naturally, she should also be my family." After saying this, several tears welled up in Sanpang's old eyes.

When Er Ya returned, she had an extra bundle in her hand. She said to Wu Sangui, "Take this to eat on the road. We country folk have never seen the world before. Keep this money in your pocket for the journey." After saying this, she stuffed more than a dozen copper coins into Xiao Liu's hands and then nodded at San Pangzi with her chin.

At this moment, Xiao Liu was truly moved by Er Ya's genuine nature: "Er Ya, there's something I haven't told you yet. San Pangzi is actually my distant cousin..."

To everyone's surprise, Er Ya was taken aback upon hearing this, and bent down to kowtow on the ground, saying, "So you are my husband's elder brother. I didn't know. I'll go and stew the old hen for you to take with you."

The fat man laughed heartily, his dark face crinkling with wrinkles. "I'm over sixty years old, and I've actually found such a kind sister-in-law—no, sister-in-law! How wonderful!" As he spoke, he reached into his waistband and pulled out something clear and green, cool to the touch, and glistening in the candlelight.

"This is something I acquired by chance outside the Great Wall years ago. I am giving it to my sister-in-law as a memento," he said, turning to Xiao Liu. "This ring was obtained through righteous means and is by no means stolen. Please rest assured, Sixth Brother." With that, he forcefully shoved the ring into Xiao Liu's hand and gave it to Er Ya.

Er Ya took the ring and looked at it: "I can't wear this bracelet, it's too small. Brother, you can pawn it to raise some travel money."

Xiao Liu hesitated. He could tell from the emerald green color that it was no ordinary item. He wanted to accept it, but since it belonged to Wu Sangui, he gritted his teeth and said coldly, "Did you hear that? Your sister-in-law said she can't wear this bracelet." He then handed it back to Wu Sanpang, leaving the latter with a bitter smile.

The crowd stopped Er Ya from making a stewed old hen. They simply scooped up a few bowls of water to serve as wine, and fried two eggs. Li and Wu dripped blood into the water bowls, saying that it tasted even better than wine. But Xiao Liu could tell that San Pangzi was not drunk at all, while Li Dachengzi was really drunk. He kept shouting that he wanted to burn San Pangzi's silver notes as a farewell gift. This most expensive fireworks display in history burned the ten-centimeter-high silver notes to ashes, leaving Huang Simao coughing and sighing in pain. In the end, he simply slammed the courtyard gate and fled.

At midnight that night, Wu Sangui's figure gradually faded away, and at the same time, the bundle that Er Ya had prepared for him also disappeared.

But when Xiao Liu lay back down on his kang, a bunch of things fell out of his arms with a clatter. For some reason, Wu Sangui's stack of silver notes and jade thumb ring ended up in his arms.

Not only that, but a note was also attached to it:

Sixth brother, if you don't...

It was my fault for disturbing you all night, but I still have something to say to you, brother. Those who achieve great things for the ages will be judged by history. After a thousand years, how many people can give a detailed evaluation of right and wrong, merit and demerit? History books may not be true, and people's words may not be credible. These are my heartfelt words on my deathbed, and I dare not be hypocritical.

This small amount of money is a gift to my younger sister, Er Ya, hoping she will enjoy it.

Kim Jong-un's Last Words