Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

He could clearly feel the blood in his body burning hot.

It felt like countless tiny needles were pricking his veins.

My heart is beating faster and faster.

dong dong dong.

It looked like it was about to burst out of his chest.

"You received three million from Zhang Jinshan."

The voice of the Song Dynasty was very soft.

"Sentence me to three years."

"One million a year."

"You've got a pretty good deal as a judge."

"I don't!"

Zhao Dehai suddenly roared, his eyes bloodshot.

He was trembling all over, his facial muscles twitching, completely shattering his usual dignified judge's demeanor.

"I've been a judge for over twenty years! I've presided over hundreds of cases! I've helped many poor people! I'm not a bad person! I just made a mistake for a moment! You can't kill me for this!"

He spoke with such conviction that spittle flew from his mouth and splattered onto his judge's robe.

It's as if his helping the poor makes it all worthwhile to compensate for the people he's harmed.

It's as if his ability to adjudicate just cases can erase the fact that he accepted bribes and made wrongful convictions.

"oh."

Song Chao nodded.

"Then what do those people you helped have to do with me?"

He stretched out his hand.

He gently squeezed Zhao Dehai's heart from a distance.

Zhao Dehai's eyes widened suddenly.

He felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart tightly.

excruciating pain.

Indescribable, excruciating pain.

It felt like a million red-hot needles were piercing his heart.

"You...you..."

He opened his mouth, wanting to speak, but a metallic taste rose in his throat.

A mouthful of blood spurted out, splattering onto Song Chao's trouser leg.

"Three years ago, I knelt in front of the courthouse and begged you."

The Song Dynasty's voice remained calm, without the slightest ripple.

"You were sitting in the car and splashed mud all over me."

"You know, these troublemakers should be arrested and locked up for a few years, so they won't cause trouble in front of the courthouse all the time."

Zhao Dehai's pupils suddenly contracted.

He remembered that day.

He had just finished drinking with Zhang Jinshan that day.

At the dinner table, Zhang Jinshan pushed a bank card containing three million yuan in front of him and said that he would trouble Dean Zhao to take care of Song Chao's case.

He accepted the card, drank the wine, and was in a good mood.

He glanced at the person kneeling in front of the courthouse from afar and felt disappointed.

He himself couldn't quite remember what he said at the time.

I guess I said it.

He has said similar things too many times over the years.

If any troublemaker comes to cause trouble, just say they should be arrested and locked up for a few years.

If any petitioner blocks the doorway, they are dragged away.

When a migrant worker tries to claim unpaid wages, they are told that the worker is ignorant of the law.

He never thought about those things when he said them.

One day, these people he called "troublemakers" will stand in front of him and take his life with a single finger.

"Now, you're kneeling before me too."

"Tell me, shouldn't a corrupt official like you be executed?"

Zhao Dehai's vision began to blur.

He could feel his blood rushing to his head.

My blood vessels were throbbing, as if they were about to burst at any moment.

He recalled that when he first entered the court twenty years ago, he was also wearing a faded uniform and vowed to be a fair and honest judge.

He helped migrant workers recover their unpaid wages back then.

I helped a woman who was a victim of domestic violence get a divorce.

They helped destitute elderly people obtain alimony.

When did it become like this?

It was the first time I received a shopping card from someone.

It was the first time I helped a powerful person settle a case and received a 100,000 yuan bribe.

It was the first time I saw someone kneeling and kowtowing before me, and a secret pleasure welled up inside me.

He forgot.

All he remembered was that the higher he climbed, the easier it was to make money, and the more addictive the pleasure that power brought.

What does the life and death of those at the bottom have to do with him?

As long as I'm doing well, that's all that matters.

Now, karma has caught up with them.

"I...I'm not reconciled..."

Zhao Dehai squeezed out a few words.

He doesn't want to die.

He still has tens of millions in savings that he hasn't spent.

His son has just gone abroad to study.

His lover is still waiting for him to buy her a bag.

He cannot die.

He wanted to beg for mercy.

I want to say a few more kind words.

But he found that he could no longer make any sound.

His skin began to turn red.

It felt like being roasted over a fire.

The blood vessels bulged out, and you could see the blood flowing inside even through the skin.

"Unwilling to accept it?"

Song Chao looked at him, and finally a flicker of emotion appeared in his eyes.

It's mockery.

"I was unwilling to accept it when my leg was broken and I lost my fertility."

"I was unwilling to accept it when I discovered that the daughter I had raised for three years was not mine and that my wife was a pawn planted by someone else."

"I was beaten half to death in the interrogation room, and when I was about to be sent to prison as a scapegoat, I was unwilling to accept it."

"What right do you have to be resentful!"

He applied slight pressure with his hand.

Zhao Dehai's body stiffened abruptly.

All the sounds were stuck in his throat.

The blood in his heart froze instantly.

Crimson beads of blood seeped from his pores.

His shirt was quickly soaked through.

He looked like he had been pulled out of a pool of blood.

His eyes were fixed on the Song Dynasty.

His eyes were filled with fear and resentment.

Eventually, it gradually lost its luster.

With a "plop".

Zhao Dehai's body lay on the ground.

His face still held the expression of final pleading.

Song Chao stood up.

He looked down at his hands.

My fingertips were clean, without a speck of blood on them.

He turned to look at the office door.

A large number of court staff were gathered at the entrance.

When they saw him looking over, everyone instinctively took a step back.

His eyes were filled with fear.

The Song Dynasty ignored them.

He turned and walked to Zhao Dehai's desk.

Open the drawer.

There was a thick stack of bank cards inside.

There is also an account book.

The record shows every bribe Zhao Dehai received over the years.

Amount.

time.

The name of the person who offered the bribe.

I remember it very clearly.

Song Chao picked up the account book.

He turned and walked to the door.

The onlookers reacted as if they had seen a ghost, instantly making way for them.

He threw the ledger on the desk in the lobby.

"Inside is evidence of Zhao Dehai's bribery."

"Take what you want to report."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the stairwell.

No one dared to stop him.

Everyone stood still, watching his figure disappear around the corner of the stairs.

The bloodstains on the ground were still wet.

Zhao Dehai's body is still lying in the office.

The plaque on the wall that read "Fairness and Integrity" swayed slightly in the wind blowing in from the window, making a soft clanging sound.

It sounded like a mockery.

It also sounded like a sigh.

After a long while, a young clerk tremblingly reached out and picked up the account book from the table.

Turn to the first page.

The densely packed handwriting was so painful it hurt the eyes.

She looked up in the direction of Zhao Dehai's office, then at the stairwell where Song Chao had disappeared. Her lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing.

She simply slipped the ledger into her bag.

Sunlight streamed in through the glass windows of the lobby.

The bloodstains on the ground gleamed with a glaring red light.

The entire courthouse remained deathly silent.

Only the sound of police sirens could be heard in the distance, growing ever closer.

Zhou Zhengqing's reinforcements arrived too late.