After ten years of accompanying me in my studies, the entire court begged me to shut up.

Following Yang Shen's gaze, everyone looked toward the county government gate.

The first thing that catches the eye is a middle-aged man, somewhat overweight, who is panting as he walks.

Behind him followed two burly Imperial Guards, then seven or eight young men in short shirts, surrounding an elderly man in a gray tunic.

The old man's hands were tied behind his back, and his legs were weak; he was practically dragged in.

When Cheng Zhirong saw the old man's face clearly, all the color drained from his face instantly.

Yang Shen called out, "Laifu, over here!"

The man in the lead was Lai Fu. He didn't even have time to wipe his sweat as he quickly walked up to Yang Shen and said, "Young Master, the person has been brought."

Yang Shen nodded and turned to the crowd: "Why don't you introduce yourself to everyone?"

Lai Fu took a breath and then announced loudly, "This man is Liu Dazhu, the village head of Liu Family Fort in Wuqing County."

He paused, then continued, "He led his men to breach the section of the dike downstream of the Hun River!"

Upon hearing this, everyone present erupted in anger!

Cheng Zhirong, as if his tail had been stepped on, shouted in a shrill voice, "Slander! Your Excellency! This scoundrel must have been coerced and bribed by others to fabricate such a colossal lie to frame me!"

Yang Shen looked at him with ill intent and asked, "Magistrate Cheng, please calm down. Lai Fu only said that this person dug up the dam, he didn't say that you ordered him to do it, so why are you in such a hurry?"

Cheng Zhirong was already in a state of utter confusion. He turned to Liu Jian and said in a trembling voice, "Your Excellency, please be wise! Although Liu Dazhu is only a village head and not among the officials of the court, he is still someone who performs duties for the court! Their unauthorized arrest and torture are clearly a disregard for the laws of the court!"

Liu Jian ignored him and stared at the trembling Liu Dazhu, saying in a deep voice, "Liu Dazhu, I ask you, did you lead your men to breach the Hunhe River embankment?"

Liu Dazhu lay on the ground, trembling all over.

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over everyone in the hall before finally settling on Liu San in the corner.

"Yes...it was me who led the men to do it. First, we breached the dike, and then we built a fake dike using wooden stakes and burlap sacks..."

Cheng Zhirong roared, "Liu Dazhu, do you know what you're saying?"

Liu Dazhu said in a hoarse voice, "But that wasn't my intention! It was Liu San, Liu San made me do it!"

Liu San was stunned, jumping up and yelling, "You're talking nonsense! You old dog, you're spouting blasphemous lies—"

Before he could finish speaking, Li Chun swung his hand and slapped him across the face.

Snapped!

Liu San spun around twice, stood there dumbfounded, half of his face swollen up, and finally quieted down.

Liu Dazhu lay prostrate on the ground and continued, "Liu San came to me and said that if this matter was settled, I would be allocated two hundred mu of land; otherwise, my whole family would die. I... I had no choice..."

He kowtowed repeatedly, once, twice, and blood quickly seeped from his forehead.

"I've let down my fellow villagers, I've let down those who drowned, I'm not human..."

The hall was deathly silent, with only the sound of kowtowing being heard.

Cheng Zhirong's face turned pale and bluish, his lips moved but no sound came out.

Yang Shen asked, "Does Liu San have any proof that he ordered you to breach the dike?"

Liu Dazhu raised his head, his face covered in tears: "Yes! There were more than fifty people working that night, all of them young and strong men found from Liujiabao. The adults can find out with a simple question."

Yang Shen nodded and turned to Liu Jian: "Master Liu, things are already quite clear."

"Cheng Zhirong, the magistrate of Wuqing County, and his brother-in-law Liu San threatened Liu Dazhu, the local village head, to build a fake dike on the inside of the Hunhe River before the flood season this summer. As a result, the dike collapsed during the flood, flooding dozens of villages downstream, destroying tens of thousands of acres of farmland, and drowning hundreds of people."

"After land prices plummeted, local gentry led by Zhao Xingye, Chen Wanyou, and Zhang Yonggui bought up 537,400 mu of farmland from disaster victims at less than 10% of the prices of previous years. Our Magistrate Cheng was grateful for his meritorious service in disaster relief and was awarded a 'Ten Thousand People Umbrella' as a gift."

Cheng Zhirong's eyes were red-rimmed as he angrily retorted, "Slander! This is slander!"

He then abruptly turned to Liu Jian and knelt down with a thud: "Your Excellency! In my twenty years of service, I have never dared to slacken in the slightest! These so-called pieces of evidence are all one-sided accounts! Liu Dazhu was clearly tortured into confessing! Those land deeds and silver contracts were settled on a cash basis; which law forbids that? The 'Ten Thousand People's Umbrella' was made spontaneously by the people; how could it become evidence against me?"

"I am innocent! I implore Your Excellency to see the truth!"

Liu Jian didn't speak, but just looked at the embroidered and colorful umbrella for the people on the ground.

The gold threads on the umbrella still shimmered, and the four characters "明镜高悬" (a phrase from a Chinese idiom meaning "a bright mirror hangs high") were cut in half by the light and shadow cast by the window.

Yang Shen looked at Cheng Zhirong and suddenly laughed: "Magistrate Cheng, you're saying you don't acknowledge it?"

Cheng Zhirong suddenly raised his head: "I don't admit it! You have no solid evidence! You think you can convict an official of the imperial court and arrest me based solely on the accusations of a village head? There is no such provision in the laws of the Great Ming Dynasty!"

"oh!"

Yang Shen nodded and said calmly, "So you know that the Ming Dynasty has laws?"

Cheng Zhirong asked疑惑地问道, "What do you mean?"

Yang Shen smiled and said, "I've heard that in Wuqing County, Magistrate Cheng is the law itself?"

Upon hearing this, Zhu Houzhao could no longer hold back and suddenly burst out.

He had been holding back his energy ever since Yang Shen spoke, waiting for this opportunity.

Now that the time was ripe, he immediately proclaimed loudly, "I tell you, in the Ming Dynasty, I am the law!"

Cheng Zhirong wanted to refute, but he was speechless.

Zhu Houzhao, his face beaming with pride, ordered, "Li Chun!"

Li Chun clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Present!"

"Take all those involved back to the Northern Garrison Command and let Mu Bin interrogate them thoroughly. If he can't understand the situation, I will interrogate them myself!"

Zhao Xingye's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

Chen Wanyou steadied himself against the table to avoid slipping, and said in a trembling voice, "Your Highness... I only bought land, I didn't kill anyone..."

Zhu Houzhao glared at him: "Were you involved in the dike breach? You not only killed people, but many people. Take him away!"

At Li Chun's command, the Imperial Guards rushed forward to arrest people.

Cheng Zhirong finally abandoned all pretense of decorum and shouted, "Your Highness! Your Highness! I am innocent! I want to speak for the people of Wuqing! I—"

Li Chun, annoyed by his noise, casually picked up his official hat from the ground and stuffed it into his mouth, bringing peace and quiet to the world.

Looking at the mess in the room and thinking about the memorial he had submitted, Liu Jian sighed deeply.

A moment later, the entire county government hall finally quieted down. Apart from the county magistrate Cheng Zhirong, the other officials were also taken away for investigation.

Yang Shen bowed to Liu Jian and said, "Lord Liu, are you returning to the capital? Shall we give you a ride?"

Liu Jian stood up, ignoring the pain in his eyes, and said, "You'll ride with me!"

Yang Shen said, "We brought several cars, but we'll give you one separately."

"No, you're coming with me!"

Liu Jian pulled Yang Shen into the carriage, then stared intently at him.

Yang Shen felt somewhat uneasy and asked, "Does Lord Liu have something to say?"

Liu Jian sighed, then slowly asked, "How exactly did you discover this case?"