Chapter 360: Chapter 360: The Hand That Came Down from Heaven

Qin Yao said coldly, “Exchange it for something.”

Lin Erbao immediately knelt and kowtowed to her twice, “Thank you, madam, for sparing my life!”

Qin Yao picked up the burlap sack containing the Jin Chan Chu and walked straight to his carriage, giving a faint order:

“Burn the tea stall.”

Lin Erbao dared not refuse and immediately laid flammable wood near the stove inside the stall and used the henchmen’s sticks to dismantle the stall.

She hadn’t said to burn the henchmen along with it, so he took it upon himself to drag the ten already unconscious henchmen into the grass outside the tea stall and covered them with dried grass.

He lit the fire, and the thatched and wooden tea stall ignited immediately. Within less than a quarter of an hour, flames shot up to the sky, thick smoke billowed, and all traces turned to ashes in the blaze.

Qin Yao was already sitting in the carriage. Lin Erbao, suppressing his fear, brushed off his clothes, tidied himself, and got on the carriage’s shaft, slowly heading toward the county town.

It gets dark early in winter, and the sky had darkened without notice. The wide-open gates of Kaiyang County looked to Lin Erbao like the bloodthirsty maw of a beast.

But he had no choice; knowing that opening was not acceptable, yet having to enter.

The dawn broke.

The night watchman finished his last round of the night, yawned, and headed home.

As he walked to the pawnshop entrance, he suddenly stopped.

He slowly raised his head, lifted the lantern in his hand to shine on it, and his drowsy eyes widened instantly.

A faceless, right-handless human-like figure was hung on the high pole used to support the pawnshop’s banner…

“Ghost!!!”

The night watchman’s piercing scream of fright echoed through the entire Kaiyang County, startling the town’s people awake.

Among the three evils of Kaiyang County, Jin Chan Chu had half of his face skinned and a hand severed, hanging publicly at his pawnshop entrance.

No one knew who was responsible, but apart from Jin Chan Chu’s family, every townsperson felt a hidden thrill of retribution finally arriving.

They had seen broken faces before, but to truly see one was a first.

The government officials were busy for a long time before they managed to get Jin Chan Chu down from the pole. Everyone thought he was dead, but unexpectedly, the person lying on the ground suddenly opened his eyes and, as if he felt no pain, clearly asked:

“What happened? Where is this?”

The government officer who was about to cover him with a burial shroud was scared to death, and the surrounding townsfolk gasped.

Only then did Jin Chan Chu realize something was amiss. Why was everyone looking at him with such ghost-seeing expressions?

Guided by a government officer, Jin Chan Chu lowered his head and let out a terrified scream: “Ahhh—my hand, my hand!”

With his only remaining left hand, he touched his face, felt a mushy wetness, brought his hand before his eyes, and saw it covered in blood, instantly fainting from fright.

The late-arriving Prison Chief bent down to take a look and only then discovered that Jin Chan Chu’s abnormal state was due to a large amount of anesthetic administered to him.

For a normal person, they would have long died from the pain.

The onlookers watched as the government officers and the arrived Jin Family carried Jin Chan Chu away, with regret in their eyes. Why hadn’t he died?

Why hadn’t that hero behind the scenes, eliminating harm for the people, just killed the unpardonable Jin Chan Chu directly?

However, seeing the tyrant who had been rampaging for so long finally receive retribution, everyone still felt somewhat relieved.

The Jin Family, however, was not relieved, full of anger, filing a complaint before the court, requesting Lord County Magistrate to order the arrest of the murderers, the Liu couple.

County Magistrate Song Zhang was speechless, patiently asking in return, “Where’s the evidence? Where are the witnesses? This official cannot arrest an honest scholar with a title for no reason.”

The Jin Family wanted to say something, but couldn’t utter anything out of grievance.

Where could there be witnesses?

The ten henchmen were still lying unconscious at their homes.

The only coachman who returned, Lin Erbao, had already left Kaiyang County overnight with his family.

The scene of the incident was burnt to ashes, so where would there be evidence?

What infuriated the Jin Family the most was that everyone in town knew that after Liu Ji, the scholar, made a scene, he was expelled from town, and as a mere scholar, it was impossible for him to severely injure ten professional henchmen.

To say it was done by his wife, no townsfolk had seen her appear even for a moment.

But the culprit was indeed this woman, according to Jin Chan Chu, and of course, the Jin Family believed him.

The eldest Jin son angrily replied, “Sir, even if we don’t have any witness or evidence, such a heinous event occurred in town. Would you, as the local magistrate and parental official, let it go just because there’s no witness or evidence?”

The second Jin son immediately added, pressing, “We filed the complaint today, the papers are submitted, and the case is established. No matter what, the constables should bring the Liu couple to the court, for an on-spot confrontation!”

With that said, the brothers both looked at Chief Yu, who stood outside the court.

Chief Yu was a bit exhausted but still entered to report, “Sir, what the second young master said indeed follows procedure. Would you now order me and my subordinates to go to Liu Family Village and bring the Liu couple to the county government?”

As he spoke, Chief Yu glanced sideways at Lord County Magistrate sitting on the right side of the court.

This sort of assault case, the arrest of culprits falls under the jurisdiction of the County Magistrate. If he says to go, Lord County Magistrate can only order it.

Under usual circumstances, in this kind of pressure, County Magistrate Song would have long ordered the constables to thoroughly investigate.

However, when has the usually lazy and procrastinating government office ever been so proactive?

Previously, with the bandit havoc, things were dragged on and delayed, the bounty list hung for half a year, and no one took it down. County Magistrate Song knew, this Kaiyang County seemed calm, but in reality, good and evil had long been mixed, indistinguishable from each other.

But fortunately, there are always unexpected events or people in the world. One Miss Qin opened a crack in the tightly closed gate, allowing the two muddy waters intertwined to gain some distinction between black and white.

The colors gradually cleared up, he as a County Magistrate could finally relax a bit.

But today, with the Jin brothers pushing their way into court, he felt the previous brief clarity was just an illusion.

Once he leaves, they would still be as they were, but endure it for just over a year more anyway.

However, not all who work hard to attain scholarly honor just want to use official positions for personal gain; some still harbor grand ambitions mocked by others.

And Song Zhang was one of these people.

He was still young, just over thirty. In a civilian’s family, he would already be a mature father. If children were born early, he might have been a grandfather by now.

But in the bureaucracy, he was still a young newcomer. Such people, upon entering the political arena, always held a bit of naive idealism.

He was rather fortunate too, in this pool of muddy water, whenever he was about to be submerged, a hand from above always reached out, clearing a path for him, allowing him to regain clarity and endure a bit longer.

Seeing County Magistrate hesitating and another Jin Family ally, the Prison Chief, prepared to speak, Song Zhang gave a slight nod to the Steward beside him.

The Steward immediately stepped forward, “Please, County Magistrate and Prison Chief, follow me to the back hall.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep