Two hours later, Xi Qingyue had the bodies in the hall carried away and disposed of.
The corpses had been left there to intimidate certain people, but keeping them around for too long would be unpleasant. After such a long time, everyone who needed to know had already learned how formidable she was. There was no need to leave the bodies there any longer and let them get in the way.
Meng Qingbiao was bound. He had been tied up after fainting, because many commoners had come to accuse him, and some said they often heard children crying inside his home.
Remembering what she had heard the previous night—those people had said that Young Master Meng was collecting children—Xi Qingyue immediately ordered him bound and sent people to search his residence.
The commoners followed the constables there. During the search, they found five children in the Meng household. The oldest was ten, while the youngest was only five.
The people who found the children knelt before Xi Qingyue, overcome with gratitude and tears. Meanwhile, the parents whose children had gone missing in the past began punching and kicking Meng Qingbiao. Their children had probably met with disaster already.
Xi Qingyue did not stop them. The people still showed some restraint and did not beat him to death, though they hit him hard enough to wake him.
“How dare you! You lowly commoners actually dare to assault an imperial official? I will never let you off!” Meng Qingbiao shouted, clutching his head in fury.
The person he hated most was Xi Qingyue. If she had not come, Yongfu County would still have been peaceful. How had things become this chaotic? It was utterly absurd.
Xi Qingyue raised her gun and shot him in the leg. Her voice was cold and stern. “Why were you taking those children? Where are the rest of them? If you don’t tell me, I’ll put more holes in you and turn you into a fishing net. I doubt you’d like to experience what it means to be worse off than dead, would you?”
Meng Qingbiao clutched his leg, sweat beading on his forehead from the pain. In an instant, he made his decision.
He squeezed his eyes shut and shouted, “It wasn’t me! It was Prince Kang! Those children were being sent to Prince Kang. The previous ones have already been delivered. These were the ones we hadn’t had time to send!”
Betraying Prince Kang meant death, but keeping silent meant death too—and a far more horrible one at that. Meng Qingbiao had no doubt about Xi Qingyue’s methods. At this point, he only wanted to die quickly.
There was another reason as well. He wanted Xi Qingyue to deal with Prince Kang. Perhaps Prince Kang would even kill her and avenge him.
“What does Prince Kang want the children for?” Xi Qingyue asked, puzzled.
Meng Qingbiao shook his head repeatedly. “I don’t know. Prince Kang only told us to send him children. He promised to help me rise to power if I handled the matter well. I don’t know anything else.”
Xi Qingyue asked no further questions. Instead, she looked toward the registrar. “Did you record everything exactly as he said? If so, have him sign and seal it with his fingerprint.”
The registrar hurriedly took the written confession to Meng Qingbiao and had him sign it and press his fingerprint onto the document. These days, he did whatever Xi Qingyue said without the slightest hesitation.
Meng Qingbiao did not resist either. He immediately wrote his name and pressed his fingerprint onto the confession.
The next moment, Xi Qingyue looked at the red-eyed, furious commoners. “That’s enough. If you want revenge, drag him somewhere else. Just don’t get in anyone else’s way.”
At once, the group knelt before Xi Qingyue and thanked her. Then they dragged Meng Qingbiao toward the square outside the hall.
Meng Qingbiao was so enraged that he began cursing. “You shameless wretch! I already confessed, and you still treat me like this! You’ll never—”
Before he could finish, the commoners stuffed their shoes into his mouth. Unwilling and filled with venom, he glared in Xi Qingyue’s direction. Gradually, the people dragged him away, and his voice faded into silence.
At that moment, everyone in the county office was more respectful toward Xi Qingyue than they would have been toward their own ancestors. They also worked much faster.
The registrar’s wrist was aching terribly, but he did not dare complain about being tired. When he began writing down the county magistrate’s son’s crimes, his hand trembled, and he nearly made a mistake.
He was horrified. “Is she planning to wipe out every official in Yongfu County, along with their families? And she’s doing it all in such an open and blatant manner.”
He secretly congratulated himself on never having committed any particularly vile crimes. Otherwise, he would not even have had the chance to keep writing.
Zuo Teng was accused by more than one commoner. One person claimed that Zuo Teng had beaten his own child to death simply because the child had accidentally bumped into him while they were eating at a restaurant.
An old man tearfully recounted another of Zuo Teng’s crimes. It had begun when Zuo Teng took a fancy to their teahouse and ordered someone to poison the tea. When the authorities came to arrest them, the old man’s son had initially argued his innocence. Later, when there was truly no other way to protect his elderly parents, he had been forced to admit that he was the one who had poisoned the tea.
He was still languishing in prison. A perfectly good scholar had seen his future ruined, and the old man’s wife had developed a serious illness from the ordeal and died young.
When she heard that the man was a scholar, Xi Qingyue thought of Scholar Han from the village. He must have gone through something terrible as well, which was why he had abandoned the imperial examinations.
She said to the old man and the others, “Don’t worry. You will all receive the justice you deserve. Go to the prison later and collect your son. As for the county magistrate’s family, they will be dealt with shortly. You may first tell us about anything connected to them.”
She felt that allowing people to personally kill their enemies and avenge their families was the best form of justice. Letting them take matters into their own hands was not a bad idea either.
After that, many commoners came forward and recounted all the injustices they had suffered. Apart from those accusing Zuo Teng, there were others accusing his two younger brothers and his sister. Very few members of the county office officials’ households had clean hands.
As for the constables in the courtroom, Xi Qingyue also allowed the commoners to identify them. Anyone whose hands were stained with blood would be dealt with by the people themselves, while those who had committed no evil would be allowed to stay.
After all that commotion, the county office had been cleansed considerably. The few people who remained were now completely obedient to Xi Qingyue.
Xi Qingyue glanced at the sky and smiled at the commoners still waiting in line. “That’s all for today. You may first register your grievances with the registrar. I’ll deal with them tomorrow.”
Then she beckoned to the people who had accused the county magistrate’s family and led them toward the rear courtyard of the county office. Several constables followed behind her like attendants.
She carried Xi Weilan in her arms as she walked at the front, while everyone else followed closely behind. The large group made their way toward the rear courtyard with imposing momentum.
Xi Weilan leaned close to her ear and whispered, “Big Sister, are we going to collect money later?”
Xi Qingyue smiled and pinched her cheek. “Of course we are. But we can’t take all of it this time. We have to give some money to the commoners who were harmed. We’ll take whatever remains.”
They already had enough gold and silver to fill mountains. Giving up a little was no big deal. After all, they would still be taking the lion’s share.
The group soon arrived at the entrance to the rear courtyard. The two guards stationed there stared wide-eyed in terror. After exchanging a glance, they immediately ran in opposite directions.
They had taken turns going to the front to investigate and had naturally witnessed Xi Qingyue’s swift, decisive killing. Neither of them dared to stop her. If they had known she would bring people over so quickly, they might have fled long ago.
Xi Qingyue rolled her eyes speechlessly. Was she really that terrifying? They had run off without saying a single word. Could that even be called guarding?
The constables following behind her could not help twitching at the corners of their mouths. The most terrifying people in Yongfu City right now were the two Young Commandery Princesses—especially since their ages were so obvious. They could probably be recognized by anyone who happened to see them walking down the street.
Xi Qingyue shook her head with a smile, then swept her hand forward and strode ahead. “Come on. This Commandery Princess will take you all to collect what’s owed.”
