Chapter 103: A Heavy Blow

In the Jingzhao Prefecture hall, Prefect Li Jing looked at the familiar young face below, then glanced at the swollen-nosed, bruised Murong family young master and the disheveled Feng Zhou to the side, feeling his temples throb.

This living ancestor—wherever he goes, liveliness follows.

Last time it was the bastard son of the Wei family of the Needle'guo Marquis's mansion; this time it's directly a relative of the Empress Dowager's natal family!

"Cough!" Li Jing slapped the sounding board, "Who kneels below, and why the uproar?"

"Murong Gongzi, please rise and speak first." He first gave the Murong family face.

Murong Qi looked smug. What's the Jingzhao Prefecture to me? I don't believe the Jingzhao Prefecture would dare not give the Murong family face!

He scrambled up, pointing at Tuan Tuan and Xiao Er as he began to accuse them first: "Prefect Sir! You must uphold justice for the student!"

"In broad daylight, these two villains dare to commit violence on the street, beating me into this state! Is there any law left?"

Tuan Tuan furrowed her brow, pointing at her own nose: "Me? A villain? Have you ever seen a villain as big as me?"

The bailiffs standing on both sides couldn't help but let out muffled laughs.

Li Jing coughed once, and the bailiffs all fell silent.

Li Jing turned his head, really unable to hold back, he silently laughed at the screen behind him, composed his expression, then turned back.

"Little Princess, what's going on?"

Murong Qi exclaimed in surprise: "Isn't she the Alliance Chief? How is she also a Princess? Which Princess is she?"

Xiao Er snorted: "She is the Princess Jiayou of the Ning Prince's Mansion."

Murong Qi's face changed, but he remained stubborn: "What's so special about being the Princess of the Ning Prince's Mansion? Does that allow one to commit violence on the street?"

Tuan Tuan pursed her lips, her voice clear: "Prefect Sir, he was the one who first bullied him!"

She pointed at Feng Zhou: "He brought many thugs, beat him on the street, viciously! I only had Second Uncle stop them!"

Li Jing looked at Feng Zhou: "Sir, is what the Princess said true? Why did Murong Gongzi strike you?"

Feng Zhou endured the pain, clasped his hands, and said: "Replying, Sir, I am student Feng Zhou. In my hurry to rush along, I accidentally collided with Murong Gongzi at the street corner, but I did not injure him in the slightest."

"The student has already apologized immediately. But Murong Gongzi refuses to let up, allowing his servants to beat the student with fists and feet. Had it not been for the Princess's rescue, the student would…"

"You're talking nonsense!" Murong Qi shouted, cutting him off: "Clearly it's you, this ruined household, deliberately bumping into me! Prefect Sir, don't listen to his nonsense! My Murong family…"

"Order!" Li Jing sounded the sounding board again, cutting off Murong Qi's self-introduction.

Having already understood in his heart, this Murong Qi is accustomed to arrogance, having hit someone and then turned the tables.

"Murong Gongzi," Li Jing's face sank, "according to your words, was it Feng Zhou who deliberately bumped into you first?"

"Exactly!"

"Good. Then, as you say, the collision was his fault first."

"But I ask you, even if you condone your servants to commit violence, beating people on the street and causing Feng Zhou multiple injuries, do you admit it or not?" Prefect Li Jing's voice carried official authority.

Murong Qi stared, neck stiff, and said: "He was the first to be rude! What's wrong with disciplining him a little?"

"What's wrong with that?" Li Jing snorted coldly, "Under the emperor's feet, the vast heavens and earth, how could we allow you to use private punishment? By law, those who fight in the streets causing minor injury receive twenty blows and ten days' detention! Come here!"

Murong Qi shuddered in fright, anger and shock mixed: "Prefect Sir! You! You wouldn't disregard the Empress Dowager…"

"However!" Li Jing timely interrupted his speech, "Considering you are a first offender and also from an official family, I give you two options."

"One, according to law, receive punishment: beatings and imprisonment."

"Two, allow a private settlement: compensate Feng Gongzi for his medical expenses to heal his injuries, pay the doctor's fees and medicine costing one hundred taels of silver, and apologize to him in court. I may exercise leniency."

Upon hearing this, Murong Qi exclaimed: "What? Make me apologize to the son of my own rival? Thereafter, wouldn't I be laughed at by everyone at home?"

He pointed at Li Jing and cursed: "Li Jing! How dare you be so unfair!"

"Let me apologize to him? What is he? You're merely the Prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, only a third-rank official, and my Murong family…"

"Impudent!" Li Jing fiercely slapped the sounding board; this time he truly grew angry, having already given you ample steps, if you don't step down, then don't blame me.

"In the court hall, you dare to openly roar, threatening imperial officials!"

"I see you won't shed tears until you see the coffin! Your Murong family? Can your Murong family still be above the law?"

"Murong Qi, having condoned violence and injured others, with solid evidence, furthermore unrepentant, roaring in the court, despising the imperial court! Punishments combined, thirty blows! Take him down at once and beat him heavily!"

Upon hearing this, Tuan Tuan was delighted, imitating Li Jing's tone and shouting loudly: "Beat him heavily!"

The bailiffs pounced like wolves and tigers, dragging the dazed and stunned Murong Qi down to the hall below; the pig-slaughtering wails immediately echoed throughout the hall.

Having already been beaten by Xiao Er, and then receiving these thirty heavy blows, Murong Qi was on his last breath, dragged back to the hall by the bailiffs like a dead dog.

Li Jing snorted coldly: "Murong Qi, today's punishment is to teach you that this capital city is a place of law! Imprison him, await trial!"

He left a loophole; although he severely punished Murong Qi, he didn't close the case completely, giving the Empress Dowager's natal family room to maneuver.

But Murong Qi's fleshly suffering and the disaster of imprisonment are unavoidable.

Li Jing looked at Tuan Tuan: "Princess, seeing injustice and acting bravely is commendable. But if you encounter such matters again in the future, you should still report to the authorities first."

Tuan Tuan didn't care about those things; seeing the bad guy get beaten, she was happy: "Got it, Prefect Sir! Thank you! We're leaving!"

Having said that, she led Xiao Er and the staggering Feng Zhou away from the Jingzhao Prefecture in a carefree manner.

Li Jing watched their retreating figures, sighed deeply, and shook his head helplessly.

Being a capital official is tough; this seat of the Jingzhao Prefecture Prefect is really getting hotter and hotter.

The group returned to the Prince's Mansion; Cheng Ru'an saw Feng Zhou's condition and was startled, quickly ordering someone: "Quickly summon a doctor!"

Upon hearing that his own daughter had just returned from the Jingzhao Prefecture hall, he was even more astonished: "Your courage is too great! Tuan Tuan."

Tuan Tuan didn't care at all: "Mother! It's the people from the broken Empress Dowager's family who are unreasonable!"

Cheng Ru'an was left speechless: "Broken, broken Empress Dowager? Good heavens, Tuan Tuan, you can't say that outside!"

Tuan Tuan, like a little adult, nodded: "Got it, Mother!"

Feng Zhou stepped forward and bowed: "Princess Consort, Little Alliance Chief, I am in a hurry to rush along, merely wanting to hand this drawing to the Little Alliance Chief."

Having said that, he took out the bamboo tube from his bosom, opened the lid, pulled out a scroll of paper, and handed it to Tuan Tuan.

"I once suffered a frame-up for drawing this very paper; the person who initially stole my drawing didn't realize it was merely my unfinished draft."

These past days I've been racking my brain, finally finished this drawing, and only then hurried to find the Alliance Leader, but I didn't expect to run into Murong Qi on the road, and now I have to ask the Alliance Leader to stand up for me—how ashamed, how ashamed.

Tuan Tuan took it, unfolded it for a glance, then handed it to Xiao Er: "Second Uncle, can you understand this."

Xiao Er, with a bewildered expression, took it: "Can I understand it?"

He picked up the drawing and examined it closely; the more he looked, the brighter his eyes became: "Little Princess speaks well, your humble servant can understand!"