Chapter 224: A Lively Trial

Watching the strange, blooming smile on Li Fubo's face, He Lingchuan silently looked away.

After draining another jin of blood, just as He Lingchuan thought the broken blade intended to suck him dry, the small hole on the hilt was finally filled.

It was full; it could take no more.

"Alright, alright." Li Fubo let out a long sigh of relief. If a client lost their life during the first step of "planting" a blade, his reputation as a Grand Artisan and the signboard of the Songyang Mansion would suffer an indelible stain. "Quick, stop the bleeding!"

The Medicine Ape slipped in and skillfully stanched He Lingchuan's wound.

After applying its specially crafted spiritual medicine, the pain in the cut on He Lingchuan's arm vanished within a dozen breaths.

He shook his head, feeling a bit weak, and hurriedly swallowed a restorative pill.

A normal person only has about nine to ten jin of blood in their body; having drained twenty percent in one go, it was inevitable that he would feel dizzy and lightheaded.

The last bit of blood on the hilt was finally consumed by the broken blade.

But anyone could see it was already very full; it couldn't swallow even one more drop.

"What now?"

"Very simple, just thrust the blade into the gold mud," Li Fubo said. "At this temperature, the precious blade can handle it, and it won't burn the blade's core."

He Lingchuan gripped the hilt and thrust the broken blade into the gold mud.

The red light within the gold mud vanished instantly, and the small lava bubbles stopped popping.

Instead, wisps of blue smoke rose from the contact point between the broken blade and the gold mud, with no acrid, burnt smell.

"Good, very good!" Li Fubo nodded happily. "The cross-section and the gold mud have fused perfectly. From now on, this furnace will temporarily stay in the Proprietor's room. From this moment, this piece of gold mud can be called the Blade Mountain."

Lu Xin, the Rock Wolf, who was lying in the corner watching the show, chimed in: "Can that furnace be called the Sea of Fire?"

"Exactly!" Li Fubo laughed. "Your treasure, having been over the Blade Mountain and through the Sea of Fire, will reveal its full edge later."

"What else needs to be done?"

"Nothing, the temperature is already set. Just ensure the precious blade remains undisturbed here, and in ten days, the blade will be forged!"

He Lingchuan was stunned: "It's that simple?"

He had thought that opening a furnace to plant and forge a divine weapon would be an extremely complex process. "I thought it would take at least several months to forge."

"The Great Dao is simple." Li Fubo wiped the sweat from his forehead; he had been pinching seals to suppress the furnace temperature, which was actually quite draining. "The Young Master and I have discussed this over ten times, concluding that the construction period could be greatly shortened, which is actually beneficial to the blade. Besides, the two most difficult steps—melting the Yu Gold and preparing the materials—were all done beforehand." Although the final few steps were important, they were all procedural and rarely went wrong.

He Lingchuan brought out gold and silver, expressing his deep gratitude.

From today on, Li Fubo had to come by every day to check the furnace temperature and the progress of the blade planting.

After he took his leave, He Lingchuan, holding the jade ginseng slice handed to him by the Medicine Ape, collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

Having lost too much blood, what he needed most was rest.

This sleep was peaceful and dreamless.

By the time he woke up, it was already dark.

The Rock Wolf didn't know where it had run off to, but the Medicine Ape was by his side. Seeing him open his eyes, it immediately asked: "Does your head hurt? Are you feeling heart palpitations or shortness of breath?"

He Lingchuan shook his head.

The Medicine Ape didn't use the front door, jumping out through the window instead.

Before long, He Yue entered, carrying a food box in his hand.

"Red date and pork liver porridge, eat it while it's hot."

"Father is back too?"

"He is. You slept right through dinner. Lingguang said you needed rest, so we didn't come to wake you."

He Lingchuan took out the pork liver porridge. It was indeed a large bowl; the rice and millet were mixed and boiled until they blossomed, and the pork liver, red dates, and old ginger were almost cut into fine shreds, impossible to pick out.

He Lingchuan asked while blowing on it to cool it down: "Was Father's first time holding court at the government office smooth?"

"The Li family requested to cancel the public trial and change it to a closed session, but Father flatly refused."

A closed session meant no idlers were allowed to watch. Just kidding, such a good opportunity, how could He Chunhua let it pass?

"Sure enough, the two families were arguing in a mess at the court, not looking like noble families at all." He Yue also felt his eyes were opened. "The second son of the Li family, Li Rong, probably pondered the situation on the way and didn't say much, only the eldest, Li Zhi, was impassioned. Father demanded they produce evidence, but they only said that the warding-off magic artifact placed in Old Man Li's bedroom was damaged, indicating an intrusion of evil arts. And the only family with a serious dispute with the Li family recently was the Zhan family. The Zhan family wouldn't have it, rolling up their sleeves to argue back, the volume so loud it almost blew the roof off. I've never seen such a lively public court in Heishuicheng."

He had assisted with official business in Heishuicheng, and watching trials was a daily routine, but none had been this chaotic.

"This trial was originally presided over by the Dunyu County Magistrate, who couldn't suppress the Li and Zhan families no matter how many times he slammed the gavel. Father took over and directly had people splash two basins of cold water over them, and it became quiet instantly."

"As expected of Father." Splashing cold water on people wasn't considered assault, but getting soaked in snowy weather was a chilling experience.

"Even if they wanted to keep cursing, their teeth were chattering too much to curse clearly. People behind them brought them outer garments to wrap up in, and only then could the trial continue, but they were much calmer."

He Lingchuan took a sip of porridge: "Did Father punish the Li family?"

"Of course. They rushed to the Zhan family to beat people without any proof, and were caught red-handed by the city's commoners and the newly appointed Superintendent; they couldn't deny it. Besides compensating the Zhan family for all losses suffered in this brawl, Father also ordered the detention of the ringleaders. According to the laws of this dynasty, the masterminds of private vendettas and mass brawls can be sentenced to up to five years in prison. If lives were lost, more could be added."

He Yue knew his brother didn't like flowery official jargon, so he simply translated it into plain language for him.

It was getting more and more interesting. He Lingchuan laughed: "Was it Li Zhi or Li Rong?"

The person who first shouted to assemble the private army was the mastermind.

"Neither of them would say, and the other Li family members certainly wouldn't point them out on the spot." He Yue shrugged. "So Father ordered both of them detained and interrogated separately, and the Li family exploded immediately."

"I didn't expect Li Zhi to be stupid enough to question why, even bringing up Minister Li's name, his words offensive. Father reprimanded him for his unruly speech and for clashing with an official, saying if he kept making trouble, he would be slapped in the mouth. I saw the bailiffs on the side had already brought out the slapping paddle, and only then did Li Zhi sullenly shut his mouth."

The commoners do not fight the officials, especially in court.

"Does Old Man Li only have these two sons in Dunyu?" He Lingchuan laughed. "These are pig-like opponents; the difficulty level just dropped several grades."

"Old Man Li has a third son, who left for distant lands over twenty years ago."

"Oh right, the hatred of having one's wife stolen!" He Lingchuan snapped his fingers. "If these two are locked up together, the Li family will be a group of... well, a group of snakes without a head, which makes it convenient for us to do things."

He Yue shook his head: "Father raised his hand high but let it fall gently; I think he has his own considerations. He said he sympathized with the Li family for the recent death of their elder and was willing to let one of Li Zhi or Li Rong go back to handle the father's funeral, but they must pay 150,000 silver taels as a guarantee. If the suspect doesn't flee Dunyu and doesn't break the law again within two months, the money can be returned; otherwise, this sum will be a fine and will be collected into the government treasury."

He Lingchuan slurped up the last few mouthfuls of porridge and gave a thumbs up: "Brilliant. The Li family must be dumbfounded, right?"

"Yeah, I saw them at a loss. Father was also very thoughtful, letting them go home to discuss and come to surrender within three days." He Yue laughed. "As for the three hundred Li family private soldiers, because they were acting under orders and no one from the Zhan family was beaten to death, Father sentenced each of them to ten strokes of the court cane, and those who beat people particularly fiercely or took the opportunity to loot were sentenced to ten more."

"By the way, if the Zhan Mansion suffers any collateral losses later, the government will also impose additional penalties!"

"Ten people were lying on the ground at the government office each time to receive punishment; three hundred people had to be rotated in thirty batches, and it wasn't until dark that they finished. The commoners nearby were stunned, saying they had never seen such a spectacular scene of three hundred people getting their butts beaten."

"Is this beating the butts of private soldiers?" He Lingchuan clapped his hands. "It's clearly the face of the Li family!"

He Chunhua wanted to establish authority as soon as he arrived, so it was inevitable he would shave the Li family's face.

"Their family won't have peace for the next three days. Li Zhi and Li Rong will argue endlessly over the quota for bail, so they won't have time to trip us up; by the time they decide who stays in the Li family and who gets detained, the one who stays will definitely take the opportunity to consolidate their territory and won't have the energy to oppose us."

Li Zhao died suddenly without leaving a will, so the sons were already fighting for the position of family head; three days later, when the competitor goes to the government office to sit in the jail cell, won't the entire Li family be their own?

In this situation, how can external conflicts compare to internal strife? "Then what was the Zhan family's performance?"

"Quite satisfied, and very grateful to Father. They rushed back to clean up the losses." He Yue restrained his smile. "The other two of the four great families, the Shu family and the Xie family, both sent people to the government office to observe the trial, but have yet to express their stance. I think they will all close their doors tonight to discuss it properly."

The newly appointed Xiazhou Superintendent just arrived in Dunyu, his butt hadn't even warmed the seat, and he held a public trial for the Li family's case.

On the surface, he was upholding justice for the Zhan family, but in reality, he was fiercely slapping the Li family twice in the face. More importantly, he was showing his strength and attitude:

I am here!

All of you, get out of my way!

From now on, recognize who is the boss.

"We have all seen Father's methods." He Lingchuan was unimpressed. "Even in a savage place like Qiansong County where human life is as cheap as grass, wasn't it managed in perfect order by Father?"

"There are no old, deep-rooted noble families like Dunyu there." He Yue had always been cautious about the enemy. "The money, grain, and people of Dunyu and even half of Xiazhou are all held in their hands. How easy is it for us to pry them over?"

"The Li family was just stunned by Father's methods. Once they come to their senses, they will resist and unite with other families to fight back. After all, that's what they have always done. We still have hard battles to fight later, though perhaps not with blades and guns."

"Besides Minister Li, there are seven others from the four great families serving as officials in the imperial court. They write letters from their hometowns and complain at length to the capital. I'm afraid the superiors will blame Father."

He Lingchuan thought something was wrong: "Didn't Father say that before he left the capital, he had a deep talk with the Emperor in the palace, and the King ordered him to stand firm in Xiazhou and do whatever he wanted, without worrying about anything else?"

Today is 10.7, the last day of double points, asking for monthly tickets~ Salute!

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 225 =====