Chapter 263: Just a Matter of One Sword Strike

"It's been two days!"

In the morning light, the bamboo in the backyard of the Prefecture Office in Baian County, Changling Jun, was so green it seemed to drip with color; a lush expanse met the eye, and the morning breeze whistled past. A young man dressed in white, his ten fingers hidden in his sleeves, stood there quietly, letting the breeze ruffle his clothes.

Having arrived in this world for two days, Shen Yu still felt somewhat unaccustomed to his current life; days without a mobile phone or computer seemed to be nothing but monotonous.

This young man in white was surnamed Shen, given name Yu, courtesy name Hengzhi, a scholar who passed the imperial examination from the eighth year of Jinglong, who was subsequently selected and sent to this Baian County as County Magistrate. In truth, counting from the time he took office until now, it had only been a few short days.

Precisely because he was not yet familiar with the people around him, it was convenient for him to bluff his way through.

Come to think of it, this Baian County was a rather famous county—not because it was particularly wealthy, but because it had lost three County Magistrates in two years.

The first County Magistrate was caught for corruption and bribery, so he was "crack!"—executed. The second one didn't even arrive before he unfortunately died after encountering mountain bandits on the road. As for the third County Magistrate, he hadn't even been in office for a year before he couldn't handle the local climate and caught a cold, eventually failing to pull through.

Although these could only be considered accidents, Baian County became a place everyone avoided if they could. It wasn't until after the metropolitan examination that Shen Yu, who had no power, no influence, and no backing, was sent here to become a glorious official of the people.

Just after arriving, Shen Yu, unfamiliar with the place and its people, was out on the street learning about the local customs when he happened to encounter the scene of a wealthy young master forcibly abducting a common woman.

It was unclear who gave him the courage, but as a weak scholar who couldn't even truss a chicken, he didn't call for help, but instead rolled up his sleeves and went forward to stop it. The result was a scholar meeting a soldier; he was knocked to the ground and then given a sound beating.

In the end, if it hadn't been for the timely arrival of the Baian County Constable Zhou Yuan, he might have become the fourth County Magistrate to vanish in Baian County within two years. However, it was precisely because of this that it benefited him, the transmigrator.

Over these two days, besides sorting through the original owner's memories, Shen Yu had also been researching the "Hero Sign-in System" that had suddenly appeared in his mind. He didn't know if this system had followed him through his transmigration or if it had awakened by chance after he arrived.

In any case, when Shen Yu first opened his eyes in this world, while seeing the completely unfamiliar environment, he also saw the system that was in the process of binding to him.

After the system was fully bound, Shen Yu learned that this system was called the "Hero Sign-in System." According to its meaning, it seemed that as long as one performed chivalrous deeds, one could sign in to receive various rewards.

Shen Yu had tried it out over the past two days, and how should he put it? When the kitchen maid, Mother Zhang, fell ill, Shen Yu gave her two taels of silver to see a doctor, and the sign-in reward was twenty taels of silver. When he helped the sick Mother Zhang chop wood, the sign-in reward was a hammer—and a small hammer that could only be used to crack walnuts.

"I believe in your hammer," what kind of trash system was this? Shen Yu had thought he could sign in for Martial Arts like the Nine Yin or Nine Yang manuals and become a generation of experts directly; after all, this world was not simple.

In Shen Yu's memories, this world belonged to an ancient imperial dynasty, but it was not any dynasty from ancient China. The Dasheng Dynasty had been established for over two hundred years, and the martial spirit was extremely strong.

Moreover, when Shen Yu was in the Capital taking the exams, he had once accidentally encountered a team of Constables pursuing a thief. The three or four-story restaurant was at least ten meters high, yet these people could lightly jump from the ground to the roof.

During their struggle, blade Qi crisscrossed, and that terrifying destructive power had been etched into Shen Yu's mind.

Through these memories, Shen Yu deeply understood that he was not in an ordinary world, but a dangerous world with Martial Arts and a Jianghu. Especially being an official—that was a high-risk profession; one never knew when someone might come along to "perform a chivalrous deed."

"My Lord, the young master of the Cai Family has come to surrender!"

"Understood!" Waving his hand, Shen Yu took a deep breath. The young master of the Cai Family was that wealthy young master who had forcibly abducted the woman on the street, and also the one who had beaten him.

On that day, after Constable Zhou arrived, the young master of the Cai Family learned of his identity and immediately fled without a trace. Later, after Shen Yu woke up, he had been busy familiarizing himself with the environment and researching the system, almost forgetting about this matter.

Unexpectedly, the other party chose to surrender voluntarily today. That wasn't right; if he really had that realization, he should have come that afternoon—did he really need to wait two days?

"Hold court!"

"Wei... wu!"

Dressed in his official robes, Shen Yu sat quietly on the high seat of the Public Hall. The Yamen Runners on both sides could also be called imposing and powerful; for a moment, it actually felt like the real thing.

Accompanied by these low, rumbling sounds of "wei wu," the young master of the Cai Family walked into the Public Hall with large strides, his gaze meeting Shen Yu's without any avoidance, and his face even seemed to carry a hint of ease.

With this attitude, was this someone coming to surrender? If one didn't know better, one would think he was out for an outing!

"Audacious!" Seeing the other party being so arrogant, Shen Yu didn't indulge him and shouted directly, "Who is below the hall? Why do you not kneel upon seeing this official!"

"You!" He glared at Shen Yu indignantly; he hadn't expected the other party to be so disrespectful—didn't he know who he was?

However, in the end, although the young master of the Cai Family was very unwilling, he had no choice as he held no official rank. Since the other party was talking about rules, no matter how reluctant he was, he could only kneel down honestly.

"Clack!" Striking the Gavel, Shen Yu looked down at the young master of the Cai Family from above and said loudly, "Audacious Cai He, two days ago you forcibly abducted a common woman in broad daylight. Do you know your crime?"

"I am wronged, My Lord!" Upon hearing Shen Yu's words, Cai He, as if he had rehearsed it many times, immediately shouted loudly, "My Lord, that person was originally a maid bought by my family, with a deed of sale as proof. How can you call it forced abduction?"

While speaking, Cai He handed up the deed of sale. Taking the deed from the other party's hand, Shen Yu frowned slightly, then turned to look at the people in the County Government Office.

This deed of sale was actually real; the Cai Family really hadn't been idle these past two days! Most importantly, a deed of sale had to go through the Yamen to process the paperwork, which meant the people in the Yamen were also unreliable!

At this moment, the woman who had been forcibly abducted by Cai He that day also slowly walked into the hall and knelt down with a thud. The young girl had delicate features, skin as clear as jade, and was slender and fragile.

However, at this time, the girl's obviously red and swollen eyes revealed a trace of resentment, making her appear even more pitiful.

No wonder the young master of the Cai Family would forcibly abduct her on the street; she certainly had the capital. No, that's not right—she was the victim! Bah! Cai He, that scum, to be able to lay a hand on such a delicate girl!

"My Lord, please listen. This servant is indeed a maid of the Cai Family. That day, this servant ran away privately, and it was only right and proper for the young master to catch me back. This servant pleads guilty!"

"Young lady, has someone threatened you? Rest assured, this official will certainly uphold justice for you!" In this situation, even a fool could see the girl was being coerced; how could Shen Yu let it go?

"No, this servant is indeed a maid of the Cai Family. Please, My Lord, investigate clearly!"

"My Lord, the deed of sale is in your hands, and she has admitted it herself. With both human and material evidence present, the incident that day was just a misunderstanding!"

Indifferently cupping his hands toward Shen Yu, Cai He prepared to stand up and leave, "Magistrate, since the matter has been clarified, this commoner will take his leave now. Haha!"

"Stop!" Seeing Cai He wanting to leave, Shen Yu snorted coldly and struck the Gavel, "Cai He, even if this woman is a maid of your Cai Family, that only means the charge of forcibly abducting a common woman does not hold!"

"Cai He, are you aware that the fact you beat this official that day is also true? Beating an Imperial Court official in the street in broad daylight. Cai He, tell me, what crime should you be charged with!"

"Men, seize him, give him thirty heavy strokes of the board, and then lock him in prison to await trial!"

"My Lord, please think twice!" At this time, the advisor nearby hurriedly leaned in and whispered to Shen Yu, "My Lord, this is the young master of the Cai Family, the own nephew of the County Assistant!"

"And so what?" Glaring fiercely at the advisor, Shen Yu then shouted loudly at the Yamen Runners, "What are you still standing there for? Beat him, beat him hard!"

The County Assistant's nephew? I knew it, that's how this bastard managed to get the deed of sale! It would have been fine if I didn't know about this connection, but since I do, I must hit him harder to let him learn a lesson. Did he really think he, the County Magistrate, was just a decoration?

"You dare hit me?" Looking at Shen Yu as if it were unbelievable, he had grown up in Baian County and always walked sideways; who dared to provoke him? Even his own father had never hit him once.

"Get lost!" Seeing that the Yamen Runners seemed to really dare to act, Cai He was furious, "You dog slaves, let's see who dares to move!"

"Presumptuous!" He had seen arrogant people, but he had never seen anyone this arrogant. Shen Yu's temper flared up, and he struck the Gavel and shouted loudly, "Disturbing the Public Hall, the crime is increased by one degree! Men, give him sixty heavy strokes of the board, and hit him hard!"

"Ow, ouch... you're actually hitting me? Be gentle, be gentle! My Lord, My Lord, I know I was wrong, be gentle..."

"You only know you're wrong now? It's too late. Keep hitting, not a single stroke less!" Listening to the shrill screams below, Shen Yu couldn't help but curl his lips.

"Little brat, I can't deal with you?"

Originally, he was worried the Yamen Runners would go easy on him, but Cai He, that idiot, had a loose mouth and started cursing the Yamen Runners directly. If they didn't hit him hard, they would be doing themselves a disservice—he deserved it!

"System, sign in!"

"Sign-in successful, obtained Quanzhen Internal Method!"

"Quanzhen Internal Method? A secret manual dropped? Wait!" At this moment, Shen Yu seemed to have grasped a little bit of the system's pattern. Could it be that the correct way to open the system was like this?