Chapter 617: Who Says Women Are Inferior to Men

"Are you talking about me?"

Just at this moment, a voice drifted over from outside, and immediately following it, a figure arrived in a flash, standing right before them.

"Shen, Lord Shen!" Facing the figure that had appeared suddenly, County Magistrate Chen Zhao trembled instantly, his whole body shaking as he stood up, wanting to kneel and kowtow immediately.

Yet he discovered he was being forcibly held up by a force, preventing him from kneeling. It's over, did he not have a chance anymore!

"I dare not, how could I dare to trouble the County Magistrate to address me like that!"

"This subordinate is terrified, this subordinate, this subordinate is guilty. My Lord, could you please spare my wife? Everything has nothing to do with her..."

Facing Shen Yu, County Magistrate Chen Zhao could not stop his whole body from trembling, feeling as if his time had come. The rumors about this Lord Shen were like thunder in his ears; which official targeted by him had ever survived?

Although he considered himself an upright official, he could not manage to be fearless of the powerful and the influential.

Over these years, the various compromises he had made out of helplessness would very likely be unforgivable in the eyes of those so-called loyal and righteous men.

How many people could understand the pressure borne by officials like them from humble backgrounds, who had no backing and no confidence?

So be it; dying at the hands of Lord Shen was better than dying at the hands of those hypocritical, treacherous villains.

"Who said I was going to kill you? Sit!"

Waving his hand at Chen Zhao, Shen Yu also had some opinions about this County Magistrate; he subconsciously felt that his backbone was too soft.

He had heard the conversation between the husband and wife clearly from outside, and he also knew that this County Magistrate was not the type to be greedy or pervert the law.

It was just that for so many years, having to compromise and play along with his superiors and those bullies he couldn't afford to offend, Chen Zhao's backbone had already softened. Facing the powerful, he simply dared not resist.

Take the recent incident, for example: it was clearly not that young girl's fault, and clearly everyone knew it, yet he still had to feign ignorance while knowing the truth.

Now, the entire Santu City was discussing this matter, and they were practically stabbing him in the back.

Shen Yu was also very clear that Chen Zhao doing this was definitely a choice made out of helplessness.

But whether it was to protect the young girl or to appease the Prefect's fury, the final result was that the kind were punished while the guilty remained at large.

This matter actually couldn't be blamed on him; Shen Yu fully understood this point. He could be dissatisfied with such things, but he could not judge the other party from a high and mighty position.

In all honesty, if he were in the same position, equally powerless, without any trump cards, without any background, and without any means, would he really dare to stand up against the powerful?

Although he wanted to say, "I dare, I have an iron backbone and fear neither the powerful nor Life and Death," he knew very well in his heart that there were very few who could truly dare.

It was just like how everyone on the internet was a hero, bragging more impressively than the last, but once in reality, even when encountering a robber with a knife, how many could stand up? Not to mention facing the powerful who could decide one's Life and Death with a single word.

If Chen Zhao dared to resist, what would greet him would be endless retaliation.

Facing the superior of his superior, the other party didn't even need to show their face, nor did they even need to reveal their intentions. Those below who wanted to curry favor and suck up would be enough to kill him.

Afterwards, that Prefect might even express a few words of regret, saying, "I didn't signal you to do this, how could you do such a thing? County Magistrate Chen was a good official."

And then, shedding a few crocodile tears, as for those who did the dirty work for him, after receiving a scolding and a lecture, they might be promoted and get rich before long.

How could one fight? Was he really supposed to drag his whole family into the water? Who could truly have such courage? Even if Chen Zhao dared to resist, would the result really be any better?

Chen Zhao, this County Magistrate, had long been polished into smoothness by reality; he knew better than anyone what the consequences of him not being able to hold out would be.

Acting on impulse for a moment of anger would not only implicate himself, but the girl's fate would be even more miserable. By then, it wouldn't just be as simple as being exiled a thousand miles.

Reality was just that helpless, forcing him to have no choice but to bow his head!

"I hear that for these years, Santu has been relatively peaceful and prosperous; you, as the County Magistrate, have made no small contribution!"

"This subordinate is terrified!"

"You indeed should be terrified!" Glancing at Chen Zhao, Shen Yu then said, "I just heard about the recent case involving the Prefect's son!"

"This subordinate, this subordinate..." Hearing Shen Yu bring this up, Chen Zhao trembled again, stammering and not knowing how to speak.

With this kind of courage, truly, a scholar is useless!

"I saw the young girl you exiled; go bring her back and tell them that I have taken over this case!"

"Also, is the Prefect's son still in Santu City? If he is, bring him over as well!"

"Yes, yes, the Prefect's son, no, the criminal Yan Ying is still in Santu City; he is currently suffering from serious injuries and it is inconvenient for him to leave."

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Chen Zhao hurriedly said to Yang Yan, who was to the side: "Quick, go bring her back, and also send someone to bring the Prefect's son here, quick!!"

Chief Constable Yang Yan did not dare to delay and hurriedly left in a rush. In the room, only Shen Yu and the couple Chen Zhao remained.

For Chen Zhao, every minute spent with Shen Yu was a form of torture; whether he lived or died, could he just say something?

"My Lord, this case..."

"You don't need to worry about this case anymore. By the way, how much do you know about this Prefect of yours?"

"This..." The couple looked at each other, not quite knowing how to answer.

"My Lord, the Prefect is my husband's superior; he dares not judge him, but this commoner woman is not afraid. This Prefect deserves to die!"

"Wife!" He carefully tugged at his wife's sleeve, but she pulled away, revealing a firm expression to her husband.

If they didn't report him now, what were they waiting for? Waiting for the Prefect to retaliate against them? He couldn't retaliate against Shen Yu, but couldn't he retaliate against the two of them?

"Deserves to die?" A woman actually dared to tell him the Prefect deserved to die; this courage alone was stronger than that of Chen Zhao, the County Magistrate.

"In what way does he deserve to die?"

"My Lord, you may not know, but three years ago, a great flood submerged the surrounding three counties. Nearly thirty percent of the people in Wuying County starved to death; over a hundred thousand people just starved to death, isolated and helpless."

"The Wuying County Magistrate opened the official granary to distribute grain to save the people, but was instead killed by the Prefect for the crime of privately opening the official granary!"

"Oh? Is that so?" Raising his head, Shen Yu became interested, then said, "Continue!"

"My Lord, privately opening the official granary is indeed an unforgivable crime. But were we supposed to watch so many people starve to death?"

"If even a single boat of disaster relief grain had arrived in Wuying County, the Wuying County Magistrate wouldn't have had to do that, and Wuying County wouldn't have had so many people starve to death."

"But all the disaster relief grain and funds were withheld by the Prefect. Not only that, he colluded with grain merchants to raise grain prices and resold the relief funds. The magistrates of the other two counties were also in collusion with him!"

"As a result, over seventy percent of the people in those two counties starved to death; white bones covered the land for a hundred miles, and the people had to trade their children to eat just to barely survive."

"On the contrary, in Wuying County, the Wuying County Magistrate not only refused the Prefect but also called on all the officials in the city to donate grain for the people, and even took out all the grain stored in his own home. If the people had nothing to eat, he wouldn't eat either."

"Nearly thirty percent of the people in Wuying County starved to death, but forty to fifty percent of the officials starved to death. By the time the Wuying County Magistrate was arrested, he was already starving and on the verge of death."

"Yet even so, he was still killed. Just because he could not be made to cooperate."

"A County Magistrate who cooperates sees the commoners under their rule nearly wiped out, yet they get promoted and grow rich. A County Magistrate who does not cooperate protects the commoners, yet they end up with their head hung for public display; such a good official is just executed like that!"

"In the entire Luyun Prefecture, which official still dares not to cooperate, which official still dares to act as master for the people."

Speaking to this point, the County Magistrate's wife bowed deeply to Shen Yu, "Therefore, this common woman says the Prefect deserves to die. Even if Your Honor wants to kill this common woman, this common woman must still say it!"

"You have much more courage than your husband; you dare to act and dare to speak. You are the one who should be the County Magistrate!"

"Your Honor is joking; this common woman is merely a woman!"

"Who says women are inferior to men!"