Chapter 585: My Lord, the Times Have Changed

Zhang Xiaobao's leg was a little lame, and for someone like him who aspired to follow the Sage in conquering the realm and to have his portrait hung in the Qifeng Pavilion, it was simply too hard to accept.

And what made it even more frustrating was that he had not been wounded in the leg by an enemy in battle, but had been thrown from his horse when it stumbled during a pursuit, injuring his leg in the fall.

Before the injury, Zhang Xiaobao had already reached the position of Patrol Officer of the Left Yulin Guard, commanding the Great Zhou's finest hundred elite cavalry, and his future was boundless.

After he was wounded, his superior, Yue Saonu, General of the Left Yulin Guard, had already applied for Zhang Xiaobao to be transferred to a local post, preparing to send him to Gongyi County in the eastern capital Luoyang to serve as County Magistrate, but Zhang Xiaobao refused, because his heart was full of stifled resentment.

Zhang Xiaobao was not without backing: his father had been among the earliest sworn-follower cavalry to follow the Sage onto the battlefield, rising from auxiliary soldier through accumulated battle merit into the imperial guard, and was now a battalion Commander in Wuwei Garrison.

His elder brother Zhang Xiaobiao was even more extraordinary: in the siege of Xiazhou, he had single-handedly shot dead one hundred and twenty men from a Lu Gong assault tower, a terrifying record that no one had broken to this day.

Now his rank had accumulated to the fourteenth grade, Right Martial Grand Master, and he actually served as Left Patrol Officer of the Hanshan Capital, the Sage's trusted personal army — essentially the ceiling that a non-founding-faction man could reach in the Hanshan Capital.

When the Sage formally proclaimed himself emperor, Zhang Xiaobiao also received the noble title of count, and the Son of Heaven personally issued a decree bestowing upon Zhang Xiaobiao the character "Cheng," so he had now changed his name to Zhang Cheng.

With such a background, it was inevitable that Zhang Xiaobao was proud and ambitious, and he had the capital for it too: skilled in riding and archery, wielding a cavalry lance with supernatural skill, treating his subordinates well, and beginning to gain experience in deploying troops and formations.

It was only his luck that could not be mentioned. His father and brother had fought a hundred battles in the army, had nearly been beaten to death several times, and had always recovered in the end.

Yet he had merely fallen from a horse and immediately become crippled.

So after the army withdrew, Zhang Xiaobao declined his comrades' invitation at the Guiyi Tower and, taking only two soldiers from Liangzhou who had also retired due to wounds and illness, set out on the road west.

The journey was not difficult, because although Zhang Xiaobao's leg was lame, it did not affect his riding; it was only that he could no longer mount a horse in armor, nor control a warhorse as if it were an extension of his own body.

When passing through Luoyang, Zhang Xiaobao saw that the population of the divine capital Luoyang was flourishing once more, and everywhere inside and out there was an air of joy.

This year the Son of Heaven had exempted the area around Luoyang from the agricultural tax and the head tax, and Luoyang's grain shortage was rapidly easing with the news that Jiangnan rice and grain were about to arrive.

In truth, Luoyang was not very short of grain. After all, after three years of natural and man-made disasters in the Henan region, it was uncertain whether even sixty percent of the former population remained. "Three years of drought and still eating one's fill" was not just an empty saying.

The previous grain shortage was because grain had to be transported from Guanzhong or even Hexi, and Guanzhong itself was short of grain. Transported from a thousand or ten thousand li away, the price was naturally high, and seeing grain prices high in Guanzhong, the local great households also began to hoard and hold back sales.

But now that large quantities of Jiangnan rice and grain were about to arrive, and the southern campaign had ended with military grain released onto the market, prices immediately returned to normal levels.

However, Zhang Xiaobao did not much like Luoyang, because Cao Yanming, the Commissioner for Construction of the Divine Capital, was carrying out massive construction works in Luoyang.

Outside the city they were dredging the Yinluo River, the Yang Canal, and other waterways; at Yanshi and Jinshan (Mount Beimang) they were building detached palaces; inside the city they were restoring the Ziwei Palace and more — turning Luoyang into one great construction site, so that idle laborers from all over had come to Luoyang to earn money.

These common people were indeed happy, because the court had undertaken such a great project without conscripting corvée labor, and without even raising taxes.

Although their wages were pitifully small, they were fed three meals a day, and basically all could eat their fill.

If these able-bodied laborers ate one more meal outside, the women and children at home could eat two more full meals.

Everyone said this was the grace of the Shaoming Son of Heaven, because the money for building the divine capital's palaces came from the emperor's own privy purse.

"What a racket!" an old soldier with a broken left wrist snorted coldly.

But Zhang Xiaobao could see that although it was a cold snort, there was not without a trace of pride mixed in, because this flourishing age was something they had won by risking their lives.

"You dog-spawned wretch, I'll beat you to death today!"

The few of them were just eating a bowl of mutton soup-cakes, wearing an air of superiority that was all but written on their faces, and about to set off, when a commotion broke out outside, and a large crowd gathered around.

Zhang Xiaobao and his companions also went over. They saw a burly, fierce-faced man raise a club and strike at several cowering peasants, knocking them to the ground in two or three blows.

And most of those gathered around were also peasants, but far from rising up in shared indignation to help, they actually wore expressions of schadenfreude.

The burly man grew more and more excited as he beat them, his club whistling through the air.

Zhang Xiaobao's anger surged at first, and he was about to knock the burly man to the ground, but seeing that the man still had some restraint, striking only at the fleshy buttocks, he did not rush forward quickly.

He was now somewhat self-conscious about his leg, and was reluctant to reveal his lameness before others.

But the hot-tempered soldier with the severed wrist beside him could not bear it. He charged forward with a shout and kicked the burly man to the ground with one blow.

The burly man fell to the ground caught off guard, but when he scrambled up and saw that it was only a short man with one hand, he immediately felt contempt. He threw away his club and lunged forward bare-handed.

And then he was finished. The severed-wrist soldier came from Wuwei Garrison, and before his injury had been a shock trooper. Even with only one hand, he was not someone the burly man could match.

Moreover, although his left hand had been severed at the wrist, it was not entirely gone. A bare wrist stub striking a man was also very painful.

Zhang Xiaobao rather envied the severed-wrist soldier for being able to not treat himself as a cripple, without a care in the world.

The peasants watching, seeing someone giving the burly man a good beating, actually cheered in unison — not cheering for one side, but cheering for both sides.

Zhang Xiaobao could see that these were just a crowd of thrill-seekers, idle people looking for amusement, with no notion of right or wrong at all.

But this made Zhang Xiaobao even more puzzled. These peasants who had come out to work should have been very united, for as outsiders, they could easily be bullied by the locals.

So why were they indifferent when someone who worked alongside them was being beaten?

So while watching the severed-wrist soldier beat the burly man until he howled with his single arm, Zhang Xiaobao approached several peasants who were watching most excitedly and asked.

"Why is this man so unreasonable? Attacking people for no reason?"

Zhang Xiaobao was referring to the burly man, now that the tables had turned and he was the one being beaten and howling.

The peasants were somewhat annoyed at having their entertainment interrupted, but seeing Zhang Xiaobao's build and the warhorse he was leading, they immediately realized he was not someone to offend, and could only answer in low voices.

"For the young lord's information, this Wang Huzi is a local ruffian from Baibo Crossing. The County Magistrate of Heqing brought them in to oversee the construction of Jinshan Palace. These men secretly hid food, so they were beaten."

Zhang Xiaobao understood now. So the peasants had stolen food. But even so, there was no need to beat them like this!

Everything has its rules. If food was taken, then punish according to the rules. How can one beat people at will?

And just as Zhang Xiaobao was getting to the bottom of the matter, the situation on the field had already changed. This Wang Huzi was after all a local ruffian, and being a ruffian, he certainly had a gang of brothers, and in an instant they all came running over.

The peasants who had just been chatting freely with Zhang Xiaobao scattered in a flash the moment they saw a large gang of ruffians arrive.

But Zhang Xiaobao and his two companions were not alarmed. Watching more than thirty ruffians charge over led by a tattooed-armed burly man, Zhang Xiaobao and the other soldier did not even raise their eyelids.

The severed-wrist soldier stepped on the shouting Wang Huzi and, with his palmless left hand, lightly tapped a corner of something exposed on the horse's back.

The tattooed-armed man rushed up and had not yet spoken when he saw that what was exposed on the horse's back was the hem of a suit of interlocked-ring armor, and he froze on the spot.

Wang Huzi on the ground also saw it and immediately stopped his shouting.

According to the laws of the Great Zhou, the common people were not prohibited from possessing swords, spears, clubs, and staves, but private forging was not permitted.

All standard-issue swords, spears, clubs, and staves had to be registered at the county office. Those in the county town were managed by the County Constable, and those in the countryside by the inspectors who would soon be established.

But armor was different. Although the court permitted private possession of armor, the categories of people were strictly limited.

For ordinary soldiers, taking off armor after battle was truly taking it off — the armor had to be returned to the army.

Only those who held rank and had also been granted armor as a reward could carry their own armor with them.

In other words, if you saw someone on the road wearing or carrying armor, then he was certainly a warrior who had earned merit in the army and held an official rank.

Hua Gebo and Wang Huzi immediately fell silent. The aggressive air they had arrived with vanished without a trace, and Hua Gebo even cupped his hands in a refined, scholarly manner.

"May I ask which military province the honored officer before me serves? If I have given offense, I beg your magnanimity."

The wrist-severed soldier curled his lip. "Filth like you—do you even deserve to ask after your father's origins?"

Hua Gebo had been cursed at, but he did not grow angry; instead, he became even more respectful.

Because daring to speak like that only proved they were indeed army warriors—and not garrison troops from the Central Plains, but provincial troops from Hexi, or even personal guards.

"This humble one was originally a Heyang soldier under Lord Li Jianchong. During the great battle at Yanshi City, I followed my commander and did my part killing the northern caitiffs. Now I serve under County Lieutenant Li of Heqing."

Who was Lord Li Jianchong? And what did the County Lieutenant Li of Heqing County represent?

Although the wrist-severed soldier came from Hexi, he had always been a common soldier, so he did not understand these things, and he was immediately at a loss.

When Hua Gebo saw this, a different look appeared in his eyes. Not even knowing these things—they were pure, simple rank-and-file grunts!

Though he could not afford to provoke them, he still could not let them beat his man for nothing. At the very least... well, they had beaten Wang Huzi so badly, so at the very least they ought to apologize to him.

"The Great General is loyal and pure-hearted—have you learned nothing from him? You hide a bit of food, and you beat a man half to death?

You trot out County Lieutenant Li—do you think that will frighten us off?"

Zhang Xiaobao stepped forward. Of course he knew Li Jianchong. When he had followed Zhao Kuangyin into Luoyang, Li Jianchong had directly surrendered to Zhang Zhao as the Military Governor of the three Heyang prefectures.

But the old man was advanced in years and had no wish to keep licking blood off a knife's edge, so he had received the empty title of Great General of the Left Dragon Cavalry Guard and gone home to live out his remaining years on his salary.

This County Lieutenant Li of Heqing County was originally a yabing officer under Li Jianchong. After his old commander retired, he too had left the army and secured himself a county lieutenant's post—which counted as returning home in glory.

Just from Zhang Xiaobao's casual, dismissive manner, Hua Gebo knew these were hard opponents, and his attitude shifted back again. He hurriedly bowed to Zhang Xiaobao.

"I beg the officer's forgiveness. Lord Cao, the Commissioner for the Construction of the Divine Capital, has decreed that corvée laborers may not hoard grain privately. The construction of the Divine Capital is a heavy task; if they do not eat their fill, men will be worked to death, which would harm the Sage's benevolence. We servants truly had no choice but to resort to such measures."

Zhang Xiaobao now understood the reason. So providing meals had its drawbacks too.

Many of the conscripted laborers, in order to save a little food to take home or sell for money, would often hide their rations.

They thought two meals a day was the norm, and that eating only two meals would still fill them up.

But Zhang Zhao was no bottomlessly merciful sage. He had chosen to give the laborers three meals a day for a reason.

Because building the Divine Capital, the detached palaces around Jinshan and Yanshi, and the waterway dredging the route from Luoyang to Kaifeng was no light work—they often had to keep laboring even after sunset.

If they were only fed two meals, many laborers would be worn out by the excessive toil. A few months earlier, there had even been cases of laborers coughing blood and dying from exhaustion.

A fine benevolent policy had ended up costing lives, so when Zhang Zhao returned, he summoned Cao Yanming to the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng, and gave him a thorough dressing-down.

So Cao Yanming had no choice but to have his subordinates begin supervising the laborers to stop them from hiding food.

And the subordinates' methods were even cruder and simpler. Reasoning with them was out of the question; intimidation by force was the only option.

Well! Zhang Xiaobao was somewhat at a loss himself. He had thought he was coming to uphold justice, but this was the actual situation.

Though from a later age's perspective, these ruffian "law enforcers" like Hua Gebo were certainly far too brutal, and their actions bordered on criminal.

But in this era, it was in fact a very common state of affairs. One could even say it seemed rather gentle, and that was exactly what Zhang Xiaobao thought.

Clang, clang, clang! The bronze gong sounded. This was the critical moment in the construction of the Divine Capital, and all the officials of Luoyang, great and small, were straining every nerve.

Because once the Divine Capital was completed, Luoyang would become the capital again, and their own status would rise straight up.

Therefore, when someone beat a clerk subordinate to the Construction Office, it was immediately reported to the County Magistrate of Heqing County.

The magistrate's surname was Liu. He had been among the first batch to pass the Classics Examination after Zhang Zhao took the throne.

Zhang Zhao had not yet had time to adjust the examination system, with the realm still unsettled on all sides, so he could only continue the previous dynasty's system on the foundation of the Hexi examinations.

Moreover, because the Presented Scholar examination was still too difficult for most people in this culturally sunken age, one could now get an official post merely by passing the Classics Examination.

Although Magistrate Liu had brought a dozen constables and several dozen runners, he was still inwardly rather fearful.

Because he had heard that the troublemakers were army warriors with armor, while he himself was purely a poor, bookish scholar who had risen through the examinations.

In earlier times, let alone a poor scholar-magistrate like him—even a high central official, as long as he had not reached the rank of chief minister, would have had no dignity whatsoever when he encountered a military man, especially a fierce one like this.

So when Magistrate Liu saw Zhang Xiaobao, he felt his calves begin to cramp. The accumulated intimidation of military men over so many years made him feel, facing only three men, as though he faced an army of thousands.

But then Magistrate Liu remembered the words of his superior, Cao Yanming, Commissioner for the Construction of the Divine Capital and concurrently Governor of the Divine Capital: the Sage had always been committed to the policy of having civil officials govern the localities and reclaiming administrative authority from the hands of soldiers.

One only had to look at the dozen or so prefectures and counties around the Eastern Capital, Kaifeng Prefecture, and the Divine Capital, Luoyang, to see that the chief officials were either not military men, or were retired personnel no longer holding posts in the army.

He had climbed with great difficulty to the post of County Magistrate of Heqing. If he hesitated now, he would probably be sent straight home to eat wild greens, and he truly could not accept that.

Not only was Magistrate Liu afraid, the constables under him were afraid too.

By the old way of things, whoever dared step forward now would surely be killed in the street by these "yabing guards," after which the yabing guards would mount their warhorses and flee, turn into bandits in the mountains, and eventually be recruited back at high pay by some military governor to resume their glory—while they themselves would have died for nothing.

Although the wrist-severed soldier came from Hexi, he had originally been a yabing guard of Li Congyan of Fengxiang.

After Li Congyan could no longer hold the family domain of Fengxiang Prefecture, he had gone to Hexi and thrown in his lot with Zhang Zhao, so the air of a yabing guard still clung to him.

Seeing that Magistrate Liu and his several dozen men dared not come forward, and that the several hundred onlooking laborers all seemed somewhat fearful, he grew even more smug. He pointed at Zhang Xiaobao and said:

"This is a personal guard of the Sage, a Cavalry Officer of the Left Feathered Forest Guard, a meritorious follower of the dragon from Liangzhou. Who dares show disrespect?"

The several hundred onlookers burst into an uproar at these words and dared even less to step forward.

The magistrate's face turned bright red, and his head buzzed. On one side was the pressure of reality; on the other, Cao Yanming's words echoing ceaselessly in his mind.

And of course there was a small voice in his head reciting the great principles of the sages—"die for righteousness, never bow to force."

Zhang Xiaobao suddenly realized that matters had abruptly entered a situation beyond anyone's control.

As one of the best-connected sworn follower cavalry families in the Liangzhou region, the Zhang family had given Zhang Xiaobao some schooling, and he of course understood Zhang Zhao's intentions.

Inwardly, he kept cheering on Magistrate Liu. God damn it, if this dog of a magistrate did not dare step forward, he, Zhang Xiaobao, would be stuck wearing the great hat of an arrogant, domineering military man—and might well be made an example of by the Sage.

The pressure now fell on the two central figures. At last, under the expectant gaze of the crowd, Magistrate Liu stepped forward with heavy strides, cold sweat streaming down his face, while Zhang Xiaobao quietly let out a breath and did not dare move a muscle.

Because he noticed that Magistrate Liu kept looking at his waist, where a hengdao saber hung.

Zhang Xiaobao was certain that if he so much as reached for the hengdao saber at his waist, Magistrate Liu would absolutely bolt like a startled rabbit.

Then it would all be over—both of them finished!

"This Cavalry Officer—why did you beat a runner of my Construction Office?" Magistrate Liu was still afraid, and actually invoked the name of the Construction Office.

Because the Construction Office is not a local official post and its positioning is somewhat vague, you can think of it as equivalent to a Military Governor's office without any problem.

Zhang Xiaobao gritted his teeth and could only ask word by word: "Are you the County Magistrate of Heqing, or an official of the Office?"

Magistrate Liu looked at the unfriendly stares cast by the long hengdao sabers and the warhorses, and he too clenched his jaw.

In years past, when Yang Guangyuan and his sons were in Luoyang, they would often beat or kill Luoyang officials over a single wrong word. After Du Chongwei arrived in Luoyang, it was much the same — the yabing guards of the Office were more overbearing than any county magistrate.

Still, Magistrate Liu mustered his courage and cupped his hands. "I am indeed the County Magistrate of Heqing. Why would a brave general of the Marquis's household beat another man?"

Now that was more like it. Zhang Xiaobao let out a long breath of relief. Seeing that Magistrate Liu had asked, he quickly explained the matter in full detail.

"This man, though only an auxiliary of the Construction Office, beat common laborers and commoners at will over a trifling fault. I could not stand by and watch, so I gave him a lesson, that is all."

By now Magistrate Liu had begun to taste the flavor of the situation. Seeing that Zhang Xiaobao was not acting arrogantly, he gradually settled into his role. He cupped his hands again and said:

"Even so, he should be punished according to law by the Construction Office or by this county's yamen. How can the Marquis impose private punishment?"

When Magistrate Liu finished speaking, the constables behind him and the tattooed bravos in front of Zhang Xiaobao all stared wide-eyed, and quite a few of them went weak at the knees.

This was a Marquis of the Left Yulin Guard, the trusted personal army of the Sage himself! If sent out to a post, he would start at no less than Prefect or Army Commissioner. How dared Magistrate Liu speak like this?

It's over. The constable captain of Heqing County groaned inwardly. Although the constables had originally developed from the Jinwu Guard, by now they were a completely different thing from a personal army like the Jinwu Guard.

When the Marquis of the Left Yulin Guard across from them lost his temper, should he run? Or should he run?

But beyond everyone's expectations, Zhang Xiaobao stood perfectly composed. He cupped his hands toward Magistrate Liu as well, and with a slight bow said:

"When the Sage was in Hexi, he placed great emphasis on laws and ordinances. Today my brave subordinate was indeed rash. Since Magistrate Liu wishes to uphold the law impartially, then please judge according to the law."

At these words, not only did everyone feel it was unreal, even the soldier with the severed wrist stared wide-eyed. He was about to speak, but Zhang Xiaobao immediately turned back and silenced him with a stern look.

Magistrate Liu finally relaxed. He vaguely felt that he was very likely standing in a scene that would be passed down through the ages.

Perhaps not only would he not be stabbed to death by the guard officer across from him, but he might turn misfortune into fortune, and his name would reach the ears of Heaven itself.

At once, his back straightened and his voice grew louder. Looking around at the crowd of onlookers, which must have numbered a thousand commoners, he said in a loud voice:

"Wang Huzi's punishment was excessive, and he beat common laborers and commoners at will. He is sentenced to pay two hundred cash for medicine, and to ten days of hard labor.

The brave soldier under the Marquis's command wounded another man. He is sentenced to pay five hundred cash for medicine. In consideration of his service to the state, other punishments are remitted."

Zhang Xiaobao understood now. The magistrate across from him, though a bit timid, was still a man of sense.

This both upheld the law impartially and did them no real harm. It was only five hundred cash in compensation — to Zhang Xiaobao, that was nothing at all.

"This judgment is fair and reasonable. We will pay the five hundred cash."

With that, Zhang Xiaobao tossed a small money pouch onto the ground, then cupped his hands toward the surrounding commoners.

"I am of the Son of Heaven's personal army, but the Son of Heaven constantly teaches us not to grow arrogant because of our deeds, to treat the common people well, and to obey the law.

I ask all you elders to bear witness: I have been punished today, and have truly followed the Sage's teachings."

The Luoyang commoners who had come to watch the excitement, along with the laborers from various places, suddenly felt themselves drawn into the affair. One after another, they cupped their hands toward Zhang Xiaobao.

"The general obeys the law. We have seen it with our own eyes — it is absolutely true."

Magistrate Liu was dumbfounded. He stood frozen in place, and only after a long while came back to his senses. It seemed he had been upstaged.

Zhang Xiaobao suddenly felt that, apart from mounting a horse to kill the enemy, this was also rather interesting. So he returned the salute once more, then beckoned to the soldier with the severed wrist and said: "Are you not going to help me onto my horse?"

This was an even more brilliant stroke by Zhang Xiaobao. With so many people gathered around, this was almost the first scene since the restoration of Luoyang, the Divine Capital, in which a civil official could punish a yabing officer of the personal guard.

He was afraid that others would notice his leg was crippled and that he had retired from the army, which would weaken the impact of this affair, so he prepared to mount his horse and leave at once.

But then came another burst of gongs. A dozen or so constables appeared, wearing blue narrow-sleeved riding clothes, blue head-scarves, and short hengdao sabers at their waists — clearly a grade above the Heqing County constables.

Next, several great banners were raised, bearing inscriptions such as "Hereditary Duke of Ziting Commandery," "By Imperial Command, Builder of the Divine Capital," and "Magistrate of the Divine Capital."

The crowd parted, everyone hastily saluting. The highest official of Luoyang, the Divine Capital, Cao Yanming, had arrived.

"Zhang Sanlang! You little brat, you pass through the Divine Capital without visiting me, and on top of that you beat people here. Watch out — your elder brother, the Earl of Dong'an, will discipline you with the family rules!"

Zhang Xiaobao was briefly taken aback, because he was not close to Cao Yanming.

This Duke of Ziting Commandery and Builder of the Divine Capital had risen through military merit, but most of his work was technical, and he managed technical units like the Divine Mechanism Battalion and the Gold-Dividing Capital.

Moreover, Cao Yanming came from an extraordinary background, had married the second princess of Khotan, and was a major figure of the Yuan Cong faction. Although Zhang Xiaobao had accompanied his elder brother to pay respects to him, they had never been this familiar.

"Hiss!" As soon as Cao Yanming finished speaking, everyone drew a sharp breath. Had the constables not been propping him up from behind, Magistrate Liu would almost have collapsed to the ground.

Only now did everyone realize that this Marquis before them had such a deep background!

Hearing the crowd's hissing, Zhang Xiaobao came to his senses. People said Duke Cao was a second-generation noble who had risen to high rank on his family background.

But only today did Zhang Xiaobao understand that anyone who could reach this position absolutely had his own abilities.

This Duke Cao had very likely gotten word long ago, and had held back until this moment to step out and give things a push.

Zhang Xiaobao bowed all the way down. "I have behaved disgracefully. Having erred today, I truly have no face to see Duke Cao. On another day I will certainly come to your residence to beg forgiveness."

Cao Yanming chuckled. "Indeed a trusted man of His Majesty, able to accept punishment according to law. That is good. Off with you!"

Having finished with Zhang Xiaobao, Cao Yanming turned to look at Magistrate Liu. "You have done very well! But to put a stop to petty officials beating commoners at will, always remember the virtue of the Sage."

Magistrate Liu now had the illusion that his suffering had finally turned to sweetness. He knelt on the ground and cried out, "How benevolent is the Sage!"

The surrounding commoners also burst into cheers, the sound drowning out the buzzing murmurs of discussion.

A wisp of clear wind stirred the dust on the ground as Zhang Xiaobao rode slowly into the distance.

Behind them, the crowd, having finished cheering, was discussing the famous scene of the day — how Magistrate Liu had impartially handled the Marquis of the Left Yulin Guard, the Sage's own personal guard.

In everyone's heart there was a faint feeling: was the era in which a man with a hengdao saber in hand could kill people at will about to pass away?

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