Chapter 1225

The barbarian bone sat up dazedly, thought seriously for a moment, and confirmed this was not a dream.

The reason was simple—he could not have dreamed this.

"Two senior brothers, I initially didn't understand officialdom's rules, provoked the Lu Prefect, causing him to always dislike me, but that doesn't mean we should arrest him just because of that."

Meng Jingzhou raised his thumb, signaling Barbarian Bone to put his heart at ease: "We are acting according to rules and regulations; it's the prefect who has the problem."

Barbarian Bone breathed a sigh of relief—indeed, the two senior brothers are rule-abiding people and wouldn't arrest someone out of personal desire.

He remembered asking the two senior brothers to come help catch ghosts; spending one night arresting his superior made the answer obvious.

"So it was the Lu Prefect playing tricks all along?"

As expected of the two senior brothers, they resolved a problem that had troubled him for three months in just one day.

"That's not it—we happened to encounter an illegal organization during our night shift, followed the trail, and discovered the Lu Prefect had been protecting this organization all along," Lu Yang said.

"Ah, that's how it is." Barbarian Bone nodded.

Dealing with the prefect wasn't his first time; he felt no psychological burden, and he and Lu Yang had killed the Yanjiang Prefect in Yanjiang Commandery.

Moreover, now we're only arresting a prefect, not killing him—it's not even a major matter.

Arresting the Lu Prefect is a big deal, hard to hide, and since Lu Yang and the others act upright and sit properly, there's no need to conceal it—the news of his arrest spread quickly throughout the government office.

"What nonsense— the Lu Prefect was arrested by the newcomers?"

Everyone in the government office who heard this froze for two seconds, their brains needing time to digest the information.

"Weren't they just hired yesterday? They arrested the prefect that very night?"

After working in the official system for so many years, they had neither seen nor heard of such an outrageous thing.

"Chief Clerk, what do you think—" "You're taking medicine, I won't disturb you."

Originally, the government office runners wanted to ask the Chief Clerk's opinion, but seeing him shivering while taking his herbal decoction, they sensibly withdrew.

How could the Chief Clerk not tremble? For years he had warned Barbarian Bone not to do this, not to do that; he had long heard the Lu Prefect disliked Barbarian Bone, and if not for Barbarian Bone being the top scholar, he would have already sabotaged him.

Barbarian Bone's year-end evaluation still depended on the prefect's assessment, so he tried every means to maintain relations between Barbarian Bone and the prefect.

Now it's fine—no need to maintain them anymore.

"Court is in session!" Barbarian Bone, in official robes, rolled up his sleeves and slapped the table with a palm louder than the sounding board.

"Bring up the defendant!"

"Wei—yi—wu—yi—"

Two minor constables who had rendered great service brought the Lu Prefect up.

Hearing there would be another court session, the townspeople came to watch the fun; upon seeing, they were convinced this time it was genuine— they had arrested a high official.

Old Wang, bringing young Wang the blacksmith, saw the two constables from last night escorting the Lu Prefect and was so astonished his mouth hung open for half a day.

Weren't we supposed to arrest the Hundred Sword Alliance? How did we end up arresting the prefect too?

"Barbarian Bone, you dare let them arrest me!" The Lu Prefect flew into a rage—these two minor constables clearly acted under Barbarian Bone's orders!

"How dare I not arrest—oh, at this moment I should say you are corrupt, pervert justice for personal gain, and this official certainly must arrest you!"

"Does the Hundred Sword Alliance regularly send you spirit stones?"

"No."

"Did you let the Hundred Sword Alliance use all means to seize swords throughout Huangzhou?"

"No."

"One hundred and eight swords were found in your room, ranging from Soul Transformation to Jin Dan grade— are these swords yours?"

"No."

"Did you violate court regulations by going to brothels and pleasure boats after work?"

"No."

Barbarian Bone turned to the Chief Clerk, who was writing furiously, and said: "Record it—evidence is solid but he refuses to confess, not a case of leniency, no mitigating circumstances."

Before the court session, Lu Yang and the others acted swiftly, returned to gather all evidence, which included the ninety-nine members of the Hundred Sword Alliance.

Since the Hundred Sword Alliance had too many people and their statements weren't complete, they questioned the deputy and chief leaders, plus Xuanhei Baowang—four individuals.

Not a big problem—just supplement the statements later and hold another session.

"I am a court-appointed official—no fourth-rank official has the authority to deal with me!" Lu Duogu grew increasingly furious, utterly ashamed and humiliated.

"Wait a moment."

Barbarian Bone left those words, then flipped through various regulations in court—first checked criminal law to confirm the charge, then criminal procedure law to confirm jurisdiction—before closing the book satisfied.

"See, the legal code says as long as it's within jurisdiction, I can act— it doesn't say low-ranking officials can't arrest high-ranking ones."

Barbarian Bone displayed his identity jade tablet: "Besides, I am from the Wen Dao Sect—our disciples have law enforcement authority."

Barbarian Bone had always regarded Lu Yang and the others as role models; Lu Yang and the others are honest people, he is an honest person, and honest people always speak reason.

"Alright, take him away."

Barbarian Bone saw the Lu Prefect say nothing, and saw no need to interrogate further.

The news that Barbarian Bone had arrested his superior quickly reached the upper echelons of Huangzhou; their reaction was no stronger than the government office staff's— they too froze for two seconds, doubting they had misheard.

They say history is a reflection of reality, but the thirty thousand years combined of Dayu, Daqian, and Daxia have never seen such a thing.

"Look on the bright side— at least future generations studying history will have a reference." One of the upper echelons still had the heart to joke, having interacted with Barbarian Bone a few times and knowing this sounded like something he could do.

"Actually, there are precedents— during the end of every dynasty, when rebels rose, they acted exactly like this."

"Lord Song, that remark goes too far— are you suggesting Barbarian Bone is rebelling?"

"That's what you said, not what I said."

"You mean exactly that!"

Seeing the discussion heading in a bad direction, the Governor of Lvzhou tapped the table: "Alright, stop joking— although this has no precedent, Barbarian Bone's action is not against regulations; based on the evidence submitted, the Lu Prefect indeed violated the law— he should be removed from office."

"Then who should be prefect? Barbarian Bone? Since he became county magistrate, he has governed Quyi County orderly, with significant economic development."

"Of course the economy can develop significantly—he took advantage of his own fluctuations to reach the Integration Stage and personally went down into the mine to dig ore, nearly excavating an entire vein. What's the difference between this method and cheating? He shouldn't be allowed to serve as prefect."

"As long as he can develop the economy, why demand so much? With his cultivation level standing there, can't he be used?"

"If not the Bone Barbarian, then who? Zhongshan Commandery hardly has any promising candidates—who can bear this great responsibility?"

Lü Zhou Mu shook his head, made a decision by slamming the table: "The Bone Barbarian is indeed unsuitable—although he is the top scholar, his experience is still insufficient. Extraordinary promotion requires an imperial court order. In my opinion, the magistrate of Guyuan County in Zhongshan Commandery is steady, has sufficient experience, can command respect, and can be appointed prefect."