Chapter 89 : Chapter 89

Chapter 89: When We of the Jinyiwei Kill, Who Are You to Demand an Explanation!

At the gates of Jiannan City.

Voices surged like a boiling tide, and the scene was deafeningly chaotic.

Almost everyone living nearby had gathered here to witness an astonishing spectacle.

Today, Thousand-Household Commander Cheng Yu of the Jinyiwei was going to behead Mei Feng, the stockade master of Plum Saber Stockade and a sixth-rank martial artist!

This man had been audacious beyond measure. Relying on his martial strength, he had dared to sneak into the Jinyiwei Thousand-Household Office under cover of night with evil intent, only to be captured on the spot by Cheng Yu himself!

The commoners crowded around Mei Feng, pointing at him and gossiping as they dug up Plum Saber Stockade’s sordid history. They rarely had the chance to enjoy a spectacle like this.

“I remember that forty years ago, the old stockade master of Plum Saber Stockade was a man of both martial skill and virtue. One winter, he saw an abandoned baby by the roadside. Unable to bear leaving it out in the freezing cold, he took it home as his adopted son, raised him, taught him martial arts, and even married his daughter to him.”

“And that adopted son turned out to be an ungrateful white-eyed wolf! Later, unhappy that the old stockade master passed the inheritance to his own son, he joined forces with outsiders, swallowed up Plum Saber Stockade, and killed all those who refused to submit. I heard that white-eyed wolf was named Mei Feng!”

“The Plum Saber Stockade of today lost all the people who inherited the old stockade master’s sense of honor long ago. The whole place is full of the same scoundrels who once schemed to seize it. They’re local tyrants in Mingtian Prefecture!”

Cheng Yu gave a faint nod. The Jianghu loved to boast of honor and righteousness, but how many sects and martial powers had not stolen what belonged to others? People had always turned a blind eye to such things.

What a joke.

With a cold sneer, he turned and looked back into the city.

“Those people should be here by now.”

The reason he had deliberately spared Mei Feng for the time being, so the man could die amid greater commotion, was to show certain people something clearly.

This was the fate of anyone who dared set their sights on Cheng Yu!

Not long after that, bursts of alarm suddenly rose from somewhere not far from the city gate.

The onlookers hurriedly turned to look, only to see more than a dozen extraordinary figures darting over roofs and leaping across walls as they approached.

Every one of them was clearly a skilled martial artist.

Those with sharp eyes quickly recognized who had come.

“That’s Mister Qin of the Mogu Academy, Proprietress Liu of the Brotherhood Tavern, and the others are all prominent figures of Jiannan Circuit as well. Did they come to watch the show too?”

“Watch what show? Everyone knows the people of the Jianghu stand together like branches of the same tree. The Jinyiwei only just posted that sharply worded invitation, and today they arrested the stockade master of Plum Saber Stockade as well. They’re obviously here to rescue him!”

“Rescue him? Wouldn’t that mean openly opposing the Jinyiwei? Now this is going to be good!”

The martial artists’ movement techniques were impressive. In the blink of an eye, they drifted in from afar and landed steadily in front of the crowd.

They lined up as one and looked toward Cheng Yu. Every last one of them cut an imposing figure.

It was a picture-perfect tableau of Jianghu heroes ready to take a knife in the ribs for a friend, and the watching crowd erupted in cheers.

Cheng Yu lifted his chin slightly and smiled faintly.

“You’ve come to watch me execute a criminal? Then grant them seats!”

With that single order, the momentum the martial artists had been carefully building shattered completely.

Grant them seats?

Every one of them was older than Cheng Yu, yet this junior had the nerve to speak of “granting” them seats. It was nothing short of humiliation!

Those with poorer self-control could hardly contain their anger at once.

The scholar Qin Mosheng frowned deeply. Suppressing his fury, he clasped his fan and saluted Cheng Yu.

“We have come to persuade you, Thousand-Household Commander, not to make a grave mistake!”

“Oh?” Cheng Yu arched a brow. “And what would you persuade me of?”

Qin Mosheng suddenly stepped forward.

His white robe stirred even without wind, and with Internal Energy carrying his voice, he spoke in ringing tones:

“I would persuade you, Thousand-Household Commander, not to bend the law for private ends or slaughter the innocent. Under heaven’s clear gaze, that path will only bring ruin to others and to yourself!”

Cheng Yu let out a cold laugh.

“How am I slaughtering the innocent?”

Qin Mosheng stepped forward again, his voice growing even more forceful under the reinforcement of Internal Energy.

“You say Stockade Master Mei broke into the Thousand-Household Office with evil intent, but that is only your side of the story. How can that justify killing him and raiding his household?”

“Who doesn’t know of your hostility toward the heroes of the Jianghu, Thousand-Household Commander Cheng? How do you prove you are not abusing your power, murdering the innocent, and framing the loyal?!”

“If this becomes a precedent, then who could the Jinyiwei not kill from now on?”

The moment those words fell, everyone listening felt their hearts jolt. Qin Mosheng’s loud, forceful voice instinctively swept them along.

Ordinary people with no stake in the matter kept watching the show, but those with guilty consciences immediately caught the real point hidden in his words.

Why exactly could the Jinyiwei kill Mei Feng?

A charge like “harboring evil designs” was too vague. If that alone was enough to kill Mei Feng, then the Jinyiwei could just as easily seize on some pretext and kill them as well!

Those with ulterior motives immediately began shouting, “Why kill him? You owe us an explanation!”

“If you can’t explain it clearly, then this is bending the law for private ends!”

Once someone took the lead, quite a few people actually joined in.

Seeing this, the Jinyiwei’s expressions changed, and fury surged in their hearts.

What did these people mean by this? How dare they accuse Lord Cheng of being that kind of man!

Fortunately, they had undergone plenty of professional training. They forced down their anger and silently memorized the faces of those leading the outcry.

At the sight, Qin Mosheng revealed a confident smile.

This was the method he had come up with—leveraging popular sentiment!

The Jinyiwei behind Cheng Yu represented Great Qian. That was both a source of backing and a form of restraint.

If he killed and raided a household in private and no one investigated, that was one thing. But once the matter was pressed, if he could not produce a convincing reason, that would be enough to hang the charge of deceiving the throne and perverting the law around his neck!

“Thousand-Household Commander, give us an explanation, will you?”

Cheng Yu had not expected the man to try to hijack public opinion against him.

Yet he was not the least bit flustered. He only found it laughable.

“You want an explanation? Fine, I’ll give you one. Since you’re afraid you won’t believe me, I’ll let the criminal say it himself!”

Cheng Yu looked at the miserable Mei Feng inside the prison cart and barked, “Say it yourself!”

Qin Mosheng and the others were instantly overjoyed.

Mei Feng must have been captured only because of a moment’s carelessness. If he opened his mouth now, there would be plenty of room to maneuver.

At worst, the charge would amount to nothing more than attempted theft of a saber. No matter what, it would never rise to the level of a capital offense.

At Cheng Yu’s bark, Mei Feng, who sat inside the prison cart, jolted so violently his whole body shook. There was none of his former domineering manner left.

Stammering, he said, “I… I went to steal something…”

Wait. Something was wrong with Mei Feng!

The scholar suddenly sensed the problem and immediately shouted as well, “Steal what?!”

“Lord Cheng’s Xiuchun Saber…”

“You all heard him, didn’t you? Everyone in Jiannan Circuit knows Stockade Master Mei is a saber-user. Seeing a fine blade, he was tempted and acted rashly enough to come steal it. No matter how you look at it, that doesn’t amount to a capital crime, does it?”

The scholar immediately cut him off, refusing to let Mei Feng continue, and turned the question back on Cheng Yu.

“If theft alone is enough to raid a household and exterminate a family, then how many people in all of Jiannan Circuit would have to die?”

His voice, empowered by force, exploded in everyone’s hearts. No one could help but be led into a moment of panic.

In times like these, quite a few people had relatives guilty of petty theft and pilfering. If stealing meant household confiscation—then not many people present would escape it.

The moment it touched their own interests, they looked at Cheng Yu doubtfully.

“The punishment for theft is not death!”

So many people shouting in unison created enough pressure to make quite a few Jinyiwei tense up inwardly.

This was bad!

And yet, listening to the crowd’s cries, Cheng Yu’s expression did not change in the slightest. He merely sneered.

“Who said all he stole was a saber? He also came to steal this!”

He reached into his robe and pulled out a bronze tally carved in the shape of a beast.

The smiling scholar’s heart skipped a beat at once, and he subconsciously staggered half a step back.

“How does he have that?!”

The moment Liu Erniang and the others saw his reaction, they knew something had gone wrong and quickly asked, “What is that?”

Through gritted teeth, the scholar said, “A Tiger Tally!”

A Tiger Tally?!

The martial artists were shocked out of their wits. Since when had they been trying to steal something like that?

The moment the crowd heard the words “Tiger Tally,” the people who had just been shouting fell silent in an instant, each one breaking out in cold sweat.

Stealing a Tiger Tally was a textbook offense punishable by household confiscation!

What exactly had they just been sympathizing with?

Seeing how quickly their attitudes had changed, Cheng Yu’s expression turned even colder. With one kick, he shattered the prison cart and dragged Mei Feng out as if hauling a dog.

“Wasn’t it the Tiger Tally you wanted to steal?!”

Terrified out of his mind, Mei Feng did not dare resist. The inhuman torture he had suffered in the Jinyiwei the night before flashed through his mind, and he did not dare contradict a single word from Cheng Yu.

At the top of his lungs, he shouted, “Yes! I wanted to steal that!”

【The host’s overbearing aura burst forth, frightening the criminal out of his wits and establishing the might of the Jinyiwei. Reward: Lightning Strike Talisman!】

Hearing Mei Feng admit to the crime of stealing the Tiger Tally, the entire crowd went rigid with shock.

Qin Mosheng in particular stared at Mei Feng with utter disbelief on his face.

Was this spineless wreck really that overbearing and reckless Mei Feng from Plum Saber Stockade?

Had he become such trash that he would admit to absolutely anything?!

Qin Mosheng quickly understood what had happened. Mei Feng had clearly been beaten into a false confession—beaten until he had begun remembering things that had never happened!

He immediately shouted, “This is a confession beaten out of him! What use would a Tiger Tally even be to him?!”

“So you want me to keep explaining?”

“Of course!”

“An explanation…” Cheng Yu frowned, then suddenly smiled, utterly at ease.

His Xiuchun Saber abruptly left its sheath, and thunder rang out.

The blade flashed, and Mei Feng’s head fell to the ground.

“An explanation? When we of the Jinyiwei kill, who are you to demand an explanation!”