"How amusing," Yan Gongli said, hands on her hips, coolly observing the officials in the hall, not taking his words to heart at all. After all, to her, mortals were nothing more than ants. Usually, she might take care of them, but if they provoked her, she would simply crush them.
Even now, in her mortal form, she still had countless ways to kill these shameless people.
"Bold! How dare you be so insolent in court!" the official roared.
Jiang Wen, however, remained calm. He looked around the hall and asked, "May I ask what this official's name is?"
The official was taken aback for a moment before answering, "I am Zhang Zhong, the Commander of the Military Affairs Office of Su City."
"The Military Affairs Office is responsible for maintaining the peace of Su City and handling civil cases. Since you are the Commander, you should remember that every case should have evidence, correct?" Jiang Wen said calmly.
"Of course, I have evidence of your crimes! Bring up the evidence!" The official slammed the table, and the owner of the carriage shop was brought in.
The owner was sweating profusely, his arms trembling slightly. He took out a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the sweat from his forehead, and then shouted loudly to the Commander in the hall, "Your Honor! I am innocent! I am not an accomplice!"
"Is that so? Have you ever seen these two people?" The Commander pointed at Jiang Wen.
"Isn't it you who wanted to find someone?" Yan Gongli asked.
"Useless! All useless! Get a few more people over here!" The Commander, seeing his subordinates were useless, angrily scolded them. Jiang Wen, however, looked at him with delight, a smile on his face.
Then there was cutting with knives and burning with hot irons. But they couldn't do anything to Jiang Wen.
"Hmph!" Eight guards exerted their strength together, and in the midst of the Commander's impotent rage, they slowly moved Jiang Wen into the prison. Then they prepared to lock his collarbones with iron chains, but found that the chains couldn't penetrate Jiang Wen's body at all.
"Yes, we rented a carriage and went to the Spring Breeze House. This was to find useful clues in a crowded place. Because Su City is too huge, from south to north it's like two different worlds. Ordinary people know nothing about various information and it's difficult to find out what they want to know," Jiang Wen said, stretching. "Now that there's an opportunity to become famous instantly, shouldn't we cherish it?"
Jiang Wen said leisurely, his voice seemingly having a magical power that made everyone present quiet down to listen to his story. Slowly, as the story reached its climax, their emotions were also stirred.
"Don't worry, I have a plan," Jiang Wen said. "What did we come to Su City to do?"
"This... this is the banner of my shop," the owner said affirmatively.
"You, pale-faced young man, your mouth is quite tough. Why don't you tell me your story, and then try this official's punishments," the Commander laughed.
"Hmph! Do you have anything else to say?" the Commander snorted.
"This, this..." The owner was in a dilemma, and finally could only lower his head and say sullenly, "I don't know, I only rented the carriage to these two."
"Of course. There's food, drink, lodging, and you can go out and talk to people. Isn't this a great place?" Jiang Wen laughed.
"Your Honor, the name of this story is 'Pointing at a Deer and Calling it a Horse.' It's about people like you who distort the truth and confuse right and wrong."
"Once upon a time, there was a great emperor who unified the world and ruled the four seas. He built the Great Wall and drove out foreign enemies. He established an unprecedented dynasty. But this emperor died young, and he had a son named Huhai..."
During this time, he had built a good relationship with the jailers and become like family.
"Clap, clap, clap." Jiang Wen clapped his hands with a smile, then looked at the Commander calmly. "Wonderful, truly wonderful."
"Zhao Gao led a deer and pointed at the deer, saying it was a horse. The court officials didn't dare to refute, only the Second Emperor laughed and said: 'Prime Minister, you're mistaken, how can you call a deer a horse?' The Second Emperor asked others again, some said it was a deer, some said it was a horse. And those who said it was a horse were later killed by Zhao Gao one by one."
"That's right, that's exactly what I'm thinking," Jiang Wen nodded. "There's a saying, good news doesn't travel far, but bad news spreads far and wide. Shouldn't we, as notorious outlaws, be able to spread it even further?"
"Good! Since you recognize these two people, do you also recognize the banner on this carriage! Is this banner from your carriage shop?!" The Commander had someone bring in a pair of banners, which had the owner's carriage shop's mark on them.
"You! What exactly do you want to say?!" The Commander said angrily. "Now that the evidence is conclusive, hurry up and drag them down!"
The guards on both sides stepped forward, grabbed Jiang Wen's limbs, and tried to lift him inside. But no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't move Jiang Wen at all.
They all put down their instruments of torture, respectfully invited Jiang Wen to the best cell, and treated him with good food and drink. Yan Gongli also came in with him, squatting on the straw bed in the cell in a daze.
"I say, are you just willingly being captured like this?" Yan Gongli asked in confusion.
He smiled and sat up, then pushed open the door of the cell. He walked to the jailers' dining table and began to eat and drink heartily.
"You, why aren't you worried? You've been framed!" Yan Gongli asked in confusion, not understanding why this person wasn't worried about his reputation. Once he was considered a murderer, according to the laws of Daqian, he would be beheaded and displayed to the public.
Even the most cruel punishments were just tickles on Jiang Wen. He was like Sun Wukong, the Monkey King who wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, no matter what the guards did, he remained unmoved.
The guards were scared out of their wits, knowing that this person was not a simple character. Although their superior was the Commander of the Military Affairs Office, compared to a god-like person like Jiang Wen, the superior's name was clearly not enough to suppress him.
"That's right, they took your carriage to the Spring Breeze House," the Commander looked at Jiang Wen triumphantly, then happily slammed the gavel. "Bold criminals, now that the evidence is conclusive, why don't you confess honestly?"
"Your Honor, I remembered a story," Jiang Wen said, pacing. "How about I tell it to you?"
After Jiang Wen finished telling the story, he looked at the Commander on the high seat again: "I wonder if Your Honor wants to hear the idiom of this story."
Sitting in his seat, a jailer walked over with a smile to massage his back, and said with a smile, "Brother Jiang, the news you asked us to inquire about, we have already inquired about it. Brother, you are going to be executed at noon the day after tomorrow."
"That's great!" Jiang Wen laughed. "You must come to support me then."
"Of course," the jailers said with flattering smiles.
