His wife’s few words had resolved the matter he was fretting over, and Fan Zehao’s mood immediately improved.
“Come, come, eat. You’ll have a tiring day tomorrow, my wife!”
Zhao Jiaqi shot him a look, as if the restaurant wasn’t for her too, and he was being overly polite.
Lifting a wine cup, she downed a mouthful of warm, potent liquor that burned her throat. Smacking her lips, she savored the baijiu.
Just as she took her first bite of food, she heard hurried footsteps outside, and the next moment, their door was kicked open.
A man strode in, followed by another man who had been dragged along.
The yamen runner pointed at Fan Zehao and asked, “Did he steal the deer?”
The servant sobbed and nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, it was him. He stole the deer from Deshengtang and sold it cheaply to our master. It was him, I won’t forget!”
What in the world?
Zhao Jiaqi’s ears nearly fell off from the shock. This servant was clearly lying through his teeth!
But before they could even protest, the group moved to arrest Fan Zehao, “Drag him away! Lock him in the prison, and the magistrate will pass judgment tomorrow!”
Fan Zehao looked at the approaching men. He didn’t dodge or resist, wanting to see how the prefect would judge him!
“Wife, you go home. I’ll be in jail for a few days. Don’t worry about me!”
The yamen runner noticed the patches on the young woman’s clothes and looked at the man, seeing him as a true gentleman. Knowing he was caught, he hadn’t cried or begged his wife for help, nor had he shifted blame. He didn’t bother Zhao Jiaqi and simply took the man away.
After Fan Zehao was gone, Zhao Jiaqi slammed her chopsticks onto the table, her fists clenched. She wished she could grab him and beat him severely.
They hadn’t even dealt with the Deshengtang issue yet, and now these people were causing trouble. If she were to turn a blind eye to this, she’d pluck out her own eye and use it as a fish float!
Fan Zehao spent the night in prison without sleep, not by choice, but due to the torment inflicted by the guards. He was whipped, leaving welts all over his body.
Despite this, he insisted the deer was his and refused to change his story!
At dawn, Zhao Jiaqi went to the yamen by herself and beat the drum outside the gate, alerting the prefect!
When the court session began, the prefect was startled to see her. Before he could react, a yamen runner kicked her to the ground, held her down, and forced her head down to kowtow.
“Audacious commoner, how dare you not kneel before the prefect…”
“How dare you! Let go… She is a Princess! She is a Princess!” The prefect immediately knelt down, pushed away the yamen runner’s hand, and shouted in panic!
A Princess?
The yamen runner looked at the woman, who was dressed plainly and was not exceptionally beautiful. If such a woman were a Princess, then his own wife would be an Empress, and he would be the Emperor? He didn’t believe it and retorted, “My lord, have you mistaken her for someone else? She is a Princess?”
“You imbecile! She is indeed the Princess! Now kneel and beg for forgiveness!” The prefect was covered in sweat.
He had already knelt and recognized her. Couldn’t these blind fools see it?
At his command, the yamen runners all knelt down, heads bowed low. The one who had kicked the Princess earlier wished he could bury his head in a rock. Trembling all over, he feared the Princess would punish him later.
But to his disappointment, it wasn’t the Princess who would deal with him later; it was immediate execution by beating! The yamen runner fainted on the spot!
Zhao Jiaqi had sat on the dragon throne before. Those who knelt before her were high-ranking officials, from the first rank down to the third. However, among them, there were never prefects or governors.
She had never sat on the magistrate's chair beneath the bright mirror. This was her first time, yet she witnessed the full spectrum of human folly!
The prefect knelt below. After a long while, seeing that the Princess had not spoken, he looked up, sweat beading on his forehead. On such a cold day, he was sweating profusely, not because of the heated walls in the yamen, but from a heart filled with burning anxiety!
“If I recall correctly, your name is Liu Qingfeng, and you have served as prefect here for over ten years!”
Liu Qingfeng wiped the sweat from his brow and nodded repeatedly, “Yes, yes, yes, Your Highness has a good memory. I have served as prefect here for thirteen years!”
Zhao Jiaqi said softly, “Thirteen years. That is quite a long time. You should be moving up in your career!”
Huh?
Was the Princess here to suggest he get promoted? Liu Qingfeng was confused, the sudden turn of events leaving him bewildered. He remained dazed for a while.
“Prefect Liu!”
“Your subordinate is here!” Liu Qingfeng replied immediately when he heard his name called.
Zhao Jiaqi stood up, walked over to him, and looked down. “Lead the way. This Princess is going to the prison!”
The prison?
It was like a heavy blow that stunned him. He immediately looked up and asked in confusion, “The prison is damp and humid, filled with criminals. It is unsanitary. Your Highness’s esteemed person should not go there!”
“Are you sure the prison only holds guilty individuals? Have those prisoners been thoroughly investigated by you, and their guilt confirmed?”
Zhao Jiaqi’s question left Liu Qingfeng speechless for a moment, but he quickly asserted, “The prisoners inside have all been tried by this subordinate. Their guilt is beyond doubt; there is not a single case of wrongful conviction!”
Zhao Jiaqi curled her lips into a smile. “So, everything in Hexinzhou is in order?”
“Naturally. I have managed Hexinzhou meticulously over the years…”
She could no longer stand listening to these endless lies. Seeing the sun gradually rising outside, she roughly calculated the time. The message she had sent to the special envoy last night should mean he would arrive this afternoon.
“There is no need to say more. Whether you have done a good job or not, this Princess will know. Lead the way now, this Princess is going to the prison!”
Liu Qingfeng, seeing the Princess's insistence on going to the prison, felt very puzzled. As he led the way, he tried to recall what had happened in the past few days. However, after thinking it through, he confirmed that no major incidents had occurred. Despite his lingering suspicion, he quickly suppressed it.
Zhao Jiaqi followed behind them all the way to the prison. Although she knew the prison conditions were poor, she hadn't expected them to have tortured her husband. Seeing the man bound to a cross, his upper body covered in wounds, Zhao Jiaqi was stunned. She cursed him softly in anger, thinking that he should have revealed his identity if he knew he was going to be tortured, rather than enduring the whipping.
Prefect Liu Qingfeng saw that the Princess had stopped in front of this particular cell. He gave the jailer a look. The jailer, eager to please, stepped forward, cupped his hands, and said, “My lord, the prisoner in this cell stole a deer from Deshengtang and sold it to another. We apprehended him and found fifty-four taels and three hundred coins in stolen silver!”
Zhao Jiaqi turned and silently looked at the jailer. She desperately wanted to tear his mouth to shreds right now!