Chapter 106: The Tangled Affairs of Yunguan

Li Qing, standing to the side, noticed the change in Li Shun's expression and could not help but glance over.

"'Cripple'? Who are they talking about?" he asked in confusion.

Li Shun replied simply, "Me. Back in Lengshan County, one of my legs was broken. Later, after cultivating the Twelvefold Longevity Methods, my shattered bones rejoined. That's why there's no trace of it now."

Li Qing's expression changed.

He had never imagined his brother had once endured such humiliation.

Li Shun paid no attention to his astonishment. Only after reading the letter from beginning to end did he finally understand the whole story.

After Feng Guan returned to his hometown of Yunguan County, he had faithfully followed Li Shun's advice and lived peacefully for a time.

But all of that came crashing down the moment he decided to marry, have children, and continue his family line.

At first, everything went smoothly.

He spent a considerable sum hiring a matchmaker and found himself a young lady from a respectable family. Though not a peerless beauty, she was delicate and pleasant in appearance, hardworking by nature, and well suited to managing a household.

Feng Guan was extremely satisfied.

He paid a hefty bride price and brought her home in a grand wedding procession carried by eight bearers.

Who could have expected that on the very next day after the wedding, a man would burst into their home, hurling curses so loudly that all the neighbors came to watch?

After listening carefully, Feng Guan felt as though a bolt from the blue had struck him.

The wife he had spent a fortune to marry had already pledged herself to another man long ago.

Unfortunately, that man had neither wealth nor influential family connections.

The woman's family had forcibly separated them.

Then, fearing their daughter would not let go of her feelings, they had hastily arranged another marriage through a well-paid matchmaker.

That was how Feng Guan had been chosen.

It was an old story, the sort Feng Guan had heard from time to time in the past. He had always secretly mocked those unfortunate enough to be caught in such a situation.

Never had he imagined it would one day happen to him.

At first, Feng Guan could hardly believe it and turned to question his wife.

But she only cried without saying a word.

He felt both aggrieved and furious.

He had married her properly and lawfully, yet someone had come to curse him at his own doorstep, making him seem like the villain instead.

What kind of absurd situation was this?

Summoning his courage, he pushed open the door and tried to drive the troublemaker away.

Unexpectedly, the moment the man saw Feng Guan, his eyes turned bloodshot with hatred.

Without a word, he threw a punch straight at Feng Guan's face.

Although Feng Guan had regained his youth through the Twelvefold Longevity Methods, he had never truly cultivated.

How could he possibly match a burly man like this?

He was knocked unconscious on the spot.

When he slowly regained consciousness, an even more terrible nightmare awaited him.

His wife had run away with that man.

Anxious and enraged, Feng Guan immediately gathered people to search for them.

Yet to his shock...

After pursuing them all the way beyond the city walls, they found only two corpses by the riverbank.

The pair had committed suicide together by jumping into the river.

Feng Guan had never imagined events would unfold this way.

He stood there in a daze, his mind completely blank.

Before he could even think about what to do next, the woman's family had already arrived after hearing the news.

Clutching their daughter's corpse, they wept bitterly.

Then they turned around and accused Feng Guan of driving her to her death.

No matter how he tried to explain himself, they refused to listen. Instead, they relentlessly filed complaints and brought the matter before the magistrate.

At first, Feng Guan was not afraid in the slightest.

He had done nothing wrong. If anything, he was the one who had suffered a tremendous injustice.

Why should he fear being sued?

Yet the verdict issued by the Yunguan County Magistrate left him feeling as though he had fallen into an icy abyss:

"Feng Guan, driven by lust, purchased a marriage and induced a citizen to break a prior commitment. When conflict arose, he failed to remain indoors and await the authorities, instead taking it upon himself to drive the complainant away, provoking violence. Thereafter, he led others in relentless pursuit, resulting in two deaths by drowning. Though he did not personally kill them, their deaths all originated from his actions. According to the law, he shall be convicted under the statute of 'causing death through fighting injuries,' with the sentence reduced by one degree. Punishment shall be exile or penal labor."

Although sentenced to exile, Feng Guan held the first-class noble rank of Gongshi, and was thus exempt from banishment.

Instead, he was stripped of his title, demoted to commoner status, and imprisoned for three months.

Originally, all he had to do was honestly serve out his sentence.

But then...

During his imprisonment, someone in the jail attempted to escape.

For reasons he himself could not explain, Feng Guan acted on impulse and fled alongside them.

The outcome was predictable.

He was recaptured by the authorities within half a day.

This time, the judgment was far harsher:

"Showing no respect for the majesty of the law and no gratitude for the government's leniency, within mere days of imprisonment he secretly damaged his confinement and attempted escape.

The law is the sovereign's instrument and the framework of the state. Prison exists for the redemption of guilt, and obedience to the law preserves life.

Though bearing criminal responsibility, Guan nonetheless chose to rebel against the law, demonstrating contempt for ruler and order alike.

According to the statutes, he should be executed. Furthermore, he bears responsibility for two deaths and resisted confinement.

Therefore, strip away his hair and skin, brand him, sever his nose, subject him to the Five Punishments, and afterward execute him at the southern gate of Yunguan as a warning to others."

Feng Guan had copied both verdicts into the letter word for word.

When he first heard the judgment, the world spun around him and all hope left his heart.

Then he suddenly recalled the imperial decree abolishing Imperial Mausoleum Commandery.

After returning home, Feng Guan had never forgotten Li Shun, who still remained far away in Lengshan.

He had continually asked others to keep watch for news.

When he heard of the catastrophe that had destroyed Lengshan County, he believed Li Shun had died.

He grieved silently for a long time and even erected a symbolic grave for him.

Only later did he learn that Li Shun had returned to Imperial Mausoleum Commandery alongside Fang Xun.

Not only had they become master and disciple, but their story had become a celebrated tale of "Six Visits to a Disciple's Door."

A disciple of one of the Three Excellencies.

A member of the imperial bloodline.

Those identities were like the last piece of driftwood grasped by a drowning man.

So Feng Guan hired someone to deliver a letter across thousands of miles, pleading for help.

The letter had actually arrived several days earlier.

However, Imperial Mausoleum Commandery had still been sealed off at the time, and so the message was detained.

Only after Imperial Mausoleum returned to the world yesterday was the letter finally delivered.

"I never expected Old Feng to have gone through so much in a single year."

Li Shun folded the letter away, his expression calm and unreadable.

Li Qing, meanwhile, looked furious.

"I think this Yunguan magistrate is a complete bastard. How can anyone judge a case like that? He married a wife, lost her, and still ended up in prison. What kind of justice is that?"

Li Shun's next words left him dumbfounded.

"Strictly speaking, the magistrate's judgment wasn't wrong."

"However..."

"It falls within a gray area."

Li Qing frowned in confusion.

"What do you mean by that?"

"For the first incident, both a guilty verdict and an acquittal were permissible under Great Qian law. The final outcome depended on the contest between the two parties and the magistrate's own judgment."

"But once the prison escape became involved..."

"He doesn't deserve much sympathy for dying after that."

Li Shun shook his head slightly.

Li Qing pondered for a moment before speaking in a deep voice.

"This letter feels suspicious. And Feng Guan's whole experience carries a strange undertone."

"How close were you to him? If your relationship was ordinary, then perhaps we should just leave it alone."

Before Li Shun's eyes, Feng Guan's weathered old face seemed to appear once more.

After a moment of silence, he slowly replied:

"We're definitely going to save him."

"But first..."

"We need to make thorough preparations."