When Bao Zheng received the case file and the petition written by Nan Zhi on behalf of the victim, and then heard Zhan Zhao's report, he was indeed furious. He declared that since the founding of the Great Song, there had never been such a maddening and inhumane injustice.
Thus, he immediately requested the soul reapers to bring the ghost of Wang Fugui up that night to stand trial in the Kaifeng Prefecture court.
The front hall, usually bright and majestic, was now filled with eerie winds. A sickly green light shot toward the ceiling as ghostly mist permeated the air. A layer of moisture coated the tables and the bench, feeling bone-chillingly cold to the touch.
Two soul reapers, whose feet did not touch the ground, held pitch-black Soul Binding Chains as they escorted the spirit body of Wang Fugui into the hall.
Wang Fugui looked utterly wretched. He was completely naked, sallow, and emaciated. The flesh on his face seemed to have been shaved away, leaving only a thin layer of skin clinging to the bone. His body was covered in deep scars, with whip marks etched into his very frame.
Suddenly finding himself back in the mortal realm, he was still somewhat dazed. He stumbled along in front of the soul reapers, but if he slowed down by even a step, the discipline rod was immediately there to greet him.
The discipline rod in the soul reaper's hand was no ordinary object; it was crafted from the trunk of a Small Chun tree found along the road to the Yellow Springs.
One strike would ensure pain that reached the marrow. Two strikes would tear the ghost's flesh asunder. Three strikes, and even the most ferocious Greater Ghost would be left scurrying away in terror as its spirit body began to dissipate.
Seeing ghosts was harmful to the health of living people, so Bao Zheng dismissed the attendants, leaving only Zhan Zhao and Gongsun Ce to observe the proceedings.
Seeing that there were other living people in the hall, the two soul reapers stood at a distance. They merely cupped their hands toward Bao Zheng from afar, indicating that the prisoner had been brought.
Bang!!
Bao Zheng struck the gavel, his round eyes wide with fury, and the crescent moon on his forehead glowed faintly.
“Is the soul below this court Wang Fugui, a native of Dingyuan?! This Prefect is Bao Zheng of the Kaifeng Prefecture, and I have received the Qu family's petition against you!
The evil deeds you committed in the mortal realm have come to light. Hurry and confess in detail how you murdered the Qu family and seized their property all those years ago!”
Having endured days of torture in the Underworld and seeing the discipline rod hanging over his head, Wang Fugui had no desire for more suffering. He naturally crawled on the floor and confessed his crimes.
Not only that, but he also named an accomplice from that time.
As it turned out, the presiding judge Wang Fugui had bribed years ago was none other than his child's father-in-law, Ma Wuyan.
This Ma Wuyan had colluded with Wang Fugui. On the surface, they confiscated the Qu family's assets into the public treasury to pay the thirteen victims.
In reality, the two of them split the proceeds fifty-fifty. They had skinned and de-boned the Qu family, cracking their bones to suck out the marrow until they had swallowed every last bit.
Wang Fugui obtained the wealth and the secret recipes. Once the scrutiny died down, he returned to the brewing business.
Ma Wuyan took his share of the massive sum and spent it on purchasing titles and bribing officials, securing a prosperous official career for decades. However, his talent was limited, and after years of maneuvering, he only managed to become a mid-level Military Affairs Interpreter.
On the other hand, his distant maternal nephew, Qi Mingyuan, came from a military background and was highly regarded by his superiors. At a young age, he had already become a Zhaowu Lieutenant in the Northwest Circuit Bureau of Military Affairs.
Wang Fugui did not know if Qi Mingyuan's rapid rise to power was also thanks to the Qu family's silver.
Later, Ma Wuyan felt he held leverage over Wang Fugui and grew greedy for the Wang family's wealth. Relying on Qi Mingyuan's influence, he married his daughter into the Wang family.
Wang Fugui knew well that Ma Wuyan was greedy. Fearing his family would suffer the same fate as the Qu family, he was wary of his daughter-in-law and never told her the true recipe for the Immortal Brew.
But who could have known that retribution would come so quickly? Before he could see an heir for the Wang family, Wanniang had gouged out his heart and liver for revenge.
“My Lord, Justice Bao, I, Wang Fugui, deserve ten thousand deaths, but it is true that the demon suppressor helped a vengeful ghost harm me.
Otherwise, my home was protected by the Kitchen God and the door gods, and there were protective talismans suppressing the vats. For decades, nothing ever went wrong. Why did I suffer such a calamity on that specific day?
It was clearly that demon suppressor using her office for private gain! She neglected her duties and personally released a ghost into my residence!”
At this point, a hint of regret appeared on Wang Fugui's face, followed by resentful indignation.
“I deserve to die, but was that demon suppressor not also in the wrong? I even gave her gold, silver, jewelry, and ancient books and paintings, yet she treated me like this!
My Lord, she took my silver, yet she helped a vengeful ghost take my life! She truly deserves ten thousand deaths!”
Wang Fugui did feel regret, but it was not for stealing the Qu family's property. Rather, he was annoyed that he hadn't been ruthless enough back then; he shouldn't have been soft-hearted and spared Wanniang's life.
If he had listened to others and destroyed Wanniang's remains, leaving her with no corpse and a scattered soul, how could any of this be happening now?
Wang Fugui's self-righteousness caused Zhan Zhao and Gongsun Ce to simultaneously show expressions of loathing, wishing they could immediately proclaim this man's true face to the entire world.
Bang!!
The gavel fell, and Bao Zheng shouted, his eyes like lightning.
“Presumptuous! You scoundrel, how dare you spin lies and make excuses before this Prefect? Right now, I am questioning you about the murder of the Qu family. What does that have to do with anyone else?
If someone truly perverted the law for personal gain, this Prefect will investigate it myself. How can I allow you to shout in court and slander others at will?
Men! This man has disrupted the court and shown no regard for the law. Take him down and give him twenty strokes before I continue the interrogation!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, the other two living people in the hall looked at each other in confusion.
Zhan Zhao: “...”
Hit who? A ghost? Who’s hitting a ghost? Me? Hitting a ghost? Twenty strokes?
Gongsun Ce: “...”
My Lord, do you still remember that I am but a weak scholar who cannot even lift a chicken?
Bao Zheng pulled back his hand with a hint of embarrassment, but the command tally had already been thrown, and he couldn't very well pick it up himself.
Just then, the two soul reapers waiting in the distance eagerly took the order. they immediately drifted into the hall, pinned Wang Fugui's soul onto the bench, raised the discipline rod, and began the beating without a word.
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
This was also the first time the three of them had seen the Underworld torturers carry out a sentence. With every strike, Wang Fugui jerked in pain, his entire body uncontrollably curling up like a shrimp, only to be pulled straight again for the next blow.
After repeating this for twenty strokes, the soul below the bench looked as if it were about to dissipate. His arms and legs flew through the air, shattering across the floor.
The soul reapers hurriedly used the Soul Binding Chains to scoop up the scattered fragments of the soul and cobble them together, barely managing to form something resembling a person before fawningly bringing him back before the bench.
If not for the current setting, which was definitely not suitable for sharing with outsiders, Zhan Zhao would have let out a sigh.
Currying favor with both superiors and inferiors—from the look of it, aside from the nature of the punishments, the courts of the Underworld were not much different from those of the mortal realm.
Under this level of punishment, Wang Fugui was barely able to speak. Like beans spilling from a bamboo tube, he recounted his evil deeds one by one.
He said that while cutting off Wanniang's head had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, the later use of talismans to suppress the wine worm had been guided by someone behind the scenes.
“It was a scruffy old Taoist who usually looked no different from a beggar. He was the one who taught me to pour fine wine and clear water into that vat on the first and fifteenth of every month to feed the wine worm.
He also taught me to draw the image of the Kitchen God in my home and to put up portraits of the two door gods, Shen Tu and Yu Lei, to prevent ghosts from entering.
He even told me to do more good deeds, to give more to the poor, and to accumulate as many Yin notes and as much Yin merit as possible. That way, even when my soul returned to the Underworld, I could bribe the soul reapers to escape punishment...”
At this point, Wang Fugui received another strike, and his entire soul drifted down into the ground, vanishing from sight.
The two soul reapers also hurried away, no longer willing to show their faces.
“For such a shocking case, this Prefect will certainly submit a petition to the Emperor and ask His Majesty to take charge, to return innocence to the Qu family and justice to the victims.”
Bao Zheng was furious enough to make his hair stand on end. He quickly called for Zhan Zhao.
“Guard Zhan! That Ma Wuyan has committed countless crimes, colluding with merchants and seizing the Qu family's property. He is cruel as an official, unkind as a father, disloyal to the court above, and unfaithful to the people below. Such a disloyal and inhumane person deserves to be executed according to the law!
I order you to leave the capital immediately. Gallop with all haste and use my command to bring Ma Wuyan to the capital for trial. As for Qi Mingyuan, Wang Chen, Manager Wang, and the others, I will deal with them once Ma Wuyan has been interrogated!”
Zhan Zhao took the order and galloped off into the night. Before leaving, he only had enough time to have a message delivered to the Demon Suppression Division.
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