Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 126 - 125: I Have No Money, Just Let It Be Destroyed!

Chapter 126: Chapter 125: I Have No Money, Just Let It Be Destroyed!

Lu Qingquan just couldn’t understand, "Zhang San, do you have some unbreakable agreement with the death penalty?"

Thus, Lu Qingquan walked over to Zhang San and whispered, "According to the ’Kaihuang Law,’ you are after all a member of the Town Martial Office. In this performance, you have also made some merit. We can allow you to redeem yourself with copper."

As Lu Qingquan spoke, he immediately took out the ’Kaihuang Law’ he carried with him and then found the clause to show to Zhang San.

"Penal servitude. Eighteen months, redeemable with thirty catties of copper. That is to say, if you submit thirty catties of copper or even items of equivalent value, you can avoid punishment."

At this moment, Lu Qingquan’s eyes were extremely sincere, only hoping that Zhang San, this ancestor, would quickly agree to pay up, and not trouble him further, as he had already scratched out who knows how many hairs to think of this idea of letting Zhang San make an exceptional copper payment to avoid punishment.

Upon hearing that he could pay to avoid punishment, Zhang San too widened his eyes in surprise.

Seeing Zhang San’s reaction, Lu Qingquan felt much reassured.

It appears this young man truly did not expect such a method.

One must admit, I, Lu Qingquan, am indeed so clever to come up with such a good method.

Such a clever person like me, it really would be a pity if I’m not promoted to Officer.

"Thank you, Deputy Officer, but... I have no money."

The smile on Lu Qingquan’s face gradually disappeared.

"I have no money, just let it be destroyed then!"

Zhang San had a defeatist look, seemingly indifferent to life or death.

Watching Zhang San’s carefree attitude towards death, Lu Qingquan almost cried.

It’s not like I’ve found you a way not only to avoid death but even imprisonment; how hard can it be to just pay a little money?

Money is but an external possession!

Although I normally embezzle quite a bit, even I understand such simple truths, why can’t you understand it?

At this moment, Third Miss Gan interjected, "Speaking of which, after Officer Bai’s death, Chuan-Yu Road is essentially under Deputy Officer Lu’s charge, right?"

Lu Qingquan immediately nodded respectfully towards Third Miss Gan.

After all, this lady is a Hidden Martial of the Chief. How could Lu Qingquan dare not to appease her, his nods full of utmost respect?

"So that means, Zhang San is also your subordinate, right? Why not..."

Although she didn’t finish her sentence, Third Miss Gan’s meaning was already quite clear.

Zhang San needs to pay thirty catties of copper, but Zhang San has no money. Aren’t you, his immediate superior, going to help him out?

Lu Qingquan grimaced upon hearing this.

Zhang San breaks the law, and I should pay?

I haven’t even asked him for money for my lost hair!

"Miss Gan, to be honest, I am a... clean official. I really don’t have money."

Third Miss Gan glanced at the ring on Lu Qingquan’s waist, which alone was probably worth dozens of catties of gold, you have no money, who would believe that?

At this time, everyone also figured it out.

Zhang San should be fine now, but since he had physically attacked his superior, the matter ultimately still needed to be resolved.

Having spent so many years in the Town Martial Office, Lu Qingquan was so unpopular that even dogs would despise him.

When it was evident that Lu Qingquan was going to bleed this time at the entrance of the Council Hall during the trial, many of the Martial Artists from the Town Martial Office began to shout out.

"Deputy Officer Lu’s righteousness!"

"Why else would they say, it still has to be Deputy Officer Lu! Would anyone else be so empathetic to their subordinates?"

"With Deputy Officer Lu like this, truly he is a great role model for us Officers of the Town Martial Office!"

"Today, gifting thirty jin of copper will surely become a beautiful tale within the Town Martial Office!"

With everyone egging him on, Deputy Officer Lu became even more embarrassed.

Although he did indeed often engage in corruption, who would ever just hoard money without spending it?

Lately, Bai Yucheng had been busy and hadn’t been managing affairs closely, which allowed him to indulge in extravagant pleasures. Not only had he emptied his purse, but he also drained many other resources; now, he truly had no money!

Just then, Ling approached Zhang San from a distance.

"Zhang San, don’t be afraid, it’s only thirty jin of copper."

Hearing this, Lu Qingquan was relieved.

It seemed that Zhang San was quite well-liked; I may not have money, but at least other people are willing to help out financially.

Then, they heard Ling weakly speak in a demure woman’s demeanor, "Although your Sister Ling doesn’t have thirty jin of copper either, I suppose with my looks, I could earn some back by engaging in the flesh trade. Don’t worry, I’ll gradually gather it for you even if it’s arduous."

Upon hearing Ling’s words, everyone silently cast their gazes down, then sneakily glanced at Principal Officer Yue, who was still sitting in the center of the Council Hall.

At that moment, Principal Officer Yue’s face looked more nauseous than if he had eaten a duck neck seasoned with river snail rice noodle soup.

Principal Officer Ximen, who also had a daughter, knew the devastating impact of a daughter speaking such words before her own father; he immediately coughed towards Lu Qingquan.

As a chief officer in charge of the investigation, it wasn’t appropriate for him to contribute money.

So, Deputy Officer Lu, what could go wrong if you just contributed thirty jin of copper?

And Principal Officer Yue didn’t dare glare at his daughter; seeing her close relationship with Zhang San, he also didn’t dare glare at Zhang San, so he could only glower at Lu Qingquan.

He thought to himself: You waste, just say you’ll pay, and then sort out the account books later!

If things turn dire, I’ll provide you the money, just agree to pay now!

Lu Qingquan truly wanted to say he would pay, but he really didn’t have the money!

Suddenly, as Lu Qingquan scratched his head, a flash of inspiration struck him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I believe the previous statement was merely Zhang San’s own side of the story. He claimed he had a confrontation with Bai Yucheng, but perhaps it was just youthful impulsiveness, wishing to demonstrate his courage and strength in front of his colleagues. You say Zhang San persuaded Bai Yucheng, leading to Bai Yucheng’s sudden realization and fear of his crime, leading to suicide—I believe that."

"However, if you say Zhang San truly had the power to confront Bai Yucheng, I don’t believe it. Zhang San was merely at the stage of Refining Qi into the Body within the Primordial Qi Realm before; how could he possibly have broken through to the True Core Realm in the heat of battle and exchanged blows equally with Bai Yucheng? That’s just bragging."

"In my view, Zhang San probably didn’t even take action at that time; he was merely blown away by the aftershocks of the battle and watched from a distance."

"Therefore, as Zhang San is without suspicion, let’s temporarily declare him not guilty, shall we?"

Upon hearing this, everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Qingquan breathed an even longer sigh of relief.

Scary!

It’s damn scary!

Thank goodness Zhang San didn’t insist on claiming innocence at that moment!

Otherwise, I would have lost all my hair today.

However, just at that moment, a voice came from outside the Council Hall.

"Is he merely not guilty?"

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[Note 53]Legal Trivia

Since I couldn’t find the resources for "Kaihuang Law," but I had "Exegesis of Tang Laws" at home, considering both are not very different in time, the ratio of redemption copper here is based on the records in the section "Three Attempted Crimes, Punishment by Servitude Five" found in "Exegesis of Tang Laws."

Servitude, in ancient times, was treating criminals as slaves for punishment. This form of punishment has been around since the Zhou dynasty. It is also clearly recorded in "The Rites of Zhou": "Assign them tasks, confine them within wall bounds, and thus rehabilitate and educate them." This principle is the same as modern servitude, although the conditions might be hard to say.