Volume II: An Eventful Autumn, A Series of Twists and Turns. Chapter 118: A Personal Confession, A Head Rolls.

Ruan Yuzhu was just about to continue speaking when a sudden wave of dizziness washed over both of them. In the blink of an eye, the other person’s face became a blur. They shook their heads and rubbed their eyes, and their vision cleared, but Ruan Yuzhu was no longer alone, and the place was no longer the teahouse.

"Ah!"

Qin Liujia and Ruan Yuzhu were both terrified. They looked around simultaneously to see a table in front of them, complete with teapot and cups, exactly as it had been in the teahouse. However, the surroundings were now filled with people—strangers who were gossiping and whispering, making the place noisy and chaotic.

While they didn't recognize these people, Qin Liujia spotted one familiar face: the Taoist priest who had performed the ritual at the theater the night before. Old Uncle Pan had even brought him to meet Qin Liujia specifically. Why was he here?

And the young man beside him, the one with a flower marked on his forehead, why did he seem so familiar? Had they met somewhere before? Why did that flower feel so recognizable?

Feeling deeply uncomfortable under the gaze of the crowd, Ruan Yuzhu looked to the other side. Several men dressed as government officials stood nearby, watching them like the onlookers, though they remained silent, their eyes gleaming with the amusement of spectators watching a show.

Behind the officials sat a man in robes and a magistrate’s cap, with a stout build and a bloated face. He looked uneasy and anxious, shaking his head from time to time as if to tell them, "You are beyond saving."

*Thwack!* The sound of the gavel silenced everyone.

"Silence! No clamor is permitted in this courtroom."

Qin Liujia turned back and saw the bloated magistrate, his heart skipping a beat. How—how had they ended up here?

Not yet grasping the situation, Qin Liujia instinctively adopted a familiar tone and bowed to the magistrate. "Magistrate, may I ask why you have summoned me here?"

The magistrate, his scalp tingling, was not buying it—and with so many people watching, he couldn't afford to.

*Thwack!* The gavel fell again. "Who stands before the court? Why do you not kneel upon seeing this official?"

Qin Liujia frowned, sensing something was wrong, and dropped to his knees. "My Lord, the commoner Qin Liujia pays his respects. I was momentarily confused and forgot the proper etiquette for greeting an official. I beg for your mercy, my Lord."

Seeing Qin Liujia kneel, Ruan Yuzhu also scrambled to her knees, not daring to lift her head. "Commoner Ruan Yuzhu pays her respects to you, my Lord."

"Mercy? In front of all these citizens, you confessed everything yourself, without a single detail missed. For the crime of murder, I fear no one can offer you mercy. Guards! Qin Liujia has murdered and disposed of a body; his crime is unforgivable. At the hour of the Horse, behead him at the vegetable market to serve as a warning to others. As for Ruan Yuzhu, for committing adultery with multiple men, apply ninety strokes of the heavy cane after stripping her. Execute the sentence!"

"Yes, my Lord."

Barely two sentences in, they were already facing execution, and both Qin Liujia and Ruan Yuzhu were nearly frightened out of their wits.

Qin Liujia hurriedly bowed, protesting, "My—my Lord, why must you behead me? I am a law-abiding citizen who has never done anything wicked. Where does this charge of murder come from? I am innocent, my Lord! I am wrongly accused!"

"Facing death and still so stubborn? You confessed everything clearly with your own mouth, and the entire court of citizens heard it plainly. Isn't it a bit late to deny it now?"

This was the second time the magistrate mentioned his own confession. The first time, Qin Liujia had been too confused to process it, but now he began to understand why the magistrate insisted he had confessed.

"My Lord, I am innocent! I must have been drugged and didn't know what I was saying. I am wronged, my Lord!" He then turned to Yang Chengzi and shouted, "Ah, you demonic priest! My Lord, this man is a charlatan! Yesterday, he came to our theater, claiming there were evil spirits, and performed a fake ritual to swindle me out of a fortune! I must have fallen under his spell yesterday. I am innocent, my Lord!"

Hearing this, Ruan Yuzhu also felt a glimmer of hope. "Yes, my Lord! I felt my eyes blurring earlier and didn't know what I was saying. That priest must have used some dark magic. I beg you to investigate this, my Lord."

Though Qin Liujia sounded convincing, the magistrate did not believe him. He knew exactly what he was doing, and the evidence was arriving shortly. Whether they confessed or not made little difference; these people were dead men walking.

Yang Chengzi watched them with a blank expression. "You thought that by killing them and sinking the bodies, no one would find out? The retribution you deserve will come. It is not that retribution is absent, but that the time had not yet arrived. The two innocent souls you murdered today can now rest in peace. As for you, losing your head is not the end—there is endless torment waiting for you. Suffer through it slowly."

"Whether he is a demonic priest or not, I shall decide," the magistrate declared. "But as for whether you committed murder, the evidence is arriving now. Since you are stubborn and refuse to confess, we shall wait. Once the items are fished out of the well, you shall confess!"

The magistrate had actually sent men to dredge the well. Qin Liujia had been desperately trying to argue his way out, but when the pile of bones was brought into the court, all hope vanished. The Buddhist pendant on the skeleton had not been washed away, merely covered in a layer of thick green moss.

The pendant was removed and wiped clean.

"What else do you have to say for yourself? This is your pendant, is it not? You admitted it before the people just now. If you say it isn't yours now, I fear no one will believe you!"

Seeing the pendant, Ruan Yuzhu collapsed to the ground, weeping, as if she realized she would not survive either.

Qin Liujia, however, lost his panic and suddenly began to laugh. "Hahaha! You sentence me to be beheaded at the hour of the Horse? You took—"

"Still refusing to confess? Slap his mouth! Slap him until he can no longer speak!"

Before Qin Liujia could finish, he was pinned down. The wooden boards used for slapping mouths struck *thwack, thwack, thwack* against his lips. The sound was gruesome, and within a few strikes, his mouth was streaming with blood.

Ruan Yuzhu fared no better. According to the law, she was to be stripped and given ninety strokes for adultery. While Qin Liujia was being beaten, she was stripped of her trousers and given the full ninety strokes on her bare buttocks. Truth be told, it might have been better to just behead her; few could survive ninety heavy strokes, and most died from them.

The frail woman could not endure it. By the fortieth stroke, her skin was torn and her flesh a bloody mess, and she fainted. She died in prison before the day was out. Having suffered so much pain, her fate was perhaps worse than Qin Liujia’s quick beheading, but then again, who told her to break the law? The law dictated such punishments.

At the hour of the Horse, the vegetable market was packed, everyone waiting for Qin Liujia to be brought out for execution. The trial had ended early, and after a quick meal, Qin Liujia was dragged out and decapitated. With one stroke, blood splattered, and his head rolled to the ground. The crowd cheered, praising the magistrate’s wisdom.

By the time Qin Liujia’s wife realized the trouble he was in, it was too late. She had intended to bribe someone to buy time so her father could pull strings, but the magistrate was no fool. Who would dare take a bribe now? Qin Liujia had confessed in open court, and the public was waiting for his head. If the magistrate took the money and delayed the execution, and someone reported it, his career would be over.

He had taken plenty of bribes from Qin Liujia in the past; if he dragged this out and Qin Liujia exposed him, he would be dragged down too. The magistrate had calculated carefully and decided to be ruthless.

Falling into the hands of such a self-serving magistrate was Qin Liujia’s ultimate misfortune. The messenger sent by his wife had barely left Yutai Town when Qin Liujia’s head hit the ground.

The matter was finally resolved, bringing justice to Wen Liangsheng and Liu Qinghuai. Everything had gone according to Yang Chengzi’s plan. Declining the magistrate’s invitation to a banquet, the group returned to the Cuiwei Tower.

"Satisfying! That heartless wretch didn't even spare his own wife and children—a beast in human skin. Even a tiger doesn't eat its own cubs! If it were up to me, I’d sharpen a pair of chopsticks and stab him to death slowly."

"Pfft!" Chang Yu, hearing Chen San’s words, sprayed his tea right onto Chen San’s face.

"You should have said that in the courtroom. Now that he’s headless, look at how brave you are."

"I was just angry! What use is saying it in court? The magistrate wouldn't listen to me anyway..."

"Alright, alright. You’re spraying tea everywhere. If you weren't so good-looking, who could stand you?"

"Husband? You finally admit I’m good-looking? Why don't you all step out for a while? I feel like something might be about to happen between my husband and me right now!" Chang Yu’s eyes widened as he grabbed Yang Chengzi’s hand.

Yang Chengzi shook his head helplessly and slapped Chang Yu’s hand away. "Stop it! It’s broad daylight. What? Are you trying to force yourself on me?"

Chang Yu pouted, expressing his dissatisfaction.