Chapter 363: Seemingly Doing Justice
Han Moze flew towards the stables and untied a horse. He flipped onto the horse and rode assertively with his black clothing rustling in the wind. His pitch-black, deeply somber eyes were strictly on the road ahead.
He rode persistently forward and heard the rising sounds of arguing, roaring, and shrieking become clearer. It sounded like there was a fight nearby.
The sound of rapid galloping broke the silence for the entire journey in the direction of outside the city.
After half an hour of fast riding, Han Moze passed the city gates.
Then, he continued down east.
After about another fifteen minutes had passed, Han Moze finally found the source of the noise.
So the tragic cried came from Mount Jade Cloud located beyond the city.
Right there and then, Mount Jade Cloud was surrounded by soldiers bearing torches. At the top of the mountain, they stared acquisitively and surrounded the prisoners to prevent them from leaving.
Not too far away, there were dozens of men in prison uniforms, who kneeled before officials and kowtowed furiously. “Milord, I beg you let me out! I don’t deserve to die for my crimes!” They begged in tearful voices.
“Milord, please spare me! Please let me live! I have the old and the young who I need to take care of after I am released from prison!”
“Milord, I beg you! Please look into your heart! Have sympathy for me!”
…
The official kicked the man in front of him really hard, then shouted. “Although your crimes may not warrant death, it is hard to say whether you all won’t re-offend, and so I now send you all on your way. Nipping it in the bud is good for the people. What’s wrong with that? How could you all be pleading?”
The official’s voice was sharp and ear-piercing in a way in which frightened and convinced people of his cruel intent.
Dozens of kneeling prisoners crawled to the official’s feet and pleaded endlessly. “Spare my life, milord! I beg you look into your heart! Milord!”
“Men, take all these prisoners into the mountain!” Exclaimed the official.
Then, with a cold grunt, he spun around with the intention of leaving.
But to his surprise, he spun around to see Han Moze block his path on his horse. He had an extremely solemn look on his face and his serene eyes squinted, which made him look cold and hard to read.
The official’s face instantly turned pale white and his body started to slowly tremble. It seemed like he had received quite the shock.
His legs went limp for a moment and he immediately kneeled with respect. “Greetings, Your Majesty. Long live the Emperor!”
“Aren’t you Lord Zhu? Should I be awarding you for not sleeping in the middle of the night, but for coming out to Mount Jade Cloud to help our citizens?”
Once again, Lord Zhu was stunned. He was just a fifth-rate official from the ministry of justice. He had only met the emperor once, and yet he never imagined that the emperor would actually recognize him right now. The emperor’s memory was truly astonishing!
Lord Zhu was delighted to hear what Han Moze had said. It seemed like the emperor and he shared the same sentiment and thought it was right to kill those criminals.
He immediately acted terrified, then spoke in an unusually respectful voice. “Your Majesty, you speak too highly of me. Eradicating these evil men for the good of the people and creating a peaceful land is my job. I dare not take any credit!”
The veins in Han Moze’s temples suddenly bulged. This so-called Lord Zhu really knew how to talk himself up!
Han Moze’s face completely fell. “You abuse the law and kill the criminals as you please, and yet you call this ‘getting rid of evil for the good of the people?!” He said in a cold voice.