"Thank you, miss! Thank you, miss!" The woman anxiously wanted to stop her daughter’s forehead from bleeding and kept expressing her gratitude.
She looked back at the Governnt Office. Now that the situation had escalated, she was afraid that if she left now, there would be no way to seek justice for her husband.
The woman spotted a familiar neighbor in the crowd and hurriedly cried out to her, pleading, "Auntie, Auntie... please go with this gentleman and take my daughter to the clinic. I... I must stay here to seek justice for my husband! I will repay your great kindness in this life by working like an ox or horse!"
"Oh, oh, oh! Don’t worry! I’ll go with her!" The auntie responded imdiately, pressing down on the handkerchief on the little girl’s forehead and following the guard in a brisk jog to the clinic.
"Miss!" Seeing that her daughter was in good hands, the woman knelt directly in front of Bai Qingyan, not caring about her hands being covered in her daughter’s blood. She grabbed Bai Qingyan’s clothes, as if grasping a life-saving straw in a desperate situation, "Miss, I can tell that you are of noble status, unlike ordinary people. Please, miss, help stand up for my husband! He was only trying to prevent the corpse of King of Hancheng, who died for the people, from being desecrated by the Dongyi Kingdom. He tried to steal the body back but was beaten to death in prison! Please, miss... seek justice for my husband, don’t let him die in vain!"
The woman bowed heavily, holding up a blood-stained petition.
The woman was not foolish. The handso young man who had been protecting the lady earlier, had angrily inquired about the county magistrate, indicating he held a status higher than the magistrate. Therefore... the lady being protected by that handso man must also be of noble status, perhaps the Lord Protector of Zhou.
"Sister, please stand up!" Bai Qingyan bent down to help the woman up, holding her hand along with the blood-stained petition, "Rest assured, in the land of Zhou, I will not let any citizen die in vain!"
The woman, with tears in her eyes, looked at the strong-willed woman before her, wanting to ask who she was and if she could really seek justice for her husband. However, her throat tightened painfully, and she couldn’t make a sound.
Bai Qingyan took the blood-stained petition from the woman and, after a quick glance, turned her gaze towards the citizens whose anger was still palpable. She started walking towards the high steps of the Governnt Office.
Guards from the Bai family and plain-clothed imperial guards imdiately stepped forward to shield Bai Qingyan as she moved, and although the citizens didn’t know who she was, the display of authority made it clear she was soone of significance. Perhaps it was also the commanding presence from her resolute aura that made them spontaneously step aside.
Bai Qingyan, flanked by guards and Bai Qingjue and Bai Jinzhi, ascended the high steps of the Governnt Office and turned to face the puzzled citizens below. They secretly speculated about the purpose of this well-guarded woman’s arrival and her identity.
"I have read the petition. The reason many citizens have gathered outside this Governnt Office today is to seek justice for the noble-hearted butcher, to... to seek justice for King of Hancheng, who died for the people, and not to incite public unrest!" Bai Qingyan’s clear and steady voice had remarkable penetration, "Smashing the Governnt Office will not bring justice, rather it will increase misunderstandings between officials and citizens, leading to uncontrollable chaos!"
She raised her hand, pointing towards the Dongyi Kingdom, "Now, the barbaric Dongyi is eyeing us nacingly, scheming to provoke conflicts between the coastal citizens and the court using the corpse of King of Hancheng. At such a ti, we of Zhou must stay united... and not harm ourselves, otherwise, it will only pain our loved ones and delight our enemies!"
"When has the Zhou court ever treated us coastal commoners as citizens of Zhou? The Emperor doesn’t care about whether us coastal commoners live or die, he only cares about winning against the rival kingdom!"
"Exactly! King of Hancheng died fighting to protect us fishern and the envoys of Zhou! Now his corpse is ravaged by the Dongyi Kingdom, and the Emperor doesn’t dare retrieve his body nor confront the Dongyi Kingdom! How could he possibly care about our lives!"
"Precisely! For all we know, the Emperor has already sent envoys to negotiate peace with that Dongyi Kingdom! Back when we were citizens of Daliang, we never endured such humiliation! Even our general’s corpse is desecrated by a small nation like Dongyi!"
"They say Zhou is stronger than Daliang, nonsense!"
Just as the hot-headed man finished speaking, Bai Jinzhi was so upset that she raised her whip: "Say that again to !"
Bai Qingyan imdiately pressed Bai Jinzhi’s whip down, and even before she could speak, the doors of the Governnt Office flung open. The County Magistrate hurriedly stepped out, tugging at his official garb, in such a fluster that he tripped and fell. Glancing at Bai Qingyan holding the blood-stained petition, he instantly recognized her identity, crawling on all fours to kneel at Bai Qingyan’s feet, submissively prostrating: "I... I am County Magistrate of Jinguan, warmly welcoming Your Majesty! Long live the Emperor! This official was unaware of Your Majesty’s visit, failed to welco you from afar, please forgive my transgression!"
The coastal citizens, whose passions were sparked monts ago, were incredulous when they saw the County Magistrate and his officials kneeling and chanting ’Long Live’, widening their eyes at the imposing woman standing under the governnt plaque, montarily forgetting to kneel.
Although the Dongyi Kingdom said the Emperor of Zhou had to personally retrieve King of Hancheng’s body, none of the coastal citizens expected that the Emperor would actually endanger himself to co to the coast personally.
Soone in the crowd was the first to respond, hastening to kneel, unable to hide the shock in their hearts. The overwhelming emotion affected them deeply; won and children were even kneeling and sobbing, believing that the Emperor, who they thought only cared about the rivalry and had abandoned them, actually hadn’t deserted them but ca to the coast instead. They were utterly taken aback.
Seeing the citizens kneeling one after another, the butcher’s wife finally reacted. Rembering what Bai Qingyan said about never letting any citizen die in vain, she crawled forward on her knees, crying out, "Your Majesty... please seek justice for my husband, don’t let him die in vain!"
Citizens kneeling in front of the Governnt Office, because of the Emperor’s sudden arrival, felt... the Emperor wasn’t treating them, as they speculated, as if they weren’t citizens of Zhou. Their emotions were churning, feeling both touched and aggrieved, with a growing hatred for the Dongyi, especially those among them who had been protected by King of Hancheng at sea and returned safely thanks to him. They bowed towards Bai Qingyan, saying, "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, you must bring back King of Hancheng! King of Hancheng died protecting us fishern, ensuring our safe return. We cannot let the hero’s body lay in a foreign land, unable to rest in peace!"
"We implore Your Majesty to bring back King of Hancheng!"
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