Rebirth Grand Marshal's Wilful Fiancée-Chapter 17: Commander of the Prefecture Guards - Zheng Wei
The clamor of angry voices echoed through the yamen as Commander Zheng Wei approached. His scarred face remained impassive, but his mind raced with calculations. The situation had clearly deteriorated beyond his expectations.
"My commander, how could this be?" his subordinate whispered urgently.
Zheng Wei silenced him with a raised hand and strode purposefully toward the entrance, his shoulders squared and his expression grave.
"Here come the prefecture guards!" Someone with sharp eyes shouted from within the courtyard.
The effect was immediate. The crowd that had been voicing their outrage fell silent, their expressions transforming into a unified mask of suspicion and barely concealed hatred as they turned to face him. Even in silence, their accusation hung heavily in the air.
The guard beside Zheng Wei tensed, his hand instinctively moving to grip his weapon more firmly. The commander could feel the man's anxiety radiating like heat.
Zheng Wei's gaze swept across the assembled crowd until it settled on a middle-aged man in official uniform standing beside Jiang Cheng. Even this magistrate, a man he had carefully cultivated with bribes and favors, now regarded him with hesitation and doubt. The realization struck Zheng Wei like a physical blow: the situation had shifted dramatically. These people had not gathered by chance; they had come for him.
And the architect of his potential downfall...
His eyes found Jiang Feng jia standing calmly in the courtroom. The scar that stretched from his forehead to the corner of his mouth twisted as his expression darkened. A shaft of penetrating light seemed to emanate from his gaze as he assessed her.
Was this truly the same Jiang Feng jia who had always appeared so lukewarm, so flaccid in her demeanor? The young woman who perpetually trailed behind his goddaughter with downcast eyes and a posture of perpetual deference? No, this woman before him stood with an entirely different bearing;poised, confident, and utterly un-intimidated.
Fixing his gaze firmly upon her, Zheng Wei marched forward, his soldiers following in tight formation. With each step, the atmosphere in the courtroom grew more taut, like a bowstring drawn to its breaking point.
Yet Jiang Feng jia remained unmoved, meeting his predatory stare with remarkable composure.
"Commander Zheng, we juniors have been waiting for you to come," she stated, her voice clear and steady.
"Really? Why?" Zheng Wei's tone was deceptively casual, but the menace underlying his words was unmistakable.
A visible ripple of fear passed through the assembly. Those who had been filled with righteous indignation only moments before now scarcely dared to breathe in the commander's presence. The power he wielded was palpable, a reminder of why so many had feared to challenge him before this day.
Yet Jiang Feng jia stood unflinching. As a scholar, she had not offered the customary salute even to Official Tao Feng. She certainly wouldn't bow to Zheng Wei, whose rank was inferior to Tao's, regardless of the commander's fearsome reputation.
"Ling Yuanling fornicated with a concubine of her father," Jiang Feng jia declared, each word measured and deliberate. "After the adultery, she framed me up, but thanks to the fact that she was exposed on the spot, this junior was not put in the wrong. I was so angry that I decided to sue Ling Yuanling. With the eyewitness and physical evidence all available, and she herself having admitted as well, Yuanling claimed that she wouldn't be convicted even if we took her to court, because you would not only make sure that she is safe but also make all of us suffer." Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Commander Zheng, may I ask whether it is true or not?"
A suffocating silence descended upon the courtroom as all eyes turned to Zheng Wei, awaiting his response.
Wang shi, kneeling on the cold stone floor, felt panic seize her heart. Her eyelids twitched nervously as she hastened to intervene. "No, No, No, that's not what my daughter meant..."
"My Godfather! Here you are at last. Save me! These men tried to convict me!" Ling Yuanling's desperate cry cut through her mother's protestations. She stumbled forward, her disheveled appearance a stark contrast to her usual meticulous presentation, and clutched at Zheng Wei's leg as though it were her only salvation.
The commander's expression darkened to match the bottom of an iron pot. For a moment, he nearly succumbed to the impulse to kick her away like a stray dog. This foolish girl! He had rushed here to salvage what he could, only to find that the idiot had practically sealed her own fate with her loose tongue.
But Zheng Wei had not risen to his position through impulsive actions. Unlike the Ling family, he understood the value of restraint, particularly when surrounded by witnesses. He kept his voice level as he addressed his soldiers.
"Somebody, come and pull Ling Yuanling away!"
"Yes, Sir!" Two soldiers immediately stepped forward, roughly separating Ling Yuanling from their commander.
She stared at him in disbelief, her eyes wide with shock and betrayal. "My Godfather?!"
Zheng Wei seized the moment to craft his performance. "I'm just too disappointed!" he declared, his voice resonating with practiced indignation. "I took you as my goddaughter because I saw you were always honest, elegant and diligent with yourself, but I didn't imagine you would do such an immoral thing. You have the courage to frame others, but don't have the courage to bear the consequence, do you? Are you daydreaming that I will get you off? Don't kid yourself! I, Zheng Wei, am an honest man. I hate people like you the most in my life!"
Ling Yuanling's face contorted with confusion and desperation."No, godfather! You can't just leave me away! Haven't you said that you are the emperor in Tang Yang..."
"Shut up!"
Before she could complete her damning revelation, Zheng Wei's boot connected with her midsection with surprising violence. The impact sent her flying backward, her slight frame crumpling to the ground as a spray of crimson erupted from her lips.
"Ling'er!" Fang's anguished scream pierced the stunned silence.
The courtroom froze in collective shock. Even those who had come seeking justice against Ling Yuanling were unprepared for such brutal efficiency from the commander. In one decisive action, Zheng Wei had simultaneously silenced the most dangerous witness against him and created the appearance of a man upholding justice regardless of personal connections.
As Ling Yuanling lay gasping on the floor, rivulets of blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, Zheng Wei turned to face the magistrate. His expression was now a masterpiece of righteous fury tempered with solemn duty.
"Magistrate," he intoned, his voice carrying throughout the courtroom, "I request that you proceed with this case according to the full measure of the law. No favoritism, no exceptions." He paused meaningfully. "The integrity of Tang Yang's justice must be preserved at all costs."
The onlookers murmured amongst themselves, many reconsidering their initial assessment of the commander's involvement. This was the genius of Zheng Wei;to abandon a pawn before it could compromise his position, to sacrifice a minor piece to protect the king. In the deadly game of power he played, sentimentality was a luxury he could not afford.
But as his gaze once more found Jiang Feng jia, he noted something in her expression that gave him pause. Where others saw a decisive condemnation of Ling Yuanling, this young scholar's eyes reflected something else entirely;a calculating awareness that suggested she understood exactly what he had done and why.
In that moment, Zheng Wei recognized that while he might have neutralized one threat, another more formidable opponent had emerged. And unlike the simpering, naive Ling Yuanling, this adversary would not be so easily dispatched.