I picked up skill fragments in the demon world

Chapter 90: The Kind Sister (Seeking Subscriptions)

“This humble one is here.” Zhang Chen, missing an ear and with his ear wrapped in gauze, knelt in the hall, kowtowing to the county magistrate above.

“What is your plea?”

The county magistrate asked.

“This humble one accuses the hunter Zhang Chen next door of murder, and begs the honorable magistrate to deliver justice!” The impoverished scholar knelt on the ground, his voice filled with indignation.

“Bring the hunter Zhang Chen to the court!” the county magistrate ordered.

Before long, Zhang Chen was escorted to the hall by constables. As in the dramas, a dozen constables stood on either side. The county magistrate, looking to be in his forties, sat in the center of the hall, his face pale, and with large, dark circles under his eyes.

“Upon seeing the magistrate, why don't you kneel quickly!” a constable shouted.

Zhang Chen's eyes swept over the county magistrate and the constables filling the hall. Ultimately deciding that a wise man doesn't fight when the odds are against him, he knelt down:

“Greetings, Your Honor.”

“Zhang Chen!!! You scoundrel, never thought you’d have this day!!!” The impoverished scholar, upon seeing Zhang Chen, immediately turned red-eyed and said to the county magistrate above: “Your Honor, it was this wretch who murdered me!”

“Criminal Zhang Chen, someone has accused you of murder, do you confess?” the county magistrate said.

“This humble one is wronged, I beseech Your Honor to investigate thoroughly.” Zhang Chen naturally refused to admit it.

“With a witness present, you still dare to deny it?” The county magistrate looked at Zhang Chen, rebuking him with an ambiguous gaze, and then drew a stick from the lot: “Men, give him fifty strokes! Beat down his arrogance before questioning him.”

There's an ancient saying of 'intimidating rod'. The criminal, regardless of guilt or innocence during the first court appearance, cannot avoid this beating.

Zhang Chen's expression changed upon hearing this. Fifty strokes would likely ruin his buttocks.

“Your Honor, this humble one is not a criminal, and everything I’ve said is the truth. Why would you beat me without investigating?” Zhang Chen was starting to get anxious.

Who would willingly take a beating when innocent!

“Heh, you dare to roar in court? Give him another fifty strokes!” The county magistrate smiled coldly and threw another stick on the ground.

“Dog official!” Zhang Chen cursed inwardly, but he was helpless.

The scholar, on the other hand, was overjoyed and repeatedly kowtowed: “Your Honor is wise, Your Honor is sagacious! You are a just and upright magistrate!”

The county magistrate smiled coldly upon hearing this and threw another stick on the ground: “Beat him as well.”

“Ah????” The impoverished scholar was instantly dumbfounded: “Your Honor, this humble one is innocent, I am the plaintiff, the aggrieved party, why are you beating me?”

“The intimidating rod is the rule, it doesn't distinguish between plaintiff and aggrieved party.” The county magistrate said coldly: “Drag him down and beat him!”

Just as he was speaking, a constable hurried in from outside and whispered to the county magistrate: “Your Honor, people from the Prince of Pingbian's manor have arrived! They say that one of these two has some connection to the Prince of Pingbian's manor, and must not be casually subjected to torture.”

Upon hearing this, the county magistrate couldn't help but shudder. In this northern region, the Prince of Pingbian was the law; his words were imperial decrees.

He then hurriedly shouted to the constables: “Stop the beating for now, temporarily detain them in the hall.”

Then, he hurriedly stood up and quickly walked out of the main hall, arriving in the front yard.

He saw a woman wearing a veil in the front yard, followed by a dozen armored soldiers from the Prince of Pingbian's manor and a steward in his forties, standing in the front yard and surveying the scenery of the yamen.

“This humble official Gou Chun, greets the Madam!” The county magistrate hurriedly bowed.

“Magistrate Gou, we are here today to ask you for a person. Our manor has thoroughly investigated the bombing case, and one of them is innocent. He is the younger brother of this Madam here, what do you think…” The steward looked at Magistrate Gou, drawing out his words.

“I don't know which one is the Madam's relative? The pronunciation of their names is similar, please, Madam, go to the side hall to identify him personally.” The county magistrate hurriedly said.

He couldn't afford to offend the Prince of Pingbian's manor. In this northern region, the Prince of Pingbian was the sky, and his words were imperial decrees.

“Madam, please go to the side hall to secretly identify him.” The steward said to Zhang Xiaolan.

Zhang Xiaolan nodded. Under the county magistrate's lead, they arrived at the side hall. After secretly observing the scene in the main hall, Zhang Xiaolan's eyes fell on Zhang Chen:

“That fair-skinned and handsome young man is my younger brother.”

“Worthy of being the Madam's younger brother, truly a young man of elegant bearing, he looks like a young master from a great family. Madam, please wait a moment, I will bring Zhang Chen over right away.” The county magistrate's words were full of flattery.

Upon hearing this, the steward stopped the county magistrate: “Not so fast, I still have something to ask you. How is the investigation of the bombing going?”

“The interrogation has not yet begun, Zhang Chen refuses to budge.” The county magistrate said: “He insists that he is not involved.”

“I heard that the Inspectorate's person is also going to intervene. You still need to quickly get a confession, ask clearly about the cause, otherwise the Prince will be troubled.” The steward said unhurriedly.

Upon hearing this, the county magistrate's expression immediately turned gloomy: “This humble official will torture him! Even if he is made of iron, this humble official will make him open his mouth.”

“Alright, go do it!” The steward waved his hand.

The county magistrate obeyed the order and left, then arrived at the main hall and said to Zhang Chen: “Remove his shackles.”

The constables were stunned upon hearing this, but they didn't ask any questions and quickly unlocked Zhang Chen's shackles.

“Come with me!” The county magistrate said to Zhang Chen, then said to the clerk beside him: “Take him to the prison and treat him well, I want a confession tonight.”

The clerk's expression immediately turned serious upon hearing this: “Rest assured, Your Honor!”

The clerk said to the constables beside him: “Take him and follow me.”

The impoverished scholar Zhang Chen was now completely dumbfounded. Wasn't he the plaintiff, the aggrieved party? Why was the defendant getting the royal treatment while he was going to jail?

He wasn't stupid; he could tell at a glance that there must be something fishy going on.

But before Zhang Chen could figure out the reason, he had already been dragged away by the clerk's men.

The county magistrate looked at Zhang Chen, a gentle smile appearing in his eyes: “Young Master Zhang, since you have the Prince of Pingbian's manor as your backing, why didn't you say so earlier? We almost offended the Dragon King's temple, how would we explain it to the Madam then?”

Zhang Chen couldn't help but be stunned upon hearing the constable's words. He had a relationship with the Prince of Pingbian's manor? When did he have a relationship with the Prince of Pingbian's manor?

Then, a flash of inspiration appeared in his mind. A gentle woman appeared in his mind, causing his expression to become somewhat strange. He remembered the woman who came to his house to deliver things last time, who seemed to have said that she was from the Prince of Pingbian's manor?

He had thought that a beating with the intimidating rod was inevitable. Although he had mastered Blood Control Technique, the mere intimidating rod could be healed in a breath, but since he could avoid physical pain, who would be willing to take a beating?

“Please come with me, the Madam is already waiting for you in the side hall.” The county magistrate's words were very polite.

Zhang Chen glanced at the county magistrate and cursed inwardly, “Dog official, in the future, I must have the fox spirit steal all the money from your house! Use all the people's hard-earned money in your house to support me, the young master!”, but his face was filled with smiles, “I must trouble you, sir.”

Zhang Chen followed the county magistrate to the side hall, and as expected, he saw Zhang Xiaolan.

"Madam, the person has been brought. How do you wish to deal with him?" The county magistrate respectfully bowed to the woman.

The woman ignored the county magistrate's words. At this moment, she was tense, her entire mind focused on Zhang Chen.

"Little brother."

Seeing Zhang Chen, the woman hurried forward, grabbing him and looking him up and down. After a moment, seeing that Zhang Chen had no injuries, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. "It's good that you're alright!"

Then, she said to the county magistrate, "I'll be taking him now."

"Madam, farewell." The county magistrate quickly bowed.

Zhang Xiaolan grabbed Zhang Chen's hand and walked out of the county government office all the way, then breathed a sigh of relief. "You're really unlucky, how did you get into such a thing? If the Pingbian Royal Court hadn't received the news in time, I'm afraid it would have been difficult to get you out in time. You would have suffered a beating today for sure."

Zhang Chen looked at Zhang Xiaolan with a subtle expression on his face. Remembering Zhang Chen being dragged to the county jail to be punished, he didn't know what to say for a moment.

"Don't worry, the matter will be over with the Pingbian Royal Court's intervention." Then Zhang Xiaolan turned to look at the steward, "My brother finally came to the city once, you guys go back first, I'll take him around and try the delicacies of our county town, and buy him something."

The steward's face was troubled when he heard this, and he said with a mournful face, "Madam, you are now pregnant with the Prince's child. If something unexpected happens, I'm afraid we will all lose our heads. Please don't make things difficult for this little one."

Zhang Xiaolan frowned, "What could happen to me and my brother wandering around our Prince's territory? How about this, you send four people to follow secretly, but they must not disturb my brother and me from shopping."

What could the steward say?

The Pingbian Royal Court was being targeted by the people of the imperial court. Once the mistresses became pregnant, or accidentally miscarried, or died young, it led to the scarcity of descendants in the Pingbian Royal Court. Now every bloodline is crucial to the Pingbian Royal Court. A slight mistake would lead to the loss of many heads.

The steward looked at Zhang Xiaolan and could only nod helplessly in agreement.

Then Zhang Xiaolan pulled Zhang Chen and said, "I'll take you to stroll around the city, I haven't wandered around the city for some days. Wait for me a moment, I'll go to the carriage to change my clothes!"

Zhang Xiaolan said to Zhang Chen, and before Zhang Chen could react, she went straight to the carriage and changed her clothes. When Zhang Xiaolan got out of the carriage again, she had changed into coarse cloth clothes, dressed as an ordinary person, looking no longer bright.

"Let's go!" Zhang Xiaolan took Zhang Chen's hand, her face full of happiness.

The two walked into the crowd, appearing inconspicuous at all. Zhang Chen, facing the enthusiastic Zhang Xiaolan, didn't know what to do, after all, he wasn't her real younger brother, just an imposter.

Zhang Xiaolan was like a girl next door at this time, buying a portion of fried meatballs, stuffing a portion to Zhang Chen, then picking up the meatballs and stuffing them into her mouth, eating with her small mouth bulging, then looking at Zhang Chen curiously with a pair of eyes: "Little brother."

"Hmm?" Zhang Chen said absentmindedly while eating the meatballs.

"There are some things I should tell you," Zhang Xiaolan said.

Zhang Chen ate the meatballs while looking at Zhang Xiaolan. He didn't know what Zhang Xiaolan meant by her words, so he didn't dare to easily answer. He was waiting for Zhang Xiaolan's next words.

"Before I tell you about this, your name has to be changed back," Zhang Xiaolan said.

Zhang Chen was stunned when he heard this. He never thought that the poor scholar Zhang Chen actually had another name, and that Zhang Chen was obviously a name given later.

"Your name Zhang Chen was given by our mother when she was alive, but it's just a fake name. Your real name has a great origin. This is your real name, which is related to a major event." Zhang Xiaolan looked at Zhang Chen with a pair of eyes, her eyes full of tears.

"Fake name?" Zhang Chen thought to himself, "It's a pity that I'm not the real Zhang Chen, I don't know what the former Zhang Chen was called."

"Your real name is Zhang Xiaohua. 'Zhang Xiaohua' was personally given to you by the Pingbian King. The Prince instructed me before I came that you can change your name back." The girl looked at Zhang Chen with a pair of eyes, her eyes full of seriousness.

Zhang Chen's footsteps stopped, and the meatballs in his mouth almost choked him to death. Then he looked at the girl in front of him, wanting to ask the other party: Are you serious?

The name Zhang Xiaohua should never be used on a man no matter what.

And why was the name given by the Pingbian King? And it's so girlish?

"I know you dislike this name, but your name is related to your life experience. This name has a great cause and effect, which is related to the Pingbian Royal Court. Now that the Royal Court's major event is about to be completed, the fake name Zhang Chen doesn't need to be used anymore, you should still change your name in the future." Zhang Xiaolan looked at Zhang Chen with a pair of eyes.

"What cause and effect?" Zhang Chen was now interested.

"The Prince told me when I came that I should also tell you about your life experience. The Prince specifically instructed me that I must tell you all the reasons this time." The girl looked at Zhang Chen with a pair of eyes:

"I'm just the daughter of an ordinary wealthy family, but I can go to the Royal Court to be a concubine. That famous Mr. Wuliu is also a guest of countless dignitaries in Shangjing City, and is sought after by countless dignitaries, but he left Shangjing ten years ago and settled here, what do you think it's for? Even after you left home and settled in that village, it was all arranged silently, otherwise how could you find that village? And I, a concubine, can actually leave the Royal Court to see you in the deep mountains, don't you think it's strange? The last time I said I was selected into the Pingbian Royal Court, it was actually a lie to you, because I had already been working in the Pingbian Royal Court! Even my entry into the Pingbian Royal Court is all because of you, I'm just a hostage!" Zhang Xiaolan's voice was full of seriousness, her words were crackling, not giving Zhang Chen a chance to react, like a machine gun:

"Also, your neighbor is called Zhang Chen, and your Mr. Wuliu happened to give you a homophonic name Zhang Chen, don't you think it's strange?" Zhang Xiaolan said.

Zhang Chen was stunned when he heard this. Can eating melons still reach himself?

And he could feel that there seemed to be a conspiracy net covering himself in the dark.

His name is Zhang Chen, and the bookworm next door changed his name to Zhang Chen, the two pronunciations are almost similar. Even if Zhang Chen is stupid, he knows after listening to Zhang Xiaolan's words that he seems to have stepped into a conspiracy.

And this conspiracy seems to be related to that Pingbian Royal Court.

ps: Today's third update, please subscribe, bosses.