The Bai Estate's jungle now had more than a thousand people hung up on its trees.
They were like fruit on the branches, a most magnificent harvest.
There was no way this matter could be kept small now, as even a commander had now been caught up in this mess.
Celestial Heart cultivators were the main force in any domain, and in a domain like the Verdant Cloud Domain, where upper-echelon powers were on the weaker side, Celestial Heart True Persons had an even higher status.
A Spirit Ring True Person had been defeated and captured, which pushed the level of this incident all the way to an upper-echelon battle.
Although it wasn't certain if this incident had been caused by someone at Heart Demon, Soul Transformation, or Violet Palace, it was a major powerhouse regardless.
In these circumstances, Changping Prefecture finally stopped sending people to attack, and there was a rare pause. It was clear that they were discussing countermeasures.
Their silence left Yiyi bored.
The Daoxiang Village case was actually extremely simple, particularly because she didn't really understand how to run a trial and couldn't think of a way to make it complicated. After hearing a few testimonies, she was done, and without any suspense, the verdict was that the Bai Estate was guilty. In any case, regardless of their guilt, they were already hanging from trees.
In addition, that Magistrate Du was also judged as guilty in absentia, and the punishment was to be stripped of his position and jailed. As for the length of his term, it was yet to be decided. After all, there was no one to carry it out.
Once Yiyi was done issuing her verdict and saw that Changping Prefecture still wasn't sending anyone, Yiyi didn't know what to do.
At this time, one of the Bai Estate's servants, who had been hung rather far away, had the tree carrying him extend past the walls of the estate. A beggar then ran over, jumped up and spat on the servant's face.
Curious, Yiyi asked the beggar why he had done this.
The beggar told Yiyi that his house had suffered abuse from the Bai Clan, eventually leading to the fall of his family and death of its members, with him becoming a beggar. He had spent day and night looking forward to the fall of the Bai Clan, and today, that moment had finally come.
Yiyi's eyes brightened.
Right!
The Bai Clan was a local tyrant, and they were definitely involved in more than one evil act.
If that was the case, she should give the people a venue for their complaints.
A person should act while being farsighted, and when they said that to be righteous was to intervene when seeing injustice, it didn't mean that one should only step forward for people one knew.
And to be farsighted meant that it wasn't just the Bai Clan's people who needed to be judged. The other powerful clans who had also been abusing their power needed to be judged.
Thanks to the Bai Clan, numerous rich merchants and powerful nobles of Changping Prefecture were to suffer a great calamity.
Yiyi loudly declared, "This official will hold court at the Bai Clan today! All those who have suffered injustice can come to this official to lodge a complaint!"
All of Changping Prefecture came alive.
People ran around to spread the word, and numerous people began to crowd around the Bai Estate.
Of course, not all of these people had come to report a crime. In actuality, most of them thought that Yiyi making herself a magistrate was bound to not end well. But there were always some people who had nothing to lose and would grab onto even the smallest sliver of hope.
And there really were people willing to gamble their lives on this chance.
Someone immediately accused another major clan, the Lin Clan, of illegally putting lands under enclosure. The Lin Clan didn't live very far away. In fact, they were right on Big Willow Street, which was a street where the wealthy lived.
Thus, Yiyi waved a hand, and the ghost guard moved out, seizing all of the Lin Clan's people and having them stand trial.
This girl didn't have much judicial experience, but she had Tang Jie behind her. Moreover, these cases were not very complicated, with the rich using money to make things easier for them. There was no concern for things like evidence, but almost everyone knew who had suffered injustice. But these rich people had now run into Yiyi, and none of their old methods worked. After a few questions, they confessed the truth, and they all suffered like the Bai Clan, being hung up on trees.
Occasionally, someone clever had destroyed all evidence and tried to argue their case, but they couldn't fool Tang Jie, who was able to use a few small ploys to make them inadvertently reveal the truth.
And he had a secret move: Immortal techniques.
A single talisman was enough to distinguish truth from fiction, and liars had their punishment increased. Immortal techniques were truly mystical, so ordinary mortals had no way of knowing how they worked. Just using this method would have most liars confessing on their own.
As for those cases where it was actually difficult to reach a conclusion, they could just be skipped. In any case, there were so many accusers that there was no way they could handle them all, so it was only natural to deal with the simple ones first.
Yiyi held court for half a day and ended up handling several dozen cases, arresting over a thousand people.
None of the ten-some households that lived on Big Willow Street were spared, and the primordial jungle spread out from the Bai Estate across the entire street, covering the entire area with a lush canopy.
Yiyi was wondering why the government still hadn't sent anyone, having no idea that it was because of the immense strength she had revealed in the process of arresting people.
Initially, Changping Prefecture had decided on making another strong attack. Other than Commander Lin or wandering cultivators, Changping Prefecture's government still had five Celestial Heart True Persons, one of whom was at the Heart Demon Tier. In terms of overall strength, they were still stronger, so they didn't need to be afraid. If there were any problems, they could wait until the enemy was captured first.
But then the ghost guard appeared.
These two Celestial Heart–level cultivators left Changpring Prefecture stunned. After all, fiends normally weren't on good terms with humans, meaning that these two non-human experts were probably being commanded by an even stronger human expert. In these circumstances, Changping Prefecture didn't dare to be confident about their victory. And even if they did win, they were bound to suffer immense damage in the process.
A new round of arguments commenced.
After this round, everyone decided to give up on force and turn to negotiations. Given how this fiend woman had yet to kill anyone, it was clear that she didn't want to take things too far, which meant that there was room for negotiation.
But this woman had also stated that she wanted to put the magistrate on trial, which was unacceptable. Their bottom line was that she would have to declare that all her previous judgments were just messing around and that the magistrate was not guilty. As for what happened after that, they could save that for later.
But just when they had made this decision, they received word that a rabbit had rushed out of the Bai Estate, heading toward the other end of the city. It was moving so quickly that it was judged to also be at the Transformation level.
It was Tutu, on orders to make an arrest at a somewhat more distant home.
Three Celestial Heart–level opponents made everyone feel like the matter of the magistrate was not as unnegotiable as they thought.
Of course, the magistrate himself couldn't possibly accept this, saying that since all three were non-humans, this was clearly the work of fiends and couldn't be allowed to pass. Changping Prefecture had a formation, and once it activated, even a Heart Demon True Person would be no match.
Other people inwardly scoffed. Would fiends really come here to hold a trial? Daring to activate the formation when there was no fiend attack was utterly ridiculous.
But he was still the magistrate. So long as he still occupied this post, nobody could do anything to him.
While they were arguing, news arrived that a bunch of bean soldiers had emerged from Big Willow Street. They weren't big, but they were quite fierce. They went from door to door arresting people, basically seizing everyone in Changping Prefecture with power and money who had done evil. Those Immortal masters that those nobles had hired at high price were all no match, thrown to the ground and tied up like pigs. Moreover, those beans flooded the streets, with seemingly no end to them.
The magistrate despaired.
He knew that he had run into a steel plate.
Considering that that human expert had yet to appear, even the entire force of Changping Prefecture might not be enough to turn the tables.
The straw that broke the camel's back was that officer who had been guarding the gate.
After such a ruckus, he naturally now knew what Tang Jie had come here to do.
He didn't dare to hide the matter and quickly reported to his superior. When his superior heard this, his soul almost left his body, and he went to report this to his superior. This report worked its way up to the ranks until it finally reached the ears of the rulers of Changping Prefecture.
When they heard the news, all arguments instantly ceased.
The Heart Demon cultivator of Changping Prefecture immediately made the decision to arrest the magistrate, moving with extreme decisiveness. He then said, "Everyone, please come with me to see this mighty hero."
The reaction from Changping Prefecture that Yiyi was waiting for finally arrived.
As she was questioning the members of another major clan, a group of five people flew out of the distance.
The Bai Estate's people cheered. "It's Lord Weng!"
But a moment later, the leader of the group, a man with a lean face and imposing body, put his hands together and bowed. "Chief Commander of Changping's Celestial Pivot Guard, fourth-grade General Who Guards Distant Lands, Weng Tongrang, pays respects to the Immortal Fairy."
"Changping Prefecture General Officer, fifth-grade General Who Subdues the Waves, Wei Yuanzhen, pays respects to the Immortal Fairy."
"Commander of Changping's Celestial Pivot Guard, sixth-grade General Who Bears Might, Yu Renjie, pays respects to the Immortal Fairy."
"Changping Prefecture Military Supervisor, sixth-grade General Who Bears Might, Shen Peng, pays respects to the Immortal Fairy."
"Changping Prefecture Provincial Supervisor, sixth-grade General Who Bears Might, Zou Yuanye, pays respects to the Immortal Fairy."
These five people who had spoken up, together with the Commander Lin Guan who Yiyi had already captured, made up the six Celestial Heart experts of Changping Prefecture.
Yiyi looked at them and gruffly said, "Given all the time you spent, I was sure you were going to send more people, but you only sent so few."
Weng Tongrang was stunned by what he was hearing, hastily saying, "Fairy, do not misunderstand. We did not come here to fight."
At Hundred Battle City, thirty-some Transformation fiends, one fiend king, and thousands of fiend soldiers had been wiped out. Weng Tongrang did not dare to be rude.
When everyone heard Weng Tongrang, a Heart Demon cultivator, being so polite to Yiyi, they knew it was over.
"Then what have you come here for?"
Weng Tongrang brought out the magistrate and said with a smile, "Since Fairy has already passed judgment on the magistrate, we have arrested him and come to deliver him to the custody of the Immortal Fairy."
Everyone was in an uproar over these words.
This meant that all of Yiyi's judgments were legally binding!
Weng Tongrang continued, "Of course, if Fairy and that mighty one do not mind, then you may pay a visit to my Celestial Pivot Headquarters. All the members of the Celestial Pivot Guard will be there to welcome you."
Yiyi didn't want to stop just yet. "I still have cases to rule on."
Weng Tongrang smiled. "If Fairy wishes to rule on cases, then please, continue. But there will never be an end to the number of cases. If Fairy is in no rush, then you can take your time ruling on them. After all, the magistrate has already been arrested, so Fairy can pay a visit to the magistrate's office at any time."
Yiyi was taken aback. "I'm not your official, but you're…"
Weng Tongrang sternly said, "The virtuous should uphold the justice of the world! Nothing could be better for my Fenghsan than to have Fairy impartially levy justice, clean up the officialdom, redress the wrongs suffered by the people, and seek justice for the common folk. With Fairy around, the rot that has spread through the bureaucracy can be cleared away, returning clarity to Fengshan. How could we turn aside justice simply because of the Immortal Fairy's status?"
Yiyi was left speechless by these words.
Tang Jie's voice rang out. "Enough, Yiyi. Let's stop things here."
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