It was really a beautiful dream. Unfortunately, he was too lucid.
Even though he knew it was a dream, he wished he could wake up a little later so that he could hug his beloved girl longer. He couldn’t imagine what his life would be like without her.
The feeling of having her in his arms was fleeting. He wanted to freeze the time and hold her tightly.
However, the tighter he held her, the less he could feel her until she finally disappeared. He panicked. “Xiaowu, Xiaowu… Don’t go.”
After waking up from his dream, Li Guanfeng looked around the dark house with tears streaming down his face. His throat moved as he swallowed all his emotions back down.
The sky outside gradually lit up. Li Guanfeng stood up and went to wash up, looking again like his usual calm self.
After fixing himself something to eat, he started working on the cases.
He instructed Ligui in a cold voice. “Go and fetch Zhao Fa.”
During this period of time, the constables had caught many people, and Zhao Fa was one of them. He was unfilial to his parents. Though in his thirties, he was still freeloading in his parents’ house. The neighbors were always wary of him because he had sticky fingers.
Ligui nodded and went to fetch Zhao Fa.
Li Guanfeng walked towards the main hall.
Zhao Fa’s parents, who were both gray-haired, knelt down to greet Li Guanfeng.
After Zhao Fa was brought over, the two elders looked at their son worriedly. “Son, how are you doing inside?”
Zhao Fa knelt in front of the hall and trembled when Li Guanfeng shot him an angry look. “Sir, I know what I’ve done wrong and will change. Please let me go.”
Li Guanfeng did not have a smile on his face. He looked at people as if he was looking at corpses. How could anyone not be afraid of him? Even the constables standing on both sides of the hall with swords were not as scary as him.
Li Guanfeng looked at Zhao Fa. “As a citizen of the Xia Dynasty, you have no regard for the law. As a child, you have no regard for your parents. What’s the use of someone like you? A person like you can’t even lay a brick when building a city wall.”
Zhao Fa shivered. After hearing Li Guanfeng’s words, he realized that he was indeed useless.
Zhao Fa kowtowed and replied with a trembling voice. “I will definitely turn over a new leaf. Please show mercy and give me a second chance.”
Li Guanfeng raised his pen and wrote down the punishment. “I’ll punish you with five flogs. Whatever you stole from your neighbors, you must repay them double.”
Zhao Fa heaved a sigh of relief and replied with sincerity. “Sir, thank you for showing me mercy. I will do my best to become a new person.”
Li Guanfeng looked at Zhao Fa and said calmly, “This is the punishment for one of your sins.”
Zhao Fa was stunned.
Li Guanfeng continued. “As a child, you have no regard for your parents. You treated someone who gave birth to you like dirt. For that, I will punish you with twenty flogs.”
The smile on Zhao Fa’s face disappeared and he almost started to cry.
Li Guanfeng did not even look at Zhao Fa. “Someone, go and get two kilograms of stone and tie it around his waist. Increase the weight by two kilograms every month until October. Let him understand the pain of pregnancy. If he still can’t change, I won’t show mercy.”
Zhao Fa’s parents were about to ask Li Guanfeng to ease the punishment when they saw Li Guanfeng’s cold face. The expression on Li Guanfeng’s face clearly said that there was no room for negotiation.
Zhao Fa was also frightened. He could feel that Li Guanfeng really meant everything he said.
He thought that this punishment was too much until he saw the way Li Guanfeng looked at him. When a person wanted you dead, they could feel it.
After giving the order, Li Guanfeng waved his hand. “Take him away and bring in the next offender.”
Zhao Fa was quickly dragged down and flogged by a law enforcer.
After being flogged twenty five times, Zhao Fa couldn’t even walk. As soon as the flogging was done, the law enforcer immediately brought over a bag containing two kilos of stones and tied it on him.
Zhao Fa’s parents were anxious. They wanted to help Zhao Fa take the bag off when they got home, but the law enforcer reminded them. “Magistrate Li won’t tolerate anyone who defies his order. Someone will come to check on your son from time to time. If they find out that the bag is gone, the consequences will be worse.”
Zhao Fa was about to cry.
Li Guanfeng’s way of going about solving a case was swift and decisive, and he handled every case fairly.
After an entire day, every constable in the government office was exhausted, particularly those who had flogged the offender. They felt like they could no longer move their arms.
Li Guanfeng was simply a devil.
The number of offenders in the prison decreased by dozens in just one day.
His aura was too intimidating. Those who committed serious crimes also lowered their heads when they met Li Guanfeng’s fierce gaze. He did not argue with them but went straight to the point. “Among the three exile places, which one do you want to go?”
Li Guanfeng did not joke around. He was serious. When it came to meting out punishments, he was never lenient.
At night, Li Guanfeng worked on sorting out the cases. The next morning, as soon as the rooster crowed, he began the trials again.
Even Ligui and Liming were tired. The constables were worn out, but they didn’t dare to utter a word of complaint.
The offender was brought to the court. He was a violent person called Sun Zhou, a butcher who slaughtered cows. He had a full beard and a well-built body. Standing there, he refused to kneel. He looked Li Guanfeng straight in the eyes and said, “I’m not guilty. I won’t kneel.”
Ligui and Liming pressed him down on the shoulder and kicked Sun Zhou’s calf, forcing him to kneel.
Li Guanfeng’s expression did not change as he began the trial. “Are you not guilty of hitting your wife and daughter?”
Sun Zhou spat. “That’s my woman. What’s illegal about hitting her? What a useless thing! She can’t even give birth to a son.”
Sun Zhou’s wife, Madam Niu, was kneeling in the hall. When she heard Sun Zhou’s voice, she hugged her daughter and trembled in fear.
Sun Zhou glanced at her coldly. “B*tch, when I go back, I’ll teach you a lesson.”
Madam Niu hugged her daughter, trembling uncontrollably. Her daughter, Sun Huahua, was crying madly.
Li Guanfeng’s expression was cold as he gave the order. “You look down on the law and are disrespectful to me. I’ll punish you with fifty flogs before restarting the trial.”
The constables in charge of enforcing the law wanted to cry. Their arms were in so much pain that they couldn’t even hold the whip.
Lin Zheng stood out and said, “Sir, may I recommend myself for this task. Please let me do it. I’m stronger. It’ll be more painful if I do it.”
Lin Zheng hated men like Sun Zhou the most. A man who vented his anger on his wife was the most abhorrent and useless.