Chapter 1019: Chapter 979: The World Remains, People Have Changed

However, as soon as Lin Yi finished speaking, a commotion erupted outside.

There was no need to guess; it was certain that more people were rushing over.

Sure enough, when everyone’s eyes turned toward the door, they immediately saw a group of soldiers escorting a large crowd inside,

similar to the previous group, crying and shouting as they walked in.

Many among them continuously cursed as well.

The majority crying were women and children, while those cursing were men, who were extremely angry at the moment.

Each of them lashed out ferociously at the group of soldiers, cursing them for being blind, for daring to mistreat them, without knowing who their master was.

Did they really not know who was in charge in East County City?

In short, the curses made Lin Yi frown, not to mention the soldiers,

who had been bullied by them in the past, now took this opportunity and, like fierce tigers, without saying a word, went up and threw a big punch.

The one who got hit spewed teeth from his mouth.

Those around them, seeing this, showed no restraint, glaring angrily at the soldiers.

However, upon entering Chengdu Prefecture and seeing a row of people kneeling in front, each of them was dumbfounded.

They blinked vigorously, disbelief written all over their faces. What did they see?

They saw their masters kneeling outside the main hall, on the vacant ground.

Not only their masters, but also Lord Liu was kneeling there,

which rendered everyone dumbfounded.

They opened their mouths wide, not daring to make a sound, which was more effective than the soldiers’ punches and kicks.

The guys couldn’t understand what happened overnight to their leaders?

And why were Lord Liu and the others arrested, and who was the person sitting there?

Looking so young, yet everyone treated him with great respect; was he the son of an important official?

Did Lord Liu offend someone with significant power?

Suddenly, people began to speculate, and some clever individuals even started thinking of ways to distance themselves from these people, or expose some weaknesses, hoping it might spare them.

Thus, gradually, without stopping.

Thankfully, the square of the City Lord’s Mansion was wide enough to accommodate almost a thousand people without appearing too crowded.

And so, after nearly half an hour, the square was filled with people kneeling, each guarded by a soldier.

If they dared make the slightest move, they would be kicked.

In such circumstances, Lin Yi felt somewhat helpless.

After all, their crimes could not be ignored, but he was not ruthless enough to ignore humanity,

so he instructed that all children under the age of 15 be separated and taken aside, only under watch, without forcing them to kneel.

The officials who had been tied up showed complete disdain at this.

They believed Lin Yi was pretending, thinking their status was the most important,

as for their children and descendants? Ha, they weren’t very important.

In their view, children could be born with anyone, as many as they wanted;

as long as they preserved their lives, their family, their status, that was enough.

As a result, they felt no gratitude for Lin Yi’s actions, even showing disdain,

seeing this made Lin Yi shake his head, realizing these people indeed deserved death, able to look indifferently at their own flesh and blood, showing no pity, it was clear their hearts had turned rotten.

Time passed bit by bit, finally everyone was present. Looking at the multitude kneeling on the ground, Lin Yi stood up and moved forward:

"Here I’ll give you only one sentence: what you’ve done, Heaven is watching.

Everything you did before was not unnoticed, nor unknown to me, just that I had no time to deal with it.

Now that your evil deeds have piled up, I will not spare you.

As for you, Lord Liu, you were arrogant, defiant of law,

and must have committed many misdeeds here over the years, right?

Now, I will not judge or execute you, I want to see with my own eyes how much wrongdoing you actually committed here.

Men, tie them all up, escort them outside the city mansion.

Line them up, set up tables before them.

And at dawn, gather all the people, everyone nearby, to come watch and to voice grievances. If any are wronged, I will personally judge, if found guilty, I will doubly punish."

Upon hearing these words, the soldiers responded immediately, and ropes began tying those people up, pushing them outside, enclosing the City Lord’s Mansion three layers deep.

As for the time, it was already late, so Lin Yi didn’t plan to disturb the people,

nor did he intend to gather everyone in the dead of night,

as this society’s populace was the most innocent, the most suffering, though they needed relief, it wasn’t urgent at the moment.

And now, let’s look at Lord Liu. Being specially attended, he was tied up tightly and suspended from the flagpole outside Chengdu Prefecture’s gate.

Dangling above, Lord Liu glanced at the people below and the large mansion behind, and his heart turned icy cold.

Things truly have changed, once he was here, arrogant and overbearing,

meting out imperial edicts at will, but now?

Look below,

[To be continued...]