The Hidden Immortal

Chapter 23 Corruption and Perversion of Justice

The villagers of Songguo Village worked hard all day, but the great flood they had imagined never came.

The waters of the Songliu River, which had spread outwards, stopped just outside the village, without even reaching the embankment.

Li Shoutian waited for a long time, but finally couldn't wait any longer and asked his son Li Guangmao to take the two of them to the river to check the situation.

After a long while, Li Guangmao returned excitedly, shouting, "It turns out we have a pine and willow water god protecting us! Four flood discharge channels appeared overnight, and the flood peak was brought under control!"

"The Water God of Pine and Willow?"

The villagers looked at each other in bewilderment. They had lived here for generations, but had never heard of such a deity.

Li Guangmao was tall, especially his arms, which looked like those of an ape.

He had a lot of body hair, and by the time he was around ten years old, he already had a full beard.

Now that he's thirty, his beard is even thicker.

His wife said that in winter he didn't even need a blanket, because his chest and back felt like they had a fur blanket sewn on.

This led to teasing from the village women: "When you two are doing it, won't he make you all itchy from rubbing against him?"

Now Li Guangmao was gesturing wildly, leaving everyone listening in a daze.

Zhang Anxiu stood on tiptoe, pricked up her ears, and listened with great excitement.

She turned to Chu Xun and said, "Brother Xun, we actually have a water god here! Does that mean we won't have to worry about floods anymore?"

Chu Xun smiled and said, "Or perhaps there's no need to be afraid."

I never imagined that after a night of hard work, someone would fabricate a pine and willow water god for me.

The villagers of Songguo Village couldn't resist and ran to Songliu River to see the novelty.

Although there was a river separating them, and the area was flooded, no one dared to cross it.

However, people from many other villages had already gathered on the shore, and many of them even brought incense and candles and lined up a row on the shore.

After lighting the fire, the whole family kneels down to pray for blessings.

Chu Xun had no interest in coming over, but Zhang Anxiu dragged him along, insisting that he perform the ritual like everyone else.

Even Lin Qiaoxi was summoned by Zhang Sanchun.

Zhang Anxiu excitedly led Huan'er to set out a few candles, a bowl of rice, a few steamed buns, and two pieces of meat.

Then he waved to Chu Xun: "Brother Xun, come quickly, let's kowtow to the Pine Willow Water God together, and he'll protect us from now on!"

Chu Xun chuckled. "Kowtowing to yourself? Is that even allowed?"

The crow flapped its wings and landed on a tree branch in the woods.

Several rabbits crouched in the grass, occasionally peeking out to look, seemingly not understanding what these people were doing.

The villagers didn't notice that two enormous pythons were bobbing up and down in the river.

Li Tianjian and his family also came; his wife was the most convinced of the existence of gods and immortals.

They set up a display with their children and grandchildren, and they lit seven or eight oil lamps.

The two sons, who were already married with children, heard the cawing of crows.

Looking up, I saw a dense, dark mass of people and instinctively shrank back.

The trauma of being "hunted" by crows a few years ago has not completely healed; I still feel apprehensive when I see anything with wings.

Li Tianjian's wife glared at them and scolded, "You good-for-nothings, come here and worship the Pine and Willow Water God, and our family will have smooth sailing from now on!"

A group of people rushed over and knelt down to kowtow to her.

Li Tianjian's wife kowtowed repeatedly, sincerely chanting, "Lord Pine and Willow Water God, please bless our family to become wealthy, have everything go smoothly, and become the richest family in the village!"

Others followed suit and made their own wishes.

The two sons kept repeating, "May the water god protect us, so that there will be no more crows in the village!"

The news that there was a water god in Songliu River spread quickly.

Even people from villages further away come to see this novelty.

Some wealthy families even donated silver to build a temple to the water god on the shore.

Soon after, news came from the county government.

It is said that the registrar flipped through the county annals and found a long-ago record with only a few words on it.

"The pine and willow trees have spirits, but the shrine was destroyed in the war, and its traces have long been forgotten."

It didn't explain what it was specifically about, nor did it describe any specific events or deeds.

But everyone believed that this was the record of the Pine Willow Water God!

As a result, even more people came to donate money, and some villagers even came spontaneously to work for free.

In their view, helping the water god build a temple was a way to accumulate merit for themselves.

If you encounter any difficulties in the future, you will be protected by the Pine and Willow Water God.

In just a few days, the foundation of the temple was dug.

Chu Xun was pulled along by Zhang Anxiu and came to take a look.

It wasn't a large event, but everyone worked very hard. Some people even questioned whether the water god really existed and got beaten up.

Chu Xun naturally wouldn't reveal the truth; it's not a bad thing for the people to have hope.

I'm just curious what kind of thing these people sculpt when they erect statues of gods.

The county gazette only says that the pine and willow trees have spirits, but it doesn't say what they are like.

Just as the construction of the Songliu Water God Temple was in full swing, a group of soldiers rushed into Zhangnan County.

The doors of the county government office were kicked open. Before Magistrate Zhang Zhizhong could figure out what was going on, and before he could even straighten his clothes, he was dragged out of the room.

Zhang Zhizhong did not recognize the leader, but he could tell from the fact that the man was wearing light armor with several patterns embroidered on the edges that he was no ordinary person.

There was a Pingshui Battalion stationed near the county government office, but the commander of the thousand-household troops was definitely not dressed like this.

Zhang Zhizhong's heart pounded, and he hurriedly went to meet him.

But the man in light armor with a cold expression simply said, "Arrest him!"

Zhang Zhizhong was immediately panicked and cried out, "My lord, what is the matter? What crime have I committed?"

A secret order sent directly from the Ministry of Justice was thrown in his face.

"By order of the Ministry of Justice, arrest Lin Xianzong's accomplices and bring them back to the capital for trial!"

Zhang Zhizhong was dumbfounded. Was he an accomplice of Lin Xianzong?

What did Lord Lin do?

Not only was he arrested, but his family members were also arrested.

The county lieutenant and the registrar were also imprisoned.

Although they were not taken directly to Kyoto, they still suffered greatly in prison.

The interrogators were extremely ruthless. If someone couldn't answer a single question or their answers didn't match up, they would be whipped several times with a slick of salt water.

These pampered gentlemen couldn't bear this suffering, and soon they confessed to all the mistakes they had made.

At the same time, soldiers and officers also arrived in Pingshui Town.

Anyone with the surname Lin, or any relative connected to the Lin family, regardless of age or gender, was arrested.

Over the years, the Lin family has prospered thanks to Lin Xianzong's connections, with connections extending to all levels of the family, including relatives within the five degrees of kinship.

There were hundreds of people, including men, women, and children.

Lin Qiaoxi's father, Lin Guiwan, was among them.

These people were arrested, but no one knows what crime they committed.

Until the man in light armor arrived in Pingshui Town and pulled out a golden imperial edict in front of everyone.

Everyone immediately knelt down, and a cold voice entered their ears.

"By imperial decree, Lin Xianzong has been found guilty of buying and selling official positions, embezzling public funds, and other illegal activities, amounting to as much as three million taels of silver!"

"Between the seventeenth and twenty-first years of the Jing Kingdom, the government took advantage of the construction of dikes to amass wealth and used inferior materials to make a living, which led to the collapse of more than a dozen dikes."

"This act is outrageous and intolerable!"

"I hereby order the arrest of Lin Xianzong, his execution, and the extermination of his entire clan! All his property shall be confiscated, and his servants shall be exiled a thousand miles away!"

Upon hearing this, hundreds of members of the Lin family, young and old, collapsed to the ground.

Exterminate their entire family!

Such a heinous crime has actually fallen upon them!

Even the servants and maids were ashen-faced and trembling with fear.

They were not members of the Lin family, but they were implicated in the Lin family's actions and were exiled.

Throughout history, most people have died during exile because they could not endure the torment.

That's not as simple as walking thousands of miles to do hard labor.

Those who were truly unrelated to the Lin family looked at each other in bewilderment.

Isn't it said that Lord Lin is honest and dedicated to public service?

I heard that when he came back a few years ago, his official uniform still had patches on it, and he was reluctant to change it even though it was almost faded from washing.

He actually embezzled millions of taels of silver?

You can always know a person's face but not their heart!

No wonder the emperor was so angry that he personally issued an edict, ordering the execution of nine generations of his family!