Chapter Four: A Dramatic Turn of Events

Staring at the three ragged, foul-smelling men before her, Wang Meier felt certain the world had gone mad. How else could such absurdity unfold right before her eyes? To force three prisoners to rape a respectable woman in court—no matter how hard she racked her brains, she could not fathom how such muddled officials could exist, especially under the emperor’s very nose. If Great Wei was already so corrupted, what could be expected of the officials in the provinces and counties across the realm?

Witnessing this, the conviction that Wang Meier had always held in her heart grew even stronger. Slowly, she clenched her fists; the enchanting glow in her eyes faded, replaced by a subtle murderous intent.

Murderous intent was something Feng Jingzhe knew well. After more than a decade in the hail of bullets in his previous life, if his sensitivity hadn’t been honed to perfection, he would have met Marx long ago.

In fact, the moment the three prisoners were brought to the court, Feng Jingzhe had already, almost unconsciously, edged closer to Fang Shaoyan. As for the murderous aura Wang Meier now exuded, it merely confirmed what he had already suspected.

“My... my lord... what are you doing...” Appropriate fear was necessary to display. Wang Meier was unwilling to give up, not until the very last moment. But she had no way of knowing that those who had forced the poison into Feng Jingzhe and planned to drown him with a stone would not let the opportunity to kill him slip away for the sake of a mere widow.

More crucial was that only Feng Jingzhe was certain: this widow Wang was far from the fragile figure she appeared to be. A woman who seemed to possess extraordinary skills and who entered the court alone to entrap him must have come fully prepared. That belt was only the beginning; Feng Jingzhe was not foolish enough to think that was her only trick. In a trial, there would surely be other evidence and witnesses to seal the case.

To break the deadlock, he could not let himself be drawn into her rhythm. So Feng Jingzhe decisively made himself harmless: by acting foolish and muddling through, pushing himself into a corner, those who needed to step forward would eventually do so.

But what if, by chance, the widow Wang was really violated by those three prisoners? That possibility, though not nonexistent, was pitifully small. Did people really think her peach-shaped hips were merely decorative?

In these times, unlike the future where gyms are everywhere, it was highly unlikely that any woman would train her gluteal muscles at home just for the sake of it. The only possibility was that she had practiced martial arts for years to shape such perfect curves. And could three petty criminals possibly overcome a woman capable of such feats?

As Feng Jingzhe had predicted, when the three prisoners saw such an alluring beauty, they forgot about the audience, let alone the chance for a reduced sentence. Six lustful eyes flickered hungrily, making Wang Meier feel sick to her core. Even the touch of a hem by any of them was the ultimate humiliation.

“My lord... you... you... Help! Help! You all protect each other... Is there any law left in Great Wei?” Wang Meier screamed in terror, retreating in hope of rallying the crowd outside the court. But the three prisoners, emboldened by tacit approval, wasted no time, soon surrounding her.

“Wang Meier, don’t worry. Just resist with all your might—at the critical moment, I’ll call a halt. Don’t you want the real villain brought to justice?”

“To hell with your justice, you mongrel! Watch me kill you myself!”

Wang Meier could bear it no longer. With a curse, she lashed out, her shapely leg kicking the first prisoner, sending him flying three yards to crash against the steps. She spun and delivered another fierce kick to the second prisoner’s head, the force so great that it knocked down a bailiff who tried to rush forward. With a deft flick of her foot, she snatched the fallen staff from the ground.

“Guards! She’s up to something—quick, seize that shrew!”

The sudden outburst nearly sent the county magistrate tumbling from his chair in fright.

“You dare shout, mongrel? I’ll kill you myself!”

The staff flew like a spear, but thankfully the head constable intercepted it with his own baton just in time.

“Bold shrew! You know martial arts—so you’re deceiving us! This is the Chang’an County Court—how dare you act so brazenly!”

With that, the constable rushed at Wang Meier, his staff whirling so tightly not even water could pass through. Feng Jingzhe, hiding behind Fang Shaoyan and Li Changsheng, grimaced as he watched from afar.

“Good heavens, is it that the martial prowess in this world is generally so high, or did I just happen to run into two experts in a row? Look at those kicks and swings—didn’t you see how many blue bricks have shattered on the floor?”

Wang Meier, single-handedly, fought off a dozen bailiffs, dodging and weaving with agile footwork, not losing ground for some time. Yet as several were felled by her blows, the freed space gave the formidable constable more room to attack.

After all, two fists cannot defeat four hands. Within a dozen breaths, Wang Meier’s stamina began to falter.

“Heh-heh... Everyone can see it, right? Who doesn’t know that I, Sir Feng, love poetry and music—a scholar with not even the strength to bind a chicken. Look—look closely—a woman whom a dozen bailiffs and the mighty, skilled constable can’t subdue, and you think I, alone, could possibly violate her? She’d sooner violate me!”

At this point, Feng Jingzhe squatted behind Fang Shaoyan and Li Changsheng, tossing out barbed remarks, driving Wang Meier nearly mad with rage, ready to rush over and smash his skull. But each time, the leopard-headed, wide-eyed constable blocked her, only making Feng Jingzhe more brazen.

“Well struck! Beautiful move! Hey, you over there—give me another flip! Yes, you—the split kick just now, aim higher next time, too low and I can’t see through!”

Wang Meier nearly choked with fury at his lewd words. She couldn’t understand how her well-laid plan had devolved so suddenly into this chaos.

“Feng, shut up this instant! If you don’t, I’ll kill you myself!”

Bang!

Two staffs collided, and Wang Meier, caught off guard, was driven back, now cornered against the wall.

“Ha... That strength and speed—perhaps my own peak years were just like this...”

Though Feng Jingzhe kept up his noisy jeering, he was constantly comparing their prowess in his mind. The strength he once relied on to protect himself now seemed woefully inadequate.

Just as everyone in the court felt Wang Meier’s capture was only a matter of time, a sudden commotion broke out among the crowd at the gate. Several bricks, thrown with uncanny force, struck the bailiffs precisely. Seeing this, Wang Meier wasted no time, sweeping her staff in a long arc and sprinting toward the door.

The remaining bailiffs and the constable instinctively tried to pursue, but were met with a hail of bricks falling right in their path...