Punishment According to the Law
With her hands clasped behind her back, Bai Jingyan clenched her fists tight. Her voice was so cold and cutting that it sent a chill down the spine.
"So this is how the Bai clan scions have been running rampant in Suyang all this while—throwing the Bai name around to commit every manner of outrage."
Only then did the young lords of the Bai clan grasp the situation, staring at Bai Jingyan with eyes gone wide as saucers.
"No regard for the law—abducting innocent women, trampling human lives like blades of grass while beating commoners to death. Plundering the property of others, colluding with the local authorities to steal the medicinal recipes that families have passed down for generations, seizing shops at absurdly unfair prices... and as if that were not enough, mistreating laborers at will and hounding men to their deaths! Using the might of the Dadu Bai family to strong-arm the officials so that the people cannot even voice their grievances—your crimes are so numerous there is nowhere left to record them all! And now, on top of everything, you dare to invoke the Crown Prince's authority to commit your wickedness!"
"My grandfather Bai Weiting cherished the people as his own children his entire life. He threw himself into war, risking his life for their sake, and taught us Bai descendants that as the people of the world wash our garments and serve us with their labor, we must treat them as our own flesh and blood and protect them with our very lives! The men of the Bai family guarded the people through life and death alike, and in the end perished on the frontier itself.
And yet you—parasites surviving on the prestige of my grandfather, who gave his life for this land—torment the people at your whim and commit murder without a flicker of shame!"
How could the people, hearing words like these, possibly remain ignorant of Bai Jingyan's identity?
The owner of Tianxiang Tower, who had been cowering inside with a small child clutched to her chest, trembling, knew the truth. The reason the Suyang Bai clan had dared such tyranny was because of the Zhenguo Commandery Princess, whom the Crown Prince held in such high favor.
And now that very Commandery Princess had come in person to punish the Bai clan scions. Thanks to her, Tianxiang Tower had barely escaped calamity. The tower's owner could not tell whether the princess was doing this for show, or whether she had genuinely been unaware of what her clansmen had done. But the Commandery Princess had drawn her blade against the Bai scions here at Tianxiang Tower, and so the owner resolved to spread word of today's affair far and wide. That, at least, might be enough to save her establishment.
Without a moment's hesitation, the owner emerged with the child in her arms and, tears streaming down her face, bowed deeply to Bai Jingyan.
"Commandery Princess, please redress this humble woman's grievances! The Bai clan scions have conspired with the authorities and are determined to drive merchants like us to our deaths! Today they bound my young son and declared that if I did not hand over Tianxiang Tower, they would cut off his hand!"
Pressing the bewildered child tightly to her breast, the owner of Tianxiang Tower wept aloud as she spoke.
"Brother!"
The Bai clansmen hurriedly propped up Bai Jingjie. Yet none of them dared raise their heads, and they murmured in small voices,
"That's the Zhenguo Commandery Princess, Bai Jingyan!"
Bai Jingjie, his mouth still full of blood, flinched and looked up at Bai Jingyan with terrified eyes.
Bai Jingyan swept her gaze over the clan scions, then spoke in a voice like ice.
"Jinchi. Support the owner of Tianxiang Tower, and send word for Magistrate Zhou to come at once. If he cannot handle this matter properly today, in his official capacity, I will report him directly to the Crown Prince—for abusing his office for private gain, and I will demand he be punished for corruption as well."
Magistrate Zhou had heard that Bai Jingyan had entered the city, and had hurriedly sorted through his documents and rushed toward the guesthouse reserved for distinguished visitors—only to learn along the way that she was at Tianxiang Tower.
He immediately turned his carriage around and made for the tower.
Yet the moment he arrived, he was met with the sight of Bai Jinchi laying her whip across the backs of the Bai clan scions. When the Commandery Princess summoned him, he counted himself fortunate that he had sorted through the Bai family case files so quickly in advance.
Magistrate Zhou snatched his documents from his subordinate's hands and, escorted by his personal guard, pushed swiftly through the crowd. Then he called out at the top of his lungs,
"Commandery Princess! Commandery Princess! I am here! Your humble official is here!"
Shoving his way out through the throng with the documents clutched to his chest, Magistrate Zhou straightened his askew official's cap and bowed to Bai Jingyan.
"Your humble official, Zhou, greets the Commandery Princess."
"Magistrate Zhou."
Bai Jingyan's gaze settled on him. Her voice was calm, without the slightest tremor.
"We arrived in Suyang yesterday, and today we have only spent half a day or so walking through the city—yet in that time I have heard more of the unforgivable outrages the Bai clan scions have inflicted upon the people than I could count. And you, an official charged with governing them—were your eyes truly blind and your ears truly deaf all this while? Did you never once stand up for the people?"
"I beg your forgiveness, Commandery Princess!"
Remembering Bai Jingyan's threat to report him to the Crown Prince, Magistrate Zhou hastily raised the documents he was holding above his head.
"Everything Your Highness says is just. But this official has not failed to act on the people's behalf. Every time, the Bai clan scions prepared their schemes thoroughly before provoking an incident, leaving me no choice but to proceed strictly according to the law of Jin.
Sleeping neither by day nor by night, skipping meal after meal while digging relentlessly into every case, I have finally uncovered evidence that in certain matters, the Bai scions bribed witnesses and hired assassins. Commandery Princess, I beg you to render a wise judgment."
Magistrate Zhou was, as expected, an opportunist who grasped the essence of things quickly and read which way the wind was blowing with pinpoint accuracy. Every other sentence out of his mouth made a point of insisting he had nothing to do with any of it.
"What nonsense is this! You were one of my father's closest friends!"
Bai Jingjie's eyes went wide with fury.
Magistrate Zhou turned his head and sneered.
"I exist for the sake of the people. Do you imagine I would befriend a petty wretch who swaggers about on borrowed authority, just like your father? The only reason I endured every humiliation all this time was so that I could find proof of your crimes and redress the grievances of the people!"
"Why, you—!"
Rage boiled up in Bai Jingjie.
Bai Jingyan regarded him with a placid, indifferent gaze, then turned to Magistrate Zhou.
"Then it seems you are a man who can see a matter through while upholding the law. Who committed hired murder in Suyang, who forced coerced sales, who violated innocent women, who treated human lives as worth less than grass—subject each and every one to a thorough investigation! Under no circumstances is the law to be bent for private gain.
And let me make one thing unmistakably clear, here and now. If any among the Suyang Bai clan abused the names of the Zhenguo King or the Zhenguo Commandery Princess to torment the people, we will petition the clan head to expel them from the clan the moment they are identified, and the victims will be compensated."
Bai Jingyan pointed at Bai Jingjie and his companions as she continued.
"And if the clan head refuses to purge the Bai family of those unworthy of the Bai name, then the Dadu Bai family will remove the clan scions from the clan entirely—and we will make it plainly known that from this day forward, we have nothing whatsoever to do with the Suyang Bai clan!"
Cold sweat ran down Magistrate Zhou's forehead. Only now did he understand with certainty: the Zhenguo Commandery Princess intended to sever the Suyang Bai clan completely. His throat felt as though it were squeezed shut. How fortunate that he had moved so quickly. How fortunate beyond measure that he had spoken of enduring humiliation to gather evidence against them.
Bai Jingjie could hardly believe his own ears. His father Bai Qiyun had said it plainly—that Bai Jingyan would one day have to lean on the clan to secure her old age, that she was a woman without the courage to ever defy them!
In Bai Jingyan's eyes, the Suyang Bai clan had lived far too long getting everything they wanted. They had enjoyed such unbroken peace and plenty that they never even bothered to think before acting. Greed and selfishness aside, where their confidence came from was anyone's guess—foolishly convinced that the women of the Dadu Bai family had no choice but to depend on the clan. She could not fathom on what grounds they had ever formed such a belief.
They were so hopelessly stupid that she did not even need to employ the slightest stratagem. Even the maneuver that had drawn the other clansmen here through the Yu family official had been a waste of effort.
Thinking back on it now, her grandfather must have elevated the clan head's position far too high—so high that the man had lost all sense of his own place.
But Bai Jingyan was not her grandfather.
She had no wish to pour heart and soul into reforming a clan beyond salvation and drag it along behind her. She had no such leisure to spare.
Even if only to keep the Bai name unstained, Bai Jingyan intended to cut away the dead weight of the Suyang Bai family, cleanly and completely, and cast it aside.
As for who in Suyang could survive and who could not—time would tell.
Bai Jingyan turned to the common folk who had gathered around to watch and offered them a fist-and-palm salute.
"Everyone, spread word to your neighbors. Any who have suffered at the hands of the Suyang Bai clan scions, go to Magistrate Zhou and have your grievances heard!"
With that, Bai Jingyan turned her gaze back to the magistrate.
"Magistrate Zhou, I will leave you with just one thing. Whoever borrowed money repays the money; whoever took a life repays with his own. Punishments will be dealt according to the law—and there will be no leniency, none at all!"
"Yes, Commandery Princess!"
Magistrate Zhou immediately turned his head and barked orders at his guards.
"What are you all standing around for! Arrest them—those wretches who seized a child and threatened his mother to force the sale of the tower!"
Bai Jingjie's stream of curses rang out as the Bai clan scions and their servants alike were dragged away by the guards.
"Bai Jingyan, you'll come crawling to the clan for help eventually—how dare you humiliate me like this? My grandfather is the clan head! You think they'll cast me out over the likes of you? Just you wait. Something terrible is going to happen to you!"
"Wait for what? I'll make something terrible happen to you right now!"
Bai Jinchi cracked her whip again. With a resounding snap, Bai Jingjie's teeth flew from his mouth in a spray of blood.
"Magistrate Zhou is in league with the Bai family!"
Some bold soul shouted it straight at Bai Jingyan.
"That's right! Commandery Princess, if you leave the investigation to that man, he'll surely shield the Bai clan!"
Only after the man finished speaking did he belatedly remember that Bai Jingyan herself was a Bai—and he ducked his head low.
Bai Jingyan gave a small nod, then looked at Magistrate Zhou.
"I have already visited every household. Each and every offense the Suyang Bai clan has committed is recorded in detail. On the first day of the fifth month, the Dadu Bai family will depart the capital and enter Suyang. And the very first thing we will do is come to you to review the progress of these investigations. Magistrate Zhou—do not fail the people, and do not fail me. When the Crown Prince calls you to account, the more half-hearted your proceedings, the deeper your guilt will run. Do you understand?"
"This official understands! He understands completely!"
Magistrate Zhou's back was soaked through with sweat.
"The Fifth Branch of the Bai family seized our family's farmland—can we get it back?"
"And two days ago they stole my granddaughter's shop—can that be returned?"
An old woman grumbled on,
"The price of that shop has gone up threefold since!"
"Please, do not worry," Bai Jingyan said. "If it is proven that the Bai clan scions took what they took through unlawful means, I, Bai Jingyan, will see that the clan returns it to you many times over. And if the clan refuses, then I, Bai Jingyan, will give up my entire fortune to compensate you myself.
That any of you have had to endure such suffering is the fault of our Dadu Bai family—ours and no one else's. Because of our negligence, the clan scions ran rampant as they pleased. Once more... on behalf of the Bai family, I ask your forgiveness."
Bai Jingyan bowed low—lower than any of them had ever seen a Bai bow—as she spoke.