HLnovel Chapter 373
Chapter 373
The Chenzhou case has been reopened.
These words exploded in Boss Luo's mind like a thunderbolt.
He was just like those salt workers who had just heard that justice could be served for them—shocked, conflicted, incredulous, and even a little flustered.
Did he mishear?
Fifteen years have passed, who still remembers the Chenzhou case?
The Chenzhou incident shocked the entire Great Zhao Dynasty back then, but what happened afterward? In just a few months, everything had vanished like smoke, and no one mentioned it again. No one cared about the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and innocent civilians who died in Chenzhou, nor did anyone care how many families were torn apart, lost their homes, and were displaced after the massacre in Chenzhou.
The deep wounds in the hearts of the survivors of the Chenzhou case are no longer known or remembered. When someone occasionally mentions them, they are merely a sigh in history.
justice?
From the moment the verdict was handed down, where was justice?
Justice was already completely dead by then.
Chief Luo shook his head and even took a step back: "I don't believe it, I don't believe it."
He looked at Lu Yangyang, his eyes full of mockery: "You can't fool me with this. I won't believe you. I admit, I've heard that the Crown Prince is a remarkable person, even somewhat similar to the former Crown Prince Chongwen. But he's the son of that dog emperor. He has no connection to the Chenzhou case whatsoever. A person like him would never allow himself to get involved in such things and ruin his future. Little girl, your lie is too absurd."
"Besides," Luo the Boss stared at Lu Yangyang, "the rumors that circulated so widely a while ago, even I heard them, that the deposed crown prince is dead. Even if what you said is true, what's the use? No one will remember."
"Don't you remember?" Lu Yangyang retorted.
Chief Luo was stunned.
"Those people from Wangshan Village, apart from those who participated in robbery and indiscriminate killing, have all been properly resettled by Governor Jiang. They have household registration and land to cultivate. As long as nothing major happens in the future, they can live well in the open, without having to live in fear or hide." Lu Yangyang looked at Chief Luo: "Is this what you want?"
"And those salt workers at the salt mine today, those who were wronged, those who were forcibly trapped here and suffered innocently, Governor Jiang will give them justice, make up for all the wages they are owed, and they will be able to live well from now on."
“Admittedly, there aren’t many good officials like Governor Jiang, but in the entire court and the entire Great Zhao, there aren’t only corrupt officials like Steward Yang and Magistrate Liang who hold their positions without doing anything. There are also people like Governor Jiang who use their power to do good deeds. There are also people like His Highness the Crown Prince who, while in office, spare no effort to serve the people.” Lu Yangyang said, “Yes, His Highness the Crown Prince is indeed not involved in the Chenzhou case, and he doesn’t need to gamble his future to seek justice for a case that has been buried for many years.”
"Do you still remember why Duke Rong led hundreds of thousands of soldiers north back then? It was to fight a decisive battle against Northern Yan. He was determined to win, to welcome back Crown Prince Chongwen, who had willingly gone north as a hostage for the sake of the peace of the entire Great Zhao. What did Crown Prince Chongwen's fate have to do with him? So why did he do it? Similarly, even if the world was in chaos back then, as long as the Great Zhao did not fall, Crown Prince Chongwen would still be the Crown Prince, the future emperor of the Great Zhao. Why would he abandon his future and go to Northern Yan as a hostage?"
“Even if…” Lu Yangyang paused, then continued, “Even if His Highness the Crown Prince is truly gone, so what? He opened the floodgates of the Chenzhou case. The entire capital, all the officials and civil servants, know that His Highness the Crown Prince wants to reopen the Chenzhou case. Then there will always be people in this world who will follow in his footsteps, investigating the truth of what happened back then, and giving justice to the soldiers and civilians who died unjustly in Chenzhou. Fifteen years is too long, but as long as there are people who follow in his footsteps, let alone fifteen years, even if another fifteen years pass, there will still be people who will risk their lives and pay any price for this!”
Luo the Boss clenched his fists so tightly that his blood vessels seemed about to burst, and his cloudy eyes were now a deep crimson.
After a long silence, he finally spoke in a voice that had been strained for a long time: "My name is Luo Jing. I'm one of the personal guards of Duke Rong, and I'm even related to him by marriage. My mother is a relative of his wife. I lost both my parents at a young age and had no one to care for me, so I went to Duke Rong's mansion for refuge. Duke Rong kept me by his side and taught me, and I became one of his personal guards, accompanying him to the battlefield many times. During the Battle of Chenzhou, we guards were originally the vanguard, but the situation changed, someone leaked military intelligence, and we were besieged in Chenzhou. Duke Rong ordered me and two other brothers to leave Chenzhou and go to Jinzhou for reinforcements, which was the only chance to resolve the crisis in Chenzhou. But after arriving in Jinzhou, no matter how we tried to..." The governor of Jinzhou explained the situation in Chenzhou, but the other side remained unmoved. There was no other way; if Jinzhou continued to refuse to send troops, Chenzhou would inevitably become a dead city. We discussed going to Suzhou for help. Suzhou was a bit far, and we didn't know if we could make it in time, but it was better than doing nothing. However, we never expected that we would be ambushed as soon as we left Jinzhou. Of the twenty-three people who went to seek help, only I survived thanks to the desperate protection of my brothers. I clung to life and made my way to Suzhou for help, and guess what I saw? I saw the governor of Jinzhou. He had never intended to send troops to rescue us from the beginning; they were all in cahoots.
"And so, Duke Rong was trapped in Chenzhou for ten days and ten nights, and died without ever receiving any reinforcements. At that time, Northern Yan mobilized more than 100,000 troops to besiege Chenzhou and slaughtered all the soldiers and civilians in Chenzhou. Chenzhou was awash in blood."
"I traveled south with the exiled people, intending to go to the capital to appeal to the emperor. I thought someone would take care of this matter and give justice to those who died unjustly. But before I even reached the capital, the sensational Chenzhou case had already been closed. Duke Rong was accused of treason and his entire family was executed."
"Is it laughable? He led his soldiers in a desperate resistance, enduring ten days and ten nights of hardship to protect the people of Chenzhou, even when their supplies were exhausted. He suffered hundreds, even thousands, of wounds and died in Chenzhou. After his death, his body was desecrated by those beasts of Northern Yan, and his head was hung above the city gate. Watching those beasts slaughter his soldiers and civilians, he died with his eyes wide open in disbelief! They even accused him of treason! What a ridiculous charge!" Luo Jing looked at Lu Yangyang: "You're right. He went north for the sake of Da Zhao, for the sake of the world, and for the sake of the righteousness in his heart. But in the end, he was condemned as a traitor."