SFL Chapter 3

Are these cases that difficult? So difficult that even the Dignitary Ministers of the Ministry of Justice are at a loss?

The truth is, most of these cases are not even difficult at all. Some of them have evidence that makes them easy to solve. What truly troubles the Minister is the identities of the criminals.

For example, this one case: The youngest son of the current Eldest Princess. While in the bustling market, the Young Prince rode his horse recklessly, causing the deaths of three people and injuring seven. According to the Empire’s Law, he should receive fifty lashes, spend a year and a half in prison, and then be exiled two thousand miles away.

However, up until now, the Minister hasn’t been able to apprehend the Princess’s son because the Princess’s residence remains firmly shut, refusing entry to anyone. The Officials of the Ministry of Justice cannot get in, let alone capture the criminal.

Then there’s this other case: Dozens of corpses were found outside the city. And upon investigation, they were all connected to a Royal Prince. The wounds on the victims all matched the Prince’s actions. Clearly indicating deliberate murder.

But even now, the number of corpses outside the City continues to rise. The Officials, although they know who the culprit is, cannot capture him and bring him to justice. It’s safe to say they feel extremely frustrated. Now that Mu Yunfeng has arrived, they feel like they’ve finally found hope.

Mu Yunfeng’s cooperative attitude, in particular, has made them feel relieved.

“Your Highness, may I inquire how these cases should be handled?” asked the Deputy Minister, with a hopeful look in his eyes.

Mu Yunfeng spoke up. “In accordance with our Empire’s Law, bring them all here and tell them it’s my order.”

The Deputy Minister immediately walked out and quickly mobilized the Officials from the Ministry of Justice. They now have Mu Yunfeng on their back, which stiffened their spines and significantly increased their efficiency.

“Your highness, won’t this offend the Royal family too much?” Someone asked fearfully.

The elder members replied instead, “They’ll be grateful to us if we show them some mercy. But, we cannot please everyone, no matter what we do. So if that was the case, we might as well take action against those people to uphold our reputation.”

What the Ministry of Justice wanted from the people of the Empire was Fear. Those kinds of people needed to know fear in order to restrain their behaviour.

“The Third Prince is truly unexpected.” The Minister couldn’t help but nodded upon hearing the statement.

Even if Mu Yunfeng didn’t take action, he had planned to act in his name. Fortunately, Mu Yunfeng’s cooperation saved him a lot of trouble.

“Remember. We need to move fast. So that the Higher Ups don’t have time to react.” Once they’ve noticed, they might succumb to the power.

Coincidentally, Mu Yunfeng was thinking the same thing. The Ministry of Justice’s Officials were fast, and so was Mu Yunfeng.

While Mu Yunfeng was looking at the case files, the first criminal had already been brought back by the Officials.

He is the youngest son of the Eldest Princess. The Young Prince had felt that the danger outside had long passed and was preparing to enjoy himself once again. But this time, he was caught red-handed.

“Presumptuous! Do you know who I am? How dare you be so disrespectful!” The elegantly dressed Young Prince lost his temper. Even though he was now at the Ministry, he still believed that nothing serious would happen to him. His face remained arrogant and looked at the Officials with disdain in his eyes.

The Officials took him away in public. The people from the Eldest Princess’s mansion were not blind and they had already run back to inform the princess. So, the Young Prince felt very confident.

Mu Yunfeng paid no attention to his outburst. He lowered his head to look at his case file and said, “Carry out the execution immediately.”

“Start with fifty lashes, then detain him and prepare for exile.”

As soon as he realized that the Officials were serious, the Young Prince became weak upon recognizing the person ordering his punishment, who happened to be the Third Prince who is very powerful among the Prince’s.

His mother is the current Eldest Princess of the Empire. Although his mother and the Emperor do not come from the same Mother, their relationship is generally good. He and Mu Yunfeng are even considered cousins. So at this moment, the Young Prince’s eyes turned red. “Third Cousin, are you really trying to go against our Eldest Princess?”

“I am currently serving in the Ministry of Justice, and you are a criminal. I will deal with you in accordance with our Empire’s law. Even if my father, the Emperor, were here, he would not find fault with it.”

The Young Prince understood that Mu Yunfeng was preparing to take action against him. In all his years, he had never seen a situation where his own relative would be targeted.

Upon hearing Mu Yunfeng’s orders again, the Officials no longer hesitated. They immediately stripped off the clothes of the Young Prince and publicly began to whip him.

As the first strike landed, the Young Prince cried out in pain, cursing Mu Yunfeng with a string of vulgarities. Mu Yunfeng raised an eyebrow slightly and said to the two executioners, “Have you not eaten your fill?”

Upon hearing this, the executioners immediately increased the force of their strikes. At first, the Young Prince still had the strength to curse Mu Yunfeng, but as it went on, he only begged Mu Yunfeng to spare him. He truly realized his mistake and promised to never ride his horse recklessly in the streets again. He pleaded with Mu Yunfeng not to let them continue beating him.

Mu Yunfeng remained unmoved, regardless of whether the Young Prince felt the pain personally and truly repented. What difference did it make when the common people he had trampled to death on horseback couldn’t be brought back to life? Furthermore, Mu Yunfeng only believed in the sincerity of his remorse when he was in pain. As soon as he recovered from his injuries, he would hold grudges again.

Since the deed had been done, Mu Yunfeng had no intention of showing mercy.

Just as the Young Prince was bleeding and gasping for air from the beating, a Royal Relative who enjoyed killing servants was brought over. Initially, this Noble was not worried about his own safety and didn’t think he would face any consequences this time. However, when he saw who was being beaten in the courtyard, a chill ran down his spine.

By seniority, he could be considered Mu Yunfeng’s cousin. But their relationship was not as close as that between the Eldest Princess and the Emperor. He was an insignificant figure within the Royal family. Now that he saw the Eldest Princess’s son being tortured, how could he not be shocked and terrified?

“You Officials from the Ministry of Justice have quite the audacity to execute a member of the Royal family,” said the Noble from the Royal Lineage with a stern tone.

“The Ministry has the authority to punish you because you have violated our Empire’s Law. Since the evidence is conclusive, let’s proceed with the execution.” Mu Yunfeng said to the Officials. Due to the irrefutable evidence, even the interrogation process had been omitted. The Noble were initially shocked to see Mu Yunfeng. They had heard that the Third Prince had been sent to the Ministry of Justice, but they had no idea that he would be so cruel. “Third Prince, aren’t you afraid of losing the people’s support?”

“Can you represent the entire populace?” Mu Yunfeng couldn’t help but sneer.

He knew what he were implying: that if he offended too many people, then he couldn’t ascend the throne. For him, taking the rightful path to power was ideal, but if that wasn’t possible, he wouldn’t hesitate to use force.

“Your Highness, according to our Empire’s Laws, this Noble should be executed,” whispered one of the Officials.

“Then let’s get started. It will save us a prison cell,” Mu Yunfeng said without lifting his head. Seeing that the Officials from the Ministry of Justice didn’t make a move, he furrowed his brow and looked at them. They were stammering and sweating profusely. “Your Highness, are you really going to execute them on the spot?”

Executing a Royal family member on the spot was something the Minister feared the entire Ministry of Justice couldn’t handle.

Mu Yunfeng quickly understood his concerns and said, “Since that’s the case, you all step back, and I will take care of it.”

He doesn’t mind the Minister using him as a scapegoat or making him carry the blame. What really bothered Mu Yunfeng was the fact that they seemed indifferent to the crimes committed by these people, sheltering and protecting them. That was what truly concerned him.

Upon hearing that Mu Yunfeng would personally take action, the Officials quickly made way for him, their faces showing respect. Even though they were insignificant, they understood the consequences of Mu Yunfeng eliminating members of the Royal family.

The Third Prince must have been well aware of the situation, yet he still proceeded without hesitation. This earned their admiration and respect.

“You… are you really going to kill me? Just for the sake of those insignificant lives?” The Noble said with bloodshot eyes, unable to believe that Mu Yunfeng would genuinely target him, an Elder of the Royal family, for the sake of those lowly lives.

“Even Emperors never disregard the lives of their subjects. Our Empire’s Law explicitly states this. You clearly know all of this, yet you continue to knowingly violate them. Do you believe that you can surpass the Imperial Authority and the Law, and act recklessly?” Mu Yunfeng said coldly, causing the Noble to break out in a cold sweat.

Even if he were given more courage, he wouldn’t dare to admit that he could overstep the Imperial Authority and the Law. In his heart, he did indeed disregard the Empire’s Laws, but he didn’t dare to underestimate the Imperial Authority. Now, Mu Yunfeng has tied these two together. If he admitted it, his death would be in vain.

However, before he could think of a way to escape, a chilling gleam approached before his eyes. He suddenly felt a cold sensation on his neck and realized what Mu Yunfeng had done to him. He fell down with wide eyes open.

The Young Prince had almost lost consciousness upon seeing this. His eyes were barely open, but when he saw the Noble being killed by Mu Yunfeng with a sword, his eyes widened suddenly. Then, his eyes rolled back and fainted almost immediately.

Mu Yunfeng wiped the blood off the sword in his hand and said to the stunned Officials from the Ministry of Justice, “Send the criminal’s corpse back.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” the Officials hurriedly began their work.

Even the dignified Royal relatives had been executed according to the Law, so it was obvious that no one else would be spared. This time, the Ministry of Justice had acted unprecedentedly forcefully.

Noble figures in the capital were shocked by the Ministry’s’ actions. They couldn’t understand why they had suddenly become so bold and were willing to arrest anyone.

It wasn’t until they sent back the corpse of the Royal relative to their home that the family’s wails were heard. Even the bystanders couldn’t help but shudder at the sight.

They hadn’t forgotten that this person had entered proudly just a short while ago, but in the blink of an eye, they were lying lifeless.

“What’s going on with the Ministry of Justice today? They actually dared to kill a noble!” A prominent figure in the capital muttered through gritted teeth, feeling a shiver down his spine.

“I heard that the Third Prince visited the Ministry today…” Someone began to speak, but hesitated.

It doesn’t make any sense. It was only his first day there. How could he create such a big commotion so quickly?

“This is bad. Someone is using the Third Prince’s name to exert influence.” The Ministry of Justice had a Legitimate Royal Prince overseeing it, and they didn’t fear the marginalized members of the Royal family.

The number of people in the entire realm who outranked a Legitimate Royal Prince was extremely limited, which meant that the Ministry of Justice had expanded its authority several times over.

“But what if the Third Prince agrees with them?” Someone asked, their voice trembling. They knew the Ministry of Justice was powerful, but they had never imagined they could be so bold as to use Mu Yunfeng for their purposes.

“Impossible, unless the Third Prince no longer needs our support,” The conspiracy theorists retorted without thinking.

The person who had received the latest news spoke softly, “The Noble was personally executed by the Third Prince, which is why that family has even quieted their mourning cries.” The crowd began to slowly shut their mouths. No one knew what they were thinking.

Meanwhile, the prison cells of the Ministry of Justice had already been filled with prisoners.

The Officials went to seek an audience with Mu Yunfeng. Those with conclusive evidence had already been executed by Mu Yunfeng on the spot. Most of the prisoners locked inside the cells lacked complete evidence, and were unwilling to confess their guilt.