Luo Daoqing raised his head, looking at the Divine Lady through tear-blurred eyes, his mind feeling as if something had exploded within it.
It wasn't because he didn't understand the meaning of her words.
It was because he understood them too well.
He was a man who had transmigrated from the modern era.
Having received a higher education, he naturally knew what a society ruled by law was. He knew what procedural justice meant and that equality before the law was not just an empty phrase.
The law is the cornerstone of a civilized society; he understood these principles better than anyone else in this era.
Initially, when he first arrived, he still remembered these principles and everything that world had taught him.
Later, he gradually forgot.
Or rather, it wasn't that he forgot, but that he felt using those laws to constrain himself in this chaotic world was merely being overly idealistic.
There was no rule of law here, only the rule of men.
There was no fairness here, only power.
Everyone else acted this way, so he did too.
Slowly, he began to feel that it was only natural for those in high positions to hold the power of life and death over others.
But the Divine Lady told him that it wasn't so.
Justice is justice, and it does not change with the era.
Heaven's justice is clear, and retribution never fails.
Luo Daoqing knelt on the ground, his forehead pressed tightly against the cold floor as tears streamed down his face.
This time, it wasn't out of fear, but shame—shame that he had become the very kind of person he once hated most.
Above Xindu City, the massive Sky Curtain reflected everything clearly.
Everyone was stunned.
“The law should be a shield that protects the people and the final line of defense for fairness and justice.”
These words struck Xindu like a bolt of lightning.
An old man selling straw sandals crouched by the roadside. He slung his sandals over his shoulder, his mouth trembling as his eyes turned red. “I’ve lived for more than half my life, and no one has ever said such things to me. So the law was meant to protect us commoners...”
For these poor commoners, the thing they feared most in life was dealing with officials. It was said that once you entered the yamen, you’d be lucky to leave with your skin intact, regardless of whether you were innocent or not; it all depended on the official’s mood.
“Did I hear that right?”
A young man nearby supported him.
His voice was also somewhat choked. “It was the Divine Lady who said it, old man. You didn't hear wrong.”
“Good... good...” The old man repeated the word, his Adam's apple bobbing. “The Divine Lady is a benevolent deity. What she says must be true...”
As he spoke, he suddenly began to cry like a child.
At the other end of the long street, a young man wearing a washed-out green scholar's robe stood under a tea stall.
He suddenly looked up, gathered his courage, and shouted toward the Sky Curtain, “The Divine Lady speaks the truth!”
Everyone around turned to look at him, but he was oblivious. He simply stared fixedly at the Divine Lady's figure in the sky, his eyes red and his lips trembling, his heart surging with emotion.
He felt a deep connection to Xu Yi's experience.
Because when he took the Autumn Examinations last year, he had also encountered unfair treatment.
His essays were excellently written and he should have passed with high honors, but he was failed by the examiner on the grounds of “improper use of classical allusions.”
Later, he heard that the examiner’s own nephew had also taken the exam. His writing was mediocre, yet he had passed with high honors.
But he had no evidence and no recourse.
He could only accept his bad luck.
He had thought his life would end like this.
But today, he heard the Divine Lady say that the law is meant to protect the people and maintain fairness and justice.
These were principles he had never been taught in school and words he had never read in books.
But now, coming from the Divine Lady’s mouth, every word felt like a brand seared into his heart.
While the common people were moved to unprecedented excitement by the Divine Lady upholding justice, the nobles and elites from powerful families like Shen Jue, Shen Yu, and Pei Du felt a mixture of joy and worry.
Each fell into their own state of confusion.
Since ancient times, there had been a saying: “Though the King's law is great, it does not enter the gates of the elite, nor does it reach the high nobility.”
In the eyes of the great clans, the law was merely a tool to constrain the commoners, not themselves.
Ordinarily, the law was a sharp weapon used to maintain order over lands, tenants, and markets, directed against the common people.
In the courtroom, the law was a bargaining chip.
Before sentencing, one's social standing was questioned first.
A genealogy could serve as a shield, and marriage ties could act as a pardon.
Lawsuits involving ten thousand families were often just a remote contest between the two families' backing.
Pei Zirang’s face was somewhat pale. He turned to look at Shen Yu, who was looking down in deep thought, and murmured, “Fuyan, does the Divine Lady mean that the great clans are all parasites hindering fairness and justice, and that we should not exist in this world?”
Deities possessed the divine power to make their words reality. If the great clans displeased the deity, their destruction could be accomplished with a single sentence.
Who could withstand the will of a deity?
Likely not even the entire strength of the dynasty.
His hands unconsciously clenched into fists. “But the Pei Clan has been in Heluo for three hundred years. We have cleared land for farming, built irrigation systems, and opened our granaries to provide relief during numerous disasters, saving countless lives.”
“Do none of these count as merits?”
Hearing this, Shen Yu suddenly looked up at the Divine Lady on the Sky Curtain. His eyes burst with a light as bright as the stars, the piety and admiration in his gaze almost overflowing.
“Zirang, you are being too narrow-minded.” His voice was filled with fanaticism. “The Divine Lady is the peerless wise lord that we strategists have sought for so long! What she desires is for everyone to be equal before the law—not to hastily convict someone because of their humble origins, nor to let someone off lightly because of their noble birth, but to treat everyone exactly the same!”
“This is true equality!” His eyes were wide open, and the stinging sensation made him shed tears involuntarily. The hot tears slid down his face and splashed onto the ground.
“It is a pity Lu Buyan is not in Xindu. He has always advocated that the Emperor should be subject to the same laws as the commoners. If he were here to listen to the Divine Lady’s teachings, he would surely be greatly inspired and grasp the essence of the path of laws and decrees to benefit the people.”
He couldn't help but feel a slight sense of regret.
It was on behalf of his good friend, Lu Buyan.
Meanwhile.
On the official road to Xindu City, an inconspicuous green-curtained carriage stopped under the shade of a willow tree.
A young master sat inside.
He was fair-skinned and clean-cut, with two rolling black eyes set in a delicate baby face. He wore a light green brocade robe that made him look full of youthful energy.
“Fairness and justice...” he whispered.
Yun Shu looked at the skyrocketing Shock Value and then at Shen Yu, who was acting as her spokesperson.
She couldn't help but sigh inwardly again.
Exchanging a single Favorability Pill for Shen Yu back then was truly a bargain that couldn't be beat!
Since this stage of the layout had reached a crucial point, she didn't focus too much on Shen Yu and the others. She turned her gaze back to the kneeling Luo Daoqing.
In orchestrating this through the dream, she didn't expect to awaken everyone just by shouting slogans. Instead, she was casting a wide net, knowing she would eventually catch a fish. Furthermore, this was related to the next step of her plan.
A person's thoughts are influenced by their environment. Only by completely changing the environment can one completely change their thoughts.
“Luo Daoqing, you have one last chance.”
“Xiao Shunzi, the Emperor's personal tea-serving eunuch. In the third year of Zhaoming, he was arrested for attempting to assassinate Emperor Ling of Yong in the palace and was dismembered by five horses.”
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