Chapter 139: Who is weak and helpless remains to be seen

While the scenery outside offered endless ripples of tranquility, Zhang Yi sat with his hands clasped behind his head, a look of profound existential despair on his face.

Before him, Song Yunmo dropped a handful of flyers onto his desk with a sharp slap.

"This is a case of malicious servants bringing false accusations against their master. You must arrest these wicked servants immediately and show them no leniency. Furthermore, you need to issue a public notice to clear the Prince Jing's Consort's name." Because Zhang Yi was a student of Song Yunmo’s father and usually shared a close relationship with the family, Song Yunmo strode straight into the magistrate's office and began ordering Zhang Yi around.

Zhang Yi glanced at the flyers on the desk, then looked back at Song Yunmo. Good heavens, another lunatic who completely ignored all rules of convention. Exhausted, speechless, and utterly hopeless.

"What business is this of yours? What on earth do you know? Why must you stick your nose into this?" Zhang Yi clutched at his thinning hair, desperate to chase Song Yunmo away.

"The Prince Jing's Consort is my friend. I know her character better than anyone. You must severely punish those wicked servants and issue a public notice. If you don't, I will write flyers tomorrow claiming that you frequently binge drink and that you once urinated right outside the gates of the magistrate's office." Zhang Yi had no particular vices, save for a fondness for a little wine. On one occasion when he had drunk too much, he had indeed committed the scandalous deed of relieving himself outside the government office in the dead of night. Everyone who witnessed it happened to be close friends and family, so it had merely remained an internal joke for a few days and was never taken seriously. He never expected Song Yunmo to bring it up again today. This was a blatant, unadulterated threat.

Zhang Yi’s face turned green. None of the people he had crossed paths with today were anything close to decent.

"I am your father’s student. Your senior brother! Is this how you treat me? That is the only blemish on my entire record, and you—you, Song Yunmo, are you even human? Do you believe I won't tell your father about this?" Zhang Yi stomped his feet in fury, slapping the floor in rage. It was one thing for Prince Jing and his wife to bully him, but now even Song Yunmo was joining in?

"Go ahead and tell him. He's getting old and can't even run fast enough to catch me if he tries to hit me. Besides, telling him won't stop me from printing big-character posters and distributing them all over the capital." Song Yunmo had made up his mind not to let Su Jingluo suffer any injustices. Weren't his own three words, Song Yunmo, enough to vouch for Su Jingluo's character? Had this senior brother of his lost his mind today?

"Alright, alright, fine! I yield, are you happy? I yield! But you've arrived too late, the matter has already been dealt with." Zhang Yi felt a bitter taste in the back of his throat, as if he were about to vomit blood from sheer anger.

"What? You've already dealt with Luoluo? Right, fine! Zhang Yi, just you wait. If I don't make the entire capital know that you're a hopeless drunk with zero drinking ethics, my surname isn't Song!" Upon hearing that the matter had already been handled, Song Yunmo flew into a rage. They must have bullied Su Jingluo! How lonely, helpless, and desperate must she have felt, a delicate young woman left without Xiao Jingxuan’s protection? In his mind's eye, Song Yunmo pictured Su Jingluo kneeling forlornly on the freezing winter streets, the desolate wind tearing her heart apart.

"Song Yunmo, you've gone quite far enough now. What the hell do you know? I've been enduring this nonsense all morning!" All of Zhang Yi's usual poise vanished as he, too, began slamming his hands angrily on the desk.

"Spare me that routine! What do you know? All you know is your pathetic official's creed: pandering to public favor and disregarding right and wrong just to show off how much the common people love you. A fragile, delicate woman like Luoluo—how helpless and vulnerable must she have been? You black-hearted villain!" Song Yunmo knew Zhang Yi's personality and style too well; he could already vividly imagine the gears turning in Zhang Yi's self-serving mind.

"She... helpless and vulnerable?!" Zhang Yi paced back and forth in exasperation, finally collapsing heavily into his chair. He closed his eyes to steady his surging emotions for a few moments, then recounted everything that had happened that morning in meticulous detail—from setting up the court right outside the magistrate's gates, to Su Jingluo personally tearing down the wicked servants, right down to Xiao Jingxuan making a dramatic turnaround accompanied by a troop of living corpses. Once he finished, he simply sat there waiting for Song Yunmo to apologize for his sheer impulsiveness.