Although they had just shouted to kill the dog official and then followed the crowd in clamoring for Xu Cheng to commit suicide, the people watching in front of the county government office were unable to recover from their emotions for a long time after witnessing Zhu Tingfang killing Xu Cheng, who was resisting stubbornly with his sword.
Even though everyone in Cangzhou knew that General Zhu Tingfang was decisive and resolute in killing people, and there were already clear examples before him, they still didn't expect that someone could actually do this! There may be many people here who like to go to the execution ground to watch the killings and cheer when they see blood, but witnessing the killings suddenly in such an unexpected situation, the shock is completely different from watching a beheading.
It was not until Zhang Shou sent people to the palace to escort Xian Yunhe and others, and then the officers in the county government office hurried out, dragged away Xu Cheng's corpse, which was still open-eyed, and began to wash the road casually with well water. Seeing Zhang Shou and Zhu Tingfang return to the county government office one after another, everyone came to their senses.
The two students from Wendaoyi Academy who were just at the door reporting the trial in the county hall became excited after their initial shock. One of them said excitedly, "Dr. Zhang's questioning just now made Xu Cheng speechless. He is really good at speaking. No wonder he can become a doctor of the Imperial College! Without such good knowledge, he can't say such refreshing words."
"Yes, yes, and Dr. Zhang also specifically said that people like Mr. Xu are true scholar-officials!"
When the two of them talked, the others couldn't help but start discussing. They didn't have as good a memory as the two scholars, so they could only remember a little bit, but they all felt that Zhang Shou's words were very impressive. Someone even shouted on the spur of the moment, "No wonder he is the future son-in-law of the Duke of Zhao's mansion. That young lady has good taste!"
Although Zhu Ying had not been ostentatious in the past, there were many people in the county government office and rumors had spread. No one thought that the young lady was here to visit her two brothers. They all thought that she was chasing her ideal husband. This was because most people did not know that Zhu Ying had followed Zhang Shou out of the city, otherwise there would be more speculation.
But now, many people are talking about the talented man and the beautiful woman, and some people are even speculating about the wedding date, so that Xu Cheng, who just died tragically, has been deliberately forgotten.
Zhu Ying, who was wearing men's clothes and a bamboo hat and hiding in the crowd, was so excited that she completely forgot that she had just seen Xu Cheng approaching Zhang Shou with a sword. Even though she had been informed by Ah Liu and knew that the sword was unsharpened, she was still so nervous that she held her breath.
At this time, she squeezed out of the crowd under the protection of Zhu Hong and Zhu Yi, and sneaked into the county government office through the side door, with a deep smile between her eyebrows. When she saw Zhu Er and Zhang Chen with serious faces, she couldn't help but joked: "Why are you so serious? Big brother and A Shou are working together. That dog official is dead, even the old officials in the court can't say anything!"
"Who cares about Xu Cheng!" Zhu Er wiped the sweat from his forehead in exasperation, and then whispered, "Yingying, when you were outside just now, did you notice how many spinners and cotton farmers came?"