His entire family perished in battle; he rose from the ashes to conquer the world.

Upon hearing this, Mu Yuan laughed instead of getting angry: "I've never seen such a request in my life."

Immediately, he instructed the Western Army:

"Seize this man!"

The voice just fell.

Two soldiers from the Western Prefecture quickly moved and roughly pinned Lan Que to the ground.

"Mu Yuan, how dare you humiliate me like this!!!! I swear, I will never let you get away with this!!!!"

Lan Que, who was pinned to the ground, struggled and uttered threatening words.

Mu Yuan completely disregarded his threats and turned to look at the constable beside him:

"Is there anyone among you who knows the law?"

At this moment, a plump yamen runner slowly walked out, looking timid, and said, "General, I know a little about the law."

"I ask you, what is the punishment for false accusation?" Mu Yuan asked.

It wasn't that he didn't understand the laws of the Great Qian Dynasty, but rather that he needed someone else to put his words into action.

In this way...

Even if it is mentioned later.

He also had his reasons, saying that he was acting in accordance with the law.

The chubby constable replied truthfully:

"The crime of false accusation is divided into two types. One type is less serious, requiring twenty strokes of the cane, while the other type is more serious, requiring fifty strokes of the cane. After the caning, the offender must also be imprisoned for three days."

Lan Que sensed something was wrong and started shouting frantically:

"Mu Yuan, if you dare to torture me, my father will not let you off. Don't think that just because you're in the southwest, far from the emperor's reach, my father can't deal with you!"

Hearing his shouts, Mu Yuan smiled wickedly:

"Young Master Lan comes from a powerful and wealthy family; his knowledge of torture is quite advanced..."

He deliberately pretended to have some concerns.

Seeing this expression, Lan Que mistakenly thought that Mu Yuan was frightened by his words, and quickly said:

"Mu Yuan, our matter is just a small thing. If you let me go today, I will never mention it again, and I will never mention it to my father. How about it?"

"Young Master Lan, you've misunderstood," Mu Yuan explained. "My concern isn't because of your background, but rather... I'm considering whether, given your background, your crime should be punished even more severely?"

"How dare you!!!!" Lan Que roared.

Mu Yuan showed no fear, laughing as he said, "Why wouldn't I dare? Guards, give Young Master Lan eighty strokes of the rod as a warning. After the punishment, put him back in jail for seven days!"

"My father, Lan Shi, if any of you dare to torture me, I will make sure my father wipes out the entire family of whoever does it!"

Knowing that he could not change Mu Yuan, Lan Que began to threaten the people who would carry out the torture.

However, Lan Que miscalculated.

Because the people who carried out the punishments were not yamen runners, but soldiers from the Western Army.

They wouldn't back down because of Lan Que's threats. On the contrary, the two Western Army soldiers in charge of carrying out the order picked up the stern warning sticks on the ground and beat Lan Que hard on the buttocks.

With each strike, the force increased.

Lan Que felt a burning pain in his buttocks and immediately let out a pig-like scream.

Unfortunately, the caning was only halfway through when Lan Que fainted due to the intense pain.

"Stop hitting him, stop hitting him!"

Seeing that Lan Que had fainted, Zhu Zhu was worried that the Western Army soldiers who were carrying out the caning had not stopped, and she was afraid that someone would die, so she quickly stepped forward to stop them.

If anything were to happen to Lan Que, and the matter were to escalate, his father, Lan Shi, would certainly not let it go unpunished.

Although Mu Yuan commanded nearly 200,000 troops of the Western Army.

But Lan Que's father, Lan Shi, also wielded great power.

They really started fighting.

That's no small matter.

Because Zhu Zhu stood up to stop him, Mu Yuan had no choice but to wave his hand at the two Western Army soldiers who were carrying out the execution, signaling them to stop.

Immediately afterward, he ordered, "Take him away and lock him up for a few days."

Two soldiers from the Western Prefecture dragged the unconscious Lan Que away from the county government office and headed for the prison, as if he were a dead dog.

Having dealt with Lan Que, Mu Yuan naturally had no intention of staying here. He slowly stood up, gave Qin Hongxiu a look, and the two prepared to leave together.

"etc."

Zhu Zhu called out to Mu Yuan.

"Princess, is there anything else?" Mu Yuan turned to look at him, a half-smile on his face.

"You've already hit him, so let's skip the jail time."

Zhu Zhu said in a pleading tone.

Lan Que came out with her, after all. How could she just stand by and watch Lan Que be locked up in jail?

"Are you pleading for him?" Mu Yuan asked, his face showing displeasure.

Seeing Mu Yuan's face darken, Zhu Zhu's heart skipped a beat, but she still mustered her courage and said, "Although he has a grudge against you, he is my comrade, and I cannot stand by and watch him die."

In fact, the whole incident started from a trivial matter.

If Lan Que hadn't reported the matter to the authorities, and hadn't acted arrogantly and domineeringly, opposing Mu Yuan, things wouldn't have escalated to this point.

Even so.

Zhu Zhu couldn't abandon him either.

Mu Yuan felt no pity for Zhu Zhu for stepping forward to plead for him: "He may be your comrade, but he is not my comrade."

After saying that, Mu Yuan left without looking back, taking Qin Hongxiu with him.

We walked out of the county government office.

"That man is Lan Shi's son, after all. If Lan Shi finds out you're treating him like this, things will likely turn out badly."

Earlier in the county government office, Qin Hongxiu had hesitated to voice her concerns, but now that no one was around, she finally spoke her mind.

Mu Yuan was well aware of the pros and cons, but Lan Que was arrogant and domineering, and in the courtroom, he opposed him in every way.

If I don't retaliate, and the news gets out, won't I become a pushover that everyone can take advantage of?

Moreover, Mu Yuan knew very well that he also represented the Mu family.

He had to fight back hard against those who openly opposed him, so that outsiders would be wary and wouldn't dare to act rashly against the Mu family.

"Let's not talk about these unhappy things. Let's choose a birthday gift for the old lady first."

Mu Yuan smiled calmly and, during the conversation, shifted the topic to the matter of celebrating the old lady's birthday.

Qin Hongxiu was also very sensible and stopped talking about Lan Que.

Meanwhile, Mu Yuan and Qin Hongxiu were browsing through the streets and alleys, looking for birthday gifts.

Meanwhile, Zhu Zhu, having failed to plead for leniency, arrived at the prison and firmly demanded that the guards release Lan Que.

The constables naturally dared not disobey Zhu Zhu's request and brought Lan Que out of the prison.

Lan Que had already awakened.

A sharp pain kept coming from my buttocks.

"We have to keep a low profile when we're on someone else's turf. You've learned your lesson this time, haven't you?" Zhu Zhu's words carried seven parts warning and three parts teasing.

However, Lan Que had no mind to chat and laugh with Zhu Zhu; his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

"Mu Yuan, I won't let this go!"

Lan Que said through gritted teeth.

Hearing this, Zhu Zhu frowned and said, "You still want to make things difficult for him?"

"When have I ever suffered like this in my entire life? I swear I will not rest until I avenge this!"

Lan Que had made up his mind to take revenge, and even secretly vowed that no matter the cost, he would make Mu Yuan suffer a terrible death.