A life of two souls traveling through time

Chapter 254 Arnold is punished for causing trouble

The former Lang State has now become the northern border of the West Moon State, and the capital of Lang State, Xuan'an, has also been renamed Bei'an City by the West Moon State. The land that has experienced the scars of war has gradually recovered its vitality, but it is still difficult for the people of the two countries to live in peace for a while, and insults and fights often occur.

"Go in by yourself." In the military camp outside Bei'an City, Yu Cheng came to the tent of Prince Zong and turned to Arnold who was following him tremblingly, and nodded.

Arnold hung his head and hesitated for a moment before he held his breath and entered the tent alone.

"Your Highness, Master Fan." Arnold was so scared when he saw the serious expressions on Prince Zong and Mr. Fan's faces that he immediately lowered his head.

"Your Majesty!"

At this moment, the prince was as stern as ice, and Mr. Fan swept away his usual gentleness and shouted at Arnold with a sullen face.

Just before the incense stick was lit, the prefect of Bei'an City came to the military camp with a complaint, saying that a citizen had come to report to the authorities, accusing Arnold of beating someone to a disability in the street.

Yan Zong and Mr. Fan read the complaint and found out that yesterday, an old man and a young vendor in the city had a dispute and started fighting each other. However, due to the age difference between the two sides, the strength difference was too great, and the old man was quickly pushed to the ground by the young vendor. Because the old man was a Lang countryman, he was arrogantly insulted by the young vendor. This scene happened to be seen by Arnold, who stood up for the old man and broke one of the young vendor's hands.

It is inevitable for young people to get into trouble due to their impulse, but what made Yan Zong and Mr. Fan's eyes dark was that Arnold revealed his identity in public after injuring someone. The source of this incident was originally a dispute between the people of Lang and Xiyue due to differences in habits. The people in the Zongwang army openly favored the old man who was once from Lang, which naturally caused dissatisfaction among the people of Xiyue. For this reason, the prefect of Bei'an City had to come to report to the Zongwang.

Knowing that Master Fan was also angry at the moment, Arnold did not dare to act as confidently as usual, and could only kneel in front of the King in an orderly manner.

"As a centurion of the Prince's army, you ran outside the military camp and beat up civilians. Do you know your crime?" Seeing that the Prince still had a cold face and did not intend to say anything, Mr. Fan had to continue to question Arnold with a stern face.

"Arnold knows he is guilty. He was impulsive, but that guy is really despicable. He beat and scolded an old man in public. I just wanted to stop it because I saw injustice, but I didn't expect that guy was so fragile as paper..." Arnold knelt straight, still with his head down, to defend himself.

"How dare you quibble!" But before Arnold could finish, Mr. Fan interrupted him with a stern father's look and continued to scold: "No matter what the merchant did, just let the government handle it. How can you take over the authority and carry out private punishment in the street? Now the people of Bei'an City know that the people in my Zongwang army are lawless. If you ignore the justice and military orders, what are you still doing in the army? You might as well become a bandit as soon as possible!"

It was rare to hear the usually gentle Mr. Fan cursing like this. The three generals Yu Cheng, Wei Zhun and Da Xixian who were hiding outside the tent and eavesdropping all covered their mouths, feeling both gloating and worried that Arnold would be severely punished.

"Your Highness, Master Fan, Arnold knows he was wrong." Mr. Fan's scolding made Arnold lower his head even lower, not daring to say a word in defense.

"Do you know you are wrong? Do you know where you are wrong?" Seeing that Mr. Fan had already scolded Arnold severely, and seeing that the boy didn't dare to raise his head after being scolded, Prince Zong felt reluctant, so he relaxed his expression and asked in a calm voice.

"You shouldn't stand up for injustice in public, and you shouldn't leave your name behind after the fight." Arnold answered truthfully without thinking.

The corner of Yan Zong's mouth twitched slightly, Mr. Fan's eyes turned dark and he held up his forehead, Yu Cheng and Wei Zhun outside the tent also tried to hold back their laughter, only Da Xixian scratched his head uneasily, after all, he was still young and spoke without thinking.

"Sir, since Magistrate Zhao has come to the camp to arrest someone, just hand him over to him." Yan Zong was not angry, but said to Mr. Fan with a cold face.

"Yes." Although Mr. Fan cursed harshly, he was also reluctant in his heart. However, since His Highness had already spoken, he could not say anything more. Moreover, this matter was not like the usual minor disasters and could be resolved by paying some compensation in private.

"Your Highness, are you really going to hand me over? Arnold was wrong. Arnold will never dare to beat people outside again!" Arnold became anxious when he heard this. He was so scared that his face turned pale. He knelt down and took two steps forward to beg for mercy from Yan Zong.

"As a man, you should take responsibility for your own actions. If you caused the trouble, you should bear the consequences yourself. This is what Master Fan has always taught you." Even though Arnold begged for mercy, Yan Zong did not soften his heart anymore. He still did not realize the mistake he made this time. If he was not punished severely, he would not learn his lesson.

Yan Zong's words left Arnold speechless, and he had no choice but to follow Mr. Fan to the government office in the city to confess his crime.

In the government office of Bei'an City, when Prefect Zhao saw Mr. Fan, who was beside Prince Zong, personally brought Arnold here, he did not dare to slack off and hurriedly opened a court to try the case. To avoid suspicion, Mr. Fan and Yu Cheng did not show up in the court.

Arnold followed Mr. Fan's instructions in advance, apologized to the beaten vendor in public with a sincere look, and promised to hire a doctor to treat him and compensate for all losses.

Seeing that the young boy was so sensible and responsible at such a young age, everyone thought that it was just a matter of impulsiveness, and the complaints were much less. The vendor and his family saw that Arnold was sincere and most importantly willing to pay compensation and provide medical treatment, so they naturally said nothing more.

If this matter happened somewhere else in Xiyue Kingdom, the government would definitely let the two of them mediate privately. As long as the apology and compensation satisfied the victim, the problem would be solved. However, the situation in the northern border is complicated. There are both local people from Qianlang Kingdom and new people from Xiyue Kingdom who have moved into the city. The two sides are still in the running-in stage, and conflicts and disputes are constant. Naturally, the government has to take into account the people's sentiments on both sides.

Seeing that there were still people's complaints outside the hall, Prefect Zhao naturally could not let the matter go. He had to severely reprimand Arnold in public for being lawless and oppressing the people, and fined him another twenty lashes of the cane.

The twenty strokes of the cane were bearable for Arnold, who grew up in a military camp. The prefect had given instructions in advance, so the runners did not use too much force. But in order to appease the people's resentment, Arnold deliberately made miserable cries while being tortured. The worse he was beaten, the faster the people's resentment would subside. This was also taught by Mr. Fan.

After the trial, Mr. Fan and Yu Cheng felt heartbroken when they heard Arnold's screams. After all, even if the bailiff was merciful, he couldn't act too fake in front of everyone, so the screams became more and more sincere as time went on.

After receiving twenty strokes of the board in the government office, Arnold's face turned pale and he broke out in cold sweats from the pain. The clothes on his buttocks were stained with blood and he couldn't even walk for a while.

The twenty strokes of the cane were what Arnold received at the government office. He also violated military orders when he returned to the barracks. Not only was he dismissed from his centurion position, he should have been caned again. But Yan Zong, thinking that he had been punished today, postponed the caning and would give him the punishment after he recovered.

Arnold felt like crying but had no tears when he heard this, but it was all his fault for being impulsive and causing trouble. He deserved it. He felt extremely regretful when he thought that the centurion position he had obtained through hard work was gone.

At night, Arnold lay on the bed groaning in pain. Although the twenty strokes of the cane did not threaten his life, it was still a great pain for him. Not only was he unable to move, but he also felt a burning pain in his buttocks from time to time.

"Have you learned your lesson?" At this time, Yan Zong walked in.

"Your Highness..." When Arnold saw the prince, his eyes turned red with grievance.

"Hold it back." Yan Zong saw the tears in Arnold's eyes and ordered in a cold voice.

It was like a basin of cold water poured over him, making Arnold take a deep breath and sigh in frustration.

"You're so old, but you still cry at every turn." Yan Zong ignored the disappointment on Arnold's face. He sat down next to him and spoke sternly. Then he took a box of ointment and placed it in front of Arnold, and went to check his wound.

Several bloody scars piled together looked a mess of flesh and blood. Yan Zong frowned and couldn't help feeling distressed. Arnold was also raised by him. Although he was usually strict, he had never let him suffer such serious injuries. Even if he was punished by military law, the people who were torturing him knew the limits.

"Your Highness, the doctor just applied medicine to me." Arnold hurriedly reminded him when he saw His Highness opening the ointment.

"It's okay, this medicine can make your wound heal faster." Yan Zong didn't care. He just applied some ointment and gently spread it on Arnold's wound.

"Thank you, Your Highness." Feeling a coolness on the wound, Arnold no longer felt the pain and smiled gratefully at Yan Zong.

"Given the current complicated situation in the northern border, the most feared thing is to cause public resentment. Today, you chose to get involved in the dispute between the people of the two countries and even reported the name of the Zongwang Army. Do you think you should be punished?" Yan Zong suddenly frowned and asked majestically while applying the medicine.

"He deserves the punishment, and it's not a light one!" On the way from the military camp to the government office today, Mr. Fan also explained to Arnold the serious impact of this matter. He only realized it belatedly, and now hearing what His Highness said, he felt even more guilty.

"Since you think the punishment is too light, I will add ten more strokes of the stick to your future punishment." Yan Zong raised his eyebrows and said calmly.

"Your Highness, please spare me. Arnold will stop talking nonsense." Upon hearing this, Arnold wanted to slap himself twice. He hurriedly tried to stand up but was stopped by Yan Zong.

"Every failure makes you wiser. Remember from now on that the northern border is not like a wooden city." Yan Zong instructed with a dignified look on his face.

"Arnold, I'll remember that." Arnold nodded seriously, and then pleaded with expectant eyes: "Your Highness, can I take a leave?"

"where to?"

"I want to go back to Mucheng to see Sister Yao. I haven't seen her for more than half a year...ah, it hurts, Your Highness..."

"No." Arnold's scream made Yan Zong realize that he had lost his mind, so he quickly reduced the strength in his hands, but said in a cold voice.