Chapter 38: Princess Huachao; The CP Leader Has Come Online… part 1
The most prosperous section of Chang’an’s West Market was gathered with a massive number of commoners.
It was noon. The sunlight shone brilliantly, sweeping away the dense spring rain and gloomy clouds of the past few days, appearing extremely satisfying.
Commoners kept flocking to the West Market: “Quick, go look! The Feng faction and other corrupt officials are to be publicly executed today!”
“Killing pests like these is simply gratifying! I only hate that this scene can’t be preserved forever; all successors should be made to see it…”
“Need you say more? The Son of Heaven decreed their skin be made into drums. Future officials will beat this drum upon taking office; that should be deterrent enough, right?”
The voices were noisy and chaotic.
There were even people from several cities near Chang’an who came to watch the excitement.
The crowd here surged like clouds, shoulders rubbing against heels, leaving no gaps whatsoever.
Even though the guards maintaining order in the city shouted themselves hoarse, they couldn’t lower the crowd’s enthusiasm by half.
“When is the execution?”
“A mere Vice Minister of the Court of Judicature and Revision dared to embezzle thousands of taels? How many commoners were wronged to death? Bai Ning, I share the same sky as you no longer!”
“Kill them! Kill them!”
“…”
Most of the city’s commoners had been harmed by these corrupt officials.
Good and evil will be repaid in the end. Back then, they climbed on the heads of the people to tyrannize them; now that they had become prisoners, the people naturally cheered. Some had even brought eggs, vegetable leaves, and carefully selected stones early on, waiting only for the prisoners to appear to vent their anger fiercely.
It was approaching wu hour, three quarters. (11:45 AM – 12:45 PM).
The commoners craned their necks to look toward the end of the long street.
However, at this moment, the dense crowd momentarily fell solemn. The commoners consciously retreated to both sides of the street. Without anyone guiding them, they parted like seawater dividing, making way for a spacious road.
It was the Longwu Army escorting the prisoners to the execution ground.
This troop consisted of about two hundred soldiers, the rhythmic friction of their armor plates particularly neat and pleasant to the ear.
Heavy armored troops led the way, followed by light armored soldiers escorting the prisoners.
Distinct from all other armies in Great Qin, the soldiers of the Longwu Army were tall and upright, their physiques vigorous and powerful. The formidable army displayed the majesty of the Great Qin Imperial Court, making the prisoners being escorted look extremely wretched.
Those prisoners were either ashen-faced or had legs so weak they were paralyzed; they had to be held up and dragged forcefully onto the execution ground. Those who could still speak were crying and begging for mercy.
“Help! Don’t kill me, I don’t want to die…”
“This guilty official will turn over a new leaf from now on! Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, spare my life!!!”
At this scene, the commoners went from silent to dead quiet.
It was as if a sharp sword named the Great Qin National Law hung over their heads. If anyone dared to commit crimes, they would be immediately beheaded by that sword.
Suddenly, the official walking at the very front saw the execution platform, convulsed, and collapsed to the ground, causing the procession to stall for an instant.
This criminal official was none other than the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicature and Revision, Bai Ning, whom the commoners had just cursed.
The year before last, a rebellion case was investigated through Bai Ning’s hands. It was said that near a certain mountain range in Yongzhou, several miners rebelled, and the miners were all executed.
However, in reality, it was Bai Ning conspiring with wealthy merchants. They had taken a fancy to that mine and simply exploited the loophole of the Imperial Court cracking down on rebel armies everywhere, creating a monstrous injustice involving hundreds of lives.
Bai Ning was foaming at the mouth, completely unconscious.
The heavy armored soldiers in charge of the escort looked back toward the end of the procession.
The sound of hoofbeats approached slowly from afar. The steed was tall, the silver armor bright as snow, and the young general on horseback had a face like cold frost.
Xie Qianli had just recovered from his injuries. Instead of resting, he accepted this escort mission immediately upon returning to court, displaying the Emperor’s resolve to restore peace to the land to the people of the world.
A shadow completely enveloped Bai Ning.
Xie Qianli spoke coldly: “Wake him up. Let him go to his death with a clear mind.”
That tone was shudder-inducing.
The military doctor immediately stepped out and applied acupuncture. Bai Ning regained consciousness and let out a squeal like a slaughtered pig, being dragged onto the execution ground simultaneously with the other criminal officials.
The shouting rose and fell even more:
“Don’t kill me! Emperor, spare my life! Emperor, spare my life!”
“You’ve come—you’ve all come. Don’t come over, don’t drag me, I won’t go down to the underworld, I won’t go down, I won’t, hahahaha…”
The execution supervisor sent by the Ministry of Justice stood up. Upon seeing the Duke of Ying, he offered his seat to Xie Qianli. Xie Qianli was already taller than the average person, and the heavy armor made him look like a martial god statue carved from ice and snow.
Having such a fiend sent to escort the criminal officials made the supervisor a little apprehensive: “Greetings, Lord Duke.”
Xie Qianli nodded: “This Duke is escorting the criminal officials. Proceed with the execution as usual.”
He didn’t take a seat either, standing on the supervision platform opposite the execution platform. His piercing gaze cast downward was enough to keep the crowd from causing a disturbance.
The supervisor said: “Where is the Ministry of Justice Secretary? Read the charges!”
Several secretaries from the Ministry of Justice stood up, unfolded the already organized files, and read out the criminal officials’ involvement in cases and which laws they had violated to the crowd below.
Their distinct misdeeds were too numerous to record.
Compared to all the criminal officials here, the Bai Ning mine injustice was actually not even the most shocking one. The commoners stared wide-eyed.
Wu hour, three quarters.
The supervisor pulled out the command token:
“Execute!!!”
The screams stopped abruptly. The executioners raised their blades and brought them down.
Blood spurted like fountains, flowing into rivers. The commoners’ indignation reached its peak.
Killing corrupt officials to uphold national law, to warn others against following bad examples, to warn newcomers, and to re-establish discipline and restore the strictness of Great Qin’s legal system—the commoners of the West Market cheered.
West Market, Yunyong Tower.
Sitting on the top floor and looking into the distance, one could see the execution site.
At the moment the blade fell, Ying Xi closed his eyes.
He hated corrupt officials, but he didn’t enjoy gore. The sunlight streaming through the window reflected the exquisite profile of his silhouette, his complexion bright and clean as jade.
Tiantong said: “Thank you, Your Majesty.” For not letting it see the execution scene with its own eyes.
Ying Xi responded with a faint sound.
Today, he was out in white dragon fish clothes (incognito) to watch the execution. Lang Xun and Yu Jing sat in attendance on his left and right. On the table were ordinary side dishes, green and purple grapes, two freshly baked Gulouzi flatcakes, and tea, but no wine.
Lang Xun and Yu Jing remained silent.
Execution, no matter how gratifying, was still killing. The atmosphere at the table was heavy.
Yu Jing tried to open up the conversation: “The Ministry of Justice tallied the confiscated family property of Feng Yong. It far exceeds one hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver. Additionally, there are several manors privately built by Feng Yong, worth another several hundred thousand taels. Congratulations, Your Majesty.”
His Majesty did not reveal a smile.
Yu Jing couldn’t help but link this to his absurd guess: perhaps because of this Feng fellow, Xie Ji died and Xie Qianli was heavily injured, making His Majesty unhappy.
Yu Jing smiled apologetically to salvage the mood: “Look at the Lord Duke, majestic and awe-inspiring, his heroic posture outstanding. He has recovered so well; this is all due to Master’s grace…”
“The big wolfdog is so handsome,” Tiantong chimed in.
Ying Xi ignored the chattering of these two. He was counting the days.
The North was calm, but only for this period.
He took advantage of the stable political situation to quickly clean up a batch of corrupt officials. Afterwards, the situation in the North and South would no longer be optimistic. Rebellion would rise again in the North, and Li Yilong in Jiangnan would watch the fire from across the river, continuing to develop his forces.
Moreover, the Xiongnu and the Southern Barbarians were not peaceful either.
The Xiongnu were eyeing them covetously, and the Southern Barbarians wanted to loot a burning house.
In the past life, Great Qin had sacrificed a princess in a marriage alliance to temporarily extinguish the fire at the border.
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