Chapter 437 Public Execution, Crazy Concubine (5k)
Zhao Duan is still alive!
And captured alive the rebel leader Zhuang Xiaocheng! The empress ordered her to be beheaded soon!
On that day, along with the last cold wave of early spring, this explosive news spread through the streets and alleys of the capital in a devastating manner, becoming the first major case after the beginning of the new year.
For a time, countless people were stunned, shocked by the bizarreness of this incident, and also bred huge disappointment.
Especially those scholars who have been scrambling to write poems to commemorate her recently in order to get into the eyes of the empress are even more disappointed. Zhao, who is about to be "suffering a thousand knives", cursed him countless times, but there is nothing he can do.
After Li Yanfu came to court, he immediately held a meeting within Li's party to comfort the injured officials. I don’t know how many benefits were promised and how much effort was spent to suppress the internal dissatisfaction.
Immediately afterwards, Zhuang Xiaocheng's conviction was rapidly advanced amidst the roar of the "machine" of the court.
The joint trial by the three departments of Dali Temple, the Ministry of Punishment, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate completed the process at a terrifying speed. Supervisor Baima was responsible for building momentum.
A few days later.
Zhuang Xiaocheng and a group of rebels executed Caishikou by beheading him.
……
Imprisonment.
In a prison, Zhao Duan saw Zhuang Xiaocheng again after a few days.
At this moment, Zhuang Xiaocheng, without any shackles on his body, was sitting calmly cross-legged in the deepest cell of the entire dungeon.
He was wearing a prison uniform, his gray hair was messy and disheveled, and he was looking at the beam of light coming from the vent in trance.
In the prison, there were three royals dressed as eunuchs serving as "bodyguards" to prevent the prisoners from accidents.
"Taifu, look what I have brought to you?"
Zhao Duan stood in the corridor with a smile and his hands behind his back. The jailer behind him was holding a tray with rich meat and wine in his hand.
He took the tray himself, took advantage of the jailer next to him to open the cell door, and said:
"Based on the hatred between you and me, I don't want to give you this decapitation meal, but I heard that you have been on a hunger strike these past few days to prevent you from starving to death when you go to the execution ground. I will show you mercy and give you one last meal.”
He stepped into the cell and placed the food and wine in front of the latter.
Zhuang Xiaocheng's eyes moved and he focused on his face. It seemed that because his life was about to end, this old man who had experienced ups and downs in his life was surprisingly in good spirits.
"I have been thinking these past few days, if I had killed you in the Earth Temple that day, would everything have been different?"
Zhuang Xiaocheng sighed and said in fantasy:
"Without you, the Kuangfu Society in the capital might not have been uprooted, the New Deal might not have been as rolled out as it is today, and I wouldn't have had to risk my life to fight you..."
As he rambled on, Zhao Duan stood in front of him without interrupting.
Witness the old man speaking his last words.
"...But if there is no if, I am even thinking that the appearance of a person like you is a sign of the destiny of His Highness the Third Highness?"
Hehe... even if a person is about to die, how can he speak well... Zhao Duan raised the corner of his mouth:
"Taifu, if you repent now, I'm afraid it will be too late."
Zhuang Xiaocheng laughed at himself, his gray hair seemed to shine in a beam of sunlight:
"Repent? No, you can kill me, but my sacrifice will only become another evidence of the pseudo-emperor's crime of harming Zhongliang. After my death, the remaining Kuangfu Society members will only be angry and continue to fight against you..."
"Stubborn!"
Zhao Duan was too lazy to listen anymore and said coldly:
"Feed the Taifu to eat the decapitated meal."
The two jailers behind him immediately stepped forward, one opened Zhuang Xiaocheng's mouth, and the other stuffed food and wine into it.
Zhao Duan turned around and walked out of the cell. After waiting for a while, the jailer came out with bowls and chopsticks.
Zhuang Xiaocheng was left alone kneeling in the cell, coughing, covering his neck and making a "ho ho" sound. He widened his eyes and finally realized something was wrong.
Then I heard Zhao Duan's cold voice coming from outside the fence:
"Don't worry, you can't die now. The wine is just mixed with a special 'mute medicine' to ensure that you can't speak on the execution ground. Want to make an impassioned speech in front of everyone before you die? Gain a reputation? You've watched too many TV series. ”
Leaving these words behind, he walked away under Zhuang Xiaocheng's angry gaze.
At the end of the corridor, Eunuch Hai, wearing a bright red python robe, waited quietly and smiled:
"Let's go together?"
He was personally responsible for escorting Zhuang Xiaocheng to prevent any accidents from happening.
Zhao Duan shook his head and said with a smile: "I found a better place to see the scenery."
……
……
Caishikou is an open space with a large flow of people in the capital.
It is also the place where felons have been executed for six hundred years.
Today, Wuyangyang near Caishikou is full of people who come to join in the fun.
Ma Yan personally led the Jinyi captain to maintain order.
In the southeast of Caishikou, under a watchtower, Zhao Duan arrived quietly with only a few servants.
Today, he did not wear the official robe of Shaobao or Jisi, but changed into the luxurious clothes he had worn on the first day of time travel.
The entourage behind him also called from the White Horse Prison.
Today, he has no other identity, but the messenger of the White Horse Supervisor.
"Crunch."
"Crunch."
Zhao Duan walked up the stairs and walked alone to the pavilion at the top of the watchtower.
From this angle, you can overlook the entire Caishikou.
At this moment, noon had arrived, and a mighty procession of prisoners came from the direction of Zhao Yamen, escorted by the imperial army. The leader was Zhuang Xiaocheng.
Amid the whispers of the people, hundreds of prisoners were led into the execution ground.
On the execution platform were the chiefs of the three departments headed by the Minister of Punishment.
The sun is high.
Cloudless.
Suddenly, another team appeared.
It was a group of people headed by Yun Xi, mainly young men and women, including Qingniao and Lin Yuebai's sister and brother who later surrendered.
When this group of people appeared, Zhuang Xiaocheng became obviously excited, as if he had guessed something, and tried to struggle, but was firmly locked.
Zhao Duan looked down into the distance calmly.
It's like watching a stage play.
All sounds and images maintain a just right distance.
The Minister of Punishment read something, and then Yun Xi stood up. The girl looked indignant, pointed at Zhuang Xiaocheng on the stage, and loudly scolded him for his lack of personal ethics.
Some of them are true, and some of them are made up by Zhao Duan.
The people watching were in an uproar, but were asked to be silent by the imperial guards.
Zhuang Xiaocheng opened his mouth wide and whined, trying to refute, but he couldn't utter a single syllable at all. He even couldn't even make any obvious struggling movements because the food was mixed with cartilage powder.
After Yunxi, there is the blue bird.
After the Blue Bird, there are the Lin Yuebai siblings...
A carefully selected group of people began to take turns exposing Zhuang Xiaocheng's lies in public, and spread rumors to smear the senior officials of Kuangfu Society headed by Zhuang Xiaocheng.
Each revelation is heavier than the last, showing the distortion and filthiness of the big shot's private life.
The other members on the execution platform were stunned and looked at the Taifu in disbelief. They were also deceived into thinking that it was true.
Zhuang Xiaocheng felt dizzy as he felt the malicious and disgusting glances coming from all directions.
He raised his head and saw only the dazzling sun, and the sky was spinning. The intense fear made him in a trance, forgetting what happened in the second half.
He only felt that the world had become silent, and there was only a buzzing in his ears. Finally, a clear and heavy sound of the beheading token falling to the ground dragged him back to reality.
He felt the long knife raised by the executioner behind him. In the last scene before death, he raised his head with all his strength, squinted his eyes, and looked at a lonely watchtower under the blue sky in the distance directly in front of him.
He vaguely saw a familiar figure, seemingly looking at him.
"Cut!"
The world went dark.
……
Looking upstairs. Zhao Duan turned around, walked down slowly, got into the carriage below, and said to his entourage: "Enter the palace."
"Yes." The servant driving the car did not dare to delay and immediately rushed towards the palace.
Entered the imperial city unimpeded.
Zhao Duan was in front of the imperial study room and saw the empress in white standing at the door, looking at the distance in a trance.
"Your Majesty, I am here to return my orders."
"No accident, right?"
"Everything goes well. Zhuang Xiaocheng and other traitors are dead, and the accusations arranged before his death are also very effective. As expected, the dirty private things about Kuangfu Society's senior executives will spread throughout the city today.
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Then, as long as the shadow guards from all over the country push it a little, it can spread to the nine realms and eighteen mansions, completely destroying the reputation of Kuangfu Society. "When Zhao Duan said these words, he felt a strong sense of déjà vu as a villain.
Xu Zhenguan felt equally uncomfortable after listening to the report. She glanced at the young imperial guard helplessly:
"Your words make me seem like a cruel and foolish king."
No... I prefer the description of "villain princess", at least it sounds better... Besides, isn't this also "treating others with their own treatment?"... Zhao Duan said seriously:
"Your Majesty is the leader of the ZTE. The rebels may make some slanderous remarks to fool the people for a while, but they cannot fool the whole world. This beheading of Zhuang Xiaocheng will definitely greatly damage the vitality of Kuangfu Society and make it difficult for it to become a threat again."
Xu Zhenguan shook his head slightly and said:
"Didn't you doubt before that Jian Wen was still alive? During these days, I sent people to carefully re-read the files and information from that year, and indeed found some clues."
"Huh?" Zhao Duan was stunned and looked at her in surprise: "What clue?"
Xu Zhenguan said:
"Jian Wen went out once before the coup, and through subsequent investigations, it was most likely that he carried a large number of treasures including healing elixirs, as well as some military weapons.
In addition, now that I think about it, the escape of the group of rebels was indeed smoother, as if it had been planned, especially since Jian Wen's wife and children were sent away early...
At the beginning, what I thought was that he wanted to leave a bloodline outside. If he failed, he could at least leave an heir. But now that I think about it, the escape route he prepared is too ample. ”
Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment and said:
"Your Majesty means that the retreat Jian Wen prepared is not for his wife and children, but for himself?
But when he broke into the palace during the coup that day, there was no possibility of him being defeated and escaping, unless he divided himself in two like a bewitched real person..."
Xu Zhen nodded and said solemnly:
"This can also explain why, if he was alive, he didn't stand up and openly confront me, because his soul is far inferior to that of the real person who bewitched, and the latter had to hide for three years before he fully recovered.
He will only get worse, even if he only 'survived' it in the past few months. I even suspect that he may have used the power of Hades warlocks..."
Zhao Duan frowned and said:
"Only these clues are not enough to confirm. Can your Majesty find other clues that can support this?"
Xu Zhenguan hesitated, nodded, and said:
"Come with me to meet someone."
No, this line is a bit familiar. It was the same last time you took me to Jizhao Temple... Zhao Duan suppressed his desire to complain::
"Where to go?"
Xu Zhenguan opened her red lips lightly: "Leng Palace."
……
What was the harem like in Yu State? Three years ago, it was still relatively normal.
The old emperor was old-hearted and had many beauties in the harem. However, after the "Xuanmen Coup", the empress ascended the throne, and the harem suddenly became awkward.
The concubines of the old emperor could not be kicked out, so they had to keep them. In the past, a group of concubines would stage various "palace fights" in order to compete for favor, but now they have completely lost their focus, and the harmony in the harem is a mess.
Mo Chou, a female official of the "Six Ranks", had a considerable part of her job to manage the group of concubines left behind by the old emperor.
Zhao Duan followed the empress and walked around the empress' palace, stepping deeper into the palace for the first time.
The two walked in front, followed by a large group of female officials and eunuchs.
"Speaking of which, you are one of the few men who has entered the harem in the past three years." Xu Zhenguan quipped, her long skirt dragging across the clean ground with her long steps.
Wouldn't that be equivalent to Tang Seng entering the daughter's kingdom? Everyone wants to bite me?
Zhao Duan silently leaned towards Zhenbao, without squinting:
"I only have His Majesty in my heart, and the harem is colorless."
The pink and white in the harem were colorless... Xu Zhenguan glanced at him in surprise:
"Is this your new poem? There should be another sentence at the beginning. Can you tell me about it?"
Zhao Duan glanced at her cautiously and asked tentatively: "Looking back and smiling happily?"
Looking back, a smile is alluring, the harem is colorless... Xu Zhenguan chewed this poem, and felt the vivid image. While marveling at the poetic talent of this little Forbidden Army, he smiled, half-smiling but not smiling:
"Do you think I am more attractive, or which girl in the palace is more attractive? Speaking of which, you have made great achievements in arresting Zhuang Xiao, and I haven't rewarded you yet. How about you choose a concubine from the harem?"
No...this is not a joke. Zhenbao, are you sure the old emperor won't jump out of the coffin and fight for me? ...Zhao Duan clearly drew a clear line:
"Your Majesty's smile is more beautiful than red flowers in the hearts of all the ministers..."
Xu Zhenguan spat, not bothering to argue with him, rolled his eyes in feigned annoyance, and sighed softly:
"If I'm not joking with you, do you know who I want to take you to see?"
Zhao Duan muttered:
"Your Majesty is talking about the cold palace. As far as I know... In recent years, Concubine Xiao is the only one who has been in the cold palace."
Concubine Xiao... is the biological mother of the second prince Xu Jianwen!
Zhao Duan wanted to hang out in Yu State, so he naturally studied this information.
The old emperor who passed away had a queen in his early years, who was the prince's biological mother. Later, after he recovered from his illness, the old emperor did not have another queen for unknown reasons.
To some extent, it was also an inducement that led to the subsequent coup.
Without the queen to suppress the harem, many concubines would inevitably look forward to this position.
Xu Jianwen's biological mother, Concubine Xiao, was once a strong candidate to become the queen.
As for Zhenbao's biological mother, she died in childbirth and was later raised by the Queen Mother together, so she was close to the Prince.
"Concubine Xiao's mother-in-law was once a relative force in Beijing, and was one of the forces that helped Jian Wen seize power during the Xuanmen coup... Later, the coup failed, and Concubine Xiao's mother-in-law was executed for the crime of treason... Concubine Xiao was also imprisoned. Leng Gong..."
Zhao Duan observed Zhenbao's face and said tentatively.
Because the purge of the Xiao family was handled by Xu Zhenguan, who had just ascended the throne.
Xu Zhenguan sighed softly and said:
"Yes, that's her. According to the information from that year, Jian Wen visited Concubine Xiao many times a few days before he launched the mutiny..."
Zhao Duan's eyes lit up:
"So, Your Majesty suspects that Concubine Xiao knows some inside information? That's right, even if Jian Wen hides it, she knows her son better than her mother. Even if he doesn't reveal any secrets, Concubine Xiao is very observant. She will definitely notice any changes in Jian Wen's body. . Your Majesty is thinking of interrogating her?”
Xu Zhenguan shook his head silently and said:
"Interrogation...it would be great if we could ask."
What's the meaning?
Zhao Duan couldn't hide his doubts. At this time, the group had arrived at a corner of the palace, outside a particularly remote courtyard.
In early spring, the chill has not yet dissipated. Looking outside, you can see the bare branches protruding from the courtyard wall.
Compared with the other concubines' courtyards, this courtyard is particularly dilapidated, and the door is narrow and dilapidated. Locked with a big lock.
There was a hole dug in the door into which food could be delivered.
It's like a different kind of prison.
"Open the door."
Xu Zhenguan ordered with a calm face.
Immediately a eunuch trotted up behind him, took out the key and poked the keyhole, and when he turned it, it opened with a "click".
When the door opened, Xu Zhenguan ordered the palace people to wait outside, and she and Zhao Duan entered the small courtyard together.
Zhao Duan glanced at it and frowned. The yard was extremely desolate and dilapidated. There were grass growing on the ground, the floor tiles were broken, and there were feces and urine stains all over the ground.
"This is already settled. In the past, people in the cold palace would even be locked in a room and not allowed to come out. Concubine Xiao can move around freely."
Seeing Zhao Duan frowning, Xu Zhenguan explained.
It can be seen that the empress has very complicated emotions towards Concubine Xiao, with both hatred and sympathy.
The former was naturally caused by Jian Wen's murder of his brother and his father. Behind the scenes, it would have been impossible without the influence of Concubine Xiao.
The latter... Zhao Duan guessed that it was probably more about empathy for the identity of "mother" and "woman".
But soon, he realized that he had guessed wrong.
There was another reason for the deliberately concealed sympathy in Zhenbao's words.
"Food...the food is here..."
The two of them had not taken a few steps into the cold palace when they saw the door of the dilapidated house in front of them opened, and an unkempt, crazy woman stumbled out. She was wearing a palace maid's clothes, but she looked a little dirty.
It's hard to tell her age, but she's not young at all, but through her face that has been stained by years, you can still tell that she was a great beauty when she was young.
Even though she is old and yellow now, if she dresses up carefully, she will still be a well-maintained and charming woman.
It was just that crazy look in her eyes that completely destroyed the temperament she had cultivated from a famous family. Concubine Xiao leaned against the door frame and looked at the empty hands of the two people with disappointment on her face:
"The meal... didn't come..."
Zhao Duan was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Zhenbao: "Concubine Xiao, this is..."
Xu Zhenguan sighed softly: "After the Xuanmen coup, I went crazy."
……
These chapters slow down the pace and the plot is a bit bland, paving the way for what comes next
(End of chapter)