There were many prisoners kneeling in the yard. There were men and women, old and young. Their clothes were ragged and their faces were pale. It was obvious that they hadn't seen the sun for many years. They had long lost the courage or desire to continue living. Death was a relief for them. They knelt numbly without any intention of atonement. Therefore, the rain falling from the sky didn't add much solemnity to the scene.
The officials from the Ministry of Revenue watched this scene and couldn't help but feel nervous. Their hands trembled slightly as they held their pens. The executioners waiting to the side appeared very calm. Their hands gripping the hilt of their knives were extremely steady.
"How do we kill them?"
Shangguan Yangyu stood behind Ning Que and said in a low voice, "All the cultivators who participated in the rebellion are here, except for those who died of illness or torture. Should we kill them all or select them?"
Ning Que looked at the prisoners in the autumn rain and said, "We may have to kill them a few times. Don't kill them all today."
Shangguan Yangyu said, "What's the standard? Their importance to the West-Hill Divine Palace or the seriousness of the crimes they committed in the rebellion? These guys' hands are all stained with blood. "
Ning Que said, "Since it's for the Divine Hall to see, we can kill them randomly."
Shangguan Yangyu didn't understand and asked confusedly, "Randomly?"
Ning Que waved his hand and said, "It means randomly."
The officials from the Ministry of Revenue looked at each other. Even the experienced killers who were holding their knives were a little stunned. Only Shangguan Yangyu didn't hesitate and waved his hand at the rain, indicating that he would kill half of them first.
The blades cut through the rain and landed on the necks of the prisoners. They easily cut through their muddy skin and dry muscles, and cut through their bones, leaving behind a puddle of blood that was not bright red.
With a snap, the heads fell on the ground like ripe fruits. They bounced twice in the puddles on the bluestone slabs and then quieted down. The gushing blood was quickly diluted by the rain.
Seeing the death of their companions, the prisoners were finally awakened by the fear of death. Their numb nerves regained some vitality. Some of them tried to break free from the ropes and escape. Some of them cried in the rain in despair. Some of them looked at Ning Que standing in the corridor with hatred in their eyes.
The scene of killing was inevitably bloody. Ning Que was not perverted enough to enjoy it, nor was he interested in making eye contact with those who were about to die. He turned around and walked back into the hall.
Raising the teacup that was still warm and taking a sip, he once again raised his head to look out of the courtyard. He saw that more than a dozen corpses had fallen in the autumn rain, and the blood on the bluestone ground had become much thicker.
The autumn rain was dreary and hazy. Killing in the courtyard was like weeding. Other than the sound of a blade cutting into flesh and breaking bones, there was only the sound of a corpse leaning forward and crashing into the ground, splashing the water in the puddles.
Ning Que looked at the clear tea in the bowl, thinking about something. Shangguan Yangyu looked at his profile, not knowing what he was thinking. The officials of the Ministry of Revenue continuously drew marks on the list of prisoners. As the names decreased, their faces became paler and paler. It was unknown what they were thinking.
The autumn rain continued, and the frequency of the sounds in the courtyard gradually slowed down. The breathing of the executioners became heavier and heavier. Chopping off so many heads was, after all, a very tiring thing.
The coroner sent by the Ministry of Penalty and the relevant functionaries of the Ministry of Revenue poured into the courtyard to examine the corpses and prepare to deal with them. After drinking a bowl of liquor, the executioners rested for a while.
It was not over yet. Ning Que had said that they would kill a lot of people today. They would move these corpses away and empty the ground in front of the courtyard. When the executioners recovered their strength, they would continue to kill.
More prisoners were sent over. In addition to those sent by the Ministry of Penalty, there were also dozens of people sent by the Military Ministry at Ning Que's request. There was no way to kneel on the ground in front of the courtyard, so they had to be divided into several groups.
"Most of these … are just family members." An official of the Ministry of Revenue turned over the prisoner list in his hand and looked at Shangguan Yangyu in shock. He said, "Are we going to kill all of them?"
Shangguan Yangyu did not answer his question. He looked at Ning Que and asked, "Are we going to randomly kill them?"
The officials' faces were a little ugly. The hundreds of people who were sent to the court were all family members who were implicated. Even if they knew about the war and did not report it, or even acted as an accomplice, it was difficult to sentence them to death according to the law of the Tang Empire. It was the power of the Ministry of Penalty or the Supreme Judiciary to sentence them to death. Were they going to kill them just like that?
These hundreds of family members had been imprisoned for several years, but they were still in good spirits. Because they were not cultivators, they were not under any inhibition, so they could still make a sound. At this time, listening to the official's words, they knew what was going to happen today. They could not help but be terrified and cried out their grievances.
Their crime was collusion with the enemy. According to the law of the Tang Empire, the biggest difference between collusion with the enemy and treason was that the traitor did not take the initiative to do it. Therefore, the most common colluders were often the family members of the traitor, which was understandable.
After the outbreak of the war a few years ago, many Tangs returned from all over the world. Two-thirds of the Taoists in the South School of Haotian Taoism had cut off their ties with the West-Hill Divine Palace. However, there were still devout Haotian believers who swore loyalty to the West-Hill Divine Palace and refused to return. Some even served in the Papal Cavalrymen of the West-Hill Divine Palace. These people were all traitors, and their family members were colluders. No matter whether they had cut off their ties with their family members in the West-Hill or not, they would always be colluders. Because the blood ties could not be cut off. This was the most cold-blooded and cruel law of the Tang Empire.
In the past few years, the Tang Empire had been searching everywhere and guarding the borders. They had captured thousands of people who were suspected of colluding with the enemy and then imprisoned them in the prisons of Chang 'an and various counties. Other than upholding the law, the most important reason was naturally to deter and restrain those traitors who were far away from home.
Today, Ning Que was going to kill these people. This was something that no one could understand. Not only these family members could not understand, but the officials in the imperial court also could not understand.
The alley on the side of the courtyard was filled with the smell of blood. The heads that had been chopped off previously were temporarily piled on the handcart waiting to be disposed of. Suddenly, a head rolled down and rolled in the rain all the way to the courtyard. It rolled in front of the family members, causing a burst of exclamations and cries.
Ning Que raised his head and looked at the men, women, old and young kneeling in the autumn rain. It was as if he could see the gray wall opposite the Old Brush Pen Shop that had been wet by the spring rain many years ago, and he could see the dead Darkie.
Looking at the head in the rain, he thought of the massacre that had happened in the General's Mansion many years ago. He thought of the blood that overflowed through the crack of the door and the heads of acquaintances that looked like watermelons.
"That year, there was a spring rain in Chang 'an. The imperial court and the Divine Hall were negotiating and preparing for peace. I led the Fish-dragon Gang and the Yulin Royal Guards into the guild hall of Qinghe County and killed everyone in Qinghe County in the rain."
He said, "Now that I think about it, I kind of regret it."
The officials looked slightly relieved and thought that the Academy was kind … But then Ning Que said, "At that time, we should have kept some and killed them slowly. Maybe we could have gotten more benefits."
There was a dead silence in the courtyard. Only the sound of the rain and the children's uncontrollable cries could be heard.
"I know that you think you are innocent, and those people in Qinghe County probably feel the same. Even from the perspective of the Tang law or morality, some of you are really innocent."
Ning Que looked at the hundreds of people in the rain and said, "But I don't care."
The officials in the courtyard and the Yulin Royal Guards were all Tangs. They cared about these things very much, so their faces were a little ugly. But Shangguan Yangyu did not care. He slowly raised his right hand in the autumn rain.
He and Ning Que were both atypical Tangs. The law of the Tang Empire was just a tool for them. As for those beautiful morals or feelings, they could just be appreciated and did not need to possess them.
When he raised his hand, the knife fell.
When the knife fell, the heads fell.
The old cheeks, the young cheeks, and the childish cheeks instantly became extremely pale because of the loss of blood and being washed by the autumn rain. There was no breath of life left. With the screams of horror, the pitiful begging, the resentful cursing, and the sad crying, all kinds of heads kept falling in the rain.
Hundreds of families of traitors died in the autumn rain. The blade cut through flesh and blood, bringing death. The sound became more and more muffled. That was because the edge of the blade was curled. In the end, the sound of beheading turned into some kind of stick beating, like a broken drum being beaten continuously. It was muffled and horrible.
The hands of the executioners finally trembled. The hands of the officials of the Ministry of Revenue were so fast that they could not hold their pens. The ink on the name list became bigger and bigger. It was difficult to draw a hook, but there was still no signal to stop.
Shangguan Yangyu thought that he really did not care. However, when he saw the men, women, and children dying in the pool of blood and the heads piling up in the rain, he realized that his heart was not strong enough. He reached out to wipe off the drops of sweat or rain on his forehead. He looked at Ning Que and asked in a trembling voice, "Is it enough?"
Ning Que said, "The Ministry of Revenue is best at counting money, grain, and heads. I asked you to do this because I want to know how many people should be killed. So you should answer my question."
Shangguan Yangyu sighed and said, "I am just an ordinary person. I can't understand the state of mind of the Grand Cultivators. Most importantly, I don't know how much influence the Divine Hall has on that person. So … I don't know how many people should be killed. I even suspect that no matter how many people should be killed, it will not be enough."
Ning Que knew that Shangguan Yangyu's words made sense. But this was also the thing that he was most uncertain about. Could the joys and sorrows of the secular world really affect the Drunkard?
The cold rain made the wind cold, but it could not stop the pungent smell of blood from spreading in the courtyard. He looked at the thick blood that the rain could not wash away and said, "The autumn wind and rain make people sad."
Even at this moment, Shangguan Yangyu did not forget to praise, "Good poem."
Ning Que said, "Or do you want to do it?"
Shangguan Yangyu said with a bitter smile, "I don't have the mood."
Ning Que reached out to catch the dripping rain on the eaves and said, "It's raining to beat the children. I have nothing to do anyway."
Shangguan Yangyu said, "You are so carefree."
"I actually don't know how many people should be killed. But like I said, I have nothing to do anyway. These people should all die. Anyway, the imperial court needs to spend money to feed these idlers, so I might as well kill them. I kill people when I have nothing to do. The autumn wind and rain kill idlers. It makes sense to say that this is carefree. "
Ning Que walked into the rain and turned to the officials and said, "Or, you can try to kill more. The Ministry of Revenue is in charge of the food of the prisoners of war. You should know the number of people. How do you kill them?"
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
