Even though Yan Zhiwei deserved to die, such a tragic way of death was enough to frighten the people who hated him to the core, leaving only fear in their hearts and not excitement to vent their anger. Now that the executioner came forward, the people gathered on both sides of the Tianjin Bridge did not know what other methods of execution would be used on a corpse. They all held their breath and watched.
Yan Zhiwei's death was extremely tragic, but the executioner had killed countless people in his life and was the number one executioner in the Ministry of Justice. The executioners in the Ministry of Justice were all his disciples and grand-disciples. In his lifetime, he had killed countless nobles and generals, so he naturally did not care about this scene.
The executioner walked to the front of Yan Zhiwei's upright corpse and reached out to pull out the arrows in his chest. One by one, the sharp arrows were pulled out from the corpse's flesh, and he threw them on the ground. Then, he took out a sharp knife from the plate, and as the onlookers cried out in alarm, his wrist lowered, and the knife had already cut open Yan Zhiwei's chest.
Under the dumbfounded eyes of the crowd, the executioner cut open Yan Zhiwei's chest and put his hand in to feel his heart. He swiftly cut it out with the knife and ruthlessly threw it on the ground.
The scene of thousands of arrows piercing the heart and then cutting open the abdomen shocked the people who were watching the execution. Even though there were a few ruffians in the crowd who were still cheering, most people could not bear to watch anymore.
At this moment, a row of prison carriages came from the direction of the Ministry of Justice. Luoyang Commandant Tang Zong led dozens of bailiffs to clear the way and forcefully split the crowd to ensure that the prison carriages could pass.
There were men and women, old and young in the prison carriages. They were all Yan Zhiwei's family and relatives. Among them, the most conspicuous were a few children. They were imprisoned alone in a prison carriage. The older ones were five or six years old, and the younger ones were only two or three years old. Different from the lifeless expressions of the other adults in the prison carriages, the children did not seem to know what had happened.
A few children grabbed onto the bars of the prison carriages and looked curiously at the crowded crowd by the roadside. They even had innocent smiles on their faces. An old woman looked at them and tears suddenly welled up in her muddy old eyes. She turned around and forcefully squeezed out, murmuring, "Sin! What a sin! I can't watch it anymore! "
Her son was originally reluctant to leave, but seeing that his mother was about to leave, he could only chase after her. He protected his mother with one hand and separated the crowd with the other. The crowd was strangely silent. The mother and son easily pushed open a path and walked out.
A peddler selling biscuits with a basket looked at the ignorant children and could not help but sigh sadly. Even if it was a great crime, there was no reason to implicate such young children. Why did such young children have to bear such a heavy punishment for their fathers? However, this was the decree of the Empress. Who dared to defy it?
A child on the prisoner carriage saw the basket in his hands and looked eagerly. He even put a finger in his mouth and swallowed. The pancake peddler had an impulse. He went forward and grabbed a few pancakes from the basket and placed them in the cart. He said in a choked voice, "Children, eat them. Uncle gave them to you."
It seemed that the children were really hungry. They all grabbed the biscuits and ate with relish. After the peddler finished handing over the biscuits, he looked with some fear at the bailiffs next to the prison carriages. The bailiffs had solemn expressions but did not seem to see him. When they walked to his side, they only waved their hands for him to leave.
Seeing this scene, more people were encouraged. Some people brought food with them. When the prison wagon carrying the children passed in front of them, they handed the food, candies, dried fruits, and pastries into the prison wagon.
The children on the prison carriages were beaming with joy. Two children were fighting over a few large dates and laughing as they pushed each other. They had no idea that their young lives were about to come to an end. Some of the soft-hearted commoners could not help but shed tears.
On the execution platform on the north side of the Tianjin Bridge, the Imperial Censor saw this scene and his lips twitched. He also revealed an expression of pity. He reached out with a trembling hand and grabbed the punishment stick. He suddenly turned around and threw the punishment stick behind him. In a deep voice, he said, "By imperial decree, the young and old of the Yan Family are all to be hanged to death. Immediately execute!"
"Clang!"
The punishment stick fell to the ground. The sound was clear but it was like a heavy drum beating on people's hearts. There were no cries of onlookers at the scene. Everyone was silent. The happy laughter of the ignorant children on the prison carriages was abnormally ear-piercing at this moment …
On the side door, Wu Zetian looked at the Tianjin Bridge in the distance. She fiercely slammed her walking stick on the ground and said, "Humph! Her daughter Yanxiu is not allowed to return to the court. She is happily singing and dancing outside the walls of Zhaozhou, causing my court to lose all dignity! Such a traitor has lost his teacher and humiliated the country. Even if I cut his flesh, break his bones, break his limbs, and execute his entire family, it will not appease the anger in my heart! "
Shangguan Wan 'er quietly stood behind her. Her eyes were slightly lowered as she looked at the ground. She could not bear to raise her eyes to look. Zhang Yizhi and Zhang Changzong, who were supporting Wu Zetian, said, "Yan Zhiwei deserves to die! The Yan Family deserves to die! Your Majesty, please do not be angry, lest you injure your dragon body! "
It was at this moment that two Imperial Army officers supported a travel-worn and fatigued border army officer to the top of the city walls. The triangular red flag on the officer's shoulder had turned a dark red because it had been covered in too much dust.
When Wu Zetian saw this situation, she thought that something big had happened at the border again. Her expression tightened. The officer had been running at full speed the whole way. His legs were still a bit numb and he could only be supported by others. When he saw the Empress, the officer panted and knelt down to pay his respects. He took down the yellow silk package from his shoulder and held it up with both hands, saying, "Great General Wu Youyi's secret memorial!"
Zhang Changzong hurriedly let go of Wu Zetian and went forward to take down the package. He opened it on the side and took out the sealed box. He opened the lacquered seal and took out a secret letter from within. He handed it over with both hands to Wu Zetian.
Wu Zetian narrowed her presbyopic eyes and carefully read for a moment. Her face suddenly became ashen and her hands couldn't help but start to tremble. Zhang Yizhi stood to the side and stole a glance. He could only faintly make out a few lines. It seemed that Wu Youyi's secret memorial to Wu Yizong was about something. He could also faintly make out some words that seemed to mention the Xi Tribe, the Turks, and the Bi 'an people establishing a country.
"He deserves to die! He really deserves to die! Losing power and humiliating the country, we are united here! "
Wan 'er and Zhang Changzong were both a bit surprised. They didn't know what had happened.
Wu Zetian tightly gripped Wu Youyi's secret memorial and panted heavily. She suddenly felt a bit dispirited.
After a moment of silence, she said in a calm voice, "Wan 'er, pass on the edict. The battle in Hebei has ended. Chief Commander Wu Yizong is to immediately resign from his post to Wu Youyi and return to Luoyang. Based on his military achievements, he will be appointed Great General of the Left and lead the troops stationed in Jingdou!"
Shangguan Wan 'er hurriedly bowed in acknowledgment. Wu Zetian gripped the secret letter in her hand and shakily turned around.
Yan Zhiwei was greedy for life and afraid of death, but it was only because she was forced by the butcher's knife that she danced and danced to lower the morale of the Zhaozhou garrison. Wu Yizong lost his land and lost his people. The losses he caused to the court were like heaven and earth compared to Yan Zhiwei. If Wu Yizong's surname wasn't Wu, if he wasn't connected to Wu Zetian in both glory and loss, then even if he died ten thousand times, it wouldn't be regretful.
In the letter, Wu Youyi listed all the stupid things Wu Yizong had done in Hebei and repeatedly begged the empress to transfer him away. Otherwise, who knew what other unimaginably stupid things he would do.
Wu Zetian really hated this little beast now, but what could she do? She could only hide this matter as much as possible and pretend that nothing had happened.
Because of Wu Yizong's stupidity, Wu Zetian was even more disappointed in the Wu Family. She angrily looked at the Tianjin Bridge and saw that the crowd was dispersing. It looked like the execution had finished. But then Wu Zetian discovered that someone was collecting the bodies of Yan Zhiwei's family.
Wu Zetian's anger caused by Wu Yizong's stupidity suddenly had a target to vent. She pointed at the Tianjin Bridge and shouted in a deep voice, "Didn't the old and young of the Yan Family all die? Who was the one who collected his corpse? Is there someone who sympathizes with the traitor, or is there still evil left in the Yan Family? "
Zhang Yizhi hurriedly summoned an imperial guard general and ordered him to go investigate. He then smiled apologetically at Wu Zetian and said, "Your Majesty, please don't be angry, please don't be angry and harm the dragon body. Yizhi has already sent someone to take a look. We will know the details in a moment."
Yang Fan rode the small boat upstream and by the time he reached the Tianjin Bridge, the execution was already over. The bodies of the Yan Family were thrown to the side of the bridge, waiting for Bōshō to bring people to deal with them. The executioner had already left with his subordinates and the crowd was also gradually leaving. Yang Fan abandoned the boat and went ashore. He saw the bodies of the Yan Family members, men and women, old and young.
He stood there and didn't say a word. He didn't know if it was because he was used to seeing death on the battlefield or because he had seen many families slaughtered by the empress, but strangely, Yang Fan didn't feel any sorrow or anger.
Perhaps Yan Zhiwei deserved to die, even if the punishment was a bit harsh. But even if he didn't deserve to die, Yang Fan didn't feel angry. There were many families that were more innocent than the Yan Family that had their entire families killed. It could be because of political strife or war. Such things were unavoidable in any dynasty and at any time. But the frequency of such tragedies could be controlled.
In Yang Fan's heart, the desire to overthrow the Wu Family's rule grew stronger and stronger. He now somewhat understood why Xue Huaiyi wanted to burn down 'Heaven'. It was because he also wanted to burn down Wu Zetian's throne!
Yang Fan stood silently for a long time before ordering people to buy some coffins from a coffin shop. He had them put away the bodies of the Yan Family members and sent them to the monastery to be buried. If these bodies were handed over to Bōshō to deal with, they could only be wrapped in straw mats and buried in a random barren mountain or thrown into a monastery to be cremated.
Perhaps Yan Zhiwei wasn't worthy of sympathy, but he couldn't hide his compassion when faced with those young corpses. The people who went to buy the coffins hadn't returned yet when an imperial guard quickly rushed over. A squad leader sternly shouted, "Who was the one collecting the corpses of the traitors?"
Yang Fan turned his head and indifferently glanced at him. The squad leader was startled and said in shock, "Yang … Lang Jiang, Lang Zhong … Oh no, Colonel Yang!"
This captain was a member of the Hundred Cavalry, and his name was Zhang Xitong. In the past, he had gone to the Western Region with Yang Fan to spy on intelligence, and it was thanks to Yang Fan that he was promoted. Now that he suddenly saw his old superior in front of him, he felt a little embarrassed.
Zhang Xitong hesitated for a moment before quickly walking forward and whispering, "Colonel, His Majesty saw someone collecting the corpses of the Yan Family and was rather angry. He ordered this lowly one to bring someone back to question him. Colonel, you … must be careful! "
Yang Fan nodded and said, "I'll go with you!" Having said that, he dusted off his clothes and walked towards the palace. Zhang Xitong was startled and quickly followed behind. A squad of imperial guards wielding halberds and swords seemed to have become his followers.
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.
