Jingdou was far warmer than Beijiang. Early in the morning, flowers bloomed on the branches. Every night, tens of thousands of lights illuminated the Spring Bridge. It was very lively. Ten li of red candles reflected the river of flowers. It was a good time to enjoy the spring.
But during the day, Jingdou was somewhat quiet. It seemed that both commoners and officials found it difficult to resist the sleepiness of spring. They were lazy and did not want to move much, so there were not many people on the streets.
At noon, a scholar with a gloomy expression walked in from the east gate of the capital, supporting a woman. The expressions and movements of these two people did not seem like mother and son. They did not go to live in an inn. Instead, they went directly to an unremarkable manor in the west of Jingdou. Only a few people knew that the true owner of this manor was an Imperial Censor of the Imperial Censorate.
The sleepiness of spring could not be resisted, but it could be awakened. One day in March, just like the day after the spring examinations, a few bolts of spring thunder struck out of nowhere. A patter of spring rain fell, soaking every building in Jingdou and every alley.
After the Fourth Bureau of the Overwatch Council returned from Jiangnan to the relevant corrupt officials and salt merchants, the examination hall fraud case was finally concluded. Other than an assistant minister who was sentenced to be exiled 3,000 li, the other 17 officials involved were all sentenced to death. This was the Emperor's edict, and the evidence was irrefutable. No faction dared to speak out of turn, and no civil official dared to raise any objections.
The Minister of Rites, Guo You, was also sentenced to death. He was the highest ranking official to receive the death penalty since the founding of Qing Kingdom. When the news came out, the court was shocked. It was said that even the empress dowager went to the Emperor's palace to plead for mercy. But after some gentle words from the Emperor, the Emperor wiped away some of his tears and changed the sentence to hanging in prison, leaving Guo You's corpse intact. The empress dowager was sad and did not say anything more.
Along with Guo You, there were 16 other officials who went to die.
…
…
Raindrops slowly fell from the sky and landed on the ground of the usually busiest salt market in Jingdou. However, it still did not chase away the people of Jingdou who had braved the rain to watch the execution.
Sixteen officials wearing white robes knelt on the wooden platform that had been set up earlier. Their clothes were long stained with blood. Presumably, they had suffered a great deal of torture. These officials, who used to be glamorous, now had defeated expressions. Their hair was messy and tangled. They looked wretched. No one knew what the Overwatch Council had done, but some of the stronger criminals forced their lifeless eyes open. They wanted to find their relatives among the crowd watching the execution. Their mouths opened wide, but they couldn't make a sound.
Mu Tie, the agent of the First Bureau of the Overwatch Council, sat under the canopy, watching the scene in front of them. Mu Tie's face was expressionless, but the rest of the civil officials looked a little uncomfortable. Those criminals who were waiting to die under the execution platform were once their colleagues. They had enjoyed themselves on the pleasure boats and drunk with them at the banquet table. But now, they had to watch them die in front of their eyes.
The rain fell on the eaves of the restaurant next to the salt market and flowed down along the tiles, forming a small waterfall from the sky. There were many buildings here, so there were a dozen small waterfalls. They hit the stone floor like white dragons, making a pitter-patter sound.
A high-ranking official stood up and announced the decree in a loud voice. However, he was interrupted by the pitter-patter of the small waterfalls, so he couldn't hear clearly. The surrounding crowd only saw his mouth move, but they didn't know what he was saying. Finally, the high-ranking official's expression became serious and he shouted, "Execute!"
The surrounding people heard this word clearly and immediately became excited. They shouted and squeezed forward, wanting to be closer to the wooden platform and enjoy this rare scene.
The executioner on the wooden platform spat and wiped the rain off his face. He put the broadsword behind his back and stepped forward. He extended his left hand and gently pressed the back of the first criminal's neck to confirm the location of the joint. He then roared and the light of the broadsword flashed.
When the broadsword fell, it made a muffled sound like a sharp knife cutting through pork.
With a swoosh, fresh blood sprayed out from the headless cavity and splattered far away. The criminal official's head fell dejectedly onto the wooden platform. It was as if it was still afraid of the Qing court's large knife. It rolled with a rumbling sound. Using the flow of the rain, it did not stop. It rolled to the side of the wooden platform and landed.
Seeing a dazed, bloodstained head fall to their feet, the previously excited people of Jingdou took a big step back in fright.
Where the head rolled, it left a bloody mark. However, when the rainwater washed over it, it quickly faded away without a trace.
…
…
Only now did the people watching the execution let out a cheer. However, there were not many people cheering, and the cheers were not very orderly. It seemed a bit scattered. On the high platform, Mu Tie, who was sitting in the lowest chair and watching the execution, showed a look of displeasure.
Immediately after, the executioner made another cut, and another head fell to the ground. Another beam of blood flew into the sky. Another cry of surprise. Another life was lost. There were a total of three executioners. In just a moment, 16 criminal officials were all beheaded, leaving behind a ground covered in blood and corpses.
As the beheadings continued, the surrounding crowd gradually became bolder. The cheers grew louder and louder. In the end, when the head of the Director of the Board of Rites was tragically separated from his body, the cheers shook the heavens. It scared the rain that filled the sky and made it float away.
A few bailiffs from the capital government were busy looking for the head of the criminal official in the crowd. However, after searching for a long time, they could not find it.
After a while, a black dog ran out of the crowd with a head in its mouth. Its sharp teeth were biting on the head's ear, and a pair of dog eyes darted around. The light in the dog's eyes made people feel cold for no reason.
"Woof!" The black dog's butt was hit by the scabbard of the bailiffs' knife. In pain, it let go of the head in its mouth. It whined a few times and jumped into the rain.
— — —
In the following days, a series of actions took place. The Minister of Justice was exposed for taking bribes and bending the law. The Overwatch Council found gold and silver in his third aunt's courtyard, as well as prohibited items. This was reported to the court and transferred to the Supreme Court. He was stripped of his position and demoted to a judge of Yizhou. He was demoted from a first-rank minor to a seventh-rank minor.
Yizhou was far to the south, and there was a lot of miasma and heat. It was likely that the Minister of Justice, Han Zhiwei, would never return to the capital.
On the surface, Imperial Censor Guo Zheng did not seem to be affected. However, the court still found an excuse to send him to Jiangnan. Although Jiangnan was a beautiful place, the Fourth Bureau of the Overwatch Council had people in Jiangnan. It was just a matter of when they wanted to do something to him.
The civil officials in the court did not join together to attack the Overwatch Council because of their relationship with the Prime Minister. They also felt that the Overwatch Council had solid evidence and did not act too harshly.
However, all the officials knew that this was revenge. This was the Overwatch Council's naked revenge for the incident in the hall of the Ministry of Justice because of Commissioner Fan Xian, who was far away in the north.
…
…
Revenge and counter-revenge, control and counter-control, until a tacit balance was reached in the end. This was the unchanging theme of the Qing officialdom over the past few decades. So no one expected that when the Overwatch Council and the Prime Minister's vengeance had stopped at a certain limit, the counterattack from Xinyang and the empress would still come so quickly.
The young scholar mentioned earlier was He Zongwei, who could not participate in the spring examinations because of the death of his father. He was a student of Scholar Ceng Wenxiang, and had always been close to the Guo family. He did not expect to hear the explosive news in his hometown. The Minister was waiting for death in prison, his family property confiscated, and his good friend Guo Baokun was nowhere to be found. What angered He Zongwei the most was that the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace did not lend a helping hand in this matter!
The woman who entered the capital with He Zongwei had an even more bizarre background. She was Wu Bo 'an's wife. Wu Bo 'an was a strategist placed in the Prime Minister's manor by the Eldest Princess. Last year, he had persuaded the second son of the Lin family to join forces with Northern Qi in an attempt to assassinate Fan Xian on Niulan Street.
As the Prime Minister, Lin Ruofu naturally hated Wu Bo 'an, who had caused the death of his only normal son. Although Wu Bo' an had died early, the Wu family still had a lot of property in Shandong. The local officials were the Prime Minister's students, so in accordance with the wishes of the Prime Minister, they tortured the Wu family. In the short span of half a year, who knew how much silver they had raked in? Wu Bo 'an's own son had been imprisoned for no reason and tortured to death.
Although the woman was not literate, she knew that the Prime Minister was powerful and that the Wu family could not contend with him. But her heart was grieved by the tragic death of her son. She made up her mind and went to the capital alone, ready to file a complaint against the Emperor.
While resting outside the city, the poor woman "coincidentally" ran into He Zongwei, who was returning to the capital.
He Zongwei was a smart man. After hearing this, he knew that there was a lot he could do. He comforted the woman, saying that he would find a way to seek justice for her.
After entering the capital, He Zongwei used his connections with his teacher to temporarily settle Wu Bo in the manor of an old Imperial Censor. In those days, mysterious people would often come and go from the manor, gently asking Wu Bo about the details of the tragedy in her hometown.
He Zongwei watched all of this with some indifference. Only when Lady Wu nervously asked him questions would he put on a smile and comfort her, saying that the righteous officials of the court were working on it and that the Prime Minister would soon fall from power.
The garden of the old Imperial Censor's manor was a bit run-down. Standing behind the fake mountain, a trace of pride flashed across He Zongwei's face. He destroyed the secret letter from Xinyang and thought about the officialdom of the capital after the Prime Minister's fall. He couldn't help but think of the Prime Minister's in-laws, Minister Fan, and of the somewhat cold and distant Miss Fan, and his heart warmed.
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.
