Zhou Tong struggled to crawl through the snow, his throat gurgling, ultimately transforming into a weak, sobbing yell.
"Save me … who will save me …"
His previous wretched cries had more or less been faked. But from the underground Zhou Prison, to the small courtyard bathed in sunlight, to the long street covered in snow, he had constantly fled, chasing after hope, only to be disappointed again and again. Now, he finally despaired, his will collapsing like a dam broken by a flood.
As he sobbed in pain, some of the blood on his face was washed away by his old tears, and then frozen by the cold wind, turning it into a viscous shell. It was a very unsightly sight.
His sobs were like the cries of an owl, extremely unpleasant to hear.
As the most famous ruthless official, Zhou Tong had never forgiven this world. He had never shown the slightest bit of kindness towards this world. He had saved this world once, so naturally, this world was also absolutely cold to him. It would not forgive him, and no one would come to save him. The lights on the Road of Peace gradually faded, and the road ahead of him was dark.
Several estates still had their doors open. The one closest to Zhou Tong was the Prince of Zhongshan's estate. The depths of the estate were brightly lit. The Prince of Zhongshan sat on a chair, a frozen pear in his hand. As he recalled Zhou Tong's miserable appearance in front of the estate's gate, he felt very happy, and even the pear seemed a little sweeter.
A Wang fu subordinate at the side wanted to say something but hesitated. He said: "This subordinate still feels that it is not appropriate."
"What's wrong? I've wanted to tear that old dog to pieces for a long time. "
The Prince of Zhongshan fell silent for a while, then added, "And Mo Yu's words are reasonable. Whether I'm feeling or not, the fact that I can live to this day is a favor."
This official was very shocked. He had not expected that the prince would actually be moved by Mo Yu's words.
It must be known that of the princes scattered throughout the provinces and counties, the Prince of Zhongshan's situation was the most miserable. Compared to those princes of the side branches that had been poisoned to death, he truly had survived, but he had been forced to eat shit and feign madness … this was an even more terrifying experience than death.
"Is shit delicious? Of course not, but did you ever think that if that woman could force me to eat shit back then, how could she not know that I was feigning madness? "
The Prince of Zhongshan expressionlessly replied, "She naturally knew that I was pretending to be crazy. The reason she didn't expose me was because she liked seeing me eat shit, but at the very least, she didn't have me die. Compared to death, what does eating shit count for? Those of us who were born in the Emperor's family, which one of us doesn't have the ability to eat shit? "
More than a dozen princely estates had closed their doors for different reasons, keeping Zhou Tong outside.
The most honest and cowardly of them all, the Prince of Louyang, was hiding in the deepest part of the third layer of bedding. On one hand, he was worried about the safety of his acquaintance, Mo Yu, while on the other, he was silently speaking ill of Zhou Tong.
The most experienced, prudent, and authoritative Prince of Xiang was not even in the prince's estate today.
The gate to the Prince of Xiang's estate was open. The young Prince Chen Liu stood in the light, his expression calm, his brow furrowed in worry.
Zhou Tong crawled across the snow, and Mo Yu followed behind him.
Prince Chen Liu ignored Zhou Tong and said to Mo Yu, "It's about time."
Mo Yu ignored him and continued to use her sword as a whip, urging the bloodied Zhou Tong forward.
At the end of the Road of Peace was an extremely large estate, decorated with exquisite and luxurious decorations. Even the newly constructed estate of the Prince of Xiang could not compare.
This was the Tianhai clan, the most powerful clan on the continent in the last two hundred years. The important figures of the Tianhai clan, such as clan leader Tianhai Chenwu and several elders, would naturally not remain in the capital at such a sensitive time. They had long since gone to the estate on the outskirts of the capital.
The gate was wide open and brightly lit. Tianhai Shengxue stood under the light, his clothes whiter than snow.
Zhou Tong crawled across the snow in front of the gate and glanced at him, his eyes venomous. But whether it was pleading for help or cursing, he no longer had the strength to speak.
A tinkling laugh rose up, gradually turning into sobs.
The Princess of Ping was held behind Tianhai Shengxue.
After the coup in the palace, she had been brought back by the Tianhai clan. It was said that after some time, she might be married off to Prince Chen Liu.
As she watched Zhou Tong struggle through the snow, she laughed somewhat crazily, her beautiful face covered in tears.
"You're like a dog today!"
She shouted at Zhou Tong, but it also seemed like a curse.
Tianhai Shengxue did not stop her, only put his arm around her shoulder, not allowing her to impulsively attack Zhou Tong.
He looked at the blood-covered Mo Yu and solemnly said, "It's about time."
This was the same meaning as Prince Chen Liu's words.
Mo Yu was a target the Imperial Court had to capture, placed at the top of the list.
Mo Yu still said nothing. She had never thought about leaving the capital alive.
… …
… …
Zhou Tong's mind was no longer clear. Even despair and rage had withdrawn from his mind. In his final moment, he only had one question.
Why did no one come to save him? Principal Shang only needed to move a finger to keep me alive, so why did I have to die?
Just like those massive beasts on the snowy plains of the north, when they sensed that they were on the verge of death, they would often subconsciously head to the place they were most familiar with and wait for death to descend.
To Zhou Tong, the place he was most familiar with was naturally the small courtyard in the alley of the Northern Military Department, so he headed there.
That place was actually very close to the Road of Peace. When the Xue Estate was holding the ceremony, he had been able to quickly lead his subordinates there precisely because of this reason.
But if he had to crawl across the snow-covered street, the road would become extremely long. Moreover, sword glows would occasionally flash behind him.
Mo Yu still occasionally swung her sword, and every time her sword descended, it would cut off a piece of flesh from Zhou Tong's body.
Zhou Tong's blood was almost completely drained, his screams growing weaker and weaker until they could no longer be heard. He was like a senseless wooden man, incessantly crawling across the snow.
A crowd of onlookers appeared on both sides of the street. They looked at the bloodied Zhou Tong, who was constantly being cut and humiliated. After the initial shock, it turned into some sort of extreme pleasure. Every time Mo Yu swung her sword and cut off a piece of Zhou Tong's flesh, the crowd would cheer.
… …
… …
Snow was still falling from the sky, but the night sky to the west was already filled with stars.
The ground of the courtyard in the alley of the Northern Military Department had already been destroyed, cut into countless pieces by countless sharp swords.
Zhou Prison had truly been destroyed. Whether it was the buildings on the ground, the dungeons, or the cells hidden in the deepest depths of the earth, all of them had revealed their true appearances.
Those instruments of torture covered in blood and human fragments, those severed limbs and corpses, had formed a purgatory on earth.
Xue He had opened the doors to all the cells ahead of time. The lightly injured prisoners had scattered in all directions, leaving only those heavily injured and on the verge of death behind.
Those prisoners who had undergone countless cruel tortures were the most direct proof of this hell on earth.
Starlight spilled down on Zhou Prison, a holy and beautiful contrast against the filthy and repulsive blood.
A deathly stillness.
Xiaode and the experts of the army had killed people like flies and the assassins of the Pavilion of Heavenly Secrets were extremely sinister, but they had never seen such a miserable sight. Even the officials of the Department for Purging Officials felt rather disgusted by those blood-soaked cells and those grotesquely shaped instruments of torture, even though they had clearly seen them many times and personally carried out countless punishments.
Perhaps it was because these bloody and repulsive scenes had never been exposed to the light of day like they were now.
There was no sign of Zhou Tong.
Many noises could be heard from outside the courtyard, but there was also a strange sense of tranquility.
Chen Changsheng was covered in blood, his own blood or someone else's.
He walked out of the courtyard. All his swords had already returned to their sheaths, but no one stopped him.
The streets were packed with people, a dense mass of people. It was just that there was a large empty space in the center.
Zhou Tong lay on the snow, on the verge of death. His body was covered in wounds that no one could clearly count. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he had been hacked to pieces.
Chen Changsheng walked up to him.
With great difficulty, Zhou Tong raised his head to glance at Chen Changsheng. He actually recognized who Chen Changsheng was, and a final hope appeared in his heart.
In his view, Chen Changsheng assuredly hated him, or else he would not have been so determined to kill him.
He was not afraid that Chen Changsheng hated him, only that Chen Changsheng did not hate him enough.
He firmly believed that he had a deep understanding of the human heart. The more one hated, the more one could not bear to see an enemy die.
Come, cut me a few more times, torture me, humiliate me, castrate me, feed me lard, raise me into the most unsightly of fatties, and then squeeze the fat out of me to light a lamp!
Anything is fine, as long as you don't kill me on the spot.
I beg you.
Perhaps because he had heard Zhou Tong's thoughts, Chen Changsheng unsheathed his sword.
There was no humiliation or torture, no callous vengeance, only a bright sword glow, a clean killing intent.
With a swish, a thin line of blood appeared on Zhou Tong's neck, and then it rapidly spread and widened, ultimately separating his head from his body.
Zhou Tong was dead, his eyes wide open in confusion.
He was probably confused. How could it be so simple?
Chen Changsheng did not give Zhou Tong's corpse another glance. He walked up to Mo Yu and said, "You've come."
Mo Yu replied, "Yes, I've come."
She felt rather tired and sat down on the snow.
Chen Changsheng also felt rather tired, so he sat down on the snow next to her.
The shadows at the corner of the street slightly rippled and Zhexiu appeared. He was also very tired, but he did not sit down on the snow, because he knew that there would still be a battle.
The earth quaked, the snow loosened, and the sound of hooves thundered like a storm.
Several hundred black-armored Imperial Guard soldiers had arrived.
Xiaode and the other experts of the Imperial Court were standing around.
Ten-some blue-clothed Daoists had also arrived at some point, their cultivations unfathomable.
Suddenly, there was the sound of hooves and a young eunuch arrived on horseback, his hand holding a bright yellow imperial edict.
The imperial edict naturally came from the palace.
The young eunuch announced Zhou Tong's crimes in front of everyone, a total of twenty-two.
The twenty-two crimes had been calculated after the fact. At the time, no one could clearly remember the specifics.
Everyone was in a state of shock, whether it was the officials of the Department for Purging Officials or the soldiers of the Imperial Guard.
Chen Changsheng also did not remember the scene at the time.
He only remembered that the young eunuch's voice was rather sharp and erratic, sometimes near and sometimes far. In short, it did not seem real.
He also faintly remembered that the imperial edict seemed to mention death by a thousand cuts at the very end.
But the current Zhou Tong had already become a badly mangled corpse on the snow, his head and body severed in two.
There was no way to express his gratitude.
… …
… …
(One, I wish everyone a happy New Year, the health of your entire family, and good luck in everything. Two, this chapter was written very pleasantly. Three, I did not ask for a monthly vote this year. Today, there is still one hour left. I have nothing to do, so I ask everyone for a monthly vote. I ask everyone to help me vote. Of course, next year, I will continue to not ask for a vote, just for this one hour. Four, the title of today's chapter is not bad. When I wrote it, I suddenly thought of the fierce blade in the snow …)
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