Qin Yining was pushed out of the prison. Imperial bodyguards, palace servants, and officials from the Ministry of Justice were standing in front of the door.
When they saw a woman covered in blood appear in front of them, they couldn't help but be shocked.
Seeing that the eunuchs were preparing a prisoner carriage, the assistant minister of the Ministry of Justice and his superior looked at each other and went forward to ask about the situation in a low voice.
The jailer said in a low voice, "Your Majesty ordered that the princess be paraded through the streets." After saying that, he bowed his head and retreated.
Not long after, a prisoner carriage was pushed over and someone went to lead the horse.
Qin Yining was pushed into the prisoner carriage. The carriage was neither too high nor too low, so her head and hands were stuck on it. She couldn't stand up straight or squat down, so she could only squat. It was torturous.
The Minister of Justice frowned. It had been many years since he had seen a serious criminal paraded through the streets like this. This Qin Yining was Prince Zhongshun's wife. What kind of unforgivable evil thing could she have done to make the Emperor so angry?
Li Qitian strode out with the Divine Empress followed by the eunuchs and guards. Two eunuchs were holding swaddling clothes in their arms. The babies in the swaddling clothes were still crying themselves hoarse.
Qin Yining was locked in the prison wagon. She had been drowsy, but when she heard the children's cries, she immediately woke up. She turned around abruptly, and her tears fell down, washing the blood on her face and leaving two white traces.
"Children, my children … Your Majesty, that is the son of a meritorious minister. Pang Xiao fought for you outside, but you took his wife and children … Your Majesty, aren't you afraid that the world will be bitterly disappointed?"
Li Qitian sneered.
Xiong Jinshui immediately understood the Emperor's intention. He stood up and reprimanded, "Why aren't you taking her out? Your Majesty is wise and benevolent. He was a wise ruler at that time. How can you slander him as you wish? "
Li Qitian looked at Qin Yining's appearance and remembered how powerful this woman was. Perhaps she could even bewitch the people on the streets.
"Gag her mouth for Zhen. Let's see how she can mislead the people with her lies! "
"Yes!"
Immediately, someone tore off a piece of cloth, climbed onto the prison wagon and stuffed it into Qin Yining's mouth. Then, they tied a knot behind her head to prevent her from pulling it off.
Qin Yining shook his head and could only make sobbing noises. The bloodstains were truly frightening.
Li Qitian waved his hand, and the jailer immediately drove the prisoner's carriage out. Li Qitian also arranged for the Gongji Guards to line up beside the prisoner's carriage to guard it in case someone tried to kidnap the prisoners.
In the silence, only the squeaking of wooden wheels on the snow and the whimpering of Qin Yining in the prison wagon could be heard. After the group of people left, Li Qitian said, "Let's go back to the palace."
"Your Majesty!" The Minister of Justice strode forward and bowed. "Your Majesty, this Princess Consort did not do anything wrong. It is too unreasonable to punish her like this. I ask Your Majesty to take back the order."
"Unreasonable? She just brutally killed someone. Didn't you see the bloodstains on her body? "
"But Prince Zhongshun's Princess Consort is of noble birth, and she is also a woman. Moreover, she is being detained by so many people. This official believes that there must be a secret behind the murder!"
Li Qitian narrowed his eyes and looked at the Minister of Justice. "Su Huaiyu, I see that your job is getting better and better. You dare to question Zhen's order?"
Su Huaiyu was startled. He suppressed the panic in his heart and bowed his head. "This official misspoke. Your Majesty, please forgive this offense. "
Li Qitian coldly snorted and ordered, "Let's go back to the palace."
Xiong Jinshui immediately shouted, "Your Majesty, let's go back to the palace!"
Everyone bowed and respectfully sent him off.
After watching the Emperor leave, Su Huaiyu couldn't help but look worriedly at the tracks left by the prison wagon.
At other times, the Emperor was happy to be a benevolent ruler. However, when it came to matters related to Prince Zhongshun, he would become so radical and unreasonable. This was not a good sign. The people in the world were not blind or stupid. There were many people who were sensitive and liked to analyze the politics of the imperial court. If this was made public at this time and it was spread by people with ulterior motives, would the Emperor's reputation still be intact?
The Emperor couldn't understand such a simple reason at this time. Or maybe the Emperor understood everything, but he didn't care?
Qin Yining was very familiar with the streets of the capital. When she was free, she would take her servant girls to walk around.
However, in the cold weather, when the snow was falling, it was the first time for Qin Yining to walk through the streets of the capital in a half-squatting, half-standing position in the prison wagon covered with blood and the cotton wool on her jacket fell out from the whip.
Every time the prison wagon passed a street, the jailer would announce Qin Yining's "crime" in a clear voice. He only said that she was as vicious as a hungry wolf and used her teeth to bite an official of the court to death. He didn't mention whether the person to die was an official or not, or why she was bitten. He didn't mention the cause and effect.
There were Jingji Guards around the prison wagon watching, looking for suspicious people in the crowd. When the common people saw that there were people watching, they didn't dare to talk loudly. They only dared to raise their doubts in low voices.
"Prince Zhongshun's character is trustworthy. Why is his wang fei like this?"
"You don't know, but when Prince Zhongshun was in disaster relief, wang fei helped him a lot. Later on, when Wang Ye was fighting the Tatars on the front lines, wang fei was the one who helped with the food."
"You're just bragging!"
"Ha, don't doubt it. Our family has relatives in Jin Gang. Previously, wang fei was temporarily living in Jin Gang. She hasn't given birth to a pair of twins with Wang Ye yet! On one hand, she has to give birth, and on the other, she's busy with military pay. How can such a woman kill people for no reason? "
"Maybe there's a secret?"
"Don't talk nonsense. Wang fei was dragged out to parade through the streets. That was decided by the officials above. Do you not want your heads anymore? Do you want to go to the yamen and be beaten?"
… …
There were all kinds of discussions and guesses among the common people. There were people who believed that Qin Yining would kill people, but no one believed that she would torture and kill someone for no reason.
It didn't matter if the Jingji Guards believed it or not. They could only act according to the edict. Your Majesty told them to observe if anyone in the crowd had any thoughts of rebellion, so they observed carefully. They didn't dare to think about anything else.
A wild wind blew past, and snowflakes fell down like goose feathers. Originally, it had only been Xiao Xue, but now it was bone-chilling. The snowflakes were like blades cutting across her face. It was so cold that it hurt.
Qin Yining closed her eyes and shrunk her neck involuntarily due to the cold. Her chin immediately touched the cold wooden board of the prison wagon. She laughed self-mockingly, moved her cold and stiff legs, and continued to close her eyes, refusing to see or hear.
The snow fluttered in the wind, blocking everyone's vision. Most of the common people had scattered. Only a few people curiously followed the prison carriage, wanting to find out what had happened.
Tang Xiu led ten Jinghu Wei to hide in the crowd. Her eyes were about to crack.
"Let's charge up and save Wang fei!"
"Wang fei is such a noble person. How can she suffer like this! If Wang Ye knew, he would die of heartache! "
"That muddle-headed ruler. He can't get our Wang Ye, so he's venting his anger on Wang fei. How can he be considered a man!"
"Charge up and save Wang fei!"
The Jinghu Wei were all agitated. They wanted to immediately charge up.
Tang Xiu calmly shook her head: "No, we can't act rashly. If we are caught, we will implicate Wang Ye. We have to listen to Wang Ye's orders. "
They didn't expect that even though they rushed over, they were still a step too late. The road from the border to the capital was blocked by snow. It was fine if it was a sunny day, but because of the snowstorm, they couldn't tell the direction. That was why they were late. They didn't expect to see this scene when they arrived in the capital.
They never expected that Li Qitian would be so despicable as to use a woman as a ploy!
"Let's ask Wang Ye first. When he needs us, we brothers shouldn't be afraid." Tang Xiu gritted her teeth.
"We brothers have never been afraid of anyone!"
Everyone was riled up. They immediately thought of a way to send a letter to Pang Xiao.
As for Li Qitian, he couldn't help but feel disappointed when he learned that Qin Yining hadn't found any suspicious people when she was parading through the streets.
"It seems that we still have to wait a while." Li Qitian clicked his tongue twice. "If this woman doesn't work, we can only use other methods."
Xiong Jinshui stood to the side with his head bowed. When he heard this, he buried his face even lower.
The news that Prince Zhongshun's consort had tortured and killed an official, and that Your Majesty had ordered people to parade her through the streets quickly spread throughout the city.
After Qin Yining was paraded through the streets, she was sent back to the Ministry of Justice's prison. When Li Qitian remembered her, he would have people put her in a prison carriage and take her around the city.
Whether or not she was paraded through the streets depended on the Emperor's mood. Even when the New Year was coming, he still didn't let her go.
When Pang Xiao received the news, it was the 29th of the twelfth lunar month. When he read the secret letter sent by Jinghu Wei, his hands trembled so much that he almost couldn't hold the thin piece of paper.
Ji Zeyu grabbed Pang Xiao's shoulders and shook him heavily. "Calm down. He's trying to lure you back. The imperial edict didn't summon you, so he's using such a despicable method. "
Pang Xiao's Adam's apple bobbed. After a long time, he nodded and said in a hoarse voice, "Yes. I know. "
When Ji Zeyu saw him lower his head, there seemed to be a bright reflection in his phoenix-like eyes.
He couldn't help but frown. "Don't do this. This is a critical moment in the confrontation between the Tatan and us. Once we relax, it's very likely that we'll be killed. If we succeed, we can at least drive the Tatan back to their desert, so that they won't be able to invade our borders for hundreds of years. You know what's more important!"
"I understand." Pang Xiao gritted his teeth. "But I can't watch Sister Yi suffer like this. And my children, they were taken away by the Emperor. I don't know if they're dead or alive. "
Just by reading this news, Pang Xiao felt like his heart was being twisted by a knife. How scared was his Sister Yi?
She was a kind-hearted woman. Why would she use such an extreme method to bite someone to death?
If she wasn't forced to a dead end, why would she do this?
"I have to go back and save her." Pang Xiao pursed his lips and paced back and forth.
Ji Zeyu pursed his lips. His gloominess was written all over his face. He helplessly put his hands on his hips and looked at Pang Xiao pacing back and forth like a headless fly.
Pang Xiao couldn't figure out what to do, so he called Xu Weizhi and the other strategists over to discuss this matter.
Qin Yining had just finished another afternoon of parading through the streets. Her legs were so sore that they were beyond recognition. She was directly dragged back to the prison by the jailers.
As soon as she was pushed into the prison cell, a jailer came over with a wooden basin. Before Qin Yining could react, the jailer splashed the water over her head.
"Hurry up and wash away the stench on her body. I can't stand the stench!"
In the dead of winter, people could freeze to death in the prison. Qin Yining screamed when a basin of cold water was poured on her head. The cold water flowed down her hair and face, and the blood that had already hardened and turned black flowed down her face and hair.
Before she could catch her breath, another basin of cold water was poured over her.
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