It had just rained in the morning, and the air was still filled with a thin layer of moisture.
This should be a very ordinary morning after the rain.
If it is the same as every day, every house will open the door in the rain and fog, men make a living, women clean the courtyard. Children go to school, and the elderly sit on the street.
But today, the streets are deserted.
But the roar of people's voices, which came from nowhere, suddenly came. The sound shook the water vapor after the rain, dispersed without wind, and disappeared without a trace.
Without moisture, the morning sun would be extremely hot.
The light shines on the distant long street, leaving the shadows of the houses. The light shines outside the Meridian Gate, echoing the noisy shouts from the sky.
It seems that everyone in the capital is here.
There are three floors inside and three floors outside, making it airtight. No matter whether it is a trafficker or a pawn, whether it is a scholar studying, whether it is a child of a noble family, or a boy from a poor family.
After two cannon blasts, a prison van slowly drove forward. In the prison van, a man with disheveled hair cowered in fear in a corner of the prison van.
The officer in front of the prison car read aloud the charges against the condemned prisoner.
"Zhang Xin, a former Hanlin lecturer, was deeply favored by the emperor and became one of the undergraduate examiners. However, he ignored the divine grace, did not regard the country as the most important thing, privately treated his fellow countrymen, and used his own selfish desires to depose the northern scholars, even though none of them were on the list!
"
"The Emperor's benevolence allowed him to open the book and read it again, but he was still mad and crazy. In order to cover up his selfish motives, he conspired with his colleagues to collude with others and got involved in the matter and submitted it to His Majesty. He also said that the words of northern scholars violated taboos and were unreasonable."
"His heart can be punished, and his crime should be cut off! According to the holy edict, Zhang Xin, the offending official, should be cut in half!"
The voices of the police officials echoed through the long street, and the crowd looked at Zhang Xin with more and more disgust.
Suddenly, a scholar rioted in the crowd, ate half of the bun with his hand, and threw it directly into the prison cart.
"Dog officer!"
Immediately, the crowd was like a pot exploding, and they kept throwing things in their hands at the prison car, making it rain like rain.
Zhang Xin huddled up in the prison car, holding his head tightly with his hands, whimpering and roaring from his mouth.
"Dog officer!"
There was another roar, and wherever the prison car passed, countless pickled things fell down on the second floor of the street wine shop, and Zhang Xin was showered all over.
Due to the stench, Zhang Xin looked up and saw the soldiers on the second floor yelling at him.
"You're a arrogant villain, but you can be considered a scholar!"
"The world has turned out to be a scum with no morals and no character like you!"
"Bah! I'm ashamed to be from the same hometown as you!"
"They, why are they scolding me?"
Zhang Xin, who was in the prison car, looked at the faces of those scholars and forgot his own situation for a moment.
It doesn't matter to him if the common people beat him or scold him. Common people love to see the misfortune of officials the most.
The scholars in the north beat him and scolded him, but he knew it was the right thing to do.
But why did these Jiangnan scholars upstairs also reviled him?
He couldn't figure it out until he died.
~~~
"It's too heavy!"
In the elegant room of another teahouse, looking at Zhang Xin in the prison car, Han Kezhong, the top candidate in the new North Ranking list, shook his head and said, "The cut in half is too severe!"
"Brother Han is such a good guy!" Jiang Hongye, who was inseparable from him, laughed, "It is said that at first, the Supreme Emperor gave Ling Chi, because of the emperor's benevolence, but changed it to cut him in half!"
"It's too heavy!" Han Kezhong still sighed, "Three feet of white silk is enough. The punishment of being cut in half is too cruel and goes against the harmony of heaven!"
Liu Nian'en, who had been watching with a smile, said, "Not serious, not serious!" He said with a rare sigh and said with a smile, "This bachelor is guilty of protecting the southerners. No matter whether it is north or south, he will not be tolerated."
"The people from the north can't wait to eat their meat raw." (dan)
"The people of the South can't wait to crush him to ashes!"
Jiang Hongye was very puzzled, "Why do southern scholars hate him?"
"The laughingstock of the ages!" Liu Nianen whispered.
~~~
At this time, on the long street, Zhang Xin, whose face was as pale as dust, was pulled onto the execution platform.
The whole person was lying on a long wooden pillar, and his hands and feet were tightly tied with iron ropes.
"Xueshi Zhang, I will send you on your way!" The executioner Zhuang Laosan first saluted respectfully, then took a bowl of wine and said, "Take a sip!"
Zhang Xin's eyes had no expression, only numbness, and he nodded like a zombie.
Zhuang Laosan brought the wine to Zhang Xin's mouth, and the latter took a shallow sip.
Later, Zhuang Laosan changed another bowl of wine and drank it in large gulps.
Poof, the wine turned into mist from the mouth, all spraying on the guillotine wide enough for one person.
"Do you have anything to say?" Zhuang Laosan asked again.
Zhang Xin's face finally showed some expression. Looking at the people in the audience who were waiting for him to be chopped in half, he suddenly smiled sadly.
"Forty years of dreaming of a family and a country have come to nothing despite being ruined and ruined."
"High officials and dignitaries are only shadows, it's better to hide in the mountains and forests with a smile!"
Then, he closed his eyes in despair.
"Send Bachelor Zhang on his way!"
Zhuang Laosan looked up to the sky and screamed, the muscles in his arms suddenly rose, and the guillotine in his hand was aimed at Zhang Xin's buttocks.
"ah!"
Click, the sound of the guillotine.
"Ah!" the crowd was shocked.
"Heaven!" Zhang Xin screamed hysterically.
The body was cut into two pieces, and the internal organs were not exposed from the waist and abdomen as expected, but blood was flowing like a waterfall. His upper body was still intact.
The body on the wooden pier has been divided into two parts, with the upper body twisted crazily and the lower body trembling slightly.
This is really a life worse than death.
The executioner did not kill him with a single blow. He cut off half of his body in order to make him die in pain.
Later, the executioner untied the iron rope from Zhang Xin's hand.
The half of the body began to twist and roll on the execution platform, roaring like a beast.
The crowd watching the excitement all took a few steps back and exclaimed.
"Ah! Ah! It hurts! It hurts!" Zhang Xin shouted, scratching randomly on the ground with his hands, and slowly moved forward, leaving blood marks under his body.
The red blood and white bones are clearly visible.
Zhuang Laosan slashed him in half right at his hip bone.
"The way of heaven...is unfair..."
Zhang Xin crawled and shouted, with his fingers dipped in his own blood, and tremblingly wrote one word after another on the ground, "Tragic! Tragic! Tragic!"
~~~~
On the upper floor of the restaurant facing the execution platform, there is a hidden private room.
Ling Han stood up abruptly and glared at the people around him. He said loudly, "Just cut him in the waist and give him a pleasure. Why do you have to do this?" He said, looking at Bao Zhao, "You are the young minister of Dali Temple, are you yours?"
Instruction?"
Without waiting for the other party to speak, the old man shouted, "The emperor wanted to give him a happy life, but you... acted like this. What's the difference between Zhang Xin's selfish motives?"
Bao Zhao had no choice but to smile, "My lord, I can't bear him to be like this. They say death is the most important thing, so why did I let him suffer these tortures before he died?" After saying that, he sighed, "There is a decree in the palace, and this is not allowed.
Zhang Xin will die happily!"
Ling Han was stunned for a long time and understood.
The will in the palace is definitely not the will of the emperor, it must be the will of the Supreme Emperor.
If the Supreme Emperor hates someone, he will definitely not let that person die happily.
"Come here!" Ling Han thought for a long time and said loudly, "Go and tell me what I said, and give Zhang Xin a quickie!"
"Sir, look!" Before he finished speaking, someone beside him exclaimed.
I saw a guard in Jinyi suddenly appeared on the execution platform, bent down to hold down Zhang Xin, who was struggling and howling, and pointed a short knife at his heart.
Just once, so fast that it is almost invisible.
Then, there was no more Zhang Xin's screams between heaven and earth, and everything returned to tranquility.
"The Emperor is here too!" Ling Han said in a low voice when he saw this.
Then, he looked around and saw several figures on the tower.
~~
The people on the long street dispersed, and under the hot sunshine, a few flies buzzed on the dark red blood.
Two corpses were exposed in a pool of dried blood.
"Master, please slow down!"
Under an umbrella, Liu Sanwu was supported by a servant and moved slowly.
The tragedy in front of him made him close his eyes involuntarily, and then he seemed to lose his voice and said in a hoarse voice, "Contain it!"
"Why!"
The loyal old servant agreed, commanded several strong servants to cover Zhang Xin's body with a white cloth, and then carried it to the coffin.
In the coffin, Zhang Xin was covered with white cloth, and it was impossible to tell that his body had been broken into two pieces.
"I promise you that I will not make mistakes after your death!" Liu Sanwu glanced at the student in the coffin for the last time and whispered, "I will ask someone to take you home!"
Then, he stood there and watched the servants load the coffin into the carriage and gradually drove away.
This chapter has been completed!