There are a lot of people moving around Caishikou.
Soldiers from the Shenwu Army, Jinwu Guard and other forbidden armies can be seen everywhere.
The people gathered around the execution platform, their eyes full of doubts and confusion.
"Who are you trying to kill? Why are so many guards here?"
"You don't know yet? His Royal Highness is here to be tortured!"
"The prince is being tortured? Are you kidding me? That's the prince!"
The people were talking a lot.
And among the crowd, stood a man and a woman.
The woman looked down at the man beside her and asked in a low voice: "Brother, do you think the prince will really be punished?"
"have no idea."
"Anyway, I don't want him to be punished."
The man frowned and said, "If he is punished, all our early efforts will be in vain, and our future plans will have to change accordingly."
"After all, the greater the resentment the people have against him, the better it is for us."
"And today, if he is really willing to be punished, then our actions must be accelerated."
While these two people were discussing.
A group of soldiers escorted a carriage and drove slowly over.
Li Chengqian stepped out of the carriage, followed the human wall of soldiers, and walked straight to the execution platform.
This is the famous execution ground in Chang'an City.
Over the years, countless people have died here.
When I looked down, I could even see the mottled blood stains.
I saw Li Chengqian arriving.
All the officials sitting behind the execution platform stood up one after another.
Li Chengqian waved his hands to everyone and motioned for them to sit down.
Then, Li Chengqian turned around and looked down the stage.
What came into view was an endless crowd of people.
Although there were so many people gathered at the scene, there was absolutely no sound.
Gao Zhixing carried the imperial edict, stepped to his side, and nodded slightly to him.
then.
Gao Zhixing unfolded the imperial edict and said to the many people: "A few days ago, assassins were mixed into our Chang'an city and lived in the homes of various ministers."
"Prince Chengqian received a tip."
"Killing without investigation."
"As a result, countless innocent people were implicated."
"Causing great panic in Chang'an City is an unforgivable crime."
"But I think of him fighting for his country. Over the years, he has made great contributions to the country, and I have left him as the crown prince to see the consequences."
"The death penalty can be avoided, but the living crime cannot be tolerated. He will be punished with a hundred military rods and executed in public!"
Wow!
There was a buzz of discussion in the originally silent audience.
Basically everyone has heard about what happened this morning.
But they didn't know exactly what they were doing.
Now, when Gao Zhixing mentioned it, they understood.
It turns out that Li Chengqian was searching for assassins in the homes of various ministers.
But what they didn't expect was that Li Chengqian would be punished for this.
To know.
He is the prince.
Where in the world has a prince been tortured in public?
Everyone's eyes were focused on Li Chengqian.
"Sorry everyone!"
"Because of me, so many innocent people lost their lives."
"Here, I would like to solemnly apologize to the people across the country."
While speaking, Li Chengqian shook his sleeves and bowed deeply to the crowd in the audience.
The discussion at the scene weakened and soon became quiet again.
The man and woman in the mixed crowd looked around.
Then, the man shouted directly: "Is an apology useful? My sister is dead, and so is my brother!"
"My sister is not an assassin either."
The woman also shouted: "But I still died in your hands. You don't deserve to be the prince, you don't deserve it!"
As these two people spoke.
Many people in the audience started shouting together.
Soon, bursts of commotion began in the audience.
For a time, the crowd was excited.
Some uninformed people began to curse.
Vegetable leaves, rotten eggs, whatever is thrown away.
However.
Face these.
Li Chengqian did not take a step back, but straightened his body and took a few steps towards the stage.
"The Tang Dynasty has never been a world owned by one person."
"It belongs to all the common people, and it belongs to the tens of millions of people in our Tang Dynasty."
"But it is not easy to maintain peace in such a world."
"It requires a lot of people to work together and a lot of people to sacrifice their blood and lives."
"And some people have already done this. They have spent their entire lives just to make our children and grandchildren live a better life."
"As the current prince, I have no choice in the face of such threats."
"What I can do is protect the people in front of me."
"Because only if they are alive can the world's peaceful days last longer."
His words gradually reduced the noise below.
He doesn't want much.
He just wants peace in the world.
I just want everyone in the world to live a good life.
Li Chengqian continued: "Lu Guogong, Zhao Guogong, Xu Guogong and so on are dozens and nearly a hundred people."
"Normally, when you see him, you just think he is an ordinary old man."
"But today, people don't have to worry about food, clothing and money, all because these ordinary old men are still alive."
"You might as well think about what our Tang Dynasty would be like if these ordinary old men disappeared."
"When the Western Turks invade, who will lead the troops? When Baekje is in turmoil, who will lead the troops to quell it?"
The people in the audience looked at each other in shock.
Finally he lowered his head and was speechless.
Li Chengqian continued: "Perhaps what many people think is that out of sight is out of mind."
"What do those things have to do with me?"
"But everyone, don't forget the story of crossing south in clothes."
"If one day, barbarians invade our land of China, the people will always suffer."
"How long has it been since the troubled times? How many days has the world been peaceful?"
"Do you still want to see our Chinese people being slaughtered by barbarians in our Chinese land?"
"I don't want to see it anyway."
While talking.
Li Chengqian raised his hand to unbutton his collar and took off the leather cloak he was wearing.
Then, he unbuttoned his clothes and took off his coat, leaving only the white tunic underneath.
"The only thing I regret is that I didn't realize those people's intentions right away."
"We were not able to find out all these assassins at the first time. Come, let them hide in Chang'an City for so long."
"That's why today, so many innocent people lost their lives."
As he spoke, he walked to the wooden frame that had been set up on the stage and grabbed a beam with both hands.
Li Chengqian turned around and said to the two imperial guards holding military sticks: "You can start!"
The two imperial guards looked at Li Chengqian, who had his back turned to them, and then looked at the military sticks in their hands, and couldn't help but secretly grin.
this moment.
The two of them felt that what they were holding was not a military stick, but a hot potato.
Beat the prince.
How many people have done this in history?
They were also afraid that if the stick fell down, they would lose their heads.
Li Chengqian shouted angrily: "You start when I ask you to start. Why are you hesitating?"
This time.
The two guards did not dare to delay any longer.
They all raised their big sticks and swung them towards Li Chengqian.
Bang!
This stick hit Li Chengqian on the back.
The silent scene was followed by an uproar.
No one thought that Li Chengqian and the court were not just pretending, but were really going to be flogged in public.
"Have you not had enough to eat?"
Li Chengqian didn't even move, and said loudly: "The blow just now is not counted. I will use as much force as possible next time."
The other person gritted his teeth when he heard this.
He said in a trembling voice: "Your Highness, the villain... the villain has been offended!"
After saying this, he used all his strength to hit the stick.
Bang!
The muffled sound was enough for everyone present to hear it.
A blood mark suddenly appeared on Li Chengqian's back.
Even though Li Chengqian had extraordinary endurance, this stick also made his body tremble.
But he remained silent and continued to shout to the audience: "I will tell all the half-hearted people in this world today."
"Don't try to challenge my patience."
"Challenge my determination to bring peace to this world."
"If you have any grudge against me, just come to me, don't go to anyone else."
"Otherwise, even if I am the enemy of the whole world, I will definitely make your heads fall to the ground and your whole family will die!"