At noon, the sun was shining brightly, and the school grounds were crowded with people. Most of the refugees in this group came to see how those dozen criminals who were worse than animals were executed.
The prisoners were escorted to the parade stand, lined up in a row, with their arms cut behind their backs, and pressed on the wooden pillars. Behind each stood a sword-wielding warrior wearing a red scarf. These were the sergeants who temporarily acted as executioners.
Guo Zongyi walked to the stage, accompanied by two big and loud soldiers who were responsible for delivering the message.
"Folks, my name is Guo Zongyi, and it was I who moved you all thousands of miles away to the capital, just to let you live a good life."
"However, there are some people who are called soldiers but are actually thieves. Despite the clear orders of the court, they still ignore the royal law and destroy the rules. On the way to move people, when everyone is about to live a good life, they rape
Seven women, do you think they should be killed?"
When facing the common people, Guo Zongyi did not use rhetoric, but used plain language and tried to be as easy to understand as possible.
After the sergeant with a loud voice finished shouting, a thin young man in the crowd near the front got excited and raised his arms and shouted: "You deserve to be killed! Folks, I am the husband of the suffering owner. Those beasts, when they see my wife give birth to
She was so beautiful that she was kidnapped by force at night. My wife committed suicide in shame and anger. I pity my newly weaned son, who can’t even speak yet, so he lost his mother..."
As he spoke, the young man covered his face with his sleeves, fell to the ground, and burst into tears.
She cried until she was so sad that she couldn't catch a breath, lost her breath, and fainted on the ground. Others quickly gathered around her, caressing her back and pinching her, and then she woke up.
After waking up, he kept wailing again, and his sorrow shook the heaven and the earth. The listeners were sad and the listeners shed tears.
I don't know who took the lead and shouted "kill", and the people in the audience responded one after another, and soon joined together to form a sonorous and powerful "kill"!
It was the first time that Guo Zongyi saw He Wei in an angry crowd. The guards around him were afraid that he would make a mistake, so they quickly stepped forward to protect him.
Unexpectedly, he was slowly pushed away by Guo Zongyi. He said calmly: "The people will not harm me."
Then, he looked at Xue Juzheng, who understood, dropped a piece of arrow and shouted: "Behead!"
Immediately, the fifteen executioners raised their knives over their heads in unison, and the sunlight reflected on the shiny blade, making it dazzling.
"Hey!"
This is the low growl that a person makes unconsciously when exerting force all over his body.
When he raised the knife and dropped it, there was no scene like the imagined scene of a human head rolling to the ground. Basically, most of it was cut off, with only a little skin and flesh remaining on the neck. The hot red blood sprayed high, and a puff of blood mist rose in the light.
The blood stimulated the thin young man, and he didn't know where the strength came from. He jumped up and stepped onto the reading platform in a few steps. He looked for a nearby corpse, pounced on it and ate it.
Guo Zongyi was shocked on the spot. When he came back to his senses, he felt horrified. The saying "eat your flesh and sleep on your skin" in the history books was happening before his eyes. What kind of hatred would make people abandon their dignity as a human being?
, and behave indistinguishably from those of wild beasts.
With this young man taking the lead, several more people soon squeezed out from the crowd, old and young, male and female, howling, they rushed to the school review stand, pounced on the warm corpse and bit it.
When the guard saw this, he was about to stop him, but Guo Zongyi raised his hand to stop him. He said: "First disperse the people."
In fact, the people around him had already begun to evacuate. Such beast-like behavior was extremely uncomfortable, and Guo Zongyi did not dare to stay for a long time, so he walked behind the stage in search of Xue Juzheng.
Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked not far away, he was stopped by a young woman.
"Ms. Zhang, the daughter of the common people, pays homage to His Highness." The woman stood by the roadside and bowed down from a distance.
Guo Zongyi and Xue Juzheng looked at each other, and Xue Juzheng explained: "This woman is the only victim who arrived in Beijing, and she led several family members of the victim to report to me."
"In that case, let her come closer."
Zhang walked up and down, Guo Zongyi felt suspicious. This kind of walking posture is extremely graceful, with relaxed shoulders, straight waist, belt and feet, and uniform steps. Only officials and officials who have received etiquette training can walk like this.
You can't see it on your body.
When Mrs. Zhang approached, Guo Zongyi was quite surprised. This woman was beautiful in appearance and elegant in manners. Even though she was wearing coarse clothes, she could not hide her pink and white color.
"You are not an ordinary citizen. Whose daughter is your daughter? Please report quickly." Guo Zongyi said straight to the point.
Mrs. Zhang folded her hands in front of her waist and gave her another gesture before saying, "The girl is the daughter of Zhang Zangying, the military envoy of Lutai and the envoy of the salt industry."
"Lutai?" Guo Zongyi read, "But in Jizhou?"
"In Jizhou."
Guo Zongyi nodded. He had never heard of Zhang Zangying's name. Lutai was just a pass town. Jizhou was still in the hands of the Khitan people. Zhang Zangying was probably an official appointed by the Khitan.
"Since you are in Jizhou, how come you are here?" Guo Zongyi asked again.
"My ancestors were from Fanyang, Zhuozhou. This time I secretly returned to my hometown to visit my relatives on my father's orders. Unexpectedly, I was separated and abducted by refugees on the road. They all arrived in Yecheng. Later, I heard that His Highness had moved to the countryside. The whole family of the Min daughter wanted to go to the imperial court.
Seeing this great opportunity, I followed him to Beijing."
"So that's it." Guo Zongyi suddenly realized and asked again: "Then what are your plans next?"
Mrs. Zhang smiled sadly, shook her head and said nothing. She took out a letter from her arms and held it up with both hands: "After this incident, the daughter of the people will know that Your Highness has the heart of a Bodhisattva and the means of King Kong. In the future, he will be able to bring peace to the world and restore the world to a bright future.
There is a letter from home, which is to persuade me, Aye, to surrender to the imperial court. I also ask Your Highness to help me deliver it to the Lutai Army Envoy."
Guo Zongyi was slightly surprised. He did not expect that this frail woman in front of him would have such a passion for family and country. No wonder Xue Juzheng said last night that she was a strange woman who would not be inferior to women.
Immediately, he ordered someone to receive the letter. Guo Zongyi put it away and said boldly: "This is a small matter. I'm asking you, what are your plans?"
From the bottom of his heart, he hoped that Zhang could return to Lutai in person and persuade Aye to lead his troops to surrender. If it worked, it would be a great achievement. Moreover, she suffered such a disaster and led the public to expose it. Among the refugees,
I'm afraid it would be better for her to return to Lutai if she has no good reputation.
Mrs. Zhang shook her head firmly, and a hint of absolute determination flashed across her gentle face: "A civilian girl has endured humiliation and hardship all the way, just to get to the capital and be able to complain and redress her grievances. Now that she has seen the criminal punished, she has nothing else to ask for."
"
After saying this, he suddenly pulled out the wooden hairpin from his hair and stabbed it hard towards his heart!
Guo Zongyi didn't expect it, and before he could stop him, Zhang already killed himself.
He hurriedly took two steps forward and rushed forward, barely able to catch Ms. Zhang who fell. Seeing her mouth bleeding continuously, Guo Zongyi was shocked and angry, and scolded: "What are you doing! Why do you despise life so much?"
Looking at the wooden hairpin again, it was completely buried in the pit of his heart, and blood was all over his clothes. He turned around and yelled: "Go find a doctor quickly!"
Immediately, several guards scattered and ran away.
But it was too late. Mrs. Zhang raised her eyes and looked at the long blue sky above her head. She opened and closed her lips a few times, but her voice was as thin as a mosquito's moan. Guo Zongyi quickly leaned his ear close to her, but Ms. Zhang had no strength to speak anymore. Her eyes gradually became distracted.
, and soon died.
Guo Zongyi sighed and slowly put her down. He had seen too much blood today, and it even brought back the past that was buried deep in his heart.
"Your Highness." Xue Juzheng came forward, seeming to want to comfort, but didn't know how to express his words.
Guo Zongyi was silent, lowered his head, and used his sleeves to wipe away the blood on Zhang's face, and then gave instructions: "Send people to take Zhang's bones back to her hometown in Fanyang for burial, and then ask the crown prince's young protector Wang Renyu to bury her."
It would be a waste of time to write a eulogy, so I will write it."
"only!"
Watching the soldiers carry away Zhang's body, Guo Zongyi raised his head and glanced at the sky where Zhang was gazing before he died, and asked leisurely: "Ziping, what do you think this peaceful and prosperous age will be like? When will it arrive?"
Xue Juzheng was about to answer, but was speechless and choked. He suddenly realized that he was no longer the heroic scholar who wrote "The Essay on Qingchou" in the past. He had been in officialdom for more than ten years and had long forgotten the answer.
