Yang Yiqing turned around and took his seat. All the officials on the stage and tens of thousands of people below the stage fell into a strange silence.
The sun hung in the sky, shining fiercely on the earth. The wind blew violently, and the flags on the school field buzzed. The dust on the ground flew into the air, chaotic the sky, and quickly dissipated.
Time passed extremely slowly, and the air became chilly and stagnant. No one complained about the long time, because everyone knew that every moment that passed, it was infinitely closer to the arrival of that bloody moment.
Finally, Yang Yiqing, who was sitting at his desk, leaned back, tilted his head and frowned at the position of the sun outside the awning, and coughed.
"It's almost time. The time has come." Yang Yiqing said solemnly.
Zhang Yanling nodded, sighed and said, "It's almost done."
Gu Dayong also nodded.
Yang Yiqing nodded and shouted loudly: "Where is Qiu Yue?"
Qiu Yue walked out quickly from the side, bowed and said: "Here is my humble duty."
Yang Yiqing said: "Noon is coming, prepare for execution."
Qiu Yue bowed and saluted, turned around and hurried to the front of the stage, shouting loudly: "Noon is approaching, prepare for execution!"
Everyone's hearts tightened, and the moment finally arrived. But they saw more than a hundred executioners shouting in unison. They walked step by step behind the death row prisoners with ghost-headed knives. There were too many death row prisoners, and they had to execute them in two batches. At present, this
It's the first batch.
"Toast!" shouted one of the executioners.
All the executioners agreed in unison, picked up the wine jar and filled the two large bowls on the ground. The wine was clear and the smell was strong. This was Helan Chun, the best liquor in Ningxia Town.
The executioners held wine bowls in one hand, grabbed the hair of the condemned prisoners with the other, and pulled the heads of the prisoners kneeling on the ground back, revealing their ashen faces.
"Brother, after drinking this bowl of wine, you can go on your way. Open your mouth." The executioners whispered.
Some of the prisoners on death row have completely collapsed. How can they still be in the mood to drink? They all know that this is guillotine wine, and if they drink it, they will be beheaded. At this time, anger, sadness, nostalgia, regret, resentment and other emotions are intertwined, and some people cry loudly.
Some people cried silently, while others kept silent and opened their mouths to drink.
"Brother, if you drink strong wine, you will feel more comfortable on the road. Firstly, you won't feel too much pain. Secondly, the drink will make you braver and you won't feel scared. Brother, we are doing this for your own good." The executioners were surprisingly gentle and warm.
He gently persuaded those who refused to drink.
Under the persuasion of the executioners, the prisoners drank strong wine one after another. Some people refused to drink, and the executioners did not force them, and just sprinkled the wine on them.
"Wipe the knife!" the executioner shouted loudly.
All the executioners agreed in unison, took a sip of strong wine, sprayed two puffs on the shiny ghost-headed knife, wiped it with red silk, and held it in their hands until it lit up.
"Verify identity!" Qiu Yue shouted loudly, holding the roster in his hand and reading: "Ma Yuanan, Ma Erhu, Ma Changle, Zhou Zifang, Li Zhengcai, Wang Qian, Meng Bin, Zhu An, Li Yuanqing..."
Every time Qiu Yue read a person's name, that person's body trembled. The executioners stared at the death card behind them. When they heard the name of the death row prisoner in front of them, they took the death card from behind the death row prisoner's neck and threw it aside.
Although the sound of the banging death card falling to the ground was not loud, it sounded extremely harsh and frightening at the moment. The long list was finally read out. It didn't take too long, but it was a kind of torture for everyone.
On the stage, Gu Dayong glanced at Zhang Yanling and sighed softly when he heard Wang Qian's name.
Zhang Yanling was true to his word. He said that night that as long as he could tell him a worthwhile secret, he would spare him.
He did tell him a secret about Liu Jin, but the additional condition was that Zhang Yanling should hand over the confessions of Wang Qian and others, and kill Wang Qian and other Jinyi guards who knew about it. Zhang Yanling agreed to him. Gu Dayong
At first he was worried that Zhang Yanling was not keeping his word, but now he was relieved when he heard that Wang Qian's name was on death row.
Zhang Yanling didn't care about Gu Dayong. He was frowning and seemed to be deep in thought.
Some of the prisoners kneeling on the ground with their necks exposed were already incontinent. When a person is about to die, no matter how heroic or good a man is, it is in vain. Many of them are trembling and crying. At this moment, they are
I knew I should drink that bowl of strong wine. Then maybe I wouldn't have to endure this extreme fear.
The executioners sprayed wine on their necks with wine in their mouths, and groped their cervical vertebrae with their fat fingers, looking for the gaps between the cervical vertebrae.
"Brother, don't move for a while. Then I can strike more accurately and you will suffer less. Do you understand? Otherwise, you will not only suffer the pain of the second or even third knife, but also ruin my reputation."
.In this business, our reputation is very important. We must kill with one blow, otherwise it will be embarrassing."
The executioners whispered, and their cold, moist fingers stroked the back of the death row prisoner's neck.
"I'm afraid...I'm afraid of death."
Someone was crying softly.
"Don't be afraid. Once the knife goes down, you won't know anything anymore. It's just like falling asleep all of a sudden. Brother, don't be afraid. Go away early and be reincarnated early. After eighteen years, you will be a good man again." The executioners comforted them skillfully.
them.
"Report to Mr. Yang, Lord Zhang, and Eunuch Gu. The ninety-three prisoners have been identified. Please give the order, Mr. Yang." Qiu Yue shouted in a deep voice.
Yang Yiqing nodded, reached out to grab the token, threw it in the air, and shouted: "Execution!"
The Ghost-headed Sword was raised high, creating streaks of golden light and shadow in the sunlight. The next moment, the people in the school field screamed in surprise, and the bloody scene scared the people to the point of screaming.
The heads were rolling and blood was flying. The skilled executioners struck quickly and accurately, cutting off the head with one blow without causing any more pain to the death row prisoner. Blood spurted out from the broken neck.
The heads fell, and the bodies kneeling on the ground fell to the ground after a while. The scene was so bloody and horrifying that it was unbearable to watch.
Even though the generals and Sakon soldiers on the stage have experienced battles on the battlefield and have seen many bloody scenes, they still feel frightened when they see the heads rolling in.
"The family members will quickly take the corpse to the coffin. Wash the place and continue the execution." Qiu Yue shouted loudly.
When the executioners stepped back and rinsed the ghost-head knife with clean water, the crying family members of the death row prisoners came forward, put on the filial piety clothes and hats that had been prepared, carried the coffin that had been prepared, and put the body into the coffin with tears.
The heads on the ground were taken away by specialized soldiers because Yang Yiqing had to display the heads to the public for three days before returning them to his family members. In other words, it would take three days for these headless corpses to be completely buried.
Zhang Yanling looked at all this and felt quite uncomfortable. It was not that he was overflowing with the heart of the Holy Mother. On the contrary, Zhang Yanling had developed a hard heart since time travel and was accustomed to blood and death.
However, Zhang Yanling looked at the scene in front of him and had some associations.
"Behead in the West Market!"
This is the tragic fate of the future prince that Zhang Yanling has often thought of in his nightmares since time travel. Although he is working hard to change his destiny and the future, and has the confidence to reverse that fate, the beheading scene in front of him still deeply affects his mind.
It stimulated him.
Looking at the people who were kneeling and having their heads chopped off, Zhang Yanling could not imagine that one day in the future he would be the one kneeling there waiting to be beheaded. This kind of stimulation made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
"None of this can ever happen to me, never!" Zhang Yanling thought through gritted teeth.
…
The city of Ningxia fell into a terrible silence. After watching the execution ground where the heads were rolling, the people of the entire city of Ningxia became silent. After experiencing the excitement of such a scene, it was as if everyone had been reborn.
Like a broken man, he became a different person.
The sales of pork and mutton in the market were very poor that day, because looking at the bloody meat is easily reminiscent of and disgusting.
Everyone seemed to understand something, but also seemed to have lost something. When they spoke to each other, their voices became a little quieter. The entire street became quiet.
This may be the effect of this public beheading. This large-scale execution definitely served as a warning to others. After all, nearly two hundred bloody heads are still hanging on the gates of the four cities.
There. In the next three days, they will remind the people in the city from time to time what happened. In the years to come, it may also exist in everyone's nightmare for a long time.
Zhang Yanling came back in the afternoon, rested for a while, called Zhang Yin and Chen Shiyi and told them to pack their bags and prepare to return to Beijing tomorrow. Zhang Yanling was indeed eager to return home. But before leaving, he had to say goodbye to some people. For example, Zhu Qingyi and
King Qing.
Zhang Yanling originally thought about going to say goodbye in person, but after thinking about it, she gave up. Since she and Zhu Qingyi had already made some things clear, it would be inappropriate to disturb Zhu Qingyi by meeting again. Since she could not give Zhu Qingyi a future, she could not give him a future.
Why bother disturbing her peace again.
Of course, Zhang Yanling still wanted to see her again in her heart, but she was afraid of causing some trouble to Zhu Qingyi, so she gave up. This relationship was fruitless, and even though she felt a little pained and unwilling, there was nothing she could do about it. But
Some things in the world are sometimes regrettable.
Yang Yiqing learned that Zhang Yanling decided to return to Beijing tomorrow, and organized a banquet to see Zhang Yanling off in the evening. Zhang Yanling was not in the mood and politely declined. Yang Yiqing thought that Zhang Yanling was unwell, but did not insist, so he said that it would be okay to hold a farewell banquet outside the city tomorrow.
It's never too late.
In the evening, Zhang Yanling went down and ordered all the cavalry to rest early. They would set off back to Beijing early tomorrow morning. He himself also bathed and changed clothes early and prepared to go to bed to rest.
However, when he was about to go to bed and rest, Caiyun came to the back hall of the military office and brought Zhu Qingyi's invitation.
"My princess heard that the Marquis will leave Ningxia Town and return to Beijing tomorrow, so she specially prepared a small amount of wine for the Marquis to bid farewell to him. The Marquis will not be disrespectful." Caiyun said with a smile.