On this day, Zhao Huan had just finished breakfast when he arrived at the prison in Yanjing with great interest. There, two serious criminals personally selected by the emperor were being held: Guo Yaoshi and Dong Cai, who had surrendered to Wanyan Zongwang when the Jin army marched south.

According to the agreement between the two countries, Wanyan Zongwang was required to keep Guo Yaoshi and Dong Cai. He could not disobey the imperial order and had no choice but to comply.

Guo the Pharmacist knelt on the ground and cried out, "Your Majesty, spare my life! I had my reasons for surrendering to the Jin invaders!"

Zhao Huan sat leisurely in his chair as someone poured him tea. Zhao Huan sipped his tea and asked, "What's troubling you?"

"What I actually want to do is infiltrate the Jin army and gather intelligence on the Jin traitors!"

"So, you're a loyal subject then?"

"This humble servant has absolutely no disloyalty to the Emperor. This humble servant swears to Heaven, or may I be struck by lightning!"

Zhao Huan smiled, and Guo Yaoshi was overjoyed at the sight, for he did not understand the emperor.

The Imperial Guards nearby knew that when the emperor showed such a smile, it meant that the person was destined to die a very, very terrible death.

"And you? Are you also a loyal subject?" Zhao Huan asked, looking at Dong Cai, who was eager to speak.

Dong Cai nodded hurriedly, then kowtowed forcefully, drawing blood from his head: "Your Majesty, this humble subject is risking his life to gather information about the Jin invaders!"

Looking at these two traitors who were lying through their teeth, Zhao Huan almost vomited up his breakfast that morning.

"So it is I who have wronged you two!"

"Your Majesty, please forgive us! We are willing to risk our lives as spies!"

Holy crap! Zhao Huan felt like a million grass mud horses were galloping through his mind. He was too lazy to interrogate any further, so he waved his hand and smiled at the Imperial City Guards beside him, saying, "Do as you please."

Four Imperial Guards immediately came up, two against one, and tied Dong Cai and Guo Yaoshi to the wooden stakes.

"Your Majesty, spare us! Your Majesty, spare us! We are loyal subjects..."

Zhao Huan ignored their calls and sat down to drink tea.

On either side, a Imperial Guard held a dagger and held it to Guo Yaoshi's mouth. Guo Yaoshi quickly clenched his teeth, while another Imperial Guard reached over and pulled down his chin, exposing his tongue.

The Imperial Guard skillfully pulled out Guo Yaoshi's tongue, then gently sliced ​​it off with a dagger, instantly filling Guo Yaoshi's mouth with blood. Guo Yaoshi cried out incoherently, but his words were already slurred.

The Imperial Guards quickly fed him an ice cube to prevent him from bleeding to death due to swollen blood vessels.

Dong Cai, standing to the side, screamed in terror like a pig being slaughtered.

Dong Cai kept his mouth tightly shut, as if he wanted to grind his teeth to pieces, but it was no use against the methods of the Imperial City Guards. His jaw was pulled down, his tongue was pulled out by clamps, a sharp dagger fell down and his tongue was also cut off, and ice cubes were quickly stuffed into his mouth.

The two pieces of tongue were thrown out and fed to the dogs.

Next came torture, where thin bamboo skewers were driven into the ten fingernails, causing the two men to scream in agony.

Next, their limbs were chopped off, then chili water was poured on the wounds, followed by salt, and then the wounds were wrapped in white cloth. After all this, the two of them were in excruciating pain.

Zhao Huan said, "Don't kill them. I want to cast them into bronze statues and have them kneel before the Tai Liao monument to apologize to the fallen soldiers!"

Xie Dahai said, "Your Majesty, rest assured, they will definitely not die so easily."

"Okay, is the bronze statue finished?"

"It should be finished by noon today."

Noon arrived quickly, and the streets of Yanjing were bustling with activity today.

The people living in Yanjing had never seen the emperor of the Song Dynasty before. In their minds, the Song Dynasty was a prosperous country, but it seemed to have little to do with them. Only now, with the emperor of the Song Dynasty visiting Yanjing in person, did they truly feel their identity as Chinese citizens. This feeling was exceptionally reassuring, like someone who had been on a long journey finally returning home.

Sure enough, upon hearing that His Majesty the Emperor was going to deal with mortals on the main street today, everyone rushed over there, and soon a large crowd had gathered.

People wondered why there were two bronze statues kneeling on Central Avenue.

Before long, two prison carts drove up, carrying two people whose limbs had been cut off and whose tongues had been pulled out. They were transported in a sorry state to the central street, where the emperor's personal guards twisted them out like chicks.

People felt sorry for them, wondering what crime they had committed to deserve such extreme punishment.

After the Imperial Guards read out the Emperor's edict, people realized that these two men were Guo Yaoshi and Dong Cai, traitors who had led the Jin army south during the war.

Now countless people began to curse them, no longer feeling sorry for them, and wishing they could devour them alive.

The Imperial Guards lifted the two men up and carefully placed them into the bronze statue. They closed the statue and then brought in molten iron. They told the people around them to move back and poured the molten iron into the statue in full view of everyone.

There was only a brief scream from inside, and then there was no more sound.

Soon, people came pushing a cart to move the bronze statues away. The Imperial Guards then escorted them south to the monument on the Tai Liao Plain, where the two figures were made to kneel there forever.

After this incident, the people of Yanjing City had something to talk about after dinner, but more people also understood that they could not be traitors, and they absolutely could not let traitors go!

After dealing with Guo Yaoshi and Dong Cai, Zhao Huan summoned his father-in-law, Han Lixian.

Before meeting his son-in-law, Han Li had heard many rumors about the newly enthroned emperor of the Song Dynasty. He was completely convinced of the emperor's ability to defeat the Jin army.

He had assumed that Zhao Huan would be the kind of king with a cold and ruthless appearance, but when he met him, he found that the emperor looked very refined, with only a resolute look between his brows.

"Your humble servant kowtows to Your Majesty, wishing you eternal peace!"

"Father-in-law, please dispense with the formalities."

Zhao Huan's address of "Father-in-law of the Emperor" made Han Lixian feel particularly pleased: "Thank you, Your Majesty."

"These past few days, I've troubled the Emperor's father-in-law with all his efforts."

"All of them were to share the emperor's burdens."

"I promised my father-in-law that I would hand over the iron mines in Yanjing to him for mining, and I will not go back on my word. From now on, the iron mines in Yanjing belong to my father-in-law!"

Overwhelmed with emotion, Han Lixian knelt down again.

"Your Majesty's grace is such that I can only repay it with my life!"

"Please rise quickly." Zhao Huan helped Han Lixian up. After all, Han Lixian had made a great contribution this time, so the emperor naturally treated him with great respect. "At least the father-in-law must grant me one request."

"We will follow the lead of the Holy Emperor in everything."

"Very well, I will not allow you to sell the iron ore to the Song Dynasty."

The emperor's tone was calm, but Han Lixian, who was adept at navigating the political landscape, detected a murderous intent in that calmness. It wasn't that the emperor wanted to kill him now, but rather that if he dared to act recklessly, the emperor would show him no mercy, even if he was Consort Han's biological father!