Chapter 148 Punishment
"In the year of Guisi, you, in the name of the national teacher, seized half of the Hedong Li family's property."
"In the year of Jia Si, you seized Zhao, the daughter-in-law of the Jiangdong Chen family, and Chen Qiuyan, the daughter of the Chen family. After that, every year, you searched for women from all over the country. You also looked at the beauties who entered the palace for selection, and selected the two most beautiful women to take out of the palace. You took these people in at your villa."
Zuo Chengyu himself had not even read the contents of the booklet.
The people in charge of the investigation were those assigned by Shen Shilang.
The results of the investigation were also reported directly to Shen Shilang.
Even Zuo Chengyu didn't know all this.
Hearing this, Zuo Chengyu was shocked.
The former was fine, but this evil Taoist actually stretched his hands into the concubines entering the palace!
This is equivalent to selecting women from Emperor Jiacheng's harem.
Who knows if he has ever touched the concubines in the harem!
He was so bold! Shen Shilang didn't know, but he only asked people to investigate to this point and stop there.
Shen Shilang turned around and smiled at Zuo Chengyu, "Don't worry, sir. This person is not so bold as to dare to touch the harem. He only dares to select one or two people before the selection begins."
"There are a lot of women entering the palace in each selection. Even if he chooses one or two from them, they would be very inconspicuous among the huge number." Shen Shilang said.
Zuo Chengyu breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter whether it is true or not, at least Shen Shilang said it didn’t happen, so let’s just assume it didn’t happen.
Every page Shen Shilang turned was a piece of evidence.
These evidences of crimes filled an entire book.
Maybe, there are some more, the investigation has not been fully completed yet.
After all, the demon had been by Emperor Jiacheng's side for nearly twenty years and had already gained tremendous power.
Shen Shilang closed the book.
Indeed, there is another sin, which he did not mention.
Qiu Zhaohui will make a false prophecy and harm the entire Shen family! However, it is not the right time yet, so I can't say it yet.
Moreover, the blame for this crime cannot be entirely placed on Qiu Zhaohui alone.
If he said it now, wouldn't he have completely cleared the name of Emperor Jiacheng? Emperor Jiacheng was just a person who listened to the slander of the evil Taoist and was deceived by the evil Taoist.
Although he is guilty, his crime is not as serious as Qiu Zhaohui's.
But in fact, Qiu Zhaohui only knew Emperor Jiacheng's intention and made a false prophecy in order to please him.
Now, Qiu Zhaohui is going to die.
And Emperor Jiacheng will also die!
Shen Shilang closed the booklet and started again from the first page.
Qiu Zhaohui's face was getting paler and paler.
He didn't expect Shen Shilang to have investigated it so thoroughly.
What does he want to do? "These evidences show that he deserves death." Shen Shilang said softly, "Qiu Zhaohui, do you plead guilty?"
"I don't admit it!" Qiu Zhaohui said without thinking.
Of course I can't admit it! If I admit it, he will die!
Shen Shilang stood up and stretched out his hand, and someone put a whip on his hand.
Shen Shilang stood up, took two steps forward, raised his hand and swung the whip at Qiu Zhaohui.
Qiu Zhaohui’s face turned pale, he closed his eyes in fear and turned his head away.
Because Shen Shilang's whip was not aimed at his body, but directly at his face! How could you whip someone in the face! Because Qiu Zhaohui tilted his head, the whip hit his scalp first.
"ah!"
Qiu Zhaohui screamed and felt as if his brain was splitting apart.
The whip ran along Qiu Zhaohui's scalp, across his ears and eyes, then hit his cheekbones, and finally ended along his nose.
With just one blow, Qiu Zhaohui's face was covered in blood.
The bases of his ears and nose were cracked, and blood was oozing from the corners of his eyes.
But the most terrifying thing is the cheekbones.
The flesh on the cheekbone was pulled apart, revealing the bones underneath.
Even the jailers and guards who were used to seeing punishment, including Zuo Chengyu, were all trembling with fear at the whip.
They had never seen anyone whipping someone in the face.
Learning something! Seeing the flesh on Qiu Zhaohui's face being torn, they suspected that Qiu Zhaohui's scalp was also torn, but it was just blocked by his hair.
At this time, blood was already flowing out of Qiu Zhaohui's hair.
Qiu Zhaohui had lived a life of luxury for twenty years, and his skin and flesh were delicate and tender. Normally, he would cry out in pain for a long time when he was hit. How could he withstand such severe torture? He immediately cried and howled.
"Do you plead guilty?" Shen Shilang asked softly.
Please...collect 6...9...books...!
Although it was such a gentle voice, everyone's scalp was tingling.
He really uses the most gentle voice to do the cruelest things.
"I was wrongly accused!" Qiu Zhaohui cried, "I don't admit it!"
He can't recognize it!
He is being tortured now, but he knows that once he confesses, only death will await him.
"The treacherous ministers are in power and have framed me!" Qiu Zhaohui shouted with blood all over his face, "I am innocent! I want to see His Majesty! I want to see His Majesty!"
"I can also predict! Everything I say is true!" Qiu Zhaohui shouted, "I am not a swindler!"
It would have been fine if he didn't mention the prophecy. As soon as he said this, Shen Shilang's face became even gloomier.
He pulled out the knife that the jailer hung at his waist and directly cut off a piece of meat outside Qiu Zhaohui's ribs.
The piece of meat fell to the ground along with Qiu Zhaohui's prison uniform.
"Ah!" Qiu Zhaohui screamed towards the sky, "Ah! Ah——"
Qiu Zhaohui was in so much pain that he couldn't utter a word and could only scream wildly, as if that could relieve some of the pain.
Zuo Chengyu looked at Shen Shilang in shock, the knife in his hand still dripping with blood.
How could he forget that Shen Shilang is not a weak scholar.
Even though he is handsome and a top scholar in the imperial examination, he is also the one who saved Wei Zhaoxian from the Turkic ambush.
Shen Shilang is good at martial arts!
However, Zuo Chengyu still hadn't expected that Shen Shilang would carry out cruel punishments without blinking an eye.
It seems that he is more skilled than the veteran jailers.
"Do you plead guilty?" Shen Shilang still spoke in a gentle tone.
"No...I don't admit it!" Qiu Zhaohui said with difficulty.
Shen Shilang smiled slightly and said, "You don't think that you can escape death if you don't plead guilty, do you?"
Qiu Zhaohui was so busy shouting and wailing that he had no time to answer Shen Shilang. It was unknown whether he heard what Shen Shilang said or not.
Shen Shilang chuckled, threw the knife back to the jailer, and said, "I will present the evidence to Your Majesty. Before Your Majesty issues an order, cut a piece of meat from his body every day, no matter where it is."
"Just be careful, don't let him die before His Majesty's order comes down." Shen Shilang said, "Don't throw away the cut meat. Record every piece you cut. I will come to check every three days."
"Just cut one slice a day, don't cut more than that." Shen Shilang ordered, "But don't take his money and treat me perfunctorily."
Before Qiu Zhaohui came, his life in prison was not very comfortable, but he looked neat and tidy, which seemed to be due to the fact that he had spent some money to buy a good life.
It was inevitable for the jailer to earn some extra money by taking money, but Shen Shilang didn't care about others.
(End of this chapter)