Chapter 550: Cut into pieces by a thousand cuts
On the high platform, Lin Changning wore a purple robe, with a black belt inlaid with jade accentuating her slender waist, and her dark hair was neatly tied up with only a jade hairpin.
A few strands of hair brushed against her smooth forehead in the wind, revealing her sharply defined jawline. Perhaps because of her injury, Lin Changning's lip color was pale today, but it did not make her look weak; instead, it added a touch of coldness.
What's most startling are those eyes. The pupils of those phoenix eyes are as black and bright as cold stars, and the corners of their eyes are slightly upturned. There is not a trace of youthful playfulness, only a calm and indifferent aura.
He looked like a young man who was still a bit immature, but his overall aura surpassed that of many officials.
Amidst the deafening roar of voices from the audience and the heart-wrenching cries of Lord Ji, Su Qingyan's face paled. He had thought that now that the dust had settled, he would be able to return alive. When he was detained today, he was questioned a few times, and he felt that he was dying in such a state, without any clear reason.
He could understand the Ji family, after all, they had tormented the eldest princess, no, she should be called the eldest princess, before.
But he only did some things for the emperor, and now that his legs are crippled, why does this Lin fellow have to take his life?
He didn't understand. The resentment in his eyes when he looked at Lin Changning was gone. His leg had been crippled for so long, and he had come to terms with some things. He just didn't understand why Lin Changning hated him so much that he was determined to take his life.
Looking at the young man sitting on the high platform, Su Qingyan smiled bitterly and suddenly shouted, "Lin Changping! Even if you want someone to die, at least let them die knowing why! What did I, Su Qingyan, do to deserve to die like this Ji fellow?!"
Lin Changning raised his head calmly without speaking, slowly watching Su Qingyan's eyes redden, her gaze changing from impatience to resentment, and finally to despair.
She took a sip of tea gently. There was no particular reason; she simply wanted to live. She had already witnessed the power of the plot, and she had also witnessed the protagonist's halo and the heroine's halo. She wanted to live.
That's all.
Moreover, this man surnamed Su is not entirely innocent. In the original storyline, his younger brother's career was ruined, as was Fu Bao's. Behind Fu Bao's good fortune were the lives of countless innocent people.
She won't stay with the one surnamed Su, and neither will Fu Bao. What plot? What original book? We're just fish on the chopping block.
Before, they were blessed with good fortune, they were the butchers, and she and her family were the fish. Now, whether their good fortune remains is unknown, but she has gained power, so she is now the butcher...
She really wanted to try and see if she could actually kill a chosen one.
Thinking this, Lin Changning waved his hand and ordered in a calm tone, "Execute him."
Upon receiving Lin Changning's order, the men below quickly placed Su Qingyan on the high platform. Just as the executioner was about to spray wine onto his broadsword, someone suddenly whispered a few words in Lin Changning's ear.
Lin Changning sighed helplessly. After all, he was the chosen one of destiny; he was damn hard to kill.
Mynah just delivered a message to Lin Changning, saying that the man surnamed Ji can be killed at will, but the man surnamed Su should be kept alive until they reach the capital.
They said it was a message from their father, that the Su family possessed crucial evidence of the eldest prince's rebellion, which could prove the legitimacy of the Chu king's succession to the throne. They only asked the Chu king to spare the life of their heir.
Lin Changning felt somewhat unwilling, but he knew he couldn't ruin his father's plans at this time. He sighed, waved his hand, and signaled for someone to take the man surnamed Su away first.
He stared at Lord Ji with a sinister gaze.
She can't kill that guy surnamed Su, so this guy surnamed Ji probably doesn't have any protagonist's halo, right?
She rested one hand on her knee, her fingertips tapping casually on the edge of the table. When her gaze swept over the Marquis, who was chained to the execution post, her eyebrows did not twitch, and she only slightly raised her chin.
"Do it! Slice him apart piece by piece!"
The executioner understood, and with each rise and fall of his blunt blade, drops of blood splattered onto the bluestone ground, spreading out in fine, scattered red hues.
Ji Hou, sitting in the audience, also let out a heart-wrenching cry, the pain seemingly penetrating to the very soul.
Many people in the audience turned pale with fright at the sight, and some even covered their eyes, seemingly unable to bear watching any longer.
"What crime did this person commit to be so cruel?"
"I heard they've made an attack on our county?"
"When did you get this news? This man on the stage is our princess's former father-in-law. It was this man who led the Xiang King's army to besiege Taiyuan. If it weren't for the Lin family's money and effort to suppress grain prices, we would all have starved to death because of this scoundrel!"
"He's the one who attacked our Taiyuan, and he even went so far as to inflate the prices of grain and other supplies? He's truly despicable! He deserves it!"
"Exactly, ptooey, what a load of rubbish!"
Lin Changning remained motionless throughout the entire ordeal. Her robes, shimmering with a purple halo in the sunlight, stood unmoved amidst the stench of blood. Her profile gleamed with a cold, jade-like luster in the midday sun. Her heroic eyes held no pity, only resentment and a certainty of having the power of life and death over them, as if she were not witnessing a torture but merely dealing with an object that was an eyesore.
Two years of training on the battlefield have finally hardened Lin Changning's heart.
Only after the final blow severed her head, sending a column of blood soaring into the sky, and a deafening cheer erupted from the audience, did she slowly stand up.
Lin Changning stood tall and slender on the edge of the platform, looking down at the head that had rolled to the ground. A faint ripple finally crossed his dark eyes.
“This man led his troops to invade Taiyuan, slaughtered my brothers, injured my wife and children, and burned, killed, and looted after entering the city. Every single one of these acts is a blood debt.”
Lin Changning raised his hand and pointed to the headless corpse next to the execution pillar. His phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, his handsome eyebrows furrowed, and a ruthless intent that did not match his youthful appearance surged in his eyes.
"Today, I offer his head as a sacrifice to the flag, and I use his mutilation to console the villagers who died and the soldiers who sacrificed their lives in the Battle of Taiyuan!!!"
"From now on, any jackal who dares to step even half a step into my Taiyuan territory, whether he is a marquis, a general, an official, or a gentry, will suffer a worse fate than him!"
Lin Changning's voice suddenly turned stern. His purple outfit gleamed with a soft, cold light under the sunlight. His face, which still had a touch of childishness, showed no warmth, only the resolute determination to protect the land and its people.
"Those who offend Taiyuan will be torn to pieces and then executed!!!"
As soon as Lin Changning finished speaking, the soldiers below the mountain gripped their swords and raised their hands, shouting in unison as Lin Changning spoke.
"Those who offend Taiyuan will be torn to pieces and then executed!!!"
After she finished speaking, she raised her hand and the soldiers behind her shouted in unison, their voices shaking the heavens. The young man stood on the high platform, his posture as upright as a pine tree, his eyes filled with a mixture of heroic spirit and ruthlessness.
Many years later, many people in Taiyuan still vaguely remember the young general who led his troops back to defeat the enemy when the city was almost breached that year, and then beheaded him and displayed his head on the city wall.
A blood-dripping head was hoisted high by a soldier and hung precariously at the city gate. Lord Ji's head was thus suspended precariously at the city gate, with drops of blood slowly dripping down below the city wall.
He died with his eyes wide open...
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