Chapter 87: Kill 6 He didn't show any emotion after all
It was a rainy day when Xie Jin was beheaded.
The dense drizzle covered the sky, and a gust of wind blew, and the dead leaves on the trees fell to the ground.
Early in the morning, people rushed to Caishikou from all directions, hoping to occupy a favorable position and watch the execution clearly.
Su He also got up early.
Last night, Wang Yue'e from next door cried and yelled loudly, making a fuss all night long, so she couldn't sleep well and had a faint layer of dark circles under her eyes.
Zhang Xiuhua brought millet porridge and steamed buns: "Miss, please have breakfast first."
Su He is not hungry and cannot eat.
She looked at the gray, hazy rain outside and ordered in a deep voice, "Let me change my clothes. Let's go to Caishikou and take a look."
Zhang Xiuhua was stunned. "Are you really going?"
Su He nodded firmly: "Yes, I will go."
She thought Xie Wuhen would make Xie Jin pay the price, but she never thought the price would be beheading, and he would personally supervise the execution.
She had also thought that the other side of his generosity might be cold-bloodedness, but she had never imagined that he would be so cold-blooded.
If she had ever been confident in his trust in her, and even occasionally indulged in his tenderness, then at this moment, she had to suppress that confident and indulged self.
——She must witness with her own eyes how he killed her own uncle, just as she must witness with her own eyes how he would kill her one day.
Su He changed into a plain dress and left the house in a carriage.
It was still early and there were not many people on the street.
But from the open doors and windows of teahouses and taverns, one could occasionally hear words like "beheading", "watching the execution", and "iron trafficking".
The closer you get to Caishikou, the more pedestrians there are on the road.
They gathered in groups of three or five, calling their friends and discussing today's execution incessantly, as if they were discussing a grand event.
When we arrived at Caishikou, the crowd had already surrounded us in three layers.
Su He found a restaurant and spent a lot of money to book a private room on the second floor. Looking out of the window of the private room, he could see the entire execution ground at a glance.
At this time, more than ten iron trafficking criminals had been taken to the high platform of the execution ground. Each of them was wearing prison clothes, with his hands tied behind his back and kneeling on the ground.
About ten feet away from the platform was a desk and chair, which was obviously the position for the executioner.
Xie Wuhen hadn't arrived yet, so the seat was empty.
Below the platform was a huge crowd of onlookers.
Because it was raining, most people were holding umbrellas, and people and umbrellas were crowded together.
They were eagerly waiting for the moment when the head would fall to the ground. Some even shouted, "The rain is getting heavier. When will it be beheaded?"
The rain was indeed getting heavier, from a drizzle to a light drizzle.
The sky was covered with dark clouds, making the entire sky look low and gloomy.
Through the rain, Su He saw Xie Jin kneeling on the platform.
The man who moved freely among the three branches of the Xie family now had his head hung down and was soaked all over, like a drowned chicken that had lost its soul, or a broken and lifeless tree.
In an inconspicuous corner, Xie Wujiang and his sister Xie Shuang were crying inconsolably, shouting from time to time: "Father...Father..."
Su He couldn't help but sigh: "Poor child."
Zhang Xiuhua was quite stubborn at the moment: "Compared to the situation the young lady was in that day, their difficulties are nothing. Besides, Mr. Xie also brought this upon himself."
Su He was stunned for a moment and said, "That's right."
A flash of lightning flashed across the sky and muffled thunder rolled across the sky.
Someone was shouting, "Thunder in the autumn is a strange sign."
Two officers placed a large umbrella next to the desk and wiped the wet desk and chair with a rag.
After a moment, Xie Wuhen, dressed in official uniform, came out and sat at the desk.
He had no time to look around and read out the criminal's crime in a deep voice, enunciating each word and making each sentence sound sonorous.
Su He couldn't see his expression clearly, but from his sonorous tone, she could tell his determination and fearlessness - after all, he didn't show any emotion at all.
After reading out everyone's crimes, he paused for a moment and looked back at the platform, as if taking a last look at his uncle.
Some of the criminals on the platform were begging for mercy, some were shouting their injustice, but Xie Jin was the only one who kept his head down, kneeling motionlessly, as if the scene before him had nothing to do with him, as if he had no concern for this world at all.
After a while, Xie Wuhen shouted "Behead", then picked up the "signature token" and threw it forward heavily.
The moment the signature token fell to the ground with a bang, the crowd below the stage also became agitated.
Someone shouted excitedly: "Zhan Luo, finally Zhan Luo started."
Some people were so scared that they turned their backs and covered their eyes.
Several executioners walked up to the platform holding machetes, took a sip of wine, and then sprayed the wine evenly on the blade with their mouths.
A few more flashes of lightning flashed across, illuminating the cold light on the blade.
The moment the executioner raised the knife, Su He saw Xie Jin finally raised his head. He looked at the rain curtain in the sky, twitching the corners of his mouth, as if smiling.
Is that a smile? Su He wasn't sure.
It was too far away and she couldn't see clearly.
But what she was sure of was that Xie Jin must have accepted his fate at that moment, and perhaps felt relieved.
But in the blink of an eye, more than ten people on the stage were beheaded.
Blood spurted out, staining the mottled floor of the platform red.
Zhang Xiuhua didn't dare to look anymore and turned her back.
After a long while, she was still pale and upset. She seemed to see that one day in the future, she, the young lady, and Chunlan were also dragged onto the high platform by the brother-in-law and their heads were chopped off by the executioner's ghost-head knife.
Her voice trembled: "Miss, we have seen it all, why don't we go back?"
Su He sat by the window, still looking at the execution ground under the rain.
She saw Xie Wuhen stand up and leave after executing the sentence without any hesitation.
She also saw Xie Wujiang and his sister running towards the platform, crying and wanting to collect their father's body, but they were stopped by the guards on the platform.
She breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Okay, let's go back."
After saying that, he stood up and walked out of the restaurant.
Xie Jin was beheaded and his body was hastily buried.
After all, he was a criminal, and no one dared to hold a grand funeral for him.
The second branch of the Xie family fell into a strange silence. Wang Yue'e stopped making trouble, Xie Wujiang and Xie Shuang stopped crying, and the other members of the Xie family stopped interacting with each other. It seemed that they had all thought it through and had had enough.
Xie Wuhen returned on the night of his execution.
At that time, Su He had just finished washing up and was about to go to bed when he suddenly pushed the door open and walked in, sitting down silently at the wooden table in the room.
He was still wearing his official uniform, with some mud spots on the hem.
After not seeing him for a few days, he looked thinner and more haggard, with even stubble growing on his chin.
Su He walked up to him and called him "husband".
He supported his chin with his hand and said nothing.
She called out "Husband" again.
He seemed to react suddenly, raised his eyes to look at her, his eyes were full of bloodshot, and called out in a hoarse voice: "Madam."
She said gently, "My husband must be tired. Let's go to the bathroom and wash up first."
He shook his head, "I'm not tired."
He added, "I've been too busy these days and haven't been able to come back. I'm sorry, my lady."
She smiled and said, "My husband, just focus on your official duties and don't worry about me."
Then he asked, "My husband, have you had a meal?"
He still shook his head, "I'm not hungry."
Su He could only pour a cup of tea and handed it to him: "My husband, now that you have finished your work, you should rest well from now on."
He looked tired and was silent for a long time.
After a moment, he asked in a hoarse voice, "My wife, do you know everything?"
He asked in a general way and didn't say what she knew.
She replied, "I know everything."
His tone was steady and unhurried: "The emperor has taken ruthless action this time, even the crown prince has fallen. Those who provided the crown prince with iron weapons must be severely punished."
She comforted him softly, "I understand your husband's difficulties."
His voice grew increasingly hoarse. "If I don't kill my uncle myself, the Xie family won't be able to escape cleanly, and several branches of the Xie family will be implicated."
He was explaining, or perhaps, he was feeling guilty.
Or perhaps, he was helpless - he had to be so helpless.
She moved closer to him and hugged him gently, "I, your humble concubine, also understand your husband's painstaking efforts."
He had to use his ruthlessness to protect the safety of his family.
For a moment, she felt herself torn between two emotions.
While she sympathized with the man's suffering, she was also afraid of his cruelty; while she indulged in the tenderness with the man, she coldly kept herself out of it.
She also had to pretend to be understanding to cover up the inner tearing.
The man leaned in front of her and was silent for a long time.
After a long time, he gently pushed her away and then looked up at her.
His bloodshot eyes held tenderness, yet also a certain probing and scrutinizing intensity. "My wife should have known about the account book in Ah Si's hand a long time ago, right?"
Su He answered frankly: "Yes, I have known about it for a long time."
He asked, "Why didn't you ask Ah Si to give it to me before?"
She asked in return, "If Ah Si had been handed over to my husband earlier, would the outcome have been different?"
He paused. "Maybe?"
The emperor decided to eradicate the Zhou family because he knew that Zhou Yuanze had framed Duofu - he used the iron trafficking case to depose the prince. If the account books had been handed over earlier, there would not have been such a good opportunity.
Su He explained, "That day, I saw Zhou Yuanze murdering a palace maid and yet he got away with it. That's why I felt unfair, and that's why I asked Ah Si to hand over the account books so that the Zhou family would lose their support."
She would never reveal the true grudge between her and Zhou Yuanze.
He continued to stare at her without blinking.
This woman looks weak, but she is firm and decisive in her actions; she seems to be submissive in everything, but she has her own set of rules inside.
Xie Wuhen couldn't help but wonder, does he really understand his wife?
After a moment, he sighed tiredly, held her hand, and then placed her hand on his cheek: "Don't worry, my lady, the Zhou family will soon fall."
Su He asked, "How long is soon?"
He replied: "A few months? Or a year?"
Su He fell silent for a moment.
She couldn't wait that long.
She had to find a way to kill Zhou Yuanze as soon as possible!
In the silent night, only the undercurrent in her heart was roaring wildly!
At this time, it was the Zhou family mansion.
Zhou Ping also lived in a state of anxiety during this period. First, his son caused a death in the palace, and then the Empress lost power and the Crown Prince was deposed. He always felt that all this was not a coincidence, and perhaps it was a long-planned plan by the emperor.
What made him even more worried was that his trusted aides among the Twelve Guards in the capital were assassinated one after another.
The twelve guards, who were the internal guards of the capital and the external preparations for war, were once the most important bargaining chip in his hand. But now they were lost for no reason and his plan failed. How could this not arouse suspicion?
Zhou Ping was so angry that he couldn't help but scold Zhou Yuanze again.
Zhou Yuanze argued confidently, "No matter how reckless my son was, he would never dare to act recklessly in the palace. He must have been harmed by a traitor that day, leading him to commit such a grave mistake. Besides, what does the dethronement of the Crown Prince have to do with my son? Why should a father scold him for this?"
Zhou Ping sighed helplessly and was speechless for a moment.
It would be fine if his son was ignorant and didn't care about the real business, but he had a clear account in his mind and knew that his Zhou family was the mastermind behind the iron trafficking case.
Fortunately, he acted secretly and cleanly, so he was able to escape this time.
Zhou Ping solemnly warned, "Without your father's permission, you must not leave Jingya Garden, and you are not allowed to contact anyone outside."
Zhou Yuanze waved his hands impatiently: "I know, I know."
Zhou Ping then called over the housekeeper Shi Kai and said, "Go and deliver two letters for me."
Shi Kai asked, "Who does the master want to send the letter to?"
Zhou Ping replied, "One letter will be sent to the palace for the Queen, and the other to the frontier for General Zhou Cheng."
The queen was his cousin, so he had to tell her that as long as she retained her position as queen, she could appoint another prince, such as the fifth prince.
The frontier commander Zhou Cheng was his distant nephew, so he had to tell him to be prepared at all times and to rush to the capital to defend the king immediately if anything happened in the capital.
Shi Kai bowed and replied "yes". Just as he was about to leave, he remembered something: "Master, I heard from the servants in the mansion that someone outside has been deliberately inquiring about the young master's eating habits recently."
Zhou Ping paused after hearing this: "It seems that some people haven't given up yet."
He added, "Recently, strange things have been happening frequently, all targeting my Zhou family, and even Ze'er's life. How can I feel at ease if I don't find out who is behind this?"
Shi Kai asked, "What should the master do?"
Zhou Ping replied, "The young master's birthday is in the twentieth day. Go spread the word that the young master of the Zhou family is going to Changlong Restaurant to hold a birthday banquet."
Shi Kai was puzzled: "Master, are you going to lift the young master's house arrest?"
Zhou Ping had a cunning look on his face. "It's just a rumor. How could the young master really go to the restaurant? By then, I will set up a tight net in the restaurant. If anyone dares to attack, I will make sure he comes alive and dies."
Shi Kai lowered his head and replied "yes", then turned and walked out.
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