Slaughter
Dong Qingying clung to the emperor's arm and acted coquettishly. She was in the prime of her youth, with a fair and full chest, and she loved to wear revealing dresses. With all this, the tender white skin under her neck was completely exposed.
She leaned her head on the young emperor's shoulder and said sweetly, "Didn't we agree to go horseback riding today? Why is Your Majesty still dealing with state affairs?"
She glanced indifferently at the bright yellow imperial edict on the desk, pouting her flower-like lips to express her dissatisfaction.
The young emperor pinched her breast hard, causing the woman to frown and groan. He laughed and said, "Sister, wait a little longer. I'll take you to play after I finish writing this imperial edict."
Her once tender breasts were pinched like that, and at first only a faint red appeared. Apart from the slightly painful groan just now, Dong Qingying did not see that mark again. She was still leaning on the emperor's shoulder, urging him to hurry up.
The emperor hastily wrote the imperial edict, and Yang Fujin stamped it before respectfully seeing him off.
Shanglin Garden was a royal garden that housed many rare and exotic animals. It also included a horse stable, which was exclusively for the royal family to ride horses for entertainment.
When Princess Li Muyun returned last time, she sent several Akhal-Teke horses from the Northwest Horse Ranch. They were tall and beautiful, and because of their thin skin and fine hair, they looked as if they were bleeding under the sunlight after running vigorously.
The emperor chose a magnificent horse with a golden coat. The groom helped him onto the horse, and as the groom was about to lead the emperor around twice, the emperor lashed out with his whip. The groom, in pain, clutched his wound and knelt on the ground. The emperor scolded, "Does that mean I can't ride a horse? Why should a mere stable boy like you walk in front of me?"
The groom felt wronged and even more afraid of the Emperor's wrath: "Your Majesty, this horse is stubborn and only listens to the Imperial Concubine. If anyone else tries to ride it and shows the slightest dissatisfaction, it will throw the rider to the ground. Several grooms have already had their bones broken!"
The young emperor wouldn't listen, and lashed out with the whip again: "Are you cursing me to have my bones broken?"
A curse? How could the stable boy bear such a heinous crime as beheading? He kept banging his head against the yellow sand, and after several thuds, blood began to flow.
Consort Dong had just changed into her riding attire and was riding a small horse. Seeing that the emperor had not yet ridden, she called out in a sweet voice, "Your Majesty, come and chase me! If Your Majesty loses, then this Ferghana horse will be given to me."
After she finished speaking, she tightened the reins and rode off at full speed. The emperor shifted his focus and stopped getting involved with the coachman. He raised his whip and struck the horse, which instantly reared up and galloped away.
After all, it was a Ferghana horse, which easily outran the concubine's ordinary pony. He pointed at Dong Qingying, who had a mouthful of dust, and laughed heartily. Clearly, watching his beloved concubine's predicament was much more interesting than riding a horse!
The emperor wanted to ride again at full gallop, but the Akhal-Teke horse would no longer obey his commands and remained stationary. He pulled on the reins and cracked the whip, but the horse resisted fiercely. Its ears began to twitch frequently, it kept grinding its teeth, and its nostrils flared wide.
Dong Qingying sensed something was wrong, but before she could speak up to stop it, the little emperor was thrown to the ground and rolled around several times.
The palace servants who were accompanying him were so frightened that they rushed forward. Qingying, who was closest to him, dismounted first and helped him up.
Fortunately, the emperor was able to get up with the help of the crowd, and obviously he had not broken any bones. However, he was furious. The emperor had been overturned by a horse, and his face had been humiliated. How could he tolerate this?
He immediately snatched the guard's bow and arrow, aimed it at the horse, and, being close enough, shot an arrow into its belly. The horse howled in pain, but did not fall to the ground; it simply ran wildly without any purpose.
"Your Majesty..." Dong Qingying tried to stop the second arrow, but it was too late. This time, the guards were afraid that the horse would run wild and disturb the emperor, so they shot an arrow into the horse's head.
Under the warm sunlight, she watched as the golden Akhal-Teke horse staggered a few steps before collapsing heavily to the ground, uttering no more cries of pain.
Amidst the cheers of the young emperor celebrating his revenge, he richly rewarded the guard who had shot the horse in the head.
Qingying stared blankly at the horse, then heard the man's voice in her ear:
“I sent several horses to Shanglin Garden, one of which has a golden coat and is called Golden Crow. It has been tamed and is very familiar with your scent. If you feel sad, let it take you for a ride.”
She took two steps forward, just two steps, and then stopped—she seemed to see her final fate.
When news of the chaos at the horse farm reached Yang Fujin's ears, and Consort Dong thought she could use being startled by the horse as an excuse to return to the palace with the emperor, Yang Fujin sent over a dozen death row inmates.
There were both male and female prisoners, their hands and feet shackled, the words branded on their faces still bearing bloodstains. They huddled together, looking around in panic.
The prisoner was brought by Yang Fujin's adopted son, the eunuch Yang Han. He said with a fawning smile, "The Attendant knew that the inferior horses from the Northwest had disturbed Your Majesty, so he specially ordered me to bring these death row inmates for Your Majesty's amusement!"
This immediately suited the emperor's taste.
Shooting prisoners for amusement was not the first time the young emperor had done such a thing, but when news of this reached outside the palace, it aroused public outrage and resentment. Even his ministers submitted memorials urging His Majesty to stop in time.
The young emperor paid no heed to the grievances of the people or the advice of his ministers. As the arrows he shot pierced the flesh and prisoners fell to the ground, he felt immense satisfaction and extreme pleasure.
He especially enjoyed the sight of arrows piercing people's throats and blood splattering everywhere, which made him clap and cheer!
Later, when the eldest princess learned of this, she grabbed the emperor by the back of his collar, dragged him into the Li family ancestral hall, and personally administered the whipping punishment.
The emperor was so badly beaten that he had to stay on his dragon bed for a month, and he never dared to indulge in such pleasures again!
Seeing the prisoners' terrified expressions, the emperor's bloodlust surged again, but remembering the beating he had received, he hesitated as he looked at the prisoners.
"If my aunt finds out, won't I be in trouble again?"
Before coming, Yang Han had been instructed by his adoptive father, and he said, "Your Majesty, look over there."
The emperor looked over and saw several guards carrying away the dead Akhal-Teke horse.
"If this servant remembers correctly, this horse should have been sent by the Eldest Princess. But now this horse is unruly and disobeys His Majesty's commands. It even overturned its master, who was in charge of it, just like its former owner. Unruly and untamed, it even tried to ride on its master's head!"
His words were pointed, and the emperor understood perfectly. Recalling all the evil deeds this princess had committed against him, the emperor's anger was quickly ignited: "Fine! I'll see if she dares to impose family rules on me like last time!"
The prisoners, now freed from their shackles, were even more at a loss, huddling together in one spot.
They wouldn't run, which was no fun. The guards released several vicious dogs, which rushed towards the prisoners, and sure enough, they were frightened and scattered in all directions.
The young emperor drew his bow and shot an arrow at the fastest male prisoner on the field, who was being chased and bitten by vicious dogs and had to desperately try to escape.
The emperor was not a skilled archer and missed, so he had to change his target and aim at an old man who was running a little slower.
With a "whoosh," the old prisoner was struck in the chest by an arrow and collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.
An old woman ran over, knelt down in front of the old man, and wailed. The emperor then aimed an arrow at her and shot her in the eye.
Dong Qingying was also shooting arrows nearby, but her arms were weak, and several times she shot, let alone aiming at the target, the arrows could only float lightly to the yellow sand not far away.
After a few attempts, she angrily threw the bow and arrows on the ground, grabbed the emperor's hand, and said in a coquettish tone, "I'm not playing anymore, I'm not playing anymore! I can't hit anything at all, Your Majesty, let's go back, I'm so tired!"
The emperor was in high spirits and wouldn't listen to her. One target after another fell to the ground, and the thrill of killing filled his whole body!
Until the prisoners in the arena came to their senses and realized that this was a grand feast of slaughter by nobles, they were powerless to resist and their eyes were filled with despair. The remaining people slowly gathered together, and in the center of their circle was a four or five-year-old girl.
Even as the vicious dogs tore at them, they couldn't scatter them any further; instead, they huddled together tighter and tighter, continuing to protect the child.
Dong Qingying suddenly recalled a scene she had witnessed in her childhood: ants huddled together in a tight circle, flames approaching, yet they refused to escape, because inside the ant colony were even smaller ants.
The emperor was immediately enraged. At that time, Dong Qingying was watching the emperor, who was screaming wildly and ordering the guards to shoot arrows and kill the prisoners, and she did not know why he had lost his composure like this.
Many years later, when Pingdu fell and the palace gates were broken down, the people, like prisoners of today, united to resist the former emperor. When the flames burned and ashes filled the sky, Dong Qingying finally understood that what had angered the emperor was the will of the people.
One prisoner after another fell down, leaving only the child who lay prostrate beside his mother, weeping sadly.
As the emperor's arrow was aimed at the little girl, Qingying placed her hand on the arrow and gently pressed it down. She looked at the child and said, "Look at this pitiful sight. It reminds me of myself when I was a child. Your Majesty, why don't you leave this child in my palace?"
Today, the young emperor had more than a dozen lives on his hands, and he was having a great time. He released the child, but he disliked that his concubine had shown such compassion. He preferred Dong Qingying, who was just as cold-blooded and ruthless as him, and who played with the world.
Dong Qingying knew exactly what the emperor was thinking. She leaned weakly against him and whispered, "Her whole family is dead, leaving her all alone in the hands of her enemies. Isn't that worse than death?"
The emperor, feigning sudden realization, clapped his hands and exclaimed with laughter, "Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!"
The little girl was sent to Qingyun Palace. Although she was unaware of what was happening, she saw her family members fall one by one in front of her. The woman in front of her was standing next to the murderer. When she saw Dong Qingying coming, she was so frightened that she cried loudly and ran under the bed to hide, curling up in a corner. In her eyes, the woman who could topple kingdoms was no different from a ferocious beast.
Knowing that she didn't like her, Dong Qingying simply told the palace servants to leave the room.
As the door closed, she brought a plate of pastries from the table and placed it on the floor.
"Eat up, are you very hungry?"
The child shrank further into the corner, having nowhere else to retreat, and could only curl up tightly.
The imperial concubine also sat on the ground. After thinking for a moment, she placed a piece of osmanthus cake on her handkerchief and slowly moved it under the bed.
The pastries lay quietly on a handkerchief made of ice silk, untouched by anyone.
Dong Qingying stopped staring at the child and leaned against the wall, hugging her knees. For some reason, she actually started talking to the child about her childhood.
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