Chapter 512 The child is innocent?
(Thanks to Mu Xin Diao Ye for casting 4 monthly votes.)
The next day, near noon, the area in front of the Jian'an Prefectural Government was packed with people.
Li Shiyue ordered his men to build a high platform, with a Xuanjia soldier holding a sword standing every ten feet around it.
She stood on the high platform, watching the growing crowd below, her fingers unconsciously stroking the long sword at her waist.
She wore a full set of black armor today, and the breastplate on her chest was polished to a shine, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
"General, the time has come."
Chen Yong, who had been standing behind Li Shiyue, stepped forward and whispered a reminder to Li Shiyue.
Li Shiyue nodded and walked towards the center of the platform.
The noisy crowd below the stage gradually quieted down, and countless eyes were fixed on the legendary female general.
"Fellow villagers of Jian'an City!"
Li Shiyue's voice was loud and clear, piercing everyone's ears like a sharp knife.
"The reason I have summoned you all here today is to publicly try the criminal who colluded with Japanese pirates and harmed the people—the former Prefect of Jian'an, Huang Wanchang!"
Upon hearing Li Shiyue's words, the crowd below the stage immediately stirred, and the sounds of discussion quickly spread like a tide among the onlookers around the platform.
Li Shiyue walked back to the long table behind the platform and sat down, gesturing to Sun Xiaoliu in front of the platform.
Sun Xiaoliu took two steps, said something to the Xuanjia soldiers on the side below the platform, and then two Xuanjia soldiers dragged Huang Wanchang, who was bound hand and foot, up onto the platform.
The once imposing governor was now disheveled, his right leg was bent unnaturally, and his face still bore the bruises from the slap he had received the day before.
Behind Huang Wanchang were his family members of more than 30 people, all of whom were chained up and escorted to the high platform.
The crowd below the stage looked at Huang Wanchang and others and burst into angry shouts.
Some people even threw rotten vegetable leaves at Huang Wanchang.
"quiet!"
Sitting behind the high platform, Li Shiyue raised his hand and shouted at the crowd below, and the noise gradually subsided.
"Huang Wanchang!"
Li Shiyue shouted sternly, "Do you know your crime?"
Huang Wanchang raised his head and looked up at Li Shiyue sitting in the chair. A trace of resentment flashed in his swollen eyes.
Huang Wanchang had a strip of cloth stuffed in his mouth, so he couldn't speak even if he wanted to; he could only make incoherent noises.
This was obviously intentional; Li Shiyue had no intention of hearing Huang Wanchang confess his crimes or accept punishment.
Today she has only one thing to do: in front of the people of Jian'an City, she will kill Huang Wanchang to appease public anger!
Li Shiyue nodded to Sun Xiaoliu, who was standing in front of her. Sun Xiaoliu then picked up a charge from the table and took a step forward.
Yes, Sun Xiaoliu and his group, who had followed the governor's steward to the seaside, have returned.
They not only captured the steward and others, but also found one of their strongholds in a coastal fishing village!
At this moment, Sun Xiaoliu held Huang Wanchang's charges in his hands and loudly proclaimed to the crowd below the stage: "In the seventh month of the fifth year of Jinghe, twenty-three young women were sold to Japan, and one hundred and ninety-four taels of silver were obtained."
In September of the same year, they secretly opened the South Port, allowing Japanese pirates to land and plunder, and collected three hundred taels of gold...
With each item read aloud, Sun Xiaoliu raised his voice a notch, until he was practically shouting, "In three years and two months, more than a thousand people were sold through Huang Wanchang's hands!"
"The port you agreed to open allowed Japanese pirates to land and massacre three entire villages, totaling 136 people!"
Suddenly, a heart-wrenching cry erupted from below the platform: "My Dahua! My Dahua!"
An elderly woman with gray hair staggered to the front of the stage, her withered fingers almost poking Huang Wanchang's face. "My Dahua is such a good child!"
You heartless bastards!
They said they were recruiting young women to be embroiderers, but... in the end, they sold them to Japanese pirates!
She's only thirteen!
Give me back my big flower!
"Waaah, you... Big Flower, Mother's Flower... Waaah..."
The cries seemed to open a floodgate, and sobs and angry curses erupted from the crowd.
A lame man suddenly brandished the wooden stick he was using as a crutch: "This leg of mine was cut off by the Japanese pirates!"
So, it turns out you, you corrupt official, let the Japanese pirates in!
Below the platform, more and more people crowded to the front, and some people who couldn't squeeze through from the back started throwing rotten vegetable leaves and stones at the platform.
Li Shiyue sat in her chair and did not stop him. She coldly watched Huang Wanchang cower in front of the angry crowd.
It wasn't until a stone smashed Huang Wanchang's forehead and blood flowed down his cheek that she raised her hand to signal the Xuanjia Army to come forward and maintain order.
"quiet!"
Li Shiyue's voice drowned out the noise.
"Huang Wanchang, the Prefect of Jian'an, colluded with Japanese pirates, sold innocent people, and embezzled military funds. He is guilty of ten heinous crimes!"
According to the laws of the Great Long Dynasty, this is a capital offense, punishable by the extermination of nine generations of the family!
Upon hearing this, Huang Wanchang, who was kneeling on the ground with his mouth gagged, began to tremble violently. He twisted his body and, dragging his broken leg, used all his strength to crawl toward Li Shiyue, who was sitting high above him.
Huang Wanchang seemed to have something to say as he made "uh-huh" noises. Li Shiyue looked at his behavior and, after a moment's thought, knew what he meant.
"Heh, don't worry, none of your accomplices will escape!"
As the midday sun rose high in the sky, Huang Wanchang and his family of more than thirty people knelt in three rows on the high platform.
Li Shiyue personally oversaw the execution. She sat on the high platform, her voice resounding throughout the hall: "Huang Wanchang has committed treason and collusion with the enemy. The evidence is irrefutable. He is sentenced to have his entire family executed. Execution begins!"
Li Shiyue did not use the executioners from Jian'an, but instead used veterans from his own Xuanjia Army.
Hei Zi stepped forward with his knife and stood in front of Huang Wanchang, who was kneeling on the ground, his mouth gagged, his hair disheveled, and his crotch soaked.
With a flash of light, Huang Wanchang's head fell to the ground.
Huang Wanchang's head rolled around on the ground of the high platform, which was quite ridiculous.
The crowd below the stage watched the head rolling around and shouted their joy.
Next came Huang Wanchang's wives, concubines, and children...
When it was the turn of the woman holding a child who was only a few years old, the audience suddenly fell silent for a moment.
The child seemed to sense danger and immediately burst into tears.
The woman hugged her child tightly and knelt down, kowtowing in the direction of Li Shiyue.
Although the woman's mouth was stuffed with cloth and she couldn't speak, her eyes were full of tears and she was making "uh-huh" and "ya-ya" noises, which meant that she just wanted Li Shiyue to let go of the child who was only a few years old.
The people below the stage all went to look at Li Shiyue, partly because they felt the child was innocent;
On the other hand, I wonder if those who died because of Huang Wanchang were not innocent?
Li Shiyue remained expressionless. She glanced at the woman and child, but said nothing.
Are the children innocent?
Isn't everything this child eats, wears, and uses made from the people's hard-earned money?
Weren't they the flesh and blood of the Jian'an people?
If one must say something, then the woman and child should also resent Huang Wanchang, who was ruthless and committed heinous crimes.
Blood splattered on the platform and dripped onto the ground through the cracks in the wooden planks.
A strong smell of blood wafted outwards from this high platform.
The crowd below the stage erupted in uproar.
Most of the onlookers never imagined that Li Shiyue would be such a decisive person. He only said a few words and said he would cut off someone's head, and that was it.
That was a fifth-rank official position personally appointed by the imperial court!
Amid their joy, the onlookers couldn't help but gain a certain understanding of Li Shiyue's decisive and ruthless nature.
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