After soaking in the hot spring, Xie Yuancheng went out. He and Meng Anshi were still the same as before, although he still didn't call him brother-in-law.
These past two days, I've been at the manor with Li Ruowei, taking care of Yan'er. Seeing her running over with a smile, she's so adorable.
"Madam~ Miss~" Bizhu ran in, panting. I gave her a fan to help her catch her breath.
Once Bizhu had caught her breath, she began to speak: "Those wicked people, today at the entrance of the vegetable market, beheaded those who had committed murder."
"Execute them!" I remember they were all quite young. Li Ruowei told the wet nurse to take Yan'er away, and she came over to ask as well.
How old were the people killed?
"She was around ten years old. There was a younger, more wicked woman who killed a pregnant woman, including her unborn child. She was a master at feigning helplessness, so she was also executed."
I heard from the onlookers that it was all a warning to others, so those shameless troublemakers were scared and confessed everything.
Lord Lu subjected them to tattooing punishment, carving the character for "crime" on each of their faces, particularly noticeable on their right cheeks. Those wicked women even tried to gain sympathy and feign pitifulness; some even stripped naked, saying they were willing to become Lord Lu's mistresses.
These girls knew all this so well that Lord Lu was so angry that he banished them to the border, sending them to the army camp as delinquents to be dealt with at the camp's discretion. He didn't know if they would ever have a chance to leave.
Bizhu finished speaking in one breath, and it was clear that she was very happy. I felt uneasy listening to her, but in Dazhao, anyone over ten years old could be punished.
These people are truly wicked; they not only caused chaos in Linyang and other cities, but also ruined the good intentions of some people, even leading to their deaths.
Li Ruowei patted my shoulder: "This is the punishment they deserve. There are more than a hundred of them in Linyang City alone. How are we going to get them out?"
"They were transported according to the prisoners. They were tied up with hand and foot chains and walked one by one. Some of them couldn't walk and pretended to be pitiful, so they took off their shoes and dragged them on the ground. Only when their feet bled did they realize the pain."
One woman, claiming to be a reincarnated celestial being, was stubbornly refused. Soldiers lifted her up like a chick and threw her onto the stage, forcing her to look directly at the evidence. Then she confessed everything. These wicked people, they should have been taught to be bad long ago.
"More than a hundred scoundrels have killed more than five hundred households and caused the deaths of more than twenty people. The population of Dazhao has dwindled again."
“Miss, don’t worry. I heard that their mothers have given birth to more than a dozen children. Some of them are so powerful that they have given birth to seven or eight children in one litter. They are more prolific than sows.”
"Huh? Is that so?"
“Yes.” Bizhu nodded: “It’s not much, but it’s true. When I squeezed in to see, some people were crying pitifully, and someone tried to pull them up. The person who pulled them up was taken hostage and almost lost his life. Then everyone started throwing rotten eggs and rotten vegetable leaves at them.”
I shook my head: "They brought this on themselves, so let's just leave it at that. It's good that they've been executed."
Li Ruowei agreed, saying that she still has lingering trauma from the incident. Yan'er was almost killed by them, and every time I think about it, I feel no sympathy for her.
Whether they are dragged away barefoot, lifted up and stomped on, or their bare feet are shaken around, don't be fooled by the pitiful scene. Their hearts are more venomous than snakes and scorpions. They don't value other people's lives. No matter how old they are, they don't deserve any sympathy.
Bizhu then recounted some more events. After they were subjected to the tattooing punishment, they collectively feigned pitifulness, opening their mouths and spouting nonsense. Children on the street couldn't stand it and threw rotten tomatoes and vegetable leaves at them, cursing them for being shameless and harming themselves and others.
Some of the victims, whose families were destroyed, went up to attack the assailants but were stopped. They tried to play the victim to gain sympathy, but were eventually kicked away and left alone.
They are not only thick-skinned, but also physically thick-skinned. Even when kicked several meters away while wearing shackles, they remain unharmed and can still get up and jump up to fight back. No wonder ordinary people are no match for them and are deceived by their appearance.
I remembered the one who gave me dried meat. Bizhu said there were too many people, and everyone in the village had been arrested, so there were probably more than two hundred people, and they should be among them.
Li Ruowei sent the steward to check and make sure everyone was gone before returning. Xie Yuancheng and Meng Anshi went after the remaining henchmen; they couldn't have gone far.
In the afternoon, the butler returned and said that everyone had left. A few people didn't want to leave and squatted on the ground crying. They were executed on the spot. The other troublemakers knew that playing the victim was useless, so they started to leave.
"Madam, Miss, you don't know how formidable they are. They carry razor blades, ready to attack at any moment. In the end, they shaved heads on the spot and stripped off all their clothes, only to discover that they were hiding concealed weapons. After burning them, they changed into cloth to wear as they left."
The scene was truly shocking. No wonder it's called a jinx; it's always thinking of revenge. Anyone who was kind-hearted and tried to help along the way would die for no reason.
Li Ruowei sighed. I went to comfort her. The Empress used her power behind the scenes to raise these scourges; she will surely suffer the consequences.
Bizhu scolded them on our behalf before we went to take Yan'er. It's good that this farce is over. Lu Fengjun handled it fairly. They all have innocent lives on their hands, yet they are so smug and boastful.
Xie Yuancheng returned in the evening. I told him everything, but he didn't care at all.
"Yuancheng~ Don't be so cold. Aren't you happy that you've gotten rid of that troublemaker?"
"Ying'er~" Xie Yuancheng took a wet cloth to wipe my hands: "Your hands are dirty, and you don't even know how to wash them."
"I had forgotten. Today I showed Yan'er how to pick up pebbles, and she's so tender, so I did it myself."
"Remember to wash up too, otherwise I'll be sad if you get sick~"
He changed the subject again, so I kept pressing him for answers. Xie Yuancheng finally said, "This is a tragedy for the Great Zhao Dynasty. Let's not discuss it anymore. Anyway, they have all been punished. Let's just let this matter pass."
I nodded. He still had many things to attend to in the city, so let's talk about something happy. I missed Yu'er and the others so much. I asked them several times, but Xie Yuancheng always said he would leave after some time.
"You don't mean to have me stay in Linyang while you go to the capital to bring them back, do you?"
I was really worried that I wouldn't be able to see Yu'er again. At that time, my parents were lonely, so I had Yu'er change his surname to Ji. So I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to go to the capital to say goodbye to Yu'er.
"That's what I've been thinking, but Ying'er has been so good these past few days, I'll take you back. We're going to see someone tomorrow, and we'll go back next week."
"Really!" I was relieved and circled around Xie Yuancheng.
Xie Yuancheng was confused by my explanation and told me to go to sleep quickly, or he would leave me in Linyang.
"You stingy little devil, all you do is bully me. I want to sleep with my sister tonight~" Yan'er held onto my index finger tightly today. When she smiled, she did look a bit like Yu'er.
“They have something to say. You keep bothering them. Even if the Marquis’s mansion is yours, you can’t keep abusing your power.”
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