Zhao Huan was superficial, vulgar, and had low tastes. He fell in love with Yunniang, not because of her character or her heart, but because of her appearance and her charming temperament.
That's why he only had these hallucinations after being drunk, but these feelings faded as quickly as they came. Yunniang and Fan Zha had already gone to their bridal chamber, and in Zhao Huan's filthy mind, they might have already performed the Zhougong ritual.
Zhao Huan didn't take Du Zhong's escape too seriously. A small-time Du Zhong couldn't cause any trouble. Even if he returned to the Jingdong command camp, no one would dare to obey his orders. Escaping from the emperor's presence was tantamount to treason.
Du Zhong secretly regretted agreeing to see the emperor while still in Jingdong. It was all his fault, and now he felt like a lost dog, with nowhere to hide. He couldn't return to Jingdong Camp. The tiger talisman and military talisman had been given to the deputy general. Perhaps the emperor had already sent someone to wait for him in the main camp.
"What is Wu Ge doing? He actually let a Eucommia ulmoides slip away right under his nose. Where is Wu Ge?" Zhao Huan asked.
At this moment, Linghu Yunlong was accompanied by a royal guard sent by Wu Ge. The guard bowed and said, "Your Majesty, Du Zhong broke free from his ropes during the night, killed two guards on guard, and escaped. General Wu Ge recognizes his grave sin and is awaiting Your Majesty's judgment at the yamen."
Zhao Huan angrily asked, "What should we do? Kill Wu Ge?"
"Your Majesty!" Linghu Yunlong and the guard knelt down hurriedly in fear.
Zhao Huan angrily waved his hands and said, "Alright! Return to the yamen. We'll leave for Caiduo Town tomorrow for the execution!"
He was talking about the lingchi torture of Bai Qingsheng and Du Huachang, five hundred cuts, which was cruel enough.
Everyone returned to the yamen. Wu Ge knelt in the lobby and did not dare to raise his head. Du Zhong ran away, and he could not escape the blame.
"Your Majesty, I am incompetent. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."
Zhao Huan said coldly, "What are you punishing me for? Wu Ge, you can't even do this. Du Zhong holds military power. What if he rebels and comes to arrest me now? I only have a few thousand guards around me. Du Zhong commands tens of thousands of soldiers and horses."
Wu Ge wiped the sweat off his face and said, "I deserve to die. When I came here, I had Du Zhong give the military seal and commander's seal to the deputy general. I have already sent people to the Jingdong camp to pass on the order. Anyone who finds Du Zhong will be killed without mercy!"
Zhao Huan's expression softened slightly upon hearing this. "Alright, the dragon boat incident isn't over yet, and I've encountered many obstacles along the way. Send out orders to return to Caiduo Town. Du Huachang and County Magistrate Bai Qingsheng will be executed tomorrow!"
Wu Ge breathed a sigh of relief. This meant the emperor wasn't going to blame him. Reaching a high position wasn't easy; it took years and decades of hard work. If the emperor demoted you to a minor official, that was a simple matter. Without connections and personal ability, climbing back to your original position would be difficult.
The next day, the guards escorted Bai Qingsheng and Du Huachang to Caiduo Town. Along the way, the people of Fengxian County slaughtered cattle and sheep, prepared wine, and offered a farewell.
Caiduo Town wasn't large, with fewer than a thousand households. The village chief had received the news early in the morning and had arrived at the town's entrance to greet them. He led a group of guards and surrounded Yang Qiqiao's home.
When Du Huachang and Bai Qingsheng were brought to the gates of the Yang family's ruined house, they gazed with horror at the now dilapidated structure. Back then, the Yang family was considered a well-to-do family in Caiduo Town, and Yang Qiqiao was renowned for her beauty. Her father had rejected countless marriage proposals, but he never expected to encounter this scoundrel, Du Huachang, who had completely destroyed Yang Qiqiao's family.
"The Emperor has arrived!" With a shout, Zhao Huan's dragon sedan slowly drove over, and the people knelt down one after another.
Zhao Huan didn't need to personally intervene in this matter; the chief judge had already read out the charges: "In the second year of the Chonghe reign of the Great Song Dynasty, the criminal Du Huachang colluded with Bai Qingsheng to spy on Yang Qiqiao, the daughter of the Yang family in Caiduo Town. They committed brutal acts, leading to Yang Qiqiao's suicide. To cover up his guilt, Du Huachang, following his father Du Zhong's scheme, murdered the entire Yang family. His crimes are heinous, his evil deeds are beyond measure, and his bestiality is appalling. To uphold the laws of the Great Song Dynasty and promote justice among mankind, I, by imperial decree, execute this criminal by slicing him to death! According to the First Volume of the Criminal Law of the Great Song Dynasty, slicing by slicing begins by first breaking off the body's limbs, then slicing out the throat. This was the most severe punishment at the time, requiring three, three, five, or seven cuts to complete the sentence. However, Your Majesty, ruling with benevolence, has granted a special pardon of five hundred cuts to comfort the souls of the Yang family. Executioner! Execution!"
According to the rules of Lingchi, the number of cuts required was 3,357. Zhao Huan's order of 500 was considered a mercy.
The execution ground was right in front of Yang Qiqiao's home, which was a large open space. There were two wooden stakes there, naturally used to tie up the two criminals. The difference was that in addition to the two executioners holding knives, there was also another executioner holding a ghost-head knife, which was used to chop Luo Xiaohu.
Luo Xiaohu was considered lucky compared to the other two. At least he wouldn't be skinned alive, only hacked to pieces.
To avoid an excessively bloody scene, Zhao Huan ordered that no one be allowed to stand within 200 meters of the execution site, so that people would not feel any more discomfort when watching from a distance.
Luo Xiaohu was so frightened that his heart and soul were about to break. He was the first to say, "Ah, I don't want to die. Don't kill me! Don't kill me!"
The executioner sneered: "Why didn't you think about not killing Luo Sheng when you poisoned him? You deserve to die now." As he said that, the executioner pressed Luo Xiaohu's head down fiercely and raised the ghost-head sword.
Luo Xiaohu was so scared that his muscles were shaking and he was shrinking his neck desperately, as if only by shrinking his neck could he avoid having his head chopped off.
Bai Qingsheng and Du Huachang, who were tied to a pillar nearby, watched helplessly as the executioner raised the ghost-head knife. With a "click!", Luo Xiaohu's head fell off.
Everyone was terrified at this moment. Du Huachang was practically half-mad, especially when he saw the executioner beneath him slowly sharpening a knife on a grindstone. The executioner dripped water onto the grindstone, making a squeaking sound as he sharpened his knife.
Bai Qingsheng was not much stronger than him. He stared with terrified eyes: "Yang Qiqiao, Yang Qiqiao is here! He is here for revenge, for revenge!" His voice was shrill and sounded creepy.
Du Huachang shouted in desperation: "Dad! Save me, Dad!"
You wouldn't believe it, Du Huachang shouted. Someone in the crowd jumped up and ran towards Du Huachang.
Wu Ge saw that it was Du Zhong. It turned out that he had heard that his son was going to be tortured to death by slicing, and he could not bear to see him suffer such a crime, so he came to save him.
This was impossible, as the surroundings were densely packed with guards. Even if Du Zhong had extraordinary abilities, he couldn't have saved his son.
In reality, Zhao Huan was deeply conflicted. In his anger, he wished he could cut the two thieves into pieces. However, if he were to resort to slow slicing, he felt it would be too cruel. Even if the thieves were utterly treacherous and their crimes were unforgivable, slow slicing was still inhumane.
PS: I recommend the book "Being an Emperor in Ancient Times". I am a new author, so I hope you will support me.
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