Chapter 104 The Trial See that? Our Ghost King is…
Yun Tianqi never imagined that he would ultimately die at the hands of a lowly eunuch whose name he didn't even know. He only knew that this eunuch served in the Changyang Palace, and was very obedient and inconspicuous. But when he plunged the knife into his own chest, he kept saying that he wanted to avenge his unjustly killed father and brothers.
"You incompetent ruler! If you hadn't ordered the execution of those who spoke recklessly about the case of Prime Minister Shen, how could my father and brothers have been targeted by enemies seeking revenge? A foolish and incompetent person like you is unfit to be a ruler!"
Yun Tianqi felt it was absurd until the moment he died, thinking to himself, "I don't even know who your father and brothers are. They were targeted by their enemies for personal revenge. What does that have to do with me?"
As he breathed his last, his soul gradually detached from his body, but he was reluctant to leave. He had heard that Shen Hengzhen's army was about to storm the imperial city, and he wanted to wait for him here to see how he would react when he saw his corpse.
When Yun Tianqi was alive, he lived in constant fear. Now that he was dead, he felt relaxed and at ease, floating around in the sky above the palace, watching the palace maids and eunuchs flee in panic, and the Shen family's rebel army breaking through the palace gates layer by layer.
Finally, Yun Tianqi targeted the person in front, swooped down, and straddled the person's neck, hitting and biting him.
"Shen Hengzhen! You old fool, you actually came to kill me! You're a real bastard!"
But Shen Hengzhen seemed oblivious and strode into the innermost Changyang Palace, where he saw his corpse.
Seeing his astonished expression, Yun Tianqi felt a sense of triumphant satisfaction, as if he had successfully pulled off a prank.
"How about that! I didn't die at your hands in the end! Disappointed, aren't I! You bastard, let's see how your Shen family faces me, how you face Father and Mother in the underworld!"
He cursed and kicked Shen Hengzhen from behind until he saw Shen Hengzhen kneel on one knee and close his eyes for him, then he quieted down. But he quickly sneered again: "Tch, you've already committed treason, what's the point of doing this now?"
Yun Tianqi floated behind Shen Hengzhen. Seeing him suddenly raise his sword and cleave the divine tablets of the gods into pieces, he was so frightened that his soul trembled twice. He cursed, "Shen Hengzhen, have you gone mad! How can you be so disrespectful to the gods? Aren't you afraid of divine retribution?!"
Just then, he suddenly felt as if a powerful force was pulling at his body, and then he quickly retreated!
Shen Hengzhen's figure receded further and further away from him, the entire palace rapidly receding before his eyes, and the surrounding scenery becoming blurry and dim.
"Ahhh, help! Eldest sister! Help me!!!" Yun Tianqi was terrified. It was as if he had been dragged into a dark and sunless tunnel. At first, it was pitch black and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. Gradually, there were many more things around him.
All sorts of ghosts floated past him: some had two headless arms flailing wildly in the air, others had long, blood-red tongues sticking out, and still others had their nearly unrecognizable bodies smashed into a pile of minced meat...
Yun Tianqi was so scared he almost peed his pants. He fell headfirst down like a swan, howling as he plummeted. A terrible thought flashed through his mind: Was he going to be dragged to the eighteenth level of hell?
The dragging force vanished suddenly, just as it had appeared suddenly. Yun Tianqi finally managed to put his feet on solid ground, but he lost his balance and landed on his backside. He was surrounded by ox-headed and horse-faced demons, ghostly skeletons, dressed in official robes and wielding executioner's sticks. Seated at the head of the table was a refined-looking young man wearing an official's hat.
Yun Tianqi trembled like a frightened rabbit, looking around, "What is this... what is this..."
"Yun Tianqi, the last ruler of Yunchi Kingdom, was sixteen years, seven months, and twelve days old. During his reign, he was incompetent and immoral, unable to distinguish between loyalty and treachery, killing good generals and loyal ministers, and disregarding the lives of the people. However, considering his young age and the fact that his evil deeds were not intentional, he was given a lenient sentence: to be sent to the Volcanic Hell, where he would be burned by flames but would not die..."
Yun Tianqi grew increasingly uneasy as he listened, and cried out, "Wait! Wait! You, you are the judge of the ghost realm, aren't you? I... I want to see your Ghost King!"
Yun Tianqi remembered that Zhiwei revealed her identity as the Ghost King in front of everyone that day. That goddess named Zhiwei had some connection with his elder sister. Since he was the Ghost King, he should be able to speak up for him! Volcanoes and hell... that sounds too scary!
When he said he wanted to see the Ghost King, the judge sitting in the chief seat didn't speak, but all the demons and monsters in the hall started laughing loudly. Some of their voices were sinister and some were creepy, making Yun Tianqi's hair stand on end.
"You want to see the Ghost King?"
"You're dreaming, kid!"
"Hahaha, people are dying every moment in this world. If everyone has to see the Ghost King, then our Emperor would be too busy!"
Yun Tianqi quickly explained, "I know your Ghost King! Oh no, it's your Ghost King who knows me! He was on good terms with the late Princess Yun Chi, and I am the princess's younger brother. If you inform him, he will definitely see me!"
"Oh? You said you're the Princess's younger brother?"
Upon hearing Yun Tianqi mention Yun Tianjiao, all the ghosts were filled with awe, but soon they began to whisper among themselves, expressing their doubts.
"How could someone like Her Highness the Eldest Princess have such a cowardly younger brother?"
"Exactly! They don't look alike at all!"
At that moment, a cold, deep male voice came from outside the Yama's Palace: "I heard His Majesty wishes to see me?"
Upon hearing the voice, Yun Tianqi immediately perked up, hurriedly got up from the ground, and turned around to greet the acquaintance. Unexpectedly, he saw Yun Tianjiao walking in with the Ghost King.
"Eldest sister?!" Yun Tianqi's eyes widened suddenly, a surge of emotions—joy, grievance, anger, confusion, and excitement—overwhelming him at once, finally culminating in a heart-wrenching sob, "Eldest sister!! You've been in the Ghost Realm all this time! Why, why didn't you come back to see me? Our land is crumbling, our country is on the verge of collapse, and you, how could you just stand by and watch?"
Yun Tianqi grew increasingly resentful as he spoke. He knew the weight his elder sister held in the Ghost King's heart. If she were to speak up, how could the all-powerful Ghost King, capable of anything from heaven to earth, not lend a helping hand? How could Yun Chi Kingdom have fallen to its current state?
Yun Tianjiao watched expressionlessly as Yun Tianqi sat on the ground wailing. As he spoke, he started to throw a tantrum, kicking his legs and pounding the ground. Finally, he slowly walked over and raised his hand.
Yun Tianqi thought his elder sister was feeling sorry for him and wanted to help him up. He was about to take advantage of the situation and grab her hand, but unexpectedly, she swung her arm and gave him two hard slaps.
His cheeks were slapped so hard they immediately turned red and swollen. For a moment, the ghost was stunned, staring blankly at his elder sister in front of him, forgetting to cry out.
Inside the Yama's Palace, the officials of the ghost realm finally breathed a long sigh of relief, feeling that their ears were finally at peace.
"Elder sister... why... why did you hit me?" Yun Tianqi's eyes reddened, she covered her face and cried with tears streaming down her face.
Yun Tianqi felt wronged. He was already in such a miserable state, so why didn't his elder sister care about him and instead beat him? Was this really his elder sister?
Yun Tianjiao looked down at Yun Tianqi and sneered, "Why did I hit you? Shouldn't you have been hit? As the emperor, you acted willfully and recklessly, treating imperial orders like a joke, doing whatever you pleased, completely disregarding the lives of the common people, and not considering that you sit in that position where a single move affects the whole world. When I was alive, I clearly taught you, and Prime Minister Shen also taught you, but you never truly listened to my advice. You only knew how to push these things onto others. When no one could help you, you prayed to the gods. You single-handedly dragged Yunchi Kingdom into a desperate situation, causing countless innocent people to lose their lives. Shouldn't you have been hit?"
After Yun Tianjiao finished speaking, he ignored Yun Tianqi and looked directly at the judge: "Lord Xiao, your judgment is very fair. I have nothing to say. Execute it immediately."
Now that the eldest princess, his own sister, had spoken, what was there to hesitate about? The two ghost guards, who had long disliked Yun Tianqi, the crybaby, immediately stepped forward to drag him away.
Yun Tianqi struggled frantically, kicking and thrashing about, crying so hard he looked like he was about to cry himself to death: "Elder sister! Elder sister! They're going to throw me into that volcanic hell! You, you really have the heart to do that, elder sister!"
Zhiwei, watching from the side, felt a little sorry for him. In the end, Yun Tianqi was just incompetent and was sitting in a position he shouldn't have been in. Although he had made a big mistake, he didn't really have any evil intentions, and it wasn't that he couldn't be forgiven.
He coughed lightly, about to speak, but met Yun Tianjiao's fierce gaze: "Shut up!"
Zhiwei: "..."
Seeing that his spendthrift younger brother still didn't realize the enormity of his mistake, Yun Tianjiao's face turned ashen. He grabbed the boy by the back of his collar, lifted him up like a chick, and dragged him out of the Yama Palace.
Led by Xiao Yan, the group of ghost officials all looked on with amusement, peeking out and occasionally glancing in the direction of the Ghost King with sighs. They exchanged glances: "See? Our Ghost King is henpecked. From now on, we brothers will all have to think twice about who will be the boss in this Netherworld!"
Yun Tianjiao lifted Yun Tianqi directly into the sky above the Yellow Springs Road, pointed at the densely packed newly deceased ghosts waiting to enter the pass, and said, "See them? Those with burn marks on their faces and mouths and noses stuffed with black ash are the victims who died unjustly in the wildfire! And those children, they all starved to death in the famine! And over there, those emanating towering black aura are the vengeful spirits who died unjustly! Many of them were implicated in the Shen Xiang case! And those wearing armor, they are the soldiers who died protecting you in battle!"
Yun Tianqi still had tears on his face, but seeing the endless stream of ghosts pouring into the ghost realm like a vast ocean, he finally calmed down.
He was truly terrified; he had never seen so many dead people before.
Did all these people die because of him?
But he clearly did nothing... In fact, for the sake of national stability, as the emperor, he went to the incense altar to pray for blessings every day, regardless of wind or sun.
How did he... become a heinous criminal who takes lives?
"Elder sister... I... I don't know, why did so many people die? I don't know..."
Yun Tianjiao was exasperated: "Do you know that your imperial decree to thoroughly investigate rumors has led to a surge in public rewards and reports, and even those who didn't spread or fabricate rumors have been beheaded? This alone has resulted in the deaths of nearly ten thousand people in the entire Yunchi Kingdom!"
"This isn't my fault! It was all done by my subordinates, I didn't know anything about it!" Yun Tianqi still wanted to defend himself.
"Still trying to argue!"
Yun Tianjiao slammed him hard to the ground, creating a shallow crater. The little devils passing by hurriedly rummaged through the glittering gems that had sprung up from the ground, then waited patiently to the side, hoping Yun Tianjiao would strike them a few more times.
As expected, Yun Tianjiao continued to slam Yun Tianqi to the ground repeatedly, until Yun Tianqi's mouth and eyes were crooked, before tossing him aside like a broken rag doll and clapping his hands.
"You don't know? Don't you know your own place? As the emperor, you turn a blind eye to the people below you, you know nothing of power struggles, you have no pity for the common people, you are blind and deaf, and in the end you were stripped of your power and died a violent death in the palace. You truly deserve it!"
Yun Tianqi had been so badly beaten by his elder sister that he was speechless. He could only tremble as he got up from the ground. When he saw the Ghost King and the Judge coming towards him, he felt even closer to them than to his own sister.
"I...I confess! I just have one...small request...could we...not go to the Volcanic Hell? Let's go somewhere else..."
Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow and said to Yun Tianjiao beside him, "Your Highness saved the common people with your life, and your blessings can benefit your relatives. According to the law, it is indeed possible to make some leniency in the punishment of your younger brother."
Seeing his spendthrift younger brother looking so pitiful, Yun Tianjiao couldn't help but soften his heart and said, "Let Lord Xiao decide everything."
Xiao Yan looked down at Yun Tianqi and suddenly smiled like a fox: "The Ghost Realm has eighteen hells. If Your Majesty does not wish to be punished in the Volcano Hell, you can visit the other seventeen hells and then choose one to be punished in. How about that?"
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