Chapter 685
Drearily and fuzzily, the autumn rain came down . The green trees on either side of the streets and alleys had not yet had time to dye their leaves green . They had no choice but to let a few pieces drop to prove the coldness and strength of the autumn rains . The rainwater slowly moisturized the land, but it irritated the common people in the marketplaces who were doing their best to make a living . The waves of autumn rain and coldness made them feel a chill in their bodies that they did not like .
The red wall of the Palace felt nothing and knew neither cold nor warmth . It only silently and indifferently welcomed the wash of the rainwater . Rain wet the majestic Royal Palace and made the bright cinnabar walls grow darker and dimmer . It was as if it was about to squeeze out traces of blood .
The deep palace gates opened and were accompanied by squeaks . The newly repaired bronze nails on the large wooden gates gleamed brightly . Hundreds of officials with complicated expressions filed out . Led by an honor guard, they went along the path until the depths of the square . They then lined up in two rows on either side . These were the officials of the Qing court, responsible for all of the affairs and people of this kingdom . In the current atmosphere, they could only be a silent observer .
The eunuch's whip cracked three times . Drums hidden in a corner building of the Royal Palace rang out with a buzzing sound, sticking against the hearts of all the people in the Royal Palace .
The court conference was over . Only one matter was dealt with in the court conference, which was to decide the crimes of the previous Director of the Overwatch Council, Chen Pingping .
Many commoners of the Qing Kingdom gradually came from the streets and alleys all around the Royal Palace . These commoners wore different colored clothing and carried different auras . They were summoned by the drums ringing out in the Royal Palace and slowly came to the square in front of the Palace . More and more people gathered, gradually filling the entire expansive square . Everyone was packed in densely like ants .
From before dawn had risen, the Jingdou government and yamens at each level began to bang drums and gongs in various places and plastered announcements to inform all of the people of Jingdou as to what would happen .
As long as the blade of the knife did not land on them, these commoners were always interested in watching a show, particularly as everyone knew that the official being punished by the Emperor was the very mysterious and unfathomable director of the Overwatch Council, Director Chen Pingping . All of the common people felt a strong interest .
The reputation of the Overwatch Council among the Qing people was too bright . Its image was overly sinister and terrifying . Not many people had personally seen the wheelchair-bound old Director . Everyone gathered around the square . They wanted to see whether this figure really had three heads and six arms and was covered all over in a black fog like a demon, as it was rumored .
They knew this demon of the Overwatch Council had not been satisfied with the Emperor's punishment and had tried to assassinate their heroic and loving Emperor in a frenzy . A deep anger rose in the hearts of all of the people . They wanted to see how this evil renegade burned into black smoke under the brilliance of imperial authority .
During these few decades, the Overwatch Council had always been famous for being mysterious and sinister . Although it always targeted the Qing Kingdom's officialdom, it acted ruthlessly with terrifying methods . Through this, it offended civil officials, the scholars of the world, and expressions of ideas under heaven . Thus, the Overwatch Council's name among the people had always been bad .
In the legends among the people, the Overwatch Council was a ruthless and sinister yamen specializing in exhorting confessions through torture and were numbed to killing . If the Overwatch Council really did have shady methods, how much could the people of Jingdou, the Qing Kingdom, or the world know? It was nothing more than a spreading of falsehoods .
During these years, a dazzling Sir Fan junior had appeared in the Overwatch Council and slightly lightened the Overwatch Council's dark aura . He had not been in charge of Council affairs for very long . It was not enough to change the people's deep-rooted impressions of the Overwatch Council .
There were not many things Fan Xian, the Duke of Danbo, could change . The Qing people's worship and reverence toward Fan Xian were more centered on his lofty image . It did not much change their perception of the Overwatch Council . For the commoners of Jingdou, the Overwatch Council perhaps had a touch more humanity, but they still did not have any positive feelings toward the square and sinister building . On the contrary, they unconsciously felt a fear . The continuation of this fear became unknown anger .
The legendary terrifying leader of the darkness, Chen Pingping, was about to die in front of them . All of the Jingdou people felt a glimmer of faint excitement . Perhaps this was a natural emotion as commoners . To be able to have the chance in their lives to see a figure who only existed in legends die wretchedly in front of them and give them some bragging rights in their boring futures, had perhaps always been a form of leisure activity .
Just like the spring examination incident a few years ago, at the entrance to the salt market, the heads of the officials of the Board of Rites had been chopped down and rolled around on the execution field . They had also almost been picked up by wild dogs . This one scene had filled countless boring moments among the Jingdou workers and helped them down countless cups of liquor .
Another example was the Jingdou rebellion three years ago . It was also at the entrance of the salt market where countless generals who had participated in the rebellion had their heads chopped off . Blood dyed half the street red . Even after a number of days, the stench of blood still seeped out . And, there was the Commander of the 13 gate guards, Zhang Deqing . When he had died by a thousand cuts, his cries had been incredibly wretched .
During these three years, Zhang Deqing's death had enriched the lives of the Jingdou people accompanied by immeasurable amounts of spittle . However, nothing that had happened in Jingdou in recent years could compare to what was going to happen now . The person was Director Chen, who everyone knew was the Emperor's most loyal dog . However, this dog had gone rabid and was about to be put down .
The place of the execution was not in front of the salt market and or execution field in front of the Ministry of Justice . Instead, it was in front of the Royal Palace on the square . Excitedly, the people thought to themselves that ever since the inception of the Qing Kingdom, the only official to have been openly executed in front of the Royal Palace was probably the person now . Anger rose involuntarily in their hearts . They wondered what great and treasonous crime the official named Chen Pingping must have committed for him to die in such a place .
It was not that no one thought of Sir Fan junior . Everyone watching the execution unconsciously forgot about him . They never thought Sir Fan junior had any connection to this old dog . They were only common people of the marketplace . They had no idea of the connections between the people who governed this land . Even if there were some clever people, they probably thought in the other direction . The Emperor had just given the Overwatch Council to Sir Fan junior and was about to kill the previous Director . It was probably to help Sir Fan junior clean out the opposition and evil in the Overwatch Council?
Countless commoners surged into the square in front of the palace . The tiny execution field was enveloped by countless complicated emotions like nervousness, indifference, excitement, and unrooted sorrow . The imperial soldiers and bailiffs from the Jingdou Government responsible for maintaining order forcefully kept these millions of people outside the boundaries in all directions to ensure quiet on the execution field .
The people of the Qing Kingdom could not be blamed because they were used to it . They were used to knowing what they could know, giving up what they could not know, enjoying what they could enjoy, and angry about what they were allowed to be angry over . The Emperor wanted to kill an official . Regardless of whether this official deserved such punishment, they had been taught the logic that if the Emperor wanted an official to die, the official had to die .
The densely packed crowds were like an ocean, undulating on the square in front of the Royal Palace . Near the palace gates, space had been cleared out . A very simple wooden stage had been built . It was the so-called execution field . Enveloped by the majestic ocean of people and the grand Royal Palace, the execution field looked like a pitiful lone shop . It was as if it could be submerged at any moment under the human tide or crash into the immobile shores of the Royal Palace and be smashed into smithereens .
Along the empty space beneath the Royal Palace, a group of people walked out silently and sternly . They passed the hundred or so silent Qing officials with their heads bowed on their side of the path . They came to stand below the small wooden stage in front of the curious and anxious gazes of the Jingdou people .
A stretcher was carried out of the prison carriage . On the stretcher was an old man who was unconscious . It was uncertain if he was still alive . He Zongwei raised his head and glanced at the top of the palace walls . The corners of his eyes twitched slightly . He then gently waved his hand . The stretcher was lifted onto the stage .
Finally seeing the official who was to be punished, the front row of commoners let out a satisfied sigh . After seeing the legendary renegade of the darkness, they immediately fell silent . They looked at the unmoving old man and wondered if he was already dead .
Three eunuchs walked out of the black tunnel of the palace gates . On the tray held by the eunuch to the left were the crimes as decided during the court conference . On the right, the eunuch held up high an incense table . On it was the Emperor's edict sentencing Chen Pingping to death .
The eunuch with an indifferent expression in the center was Eunuch Yao . He was also not empty-handed . He carried a small vase .
Everything was prepared on the wooden stage . Chen Pingping's seemingly lifeless and weak body was placed on the rain-wet wooden boards . Eunuch Yao crouched down by his side . With the help of the imperial doctor, he fed him a pill and carefully poured the soup in the vase between the old man's dry lips .
After an indeterminable amount of time, Chen Pingping slowly came to . He had lost a lot of blood . His life force was at an end . His face was very pale, and his eyes were distant and without spirit . He gazed at Eunuch Yao by his side and closed his dry lips . In a raspy voice, he slowly said, "A thousand-year-old ginseng wasted . "
Eunuch Yao's body trembled, but he did not say anything and or do anything . He only glanced at the old man with a weak smile and retreated to the side with a bow .
At the moment Chen Pingping opened his murky eyes, Yan Bingyun, standing on the execution field to the left of He Zongwei, also trembled . He immediately calmed again and lowered his head helplessly . Earlier, he had swept his eyes across to know that the execution field was tightly guarded . Putting aside the densely packed imperial soldiers on all sides or the internal aces scattered about, those aces wearing hemp clothing and straw hats already told Yan Bingyun that no one could change anything .
Last night in the prison of the Overwatch Council, there were four aces wearing straw hats . Both Yan Bingyun and He Zongwei found it a little strange, but they knew where these mysterious aces had come from . Earlier, when the autumn rain had fallen and everything was bathed in a clear light, Yan Bingyun's sharp eyes had noticed that under the straw hats, these aces did not have any hair .
It looked like they were Ascetic Monks of the Qing Temple, who were scattered throughout the world . Not long after the Great Priest of the Qing Temple returned from preaching on the Southern border, he had died mysteriously within the Qing Temple . The Second Priest, Great Master San Shi, had turned to the Junshang Conference . In the end, he had died wretchedly in a rain of arrows outside Jingdou after being silenced by the Eldest Princess .
The Emperor had always held Tianyi Dao and the Ascetic Monks of the Qing Temple in disdain . Furthermore, the royal family never had much connection with the Qing Temple . So, why did these Ascetic Monks of the Qing Temple suddenly appear en masse in Jingdou in front of all these people by the execution field where Chen Pingping was about to die?
Yan Bingyun lowered his head in thought . It was not until now that he knew the Emperor had not only reached the pinnacle in imperial authority and strength, but he also the Qing Temple had become a weapon in his hands . Thinking of this, he couldn't help but sigh faintly in his heart . Suddenly, a mountain-like cry made him immediately raise his head .
A wooden scaffold stood on the execution field . Chen Pingping's thin body was firmly tied to it . The old man's clothing had already been completely removed, revealing his pale body . Because of long years of paralysis, his body below his abdomen appeared particularly skinny . In the cold autumn rain, he appeared particularly bleak and pitiful .
Ran struck the thin and lifeless body before slowly rolling down and returning to the earth .
The cry on the square earlier had come when the Jingdou people watching the execution finally saw the scaffolding rising up and criminal official tied to the scaffolding . The mountain-like roar they let out rang out in all directions like a wave .
However, this roar quickly changed into silence . The first to fall silent were those closest to the execution field . The whispers moved from the front to the back . Before long, it became a thunderous shocked discussion .
Perhaps some god let out an order in heaven as all of the people beneath the palace walls fell silent at the same time . Countless thousands of people were all gathered, yet there was a death-like silence . It seemed so quiet that the people at the very back could even hear the rustling sound of the rope around Chen Pingping's body rubbing against the wooden stake .
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