Chapter 823: It was True…
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The execution of Zhou Zicheng was soon settled.
Prince Huai’s words became a prophecy, and Zhou Zicheng was sentenced to the punishment of being pierced by ten thousand arrows. The original owner had personally issued the decree.
After the morning court session that day, more than a thousand righteous men were acquitted according to the agreement. However, although they were acquitted, they were not without punishment. In order to ease Prince Huai’s anger and to make them remember, he ordered them to write a 5,000-word self-reflection letter.
This punishment method was very novel, and none of the officials had ever heard of it.
However, the original owner was more familiar with this method. From her school days to the college entrance examination, she had written a lot of self-reflection essays.
She had experience.
Back then, Su Ji had taken the blame for her high school entrance examination results of 20 in Mathematics and 36 in Chinese for a long time.
And this was the score of the original owner after burning the midnight oil.
One day was enough for the people at the end of the street to understand Zhou Zicheng’s character.
After the men were released, Zhou Zicheng’s execution was scheduled for the next morning.
The location was chosen to be the busiest market in the capital, and it was a public execution.
Perhaps it was because there had been no public execution for a long time, or perhaps there were too many people who had been fooled by Zhou Zicheng, that morning, almost everyone in the capital came to watch.
The soldiers maintained order in the crowd.
Prince Huai personally enforced the law.
The sun was scorching hot. He did not sit on the high platform that was sheltered, but stood among the soldiers who were executing the punishment.
Dressed in silver armor and a mask, his aura was strong and low.
The heavy bow was easily pulled back by him, and the string tied around the man’s slightly rough fingers.
The arrowhead and the elbow were on the same level as his line of sight. It was a perfect posture.
On his left and right, hundreds of soldiers lined up in the same position.
Zhou Zicheng was dressed in a white prison uniform. He was covered in blood, his hair was unkempt, and his hands were tied behind his back. He knelt on the ground and looked at the sharp arrows pointed at him. His eyes were filled with fear.
In the modern world, Zhou Zicheng thought too highly of himself. When he faced death, he didn’t think about being a national hero or his ambition for revenge. He just wanted to live.
According to the laws of the Great Shang, prisoners had to be blindfolded when they were executed, but Prince Huai did not give Zhou Zicheng this benefit.
Prince Huai wanted him to see how the arrows pierced through his chest.
Prince Huai should not have known how Su Ji had been brutally killed in his previous life, but he seemed to know. Perhaps it was because Pei Huai had taken over his body.
He did not have a clear picture in his mind, but his hatred for Zhou Zicheng had already occupied all his consciousness.
On the high platform, the incense stick used to record time was still burning. The thin greenish gray smoke curled up enchantingly, accompanied by the fine particles in the air.
The red dot on the pillar moved down bit by bit, and the brown color above it turned into ashes, but it still stood upright.
Zhou Zicheng had already had a mental breakdown in the countdown to his death. His eyes widened in a strange manner, and his face twitched. It was unknown whether it was from the sun or from fear, but his face was covered in large beads of sweat.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew past, and the incense stick began to burn wildly.
The time that was originally flowing at an average speed suddenly sped up.
When the scarlet star was extinguished, the pillar of incense ash was broken and fell into the incense burner, shattering into powder.
The soldier with a straight face faced the execution ground, and the corners of his mouth curled up.
Under his deafening voice, the last drop of cold sweat dripped from Zhou
Zicheng’s forehead. In the next moment, ten thousand arrows were fired!
The arrowhead pierced through the clouds and made a swooshing sound.
In his pupils, the reflection of the metal arrowhead approached rapidly. Finally, the arrow pierced his heart. His body stiffened and his expression was dull. All the evil things he had done replayed in front of his eyes.
Prince Huai’s last arrow had pierced through his heart. Zhou Zicheng spat out a mouthful of blood and fell backward.
The commoners clapped their hands in joy. No one felt that the punishment was cruel.
The suffering that Su Ji had once suffered was now reflected on Zhou Zicheng.
He had finally suffered the consequences of his own actions, and all his evil thoughts had vanished into thin air!
At the same time, in the Imperial Palace.
In the corridor near Consort Dowager’s bedroom, the original owner looked up in that direction.
She seemed to have heard the earth-shattering cheers of the people, and she felt very satisfied.
Ai Yan bowed and reminded her, “Your Highness, the execution is about to begin. ”
“Oh,” the original owner replied. She retracted her gaze and continued to look at the grids that were divided by the light and shadow on the ground.
At this moment, one of her feet landed on the ground, and the other leg was bent backward.
She was jumping.
She had finally finished her administrative work, but she was just playing around and wanted to take a break from work.
Outside, there was a very old parasol tree. The branches on the tree were growing crazily, sparrows were chirping, insects were chirping under the tree, and ants were crawling.
The light grid was reflected from the grape vines above her head.
The design was unique. Wooden shelves were arranged into grids above the head, and grapevines were planted. In summer, they could shade themselves from the sun, and in autumn, they could eat grapes.
Killing two birds with one stone.
The noon sun fell from above, projecting the squares of the grape rack onto the ground.
Divided into bright and dark spots of light, the girl lifted the hem of her court dress and hopped on the spot of light. The ta.s.sels on her head that symbolized her n.o.ble status swayed, but the girl’s smile was extremely childish.
The sparkling light spots scattered on the ground.
Ai Yan looked at her smile, but as she looked, her gaze shifted to the side. She didn’t know what she saw, but she was suddenly stunned.
She wanted to call out to him, but the man standing there put his hand between his lips and made a “shh” gesture.
The curve at the end of his eyes was sickly and seductive.
Ai Yan hesitated for a moment, but not only did she not warn Consort Dowager, she quietly retreated.
The original owner was dancing energetically and did not notice the others at all. After a long time, she was tired of dancing and leaned against the wall. With one hand on the wall, she moved her ankles.
Her eyes glanced to the side and suddenly met Musician Xiao’s. The next second, she immediately stood up straight and raised her hand to stroke the ta.s.sels on her forehead that had been knotted because of the jumping. Her small face was red and cute because she had just exercised.
She was stunned and felt extremely regretful.
The last two times she saw Musician Xiao, she was completely unprepared.
Musician Xiao saw her fl.u.s.tered expression and found it very cute.
Neither of them spoke, and their gazes made crackling sounds in the air.
The weather was too hot, and it was easy to misfire.
The original owner swallowed and looked away.
However, as she looked down, her pupils suddenly constricted.
She saw the jade flute in Musician Xiao’s hand with a pendant on it.
It was the morning glory that she hadn’t finished embroidering.
No way!
That was not right.
She wasn’t lying…