Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 89 All living beings are equal
The gong sounded to clear the way, and County Magistrate Lanfeng, surrounded by a group of people, walked through the crowd with the gait of a dragon and a tiger towards the execution seat.

He was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties, slightly overweight, wearing a dark red official robe. He was serious and intimidating without even getting angry.

The people surrounding him were either holding signs, holding staffs or carrying swords. The signs held words such as "Silence", "Avoid", and "Majesty" were written on them.

They walked through the crowd, and everyone bowed their heads silently in greeting wherever they passed, some even knelt on the spot.

The head of a county may be just a small official in a place like the capital, but in Lanfeng County, he is simply the sky. Except for a few people, who doesn't respectfully call him the head of a county?
Chen Xuan noticed that when that group of people appeared, Mr. Yushan, who was originally drinking tea quietly, put down his teacup and bowed slightly from a distance towards them, even though the people over there did not look at him.

The group arrived at the execution ground and returned to their seats. The atmosphere was solemn and dignified.

When they were sitting down, County Magistrate Lanfeng actually extended his hand to signal two of them to sit down first, and then he sat down on the execution seat.

He naturally sat in the main seat, but the two people he led sat slightly lower on both sides. The two people were dressed differently from the others and had a sense of majesty. It was unclear whether they came from above to supervise or to maintain order.

As they arrived, the originally quiet people became a little noisy, but since they did not say anything and there were a large number of soldiers and yamen runners to maintain order, no riots were caused and the place calmed down again.

"Master, when does it start?"

Inside the teahouse, seeing that there was no movement from the other side, Gao Jingming couldn't help but ask, his voice sounding a little expectant but also a little fearful.

Looking at the sky, Mr. Yushan said calmly: "Don't worry, it will be over soon."

After a while, Lan Feng County Magistrate, who was supervising the execution, whispered a few words to the two people around him, then slowly stood up and scanned the entire place. Wherever he passed, there was perfect silence.

In the slightly depressing atmosphere, he grabbed a piece of wood on the table and slammed it hard. The crisp sound seemed to resound through everyone's heart.

This happened suddenly, especially in such an environment. Some people who had done bad things and were timid subconsciously trembled all over. Some children were even almost scared to tears, and their mouths were covered tightly by adults. If they disturbed the execution ground, the blame could be serious or minor.

Gao Jingming trembled a little, not because he was guilty or timid, but because he was purely affected by the atmosphere.

It hadn't even started yet, but he felt that watching the beheading was meaningless and wanted to leave, but Mr. Yushan gave him a cold glance, and he subconsciously didn't dare to move.

After everyone quieted down and looked at him, the Lanfeng County Magistrate spoke, his voice full of energy and clarity: "My fellow villagers, I am Cao Liang, the Lanfeng County Magistrate. Today I am here to oversee the execution of a group of serious criminals. I would like to ask you to be witnesses."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "In broad daylight, there are so many lawless criminals in Lanfeng County. They commit murder, embezzlement, rape, and looting, colluding with both domestic and foreign forces, deceiving their superiors and subordinates... Their evil deeds have gone unnoticed for decades, leaving countless families broken up and destitute because of them. They are simply lawless and disregard the law. Their deeds are beyond description and intolerable to Heaven!"

He spoke at this point in a breath, then took a breath and continued, "After investigation, I have found that there are more than 200 people involved in the case, including some well-known figures that you all know. They usually appear bright and righteous, but in fact, they are as black as ink and their hands are stained with blood. They are simply shameless."

"Because there are so many people involved in this case and their crimes are too numerous, and time is limited, I will not go into detail here. There are files available for review, which will be posted outside the county government office. Those of you who are interested can view them later. In short, the crimes they committed are mostly heinous and punishable by death. Confiscating their property and exterminating their families is not enough to appease the public's anger!"

"This case is the biggest I've faced in the past few years since I took office. It's unparalleled. I personally oversaw it. The evidence is irrefutable. I urgently reported it to my superiors, who reviewed it. They were furious after the investigation and reported it to the Ministry of Justice as a special case. They approved it. The perpetrators will be executed immediately. The execution will take place today."

Pa~!

At this point, he suddenly slammed the wooden sign and shouted in a high voice, "Take the prisoners Gu Jintang, Zhao Duiqian, Niu Kunyang... and take them to the execution ground!"

He read out more than twenty names in a row, and as soon as he finished speaking, tens of thousands of civilians around him suddenly exploded.

Because these people are well-known in Lanfeng County and even in the surrounding areas. Their families are prominent in Lanfeng County. There are wealthy gentry, wealthy merchants, and even important officials such as the chief clerk of the county government, the head constable, etc.

How could this not cause an uproar? It was equivalent to half of the important people in Lanfeng County being gone, especially the county government, where the chief clerks, the clerks and the constables were all there. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a major blow to the government. Without these people, it would be difficult for the government to function for a while.

However, this is the fact. Since the county magistrate said so, how could it be false?
Some people who heard the news naturally knew the truth, and they deserved to be put to death. Although the civilians did not know the truth for the time being, they also applauded.

Chen Xuan naturally didn't know who those people that County Magistrate Cao was talking about were, or what they had done to deserve such an end. He thought they deserved it.

Is the old boatman among them? So far, Chen Xuan still doesn't know the other person's name. When he said his last name was Wang, it was clearly a lie.

It is said that there are more than two hundred people to be executed, and it is definitely impossible to chop them all off at once, and the first ones to come up must be the ones who have committed the most serious crimes.

"Quiet, do not disturb the execution ground." Amid the commotion, some people shouted to maintain order and rang gongs to warn people, but the situation was still difficult to maintain, but no chaos was caused.

Soon, prisoners were escorted to the end of the specially separated passage. They were wearing prison uniforms and shackles. They used to live a life of luxury and arrogance, but now they were disheveled, pale, and trembling all over. They could hardly walk and were almost dragged along.

"It's him, Gu Zhubu. I saw him last time at Yingchun Tower. He ordered three young ladies at once. He's still like that at his age. Damn it, bah!"

"Captain Niu, return my son's life. Two years ago, you ate at my restaurant, didn't pay, and beat someone up. My son just asked one more question, and you beat him to death. Afterwards, you didn't even say a word of apology, and even scolded him, saying he deserved it. You deserve to die, you deserve to die..."

When the criminal appeared, everyone was excited. No one knew who started it. In the excitement, rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs were thrown everywhere. Some people even threw feces and small stones. No one knew when they prepared it.

Those prisoners had already been tortured badly in prison, and now they were hit so hard that they were in a terrible state and had no way to escape.

This is the only chance for ordinary people to seek revenge for their grievances. It's a pity that the escort personnel have to suffer as well, but there's nothing they can do. The people need to vent their emotions, so they can only endure it. However, they will definitely receive subsidies, so such an unprovoked disaster will not be in vain.

The public's emotions cannot be suppressed at all, but they are within a certain range so as not to affect the normal process.

After much difficulty, a group of criminals were taken to the execution platform. Their true appearance could no longer be seen. They were shackled and had their names brandished on their backs. They were kicked to their knees behind the wooden stakes. Some of them had their legs broken. The executioners were standing by, ready with machetes in their hands. At this time, it was inevitable that the criminals would become incontinent, and few could remain calm.

Chen Xuan and his friends had a good vision. He looked carefully but didn't see the old boatman at all, which made him a little disappointed.

"It's unfair, I am wronged, Lord Cao, you can't do this to me"

"I paid money, and they released me and my family. They are innocent."

"Master Cao, have you forgotten that I once treated you to a meal?"

County Magistrate Cao sneered at the execution stand, "Shut up! You still dare to cry injustice when the time comes. Who will help those you have harmed? Your family is innocent. When you committed so many evil deeds and they enjoyed the wealth and status you gained, did they ever think about their innocence?"

Too lazy to look at these disgusting things, County Magistrate Cao ignored them and looked around again. Under his gaze, the people who had been venting their anger calmed down a little.

He then picked up a stack of papers on the table and spoke aloud, "Today, there's a criminal named Gu Jintang, formerly the chief clerk of Lanfeng County. For years, he's colluded with evil forces, providing them with protection and collusion, collecting as much as 50,000 taels of blood-stained silver. He also instructed his family to open a gambling den, using despicable means to profit, causing countless families to be broken up. He also abused his power to forcibly buy and sell over 3,000 acres of civilian land, raped and murdered more than ten women, and for years, he's sheltered a criminal gang within the territory, causing thousands of innocent children and girls to be abused, abducted, and trafficked... For dozens of crimes, he's been sentenced to immediate execution after expedited approval by the Ministry of Justice."

He listed dozens of crimes in a row, many of which were mentioned in passing. However, a little thought would reveal how bloody, cruel and vicious many of them were, especially the abuse of power to force the sale of farmers' land, which was their lifeblood, as well as the rape and murder of women and the sheltering of criminal gangs that had claimed thousands of victims over the years. These crimes were simply outrageous.

Then he began to read out the crimes of others at a very fast speed. This group of local thugs had been entangled for many years and had long been intertwined with each other. Their crimes were similar, with perhaps a few individual differences, but there were dozens of them. It would not be an exaggeration to say that they deserved to be beheaded a thousand times.

After the charges against nearly twenty people were read out one by one, County Magistrate Cao was also dry-mouthed, but this was a necessary procedure. Their crimes needed to be made public and witnessed to let people know that they really deserved it.

After reciting it in one breath, he looked at the sky, pulled out a token, waved his hand, and said in a deep voice: "The time has come, kill!"

At his command, a group of prisoners were pressed to the stake on the spot, the guilt cards on their backs were pulled out and thrown away, the executioner sprayed a mouthful of liquor on the ghost-head knife, and under the glaring sun, he swung the knife without hesitation at the last moment of the prisoners' lives, whether they were cursing, going crazy, or crying.

No accidents happened in public.

Puff, puff, puff, all beings are equal under the ghost-head knife, good heads rolled down one after another, and the blood splattered and dyed the execution platform red.

Countless people around witnessed all this. Some were afraid and dared not watch, some applauded, some cried and comforted their families who had been tortured by them, and some even wanted to rush to the execution platform to eat their flesh and drink their blood. The soldiers suppressed their emotions and struggled to maintain order.

In an instant, all kinds of life are happening one by one.

When the executioner swung the knife, Gao Jingming, who had been clamoring to see the beheading, turned pale, trembled all over, and dared not look, and simply closed his eyes.

But when he closed his eyes, Mr. Yushan suddenly said, "Open your eyes and look!"

The sound seemed to shock the soul. Gao Jingming subconsciously opened his eyes and looked. The horrifying scene fell on his eyes and could never be shaken off...

(End of this chapter)