Nine dragons fight for the throne, I don't want to sit on this throne

As soon as this statement came out, it was shocking!

This blatantly declares that in the face of absolute power and established facts, the so-called morality, historical records, and public opinion are ultimately nothing more than tools that the victors can arbitrarily smear and interpret!

Liao Qian seemed to have lost all his strength. His eyes were wide open and his lips were trembling, but he could no longer utter a single syllable. Only endless despair and absurdity consumed him.

"Ran Ming!" Chu Ning stopped looking at them and shouted in a deep voice.

"The general is here!"

Ran Ming, who had been waiting outside the hall, strode into the hall with a voice as loud as a bell.

His iron tower-like body, shiny head, and the murderous aura that had not yet dissipated from his body were incompatible with the solemnity of the Golden Palace, but they were perfectly in line with the bloody atmosphere at the moment.

Behind him followed a group of Chu army warriors, as fierce as wolves and tigers, wearing heavy armor.

"Drag these criminals out and execute them!" Chu Ning's order was concise and cruel.

"As you wish!" Ran Ming grinned and waved his hand.

The soldiers immediately stepped forward and rudely grabbed Liao Qian, who looked as pale as death, Zhang Yi, who was paralyzed all over, Xu Chun, who was in tears, and a dozen other officials who were pointed out.

Their official robes and hats, which symbolized their status, were roughly torn off, revealing the white undergarments underneath. It was like plucking the gorgeous feathers of a peacock, leaving only the miserable remains waiting to be slaughtered.

Cries of begging for mercy, crying, and desperate curses suddenly rang out, mixing with the soldiers' cold scolding, turning this solemn and dignified Golden Palace into a Shura field.

As Liao Qian was being dragged along by two soldiers with his arms tied behind his back, he suddenly turned his head and, using his last bit of strength, stared intently at the cold figure on the throne, uttering a blood-cursing curse:

"Chu Ning! Tyrant! You shall not die a good death! My loyal soul will be watching you from the depths of the nine springs!!!"

Chu Ning didn't even raise his eyelids at this.

Ran Ming personally escorted the group as they were dragged out of the Golden Palace, through the long palace road, and towards their final destination - the Meridian Gate.

The bluestone imperial road leading to the Meridian Gate was left with traces of struggle and desperate wails.

At first, Liao Qian and others were still cursing, calling Chu Ning tyrannical and unjust, and calling Li Bi and others shameless traitors. Their voices were shrill, trying to maintain the last dignity and integrity of the literati.

All the palace maids and eunuchs encountered along the way were pale, kneeling on the ground trembling, not daring to look up.

However, as the tall Meridian Gate got closer and closer, when they saw the ghost-head knives flashing coldly in the sunlight and the expressionless executioners holding sharp blades, and when they smelled the bloody lingering smell of battle in the air, the fear of death was like an icy tide that completely overwhelmed them.

The angry curses gradually subsided and turned into helpless crying and sobbing.

Finally, someone broke down.

"No...don't kill me! Your Majesty! Spare my life!"

An official who had just agreed with Huairou suddenly broke free, knelt down in the direction of the palace, and burst into tears.

"I know I was wrong! I will never do it again! Please have mercy on me, Your Majesty, and spare my life!"

Once there was one, there was another. The cries for mercy spread like a plague.

"Your Majesty! I am willing to be loyal to the Great Chu! I am willing to be your slave!"

"General Ran! General Ran! I have an elderly mother and young children at home. Please show some mercy!"

"I don't want to die! I don't want to die!"

Even Liao Qian, who had cursed the most fiercely before, now had a sallow face and his body was shaking like a leaf in the wind. His passionate character seemed so fragile in the face of death.

Although he tried hard not to kneel down and beg for mercy like the others, his tightly bitten lips and desperate eyes betrayed his inner fear.

Zhang Yi had already collapsed on the ground and needed two soldiers to carry him away.

Xu Chun was in tears and muttering to himself, not knowing whether he was repenting or reminiscing.

Ran Ming looked at this group of officials who had just been quoting scriptures and acting righteously in the hall but were now behaving in an ugly manner. He touched his shiny bald head and showed an undisguised contempt and cruel smile on his face.

He recalled some of the sarcastic remarks His Majesty sometimes made, which seemed extremely appropriate at the moment.

He walked up to the group of officials begging for mercy, looked down at them, and said in a rough and playful voice:

"Are you scared now? Are you begging for mercy now?"

He sneered: "I suddenly remembered a sentence that His Majesty said, which is very suitable for you -"

He paused deliberately, admiring the humble pleading in those people's eyes, and then imitated Chu Ning's cold tone and said slowly:

"I still like the way you acted so rebellious in the hall just now!"

These words were like the last straw that broke the camel's back, crushing the last bit of disguise that Liao Qian and the others had left.

The extreme humiliation and despair made them completely collapse.

The pleas for mercy turned into meaningless howls and screams.

"Execute!" Ran Ming's face turned serious. He stopped talking nonsense and gave the order in a stern voice.

The executioners, who had been ready, received the order and stepped forward to roughly press the limp officials down on the execution platform.

The sunlight shines on the dagger, reflecting a dazzling light.

"Chun Ning! Tyrant—!"

At the last moment, Liao Qian seemed to want to regain his integrity and let out a shrill and unwilling cry.

However, his voice stopped abruptly.

Ran Ming took the operation personally and walked behind Liao Qian.

Without the slightest hesitation, he even raised the heavy machete high with a cold pleasure of carrying out an order.

In the sunlight, the blade drew a cold arc!

"Pfft!"

The dull sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh and bones rang out one after another, accompanied by short and miserable screams, and twenty heads fell to the ground in an instant!

Hot blood gushed out from the broken neck like a fountain, staining the bluestone in front of the Meridian Gate red.

The blood gathered into sticky scarlet streams, and the air was instantly filled with a thick and disgusting smell of blood.

More than twenty headless corpses twitched and finally became stiff.

The head that was once filled with classics, history, and thoughts of loyalty to the emperor and serving the country rolled in the dust and blood, and the face was still frozen with the extreme fear and disbelief before death.

Ran Ming shook off the blood beads on the knife and looked at the bloody scene in front of him with an expressionless face.

He touched his bald head, bowed slightly towards the direction of the palace, and then gave the order:

"Clean it up! Hang the head up for public display as a warning to others!"

Chu Ning used the most direct and cruel way to declare the bankruptcy of the old-era scholar-official tradition of using reason to resist power, and also paid tribute to the first batch of prominent victims for the iron-blooded rule of the new dynasty.

The bloodstains at the Meridian Gate will become a horrific memory that will linger for a long time in Chang'an City and even the entire Chu Empire that is about to be born.

After Ran Ming finished all this, he sneered, took a look at the heads, and then turned around and returned to the palace to be destroyed.