Chapter 59: The Murder Weapon

Empress Dowager Xu shook her head and said, "After all, Dai Yun is an important minister of the imperial court, and if there is no chief supervisor of the Criminal Department, it will be against the law of the country." But please rest assured, maybe others will be affected by Qi Chongwu, but Xie Xiangcun will not. ”

After the first drum in the execution ground, the chief merchant stood up and began to read out Dai Yun's indictment aloud. is different from the ordinary indictment, this indictment is actually in the vernacular, and the common people can understand it. The beginning of the crime is that three years ago, Dai Yun killed his son Qian Hongxu and set fire to the city of Hangzhou for the murder of the first king. The execution ground was relatively quiet at first, but soon the sound of the chief merchant reading out the charges was muffled by the angry shouts of the common people "Kill Dai Yun". In the previous battles between the government and the opposition, Dai Yun had already gained a bad reputation, and the people speculated that he was the master of the Yaksha Gate. Today's rumors have finally been officially confirmed.

Xie Xiangcun ordered again: "Drumming." ”

The deafening sound of drums silenced the people.

Only then did the chief merchant continue to read out the charges. The next crimes include Dai Yun's murder of two prime ministers and Zhen Fu and other important ministers of the imperial court, embezzlement of the state treasury, deduction of military expenses, collaborating with the enemy and betraying the country, and attempting to rebel.

The sound of the chief merchant reading out the indictment was drowned out by the sound of the people shouting "kill Dai Yun".

Xie Xiangcun gave the third order: "Drumming." Then he said, "Serve the wine." ”

Before being killed, it is customary for a person to be beheaded to give meat wine, which is to be eaten in a cell, and wine to be drunk on the execution ground. Today's situation is special, and it is reduced to just drinking before the execution.

The third time the drums beat loudly, bowls and bowls of liquor were brought to the condemned prisoners, and those who were beheaded today included Dai Yun himself, his four sons and their youngest grandson. The original blockage in their mouths was taken out.

Dai Yun's four sons are just teenagers, who are pampered on weekdays, and they are all crying at the moment of life and death; Dai Yun's grandson was only seven or eight years old, and he was stunned, staring blankly at the scene in front of him.

The drums stopped, Xie Xiangcun took the holy decree from the incense case, and unfolded: "Fengtian carrier, my king's edict said: Dai Yun, the former generalissimo of Wu Yue Kingdom, plotted to usurp the throne, collaborated with the enemy and betrayed the country, embezzled the treasury, and should have killed the nine clans. Thinking of the old merits, he was extraordinarily gracious, and only killed Dai Yun himself and his descendants. The female dependents of Daifu were all sent to the Chun'an prison camp to serve hard labor for life, and anyone who married a daughter was willing to be exempted from punishment with her husband's surname. Verify the identity and carry out the execution immediately. ”

Xie Xiangcun closed the holy decree, put it back on the incense case, and said to Li Jishen: "Li Jishen, you go and check one by one, will you behead everyone, is it Dai Yun himself and his descendants?" Is there anything missing? ”

The executioner in charge of the execution did not loosen the prisoner's restraints, but only asked the prisoner if he drank the wine of the execution. If he wants to drink, he will put the bowl to the mouth of the prisoner. Dai Yun was dying, but he was not afraid, and scolded loudly: "You shameless rats, Lao Tzu will not let you go." My son Dai Feng will definitely be able to avenge this sea of blood for my Dai family. ”

Xie Xiangcun took out a dagger from his arms, handed it to the guards beside him, and said, "Take this dagger to Dai Yun and let him take a closer look." ”

On the blade of the sharp dagger, there is an engraved word "Feng", which is Dai Feng's belongings. The guard hurriedly ran to Dai Yun with a dagger and said, "Lord Qincha, let you see this!" ”

Dai Yun looked at the dagger intently, and then looked at Xie Xiangcun, Xie Xiangcun smiled at him wryly, and said, "I don't have a son anymore, I can do anything for you." ”

Dai Yun began to howl like crazy, but whether he was crying or scolding, he couldn't tell it anymore.

Li Jishen returned to Xie Xiangcun's side and said, "The lowly duty test is correct. It is indeed Dai Yun himself and his descendants, and no one has escaped the net. ”

Xie Xiangcun reached out to take the question token in the sticker, and Qi Chongwu suddenly said, "Wait." ”

Xie Xiangcun held the token in his hand, as if he had expected Qi Chongwu to stop it, stared at him and asked, "What's the matter?" ”

Qi Chongwu wanted to speak again and again, and finally mustered up the courage to say: "According to the laws of our country, even if a man who is full of beheading, is under the age of eight and is less than a horsewhip, he can be exempted from beheading, and the punishment will be reduced. Dai Yun's grandson ......"

Before he finished speaking, Xie Xiangcun took out a question token, and put the rest on the ground and said, "Dai Yun and his son, kill him!" ”

Several slashers were raised at the same time and fell at the same time, and the heads of Dai Yun and his four sons rolled to the ground. Blood gushed and flowed all over the ground. Dai Yun's grandson screamed in fright, so sharp that it could almost pierce a person's eardrum, and it was almost impossible to call it a human voice.

Xie Xiangcun looked at the child, silent for a long time, and seemed to be a little hesitant in his heart. asked Qi Chongwu: "Does Lord Qi know the year of Dai Yun's grandson?" ”

Qi Chongwu said: "Although I don't know, but looking at his young age, this official will personally interrogate his mother and investigate clearly." ”

Xie Xiangcun said: "Even if he is ten years old, does his mother dare to say it?" Then he said to the guards beside him, "Bring me a horse whip." ”

After a while, a guard presented the horsewhip to Xie Xiangcun, Xie Xiangcun walked to Dai Yun's grandson with the horsewhip, leaned down and asked gently, "Is your surname Qian, or your surname Dai?" ”

The child sobbed and said, "The surname is Qian." ”

This surname Qian made Xie Xiangcun no longer hesitate.

Xie Xiangcun said to the child kneeling on the ground, "You stand up, I'll see how tall you are." ”

The child shrank back, not daring to stand up. Xie Xiangcun lifted him with one hand and weighed it with a horsewhip in the other. The sword flashed, and Xie Xiangcun's Shang Fang sword, which was diagonally inserted at his waist, was already unsheathed. Qi Chongwu's eyes turned red, and the head of Dai Yun's grandson rolled to the ground.

Xie Xiangcun turned around and walked back to his seat and sat down, without looking at Qi Chongwu, and said to the general manager: "Lord Qi and I will wait here, you go to the Queen Mother and the Holy Lord to return to your life, see if the Queen Mother and the Holy Lord still have any orders?" ”

The chief merchant said yes, waved his hand to summon the horses, turned over the horses, and galloped into the Luo City Gate.

After only a while, he returned, followed by Qian Hongzuo's head of internal service, Wu Dezhang, and the general manager of Shang: "The Queen Mother ordered Steward Wu to come to deliver the decree, just so that I met halfway." ”

Wu Dezhang said to Xie Xiangcun: "The Queen Mother has a will, and the mission of the three supervisors has been completed. The Queen Mother has arranged for the Huguo Temple in the palace to be beheaded by Dai Yun's family, and to do things to overkill the soul. In order to protect the three adults from being infected by the ferocious anger, I specially order you to go to the Huguo Temple to observe the rituals. The ritual will last for seven days, and during these seven days, the three adults will eat and live in the Huguo Temple, worship the Buddha sincerely, and only leave after the ritual is over. ”

Xie Xiangcun and the other three all bowed down and said they obeyed the order.

Wu Dezhang turned to Li Jishen and said: "The forbidden army is raiding Dai's mansion, and the queen mother ordered you to immediately return to Dai's mansion to help count the prisoners and stolen goods." The Empress Dowager appointed you as the squire of the Criminal Department, and presided over the trial of the Dai family's crimes while Lord Qi was observing the ceremony. This is a decree for you. "Let's talk about giving the holy decree to Li Jishen.

Li Ji bowed deeply and took the holy decree with both hands, and said, "Thank you for the promotion of the Queen Mother, Weichen will do his best to find out all the crimes of the Dai family." ”

Qi Chongwu said angrily: "This person is not an official, he is a grass citizen, and there are already people serving as the squire of the Criminal Department, why did he appoint another squire?" Isn't that too much child's play? "Qi Chongwu is the head of the Criminal Department, but he didn't know about such a big matter as killing Dai Yun in advance, and now he appointed his deputy, and he didn't inform him at all in advance, let alone ask for his opinion, as if he didn't have him as the head of the Criminal Department at all.

Wu Dezhang glanced at Qi Chongwu and said, "There is a holy purpose here, if Lord Qi has any objections, after the Dharma is over, go directly to the Queen Mother and the Holy Lord." ”