novelSusiti Chapter 86 The Emperor Settles Accounts After the Event
Chapter 86 The Emperor Settles Accounts After the Event
Chapter 86 The Emperor Settles Accounts After the Event
"Slap slap—slap—"
Liu Feng lay on the bench and let out an "Ah!" but his face didn't hurt at all.
Just as he was muttering that novels and movies were all lies, the head eunuch on duty at the Hall of Mental Cultivation quietly gave the executioner a wink.
The executioner nodded, raised his court rod, and struck Liu Feng hard on the buttocks.
"Ouch!" Liu Feng cried out in pain.
Dai Quan, who had just returned from the Cining Palace, happened to witness this scene and burst out laughing. As he passed the executioner, he lowered his voice and said, "Go easy on him. If you break him, you'll be filling in for him the day after tomorrow, won't you?"
The executioner hurriedly shook his head. Escorting the emperor's brother-in-law to the execution ground? It would be better to just kill him. As the court staff he had raised high came down, he unconsciously loosened his grip a bit.
Even so, Liu Feng still let out a loud "howl".
Dai Quan had already walked quite a distance when he turned back, looking annoyed: "You've been on the battlefield, you can't even handle this little bit of pain?"
"If I don't shout, won't those civil officials say that your Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs is turning a blind eye?" Liu Feng retorted.
Dai Quan was speechless, flicked his sleeves, and turned to go to the West Warm Pavilion.
In the West Warm Pavilion, Emperor Yankang put down his vermilion pen, gently blew on the vermilion annotations on the official document, and looked up at Dai Quan who had entered: "The Empress Dowager still refuses to eat and drink?"
Dai Quan: "Your Majesty, that's what the people around the Empress Dowager are saying."
Emperor Yankang paused for a moment, then asked, "How is your complexion?"
Dai Quan: "Well, this old servant doesn't often serve the Empress Dowager, so I really can't see any changes."
Emperor Yankang understood his meaning and was relieved.
"Keep your eyes wide open. Before the execution at noon the day after tomorrow, not a single piece of paper or bird is allowed to be released from the Cining Palace."
"Yes."
The shouting outside stopped.
The head eunuch on duty came in and reported, "Your Majesty, the fifty strokes of the cane have been completed."
Emperor Yankang remained silent, took out an imperial edict from the box, and handed it to Dai Quan: "Tell Liu Feng that he will not be promoted this time."
I will record his military merits, and once he has accumulated enough, I will reward him with a stable and secure job.
"Yes." Dai Quan took it with both hands, turned around and left.
He glanced down as he walked, thinking to himself: Not bad. He'd been rewarded with the flying fish robe and the embroidered spring knife; only with these two could he truly be considered a close advisor to the emperor.
The remaining items were valuables: fifty small gold ingots, five thousand taels of silver, twenty bolts of colored satin, one hundred bolts of silk cloth, and two hectares of imperial estate west of Beijing.
Only two acres?
Dai Quan was stunned for a moment, then looked down and his eyes almost popped out. My goodness, there were several acres of top-grade imperial fields for growing Rouge Rice! Even if they didn't eat this stuff themselves, it would be priceless and unavailable on the market!
The emperor was actually a kind person; even after hitting someone, he knew to give them medicine.
Liu Feng lay naked on the bed from the waist down, his buttocks bruised and swollen like steamed buns.
Qingwen blushed so much that her ears and neck turned bright red, but she still bit her lip and sat on the edge of the bed, carefully applying medicine to Liu Feng.
There was nothing that could be done. Xiangling, who was supposed to bathe and put Liu Feng to bed, was crying so hard that her eyes were as red as walnuts, and she was completely unreliable.
Xiangling sat on the edge of the bed, sobbing as she wiped Liu Feng's sweat: "Second Master, does it hurt?"
"It doesn't hurt!"
Liu Feng turned around and glared at Qingwen. This girl was definitely doing it on purpose.
While applying the medicine, Qingwen said with a smile, "You don't sleep well at night, so don't warm the bed for Second Master these next two nights."
Xiangling looked up: "How can that be? I still have to serve Second Master tea and water, massage his feet and back to loosen his muscles at night!"
Qingwen paused for a moment: "I'll be serving Second Master here these past two nights."
"You..." Xiangling suddenly stopped crying, glancing at Qingwen's chest. "I, I'll sleep on the floor."
Qingwen didn't notice her gaze; she was only focused on the injury on Liu Feng's buttocks, gently applying ointment and even pouting as she blew on it.
After applying the medicine, Qingwen washed her hands and then remembered, "What did you just say?"
"I'm not going anywhere! I'll stay here and serve Second Master!" Xiangling glared at her angrily. "I'll sleep on the floor!"
Qingwen laughed: "It's so cold at night. If you catch a cold, it won't just be a day or two before you can't warm the Second Master's bed."
"I...I..."
Xiangling held back for a while before finally giving in, "Then, then you have to serve Second Master well! Otherwise, otherwise I'll tell Aunt Liu to punish you... or rather, punish your palms."
Qingwen chuckled, and Chong Xiangling gave a slight curtsy: "Yes, yes, my Miss Ling!"
Liu Feng shook his head. This girl couldn't even make a strong statement.
Having lived a life of decadence for so long, Liu Feng had long lost the embarrassment he felt when he first wore the clothes. Lying on the bed with his lower body naked, the two girls fed him water and food, and he couldn't even be bothered to lift a hand.
After eating, you can't lie face down; you have to turn to your side. You need to use a thin blanket for this, otherwise it's too conspicuous.
Xiangling sat on the bed and gently massaged Liu Feng's shoulders and back.
Qingwen sat on the edge of the bed, her head down sewing winter clothes. Every now and then, she would lift them up and measure them against Liu Feng to get the size.
"Xiangling, I'm thirsty."
"Oh!" Xiangling quickly climbed off the bed, picked up Liu Feng's purple clay teapot, and brought it to his lips.
Liu Feng took a sip of tea and casually pinched Xiangling's cheek. Ah, life is so comfortable!
He suddenly remembered, "What's Ping'er doing here?"
Xiangling fed him another sip of tea: "She didn't go into details, just said she had something to tell Second Master."
What could a mere maidservant like her possibly want from me?
Before Liu Feng could even think about it, Liu Ma called out from the other end of the living room, "Second Master, Granny Wang and Miss Ping are here!"
It wasn't convenient to let them in, so Liu Feng asked Xiangling to go out and greet them.
Granny Wang came to deliver medicinal wine, and Lin Daiyu herself had instructed her to do so.
Oh my, Liu Feng was overjoyed! Even when Da Lian Bao got beaten up in the original story, he didn't get this kind of treatment!
Wang Xifeng, that stingy woman, was actually willing to send so many tonics; she must have something on her mind!
Sure enough, Ping'er, who was outside the curtain, brought up the matter of Zhou Rui's wife apologizing to Lin Daiyu.
Liu Feng snorted and casually said, "After you finish your errands, go to the Rongguo Mansion for a visit." Then he rewarded each of them with a bolt of cloth and had Granny Wang take some freshly made pastries back to Xueyan.
Before they knew it, the day arrived for Duke Cheng'en to be beheaded.
The capital has been unusually quiet these past two days, so quiet that even Liu Feng's public beating of an official at the gate of the imperial city failed to stir up the slightest ripple.
The emperor ultimately gave the Duke of Cheng'en a final act of dignity, not only retracting the imperial edict from the previous day and no longer forcing officials to attend the execution, but also canceling the public parade.
Perhaps out of a sense of shared fate, or perhaps to avoid offending the Empress Dowager, not a single official was present at the execution ground in Caishikou.
The military dependents, dressed in mourning clothes, along with the crowds of onlookers, thronged the ground.
Inside the execution chamber, Zhao Chongjian was the only one present. There were neither officials from the Ministry of Justice accompanying him nor any eunuchs supervising the execution.
Zhao Chongjian understood that he had become the emperor's chosen pawn to be discarded.
After today, he will be driven out of the capital—no, he will be "promoted." Then he will be slowly marginalized until one day, he will be inexplicably involved in a case and die quietly.
"They're here! They're here..."
The sound of hooves and wheels echoed from the main road. Liu Feng, dressed in a brand-new flying fish robe, led the way, followed by hundreds of fully armed Imperial Guards, escorting prison carts, heading straight for the execution ground.
Although Lin Daiyu sent some medicinal wine out of love, physical injuries don't heal in a day or two. No matter how thick the padding on the saddle was, the horse's swaying motion still caused his rump to throb with pain.
This air of authority is all just a facade!
Fortunately, we're almost there!
Liu Feng placed his hand on his embroidered spring knife, his eyes constantly scanning the crowds and rooftops on both sides, fearing that, like in TV dramas, a sudden shout would send a group of people rushing out to storm the execution ground.
You're overthinking it. Everything went surprisingly smoothly. The drunken Prince Cheng'en was dragged to the execution platform, and amidst the curses of his family members, his identity was verified, and he was beheaded.
Every time someone was executed at Caishikou, the sound of cannons could be heard in Yangxin Hall.
The cannon fired, and Emperor Yankang's hand trembled, a few drops of vermilion ink falling onto the memorial. He put down his pen and sighed softly, "This matter should end now."
Dai Quan understood that the emperor was about to settle accounts.
As expected, Emperor Yankang slowly uttered two words: "Draft an edict..."
Prince Zhongshun was demoted to a county prince on a long list of charges, but Dai Quan knew in his heart that the real reason was that Prince Zhongshun had exposed the royal family's scandal.
Zhao Chongjian was promoted to Governor of Shandong. Dai Quan was unaware of the reasons behind this, but the emperor was certainly plotting something.
Prince Teng was promoted to Commander-in-Chief of Nine Provinces and sent to inspect the border. The emperor had already said this before; it was a demotion in disguise, a warning to Prince Teng, and a chance to clean up the mess on the nine borders and redeem him through meritorious service.
Having drafted three imperial edicts in one go, Emperor Yankang was parched. He picked up his teacup and drank several mouthfuls in quick succession, then said, "Have the Grand Secretariat and the Ministry of War draft a proposal regarding the rewards for the other generals..."
Just then, the head eunuch on duty walked to the door: "Your Majesty, the Empress Dowager requests your presence..."
He paused, then said, "Let's go now."
Emperor Yankang remained silent for a long while before slowly standing up and walking out.
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