Pang Xiao was held by two guards, one on each side gripping his arms. In truth, if it came to martial skills, he could easily shake off their restraint, but at this moment, though he loudly shouted his “refusal to accept,” he didn’t struggle in the slightest.
Seeing this, the imperial guards couldn’t help but sigh. Prince Zhongshun was truly loyal to His Majesty. They knew their own abilities couldn’t last two moves against the prince, yet the prince willingly allowed them to restrain him. This could only mean that though he refused to accept His Majesty’s rod punishment, he harbored no rebellious intentions.
His Majesty had truly become obsessed and demented over the treasure.
As everyone sighed in their hearts, a eunuch had already tremblingly brought over a bench, and the guards reluctantly pressed Pang Xiao down face-first and held down his legs.
Pang Xiao still didn’t struggle, only craned his neck and shouted loudly: “Your Majesty falsely accuses a loyal subject! For the sake of treasure, you disregard even brotherly bonds! Your subject has served the country loyally, forgetting life and death, yet Your Majesty listens to the slanderous words of petty people and wants to beat your subject with rods without proof or evidence. Your subject knows nothing of treasure matters. Even if Your Majesty beats your subject to death today, your subject still cannot say where the treasure is hidden!”
Pang Xiao’s loud cries seemed incoherent from anger.
But the meaning of these words was very clear.
For the sake of finding treasure, His Majesty had listened to someone’s slanderous words and insisted that Prince Zhongshun had hidden the treasure. Now he was even disregarding their sworn brotherhood and not considering Prince Zhongshun’s countless military achievements, actually wanting to beat him with rods in public!
A prince being held down and beaten with rods – such humiliation was unheard of!
Pang Xiao’s angry roars carried far, and even the guards stationed outside the government office and occasional passersby could hear clearly.
Li Qitian angrily rebuked: “Why haven’t you gagged him!”
The imperial guards dared not disobey and had to stuff a clean handkerchief into Pang Xiao’s mouth.
The eunuchs in charge of punishment brought the rods and stood on the left and right, their hands and feet weak as they looked at His Majesty.
“Beat him! Beat him ruthlessly!” Li Qitian roared.
“By your command.” The eunuchs dared not delay. Gritting their teeth and steeling their hearts, they raised the rods.
Immediately there was a series of crackling sounds from the rod beatings.
The eunuchs didn’t dare harm the prince’s life, so they didn’t use hidden force. Such rod strikes on the buttocks quickly caused blood to bloom on Pang Xiao’s silver outer robe, looking truly shocking to the eye, but in reality didn’t injure his organs or bones. This way they could complete their task without truly offending the prince too severely.
However, such bloody wounds looked truly distressing to others watching.
This prince who had shed blood and sacrificed for the establishment of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who had destroyed Northern Ji and pacified Great Yan, who made those opposed to Great Zhou tremble at the mere thought of him – this war god was actually being held down and beaten with rods for a baseless crime…
This made everyone’s hearts grow cold, and made everyone see clearly His Majesty’s callousness: even someone who had been loyal to His Majesty for years and was His Majesty’s sworn brother would be beaten with rods when it involved matters of interest. What about the rest of them?
Li Qitian looked down from above as the rods fell on Pang Xiao, watching his outer robe become stained with spots of blood, feeling unprecedentedly comfortable and satisfied in his heart.
So what about the Purple Star Emperor that Tianji Zi had calculated? Didn’t he still have to bow and submit to him? Wasn’t his life and death still controlled by Li Qitian’s single word?
So what if he was beloved by the people and revered by the soldiers? With one word, Li Qitian could still have him held down and beaten. If he wanted him to live, he would live; if he wanted him dead, a single word could take his head!
He was the true Son of Heaven! What did those demagogic calculations and divinations amount to!
Li Qitian’s furious emotions were replaced by smugness. At this moment he felt completely refreshed – he hadn’t felt so satisfied in years. He couldn’t help thinking that if he had known giving Pang Xiao a beating would relieve the depression accumulated in his heart, he would have beaten him long ago!
The sound of rods striking flesh soon stopped.
Pang Xiao lay on the bench, his head hanging limply, his long hair scattered and trailing to the ground, his arms dangling down, having long lost sensation. Large bloodstains covered the clothing on his buttocks, truly glaring to the eye!
The scene was extremely miserable, making the watching guards feel waves of anguish in their hearts – the war god who struck fear into enemies on the battlefield had actually fallen to such a state.
Li Qitian coldly walked forward, crossing his arms as he looked at Pang Xiao’s limp appearance. “Do you admit your error now?”
Pang Xiao hung his head with no response.
Li Qitian didn’t believe Pang Xiao would be knocked unconscious by twenty rod strokes. In the past on battlefields, he had been struck by two arrows yet still broke off the arrow shafts and continued fighting. Now it was merely twenty rod strokes – how severe could it be?
“Pang Zhixi!” Li Qitian raised his voice.
But Pang Xiao remained completely motionless.
A guard quickly crouched down to lift Pang Xiao’s drooping head and remove the handkerchief stuffed in his mouth, only then discovering his forehead was covered in fine sweat, the handkerchief was also stained with blood, and he had fainted.
“Your Majesty, the prince has fainted.”
Li Qitian was suspicious. He bent down and roughly grabbed Pang Xiao’s face to examine it, his crude actions making the nearby guards frown in sympathy.
“He’s actually fainted?” Li Qitian frowned doubtfully, then said in a deep voice: “Summon the imperial physician to treat him. Carry him away.”
“Yes.”
The guards clumsily carried Pang Xiao away along with the bench.
Watching the prince being carried out like this, the imperial guards felt mixed emotions. That blood-stained robe was truly painful to the eyes.
Tang Xiu and the other Elite Tiger Guards who had returned with Pang Xiao had been blocked outside the door. Seeing Pang Xiao being carried out, they rushed forward one by one, tears in their eyes as they called “My lord, my lord, wake up!” The scene was extremely tragic, making anyone who saw it feel their nose tingle with emotion.
Li Qitian found it disappointing. He hadn’t learned the treasure’s whereabouts, but had been provoked by Pang Xiao into losing his temper and giving him a beating. However, having the opportunity to keep Pang Xiao under his control was also a good thing.
Sitting upright behind his desk, Li Qitian clasped his hands together as his mind gradually calmed.
Lu Heng and Pang Xiao – which of these two was telling the truth?
That treasure – was it truly hidden away, or was it still mixed among the stone materials from the other routes?
Li Qitian had already ordered his trusted subordinates to investigate the stone materials from the other nine directions. But with high mountains and distant roads, news wouldn’t come immediately. He was truly anxious! Just when the treasure he had searched for everywhere finally had traces, the fat meat that had been right before his eyes was lost. Besides anxiety, he felt nothing but anger.
As Li Qitian frowned in thought, news that Prince Zhongshun had been beaten with rods without cause had already spread imperceptibly.
For a time, the city was in a state of extreme tension.
First Huichuan County had been surrounded by troops, then the county magistrate had been placed under house arrest, followed by the prince being escorted into the city and immediately beaten with rods.
His Majesty had come to make major moves – what exactly did the old man want to do?
The grain-buying queues formed four lines, winding through two streets.
“Today’s rice and grain prices have risen again. Will His Majesty manage this or not? How could even such a great loyal subject as Prince Zhongshun be beaten with rods?” a man carrying a coarse hemp sack muttered quietly.
“This year there’s been too much rain, the south isn’t producing grain anymore. I heard that much of the grain we’re eating now was transported here through Prince Zhongshun’s connections.”