Qin Yining was pushed and shoved out of the prison gate. Guards, palace servants, and Ministry of Justice officials who had just hurriedly arrived stood in formation outside the door.
Seeing a woman covered in blood suddenly appear before their eyes, everyone couldn’t help but be shocked.
Seeing the eunuchs having people prepare a prisoner’s cart, the Vice Minister of Justice exchanged glances with his superior and stepped forward to quietly inquire about the situation.
The jailer whispered, “His Majesty has ordered that the princess consort be taken to parade through the streets for public display.” After speaking, he lowered his head and withdrew.
Before long, a prisoner’s cart was pushed over, and someone went to harness horses to the shafts.
Qin Yining was pushed into the prisoner’s cart. The cart’s height was deliberately made neither high nor low, forcing a person’s head and hands to be stuck above while unable to stand straight or squat down, only able to half-crouch—truly torturous.
The Minister of Justice frowned. He hadn’t seen such a serious criminal paraded through the streets in many years. This Qin Shi was Prince Zhongshun’s legitimate wife—what heinous crime could she have committed to provoke the Son of Heaven to such anger?
Li Qitian strode out, followed by eunuchs and guards. Two eunuchs carried swaddling clothes in their arms, with the babies inside still crying at the top of their lungs.
Qin Yining was confined in the prisoner’s cart, originally in a daze, but hearing her children’s cries, she immediately snapped to attention, suddenly turning around. Tears fell, washing two white streaks through the blood stains on her face.
“My children, my children… Your Majesty, these are sons of a meritorious official. Pang Xiao is out there fighting for you, yet you’ve taken his wife and children… Aren’t you afraid this will break the hearts of people throughout the realm?”
Li Qitian sneered.
Xiong Jinshui immediately understood the imperial intent, stepping forward to scold: “Take her out quickly! His Majesty is wise and benevolent, truly an enlightened ruler—how dare you slander him at will!”
Li Qitian, seeing Qin Yining’s appearance, remembered this woman’s formidable nature. Perhaps once on the streets, she’d still have the ability to bewitch the common people.
“Gag her mouth for me. Let’s see how she spreads her seductive lies then!”
“Yes!”
Someone immediately tore off a piece of cloth, climbed onto the prisoner’s cart, and forcibly stuffed it into Qin Yining’s mouth, then tied a cloth strip in a knot behind her head to prevent her from pulling it out.
Qin Yining shook her head, only able to make muffled whimpering sounds. Her blood-stained appearance was truly terrifying.
Li Qitian waved his hand, and the jailer immediately drove the prisoner’s cart out. Li Qitian also arranged for Capital Guards to form ranks beside the cart to prevent anyone from attempting a rescue.
In the silence, only the creaking sound of wooden wheels rolling over snow and Qin Yining’s muffled whimpers from within the cart could be heard. After the procession left, Li Qitian said, “Return to the palace.”
“Your Majesty!” The Minister of Justice strode forward, bowing as he said, “Your Majesty, this princess consort has done no evil. Such treatment is too inhumane. Please retract your order.”
“Inhumane? She just killed someone using cruel methods—didn’t you see the blood all over her?”
“But Princess Consort Zhongshun is of noble birth and a woman besides. With so many people guarding her, there must be hidden circumstances behind this killing!”
Li Qitian narrowed his eyes at the Minister of Justice: “Su Huaiyu, I see you’re getting quite comfortable in your position—you even dare question my decree?”
Su Huaiyu was startled, suppressing his panic as he lowered his head: “This subject misspoke. Please forgive me, Your Majesty.”
Li Qitian snorted coldly and ordered: “Return to the palace.”
Xiong Jinshui immediately called out loudly: “His Majesty returns to the palace!”
Everyone bowed respectfully in farewell. Watching the Son of Heaven depart, Su Huaiyu couldn’t help but worriedly look toward the cart tracks left in the ground where the prisoner’s cart had passed.
The Son of Heaven was happy to be a benevolent and enlightened ruler at other times, but whenever matters related to Prince Zhongshun arose, he became so extreme and inhumane—this truly wasn’t a good sign. People throughout the realm weren’t blind or foolish; there were many with sensitive minds who enjoyed analyzing court politics. If this became widely known and spread by those with ulterior motives, what would become of the Son of Heaven’s reputation?
Such simple reasoning, yet the Son of Heaven currently couldn’t think it through at all. Or perhaps the Son of Heaven understood everything but simply didn’t care?
Qin Yining was very familiar with the capital’s streets. In her leisure time, she had once strolled about with her maids.
But this was her first time passing through the capital’s streets and alleys in the bitter cold with heavy snow falling, covered in blood, her padded jacket torn by whips until cotton stuffing fell out, miserably half-crouching and half-standing in a prisoner’s cart.
Every time the cart passed an intersection or street, the jailer would loudly proclaim Qin Yining’s “crimes” by imperial order, only saying she was as ferocious as a starving wolf, actually using her teeth to bite a court official to death. Whether the dead person was actually an official, why she bit him, and all the preceding circumstances were completely omitted.
Capital Guards flanked the prisoner’s cart, monitoring and searching for suspicious individuals among the crowds that stopped to observe. Seeing people watching them, the common folk didn’t dare discuss loudly, only daring to voice their doubts in lowered voices.
“Prince Zhongshun’s character is trustworthy—how could his princess consort be such a person?”
“You don’t know the full story. When Prince Zhongshun provided disaster relief, the princess consort helped him considerably. Later, when the prince fought Tatars at the front, the princess consort helped arrange provisions too.”
“You’re bragging!”
“Hey, don’t disbelieve me! My family has relatives in Jingang. The princess consort stayed temporarily in Jingang before and even bore a pair of dragon and phoenix twins for the prince! While giving birth, she was still busy with military pay—how could such a woman kill someone without reason?”
“Maybe there are hidden circumstances?”
“Don’t speak carelessly. The princess consort being dragged out to parade through the streets was decided by high officials above. Do you not want your heads? Do you want to go to the yamen and get beaten with boards?”
…
The common people had all kinds of discussions and speculations. Some believed Qin Yining would kill someone, but almost no one believed she would torture and kill a person for no reason, as if for entertainment.
The Capital Guards, regardless of what they believed, could only follow orders. His Majesty had told them to observe whether anyone in the crowd harbored treasonous thoughts, so they observed seriously, not daring to think about anything extra.
A fierce wind howled past, dropping goose-feather-like snowflakes. What had been only a light dusting of snow now became bone-piercing cold wind with snowflakes cutting like blades across faces, painfully cold.
Qin Yining closed her eyes, involuntarily shrinking her neck from the cold. Her chin immediately touched the cart’s ice-cold wooden board. She smiled self-mockingly, shifted her cold, stiff legs, and continued keeping her eyes closed, neither looking nor listening.
The snow fell heavily, blocking vision. Most of the common people dispersed, with only a few curious individuals following the prisoner’s cart, wanting to learn what had actually happened.
Meanwhile, Tang Xiu, leading ten Elite Tiger Guards concealed in the crowd, was filled with rage.
“Let’s charge up and rescue the princess consort!”
“How can someone as precious as the princess consort suffer like this! The prince will be heartbroken when he finds out!”
“That damned tyrant, unable to catch our prince, takes it out on the princess consort—does he even count as a man!”
“Charge up and save the princess consort!”
The Elite Tiger Guards were in an uproar, wishing they could immediately rush forward.
Tang Xiu calmly shook his head: “No, we can’t act rashly. Once we’re captured, it will implicate the prince. We must follow the prince’s orders.”
Despite rushing desperately, they were still a step too late. The border to the capital was blocked by heavy snow—fine weather was manageable, but when they encountered blizzards, they couldn’t distinguish directions at all, which was why they arrived late. They never expected that upon reaching the capital, this would be what they’d witness.
They never imagined Li Qitian would be so despicable as to use a woman as leverage!
“First find out what the prince wants. When we’re needed, none of us brothers should back down,” Tang Xiu said through gritted teeth.
“Who are we brothers afraid of!”
Everyone was fired up, immediately seeking ways to send word to Pang Xiao.
Meanwhile, Li Qitian, having learned that no suspicious individuals were discovered during Qin Yining’s street parade, couldn’t help feeling somewhat disappointed.
“It seems we’ll have to wait a while longer.” Li Qitian clicked his tongue twice. “If this woman proves useless, I’ll have to use other methods.”
Xiong Jinshui stood attending with lowered head nearby. Hearing this, he buried his face even lower.
News that Princess Consort Zhongshun had brutally killed an official and was ordered by His Majesty to parade through the streets quickly spread throughout the streets and alleys until everyone knew.
After parading through the streets, Qin Yining was stuffed back into the Ministry of Justice prison. Whenever Li Qitian remembered, he would have someone confine her to the prisoner’s cart for another circuit around the city.
Whether she paraded through the streets depended entirely on the Son of Heaven’s mood. Even with the New Year approaching, he still didn’t spare her.
Pang Xiao received the news on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth month. Looking at the secret letter delivered by the Elite Tiger Guards, his hands trembled so much he could barely hold the thin sheet of paper.
Ji Zeyu wrapped his arm around Pang Xiao’s shoulder, shaking him firmly. “Calm down. He’s doing this precisely to lure you back. When the imperial edict summoning you failed, he resorted to such underhanded methods.”
Pang Xiao’s Adam’s apple rolled. After a long moment, he nodded, his voice hoarse: “Mm. I know.”
Ji Zeyu saw what seemed like a bright reflection in his phoenix eyes when he lowered his head.
He couldn’t help but furrow his brow tightly. “Don’t be like this. This is the crucial moment when we’re in a standoff with the Tatars. If we let our guard down even slightly, we might be counterattacked. If we can succeed, we can at least drive the Tatars back to their desert and prevent them from raiding our borders for a hundred years. You understand which is more important!”
“I do understand.” Pang Xiao gritted his teeth. “But I can’t just watch Yining suffer like this. And my children—they’ve been seized by the Son of Heaven, their fate unknown.”
Just seeing this news, Pang Xiao felt his heart being cut like with knives. How frightened his Yining must be?
She was such a kind-hearted woman—why would she use such extreme methods to bite someone to death?
If she hadn’t been driven to desperation, how could she do such a thing?
“I have to go back and save her.” Pang Xiao pressed his lips together, pacing back and forth.
Ji Zeyu pursed his lips, all his frustration written on his face. Helplessly putting his hands on his hips, he watched Pang Xiao pace back and forth like a headless fly buzzing around everywhere.
Unable to think clearly, Pang Xiao called for Xu Weizhi and other strategists to discuss.
Meanwhile, Qin Yining had just finished another afternoon of parading through the streets. Her legs were so sore and weak they were useless—she was directly dragged back to the cell by jailers.
As soon as she was pushed into the prison, jailers came carrying a wooden basin. Before Qin Yining could react, they dumped it over her head.
“Quick, wash off that stench on her—it’s so rank we can’t stand it!”
In the depths of winter when the prison could freeze people to death, being doused with a basin of cold water, Qin Yining was shocked into a sharp scream. The blood that had long since hardened and blackened flowed down her hair and face as the cold water washed it.
Before she could catch her breath, another basin of cold water came.
The jailers laughed heartily: “You should thank us brothers! Seeing that it’s almost New Year, we’re cleaning up the noble princess consort too!”