Chapter 695 – The Execution
Jiang Yuan’s expression wavered uncertainly. He absolutely dared not let Deputy General Zheng examine the “imperial decree.” The latter was different from ordinary soldiers—he had served under Li Shimin alongside Wang Zhengfeng. Though his rank wasn’t high, he could definitely spot the problems with this “imperial decree.” But he couldn’t openly refuse either. If he couldn’t see the decree, Deputy General Zheng would certainly become suspicious of him and then interfere, preventing him from executing Wang Zhengfeng. This would be quite troublesome!
What to do? What should he do?
Before Jiang Yuan could think of a solution, Deputy General Zheng already reached out to take the scroll. Seeing this, Jiang Yuan hurriedly blocked his hand and said in alarm: “What are you doing?”
Though his position was lower than Jiang Yuan’s, Deputy General Zheng showed no sign of backing down. Meeting his gaze, he said in a deep voice: “I want to confirm that executing General Wang… is truly His Majesty’s intention!”
“Of course it’s His Majesty’s intention. Could such a thing be false?” Faced with Jiang Yuan’s words, Deputy General Zheng replied without servility or arrogance: “If that’s the case, then letting me look at the imperial decree shouldn’t be a problem.”
Jiang Yuan was left speechless by his argument, but he absolutely dared not let go of that hand. Just then, a person walked to Deputy General Zheng’s side and whispered a few words in his ear.
After hearing his words, the latter’s face changed: “Is this really true?”
The soldier lowered his eyes: “Absolutely true. The person has already reached the city gate!”
Deputy General Zheng hesitated for a moment, then finally released his hand and said to the soldier: “Take me there immediately!”
Before leaving, he thought of something and said to Deputy General Li and the others: “You watch here. Before I return, absolutely do not let anyone execute the General!”
These people had been personally trained by Wang Zhengfeng, so they naturally agreed wholeheartedly. However, they didn’t notice that after Deputy General Zheng left with that soldier, another soldier also quietly left the execution ground.
Because everyone had rushed to the execution ground, the area became sparse with people after leaving the execution ground’s vicinity. After walking for about half an incense stick’s time, a cold glint appeared in Deputy General Zheng’s eyes. He stopped and said to the soldier still leading the way ahead: “This isn’t the road to the city gate!”
The soldier stopped and slowly turned around, but didn’t speak. He only stared at Deputy General Zheng with an extremely strange look, making the latter’s hair stand on end. He instinctively stepped back and said warily: “What you said earlier was all false?”
Just now at the execution ground, this soldier had whispered in his ear that Li Shimin, upon learning that someone in Luoyang City intended to commit treason, had sent an envoy to investigate and was waiting at the city gate. It was because of these words that he had immediately rushed over. Now it seemed extremely likely to be a trap.
“If not for this, how could we lure Deputy General Zheng here?” Hearing this voice from behind him, Deputy General Zheng suddenly turned around to see a robust soldier looking at him coldly.
This person… looked very familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere, but he couldn’t remember for the moment.
As Deputy General Zheng pondered hard, the soldier had already approached to within a few steps of him: “There’s a road to heaven but you won’t take it; hell has no gate but you insist on barging in. You chose this dead end yourself—don’t blame others!”
At this moment, inspiration flashed in Deputy General Zheng’s mind and he finally remembered his identity, saying in shock: “You are Li Yuan…”
Before the word “ji” could leave his mouth, his neck was already viciously grabbed, unable to make a sound: “That’s right, I am Li Yuanji. Unfortunately, you realized too late.”
Deputy General Zheng struggled to pry off the hand choking his neck, but Li Yuanji was incredibly strong—far beyond what he could move. The strength in his hands grew weaker and his eyes gradually rolled back.
Li Yuanji glanced at the sky and said indifferently: “It’s noon, the third quarter. Wang Zhengfeng should die too. You can go keep him company. However… two people are still too few, not lively enough. We should send that whole group of yours to keep you company. Don’t you think so?”
With the last word falling, he added more force to his hand, forcibly breaking Deputy General Zheng’s neck bones. The man who had been able to struggle moments before immediately died, his head hanging at a grotesque angle.
The soldier hadn’t expected Li Yuanji to kill so decisively. For a moment, his legs trembled slightly. Looking around, he said with a strained voice: “Your Highness, while there’s no one around, let’s quickly bury the body. Otherwise, it would be bad if someone discovered it.” He was one of Jiang Yuan’s personal guards and one of the few who knew of Li Jiancheng and his brother’s existence. Earlier, he had lured Deputy General Zheng here on Li Jiancheng’s orders.
Li Yuanji said impatiently: “Bury what? Who has that time? Just find some abandoned house and put him in it. We’ll deal with it later when there’s time.” Then he added: “I’ll rush back to the execution ground first. You come quickly after you’re done.”
As Li Yuanji hurried back to the execution ground in double-quick time, the situation there had already reached a stalemate, even to the point of explosion!
Jiang Yuan said with a solemn expression: “It’s noon, the third quarter. The execution must proceed!” As he spoke, he reached for the lot tube. Deputy General Li snatched it away, refusing to give it to him under any circumstances. Once the red lot inside fell to the ground, the executioner would carry out the execution and chop off Wang Zhengfeng’s head.
“Give me the lot tube!” Faced with Jiang Yuan’s words, Deputy General Li refused to let go, shouting loudly: “Deputy General Zheng said that before he returns, absolutely no execution is permitted!”
Jiang Yuan laughed bitterly in his anger: “Since when does Deputy General Zheng make the decisions in Luoyang City?”
Deputy General Li was momentarily stunned, then said firmly: “I don’t care. In any case, before he returns, absolutely no execution is permitted!”
“Impossible!” Facing this stubborn fool, Jiang Yuan also became angry, forcefully slapping the table: “If that Zheng fellow doesn’t return for a year, am I supposed to wait a year for him?”
Actually, Deputy General Li was also anxious. Deputy General Zheng wasn’t someone who didn’t keep his word. Logically, after being gone so long, he should have returned by now. Why was there still no sign of him?
Someone beside them tried to mediate: “General, this matter is indeed quite serious. Why don’t we wait a bit longer?”
Jiang Yuan snorted coldly: “It’s fine for me to wait, but what about the imperial decree? Should we disobey it and thus forfeit all our lives?”
That person was left speechless by his argument. Indeed, with an imperial decree present, who dared disobey? Seeing that others remained silent, Jiang Yuan once again reached out toward Deputy General Li, saying sternly: “Return the lot tube!”
“Don’t even think about it!” Deputy General Li’s answer was extremely straightforward. He was calculating in his mind—there was an unwritten rule for all executions that they must be carried out at noon, the third quarter. Once this time passed, no one could be killed and it would have to wait until the next day.
Jiang Yuan’s expression wavered uncertainly. He absolutely dared not let Deputy General Zheng examine the “imperial decree.” The latter was different from ordinary soldiers—he had served under Li Shimin alongside Wang Zhengfeng. Though his rank wasn’t high, he could definitely spot the problems with this “imperial decree.” But he couldn’t openly refuse either. If he couldn’t see the decree, Deputy General Zheng would certainly become suspicious of him and then interfere, preventing him from executing Wang Zhengfeng. This would be quite troublesome!
What to do? What should he do?
Before Jiang Yuan could think of a solution, Deputy General Zheng already reached out to take the scroll. Seeing this, Jiang Yuan hurriedly blocked his hand and said in alarm: “What are you doing?”
Though his position was lower than Jiang Yuan’s, Deputy General Zheng showed no sign of backing down. Meeting his gaze, he said in a deep voice: “I want to confirm that executing General Wang… is truly His Majesty’s intention!”
“Of course it’s His Majesty’s intention. Could such a thing be false?” Faced with Jiang Yuan’s words, Deputy General Zheng replied without servility or arrogance: “If that’s the case, then letting me look at the imperial decree shouldn’t be a problem.”
Jiang Yuan was left speechless by his argument, but he absolutely dared not let go of that hand. Just then, a person walked to Deputy General Zheng’s side and whispered a few words in his ear.
After hearing his words, the latter’s face changed: “Is this really true?”
The soldier lowered his eyes: “Absolutely true. The person has already reached the city gate!”
Deputy General Zheng hesitated for a moment, then finally released his hand and said to the soldier: “Take me there immediately!”
Before leaving, he thought of something and said to Deputy General Li and the others: “You watch here. Before I return, absolutely do not let anyone execute the General!”
These people had been personally trained by Wang Zhengfeng, so they naturally agreed wholeheartedly. However, they didn’t notice that after Deputy General Zheng left with that soldier, another soldier also quietly left the execution ground.
Because everyone had rushed to the execution ground, the area became sparse with people after leaving the execution ground’s vicinity. After walking for about half an incense stick’s time, a cold glint appeared in Deputy General Zheng’s eyes. He stopped and said to the soldier still leading the way ahead: “This isn’t the road to the city gate!”
The soldier stopped and slowly turned around, but didn’t speak. He only stared at Deputy General Zheng with an extremely strange look, making the latter’s hair stand on end. He instinctively stepped back and said warily: “What you said earlier was all false?”
Just now at the execution ground, this soldier had whispered in his ear that Li Shimin, upon learning that someone in Luoyang City intended to commit treason, had sent an envoy to investigate and was waiting at the city gate. It was because of these words that he had immediately rushed over. Now it seemed extremely likely to be a trap.
“If not for this, how could we lure Deputy General Zheng here?” Hearing this voice from behind him, Deputy General Zheng suddenly turned around to see a robust soldier looking at him coldly.
This person… looked very familiar, as if he had seen him somewhere, but he couldn’t remember for the moment.
As Deputy General Zheng pondered hard, the soldier had already approached to within a few steps of him: “There’s a road to heaven but you won’t take it; hell has no gate but you insist on barging in. You chose this dead end yourself—don’t blame others!”
At this moment, inspiration flashed in Deputy General Zheng’s mind and he finally remembered his identity, saying in shock: “You are Li Yuan…”
Before the word “ji” could leave his mouth, his neck was already viciously grabbed, unable to make a sound: “That’s right, I am Li Yuanji. Unfortunately, you realized too late.”
Deputy General Zheng struggled to pry off the hand choking his neck, but Li Yuanji was incredibly strong—far beyond what he could move. The strength in his hands grew weaker and his eyes gradually rolled back.
Li Yuanji glanced at the sky and said indifferently: “It’s noon, the third quarter. Wang Zhengfeng should die too. You can go keep him company. However… two people are still too few, not lively enough. We should send that whole group of yours to keep you company. Don’t you think so?”
With the last word falling, he added more force to his hand, forcibly breaking Deputy General Zheng’s neck bones. The man who had been able to struggle moments before immediately died, his head hanging at a grotesque angle.
The soldier hadn’t expected Li Yuanji to kill so decisively. For a moment, his legs trembled slightly. Looking around, he said with a strained voice: “Your Highness, while there’s no one around, let’s quickly bury the body. Otherwise, it would be bad if someone discovered it.” He was one of Jiang Yuan’s personal guards and one of the few who knew of Li Jiancheng and his brother’s existence. Earlier, he had lured Deputy General Zheng here on Li Jiancheng’s orders.
Li Yuanji said impatiently: “Bury what? Who has that time? Just find some abandoned house and put him in it. We’ll deal with it later when there’s time.” Then he added: “I’ll rush back to the execution ground first. You come quickly after you’re done.”
As Li Yuanji hurried back to the execution ground in double-quick time, the situation there had already reached a stalemate, even to the point of explosion!
Jiang Yuan said with a solemn expression: “It’s noon, the third quarter. The execution must proceed!” As he spoke, he reached for the lot tube. Deputy General Li snatched it away, refusing to give it to him under any circumstances. Once the red lot inside fell to the ground, the executioner would carry out the execution and chop off Wang Zhengfeng’s head.
“Give me the lot tube!” Faced with Jiang Yuan’s words, Deputy General Li refused to let go, shouting loudly: “Deputy General Zheng said that before he returns, absolutely no execution is permitted!”
Jiang Yuan laughed bitterly in his anger: “Since when does Deputy General Zheng make the decisions in Luoyang City?”
Deputy General Li was momentarily stunned, then said firmly: “I don’t care. In any case, before he returns, absolutely no execution is permitted!”
“Impossible!” Facing this stubborn fool, Jiang Yuan also became angry, forcefully slapping the table: “If that Zheng fellow doesn’t return for a year, am I supposed to wait a year for him?”
Actually, Deputy General Li was also anxious. Deputy General Zheng wasn’t someone who didn’t keep his word. Logically, after being gone so long, he should have returned by now. Why was there still no sign of him?
Someone beside them tried to mediate: “General, this matter is indeed quite serious. Why don’t we wait a bit longer?”
Jiang Yuan snorted coldly: “It’s fine for me to wait, but what about the imperial decree? Should we disobey it and thus forfeit all our lives?”
That person was left speechless by his argument. Indeed, with an imperial decree present, who dared disobey? Seeing that others remained silent, Jiang Yuan once again reached out toward Deputy General Li, saying sternly: “Return the lot tube!”
“Don’t even think about it!” Deputy General Li’s answer was extremely straightforward. He was calculating in his mind—there was an unwritten rule for all executions that they must be carried out at noon, the third quarter. Once this time passed, no one could be killed and it would have to wait until the next day.