Chapter 1419
The Siege, Finally Dead
Chapter 1419 The Siege, Finally Dead
The Prince of Ye pressed hard on the acupoints on both sides of his forehead. The soreness quickly cleared his mind. He assured his second uncle, "Second brother-in-law, rest assured, I will ensure that the Wei people in the city live and die with dignity. I will not let them suffer the same fate as the captured Wei people, nor will I let them be killed prematurely by the fear of their families!"
"I will not tolerate the likes of Qu Ba. Not only will they pay with their lives, but their foolish deeds will also be recorded, so that they will be infamous for posterity!"
"That's right." Uncle Qin was satisfied, and then instructed, "Brother-in-law, hang in there. Don't let the troubles inside and outside the city break you down, or we'll have no one to rely on."
After saying that, he hurriedly went to catch up with Qin Xiaomi and the others.
The Prince of Ye smiled as he watched him run like a monkey, then roused himself and said to the envoy Qi, "It was because I was too soft-hearted. In the future, many extraordinary events will occur inside and outside the city. If I am still soft-hearted at that time, I ask the envoy Qi, Lord Yan, and Magistrate Qu to scold me awake."
Qi Tianshi's outburst and argument with her niece were just an act for him. Both Qi Tianshi and her niece disliked his overly kind-heartedness in protecting everyone.
In wartime, wartime military law must be used to govern.
The King of Ye rose and bowed respectfully to the three of them.
Qi Tianshi and Qu Tongzhi were annoyed by the dawdling, but they still exchanged a few polite words.
However, Qu Ba and the others suffered the consequences.
But at this moment, Qu Laoba was still self-righteous and shouted at Wei Min, who was watching from the "execution ground" at the gate of Wuyuan, "We are doing this for their own good, so that they won't be harmed by groups of enemy soldiers!"
"Look at those captured Wei civilians who were rescued. The men were all raped by the enemy, and the young women were all raped and killed by the enemy. After they died, they were even made into meat food!"
"It's too tragic, too disgusting! Can you bear to see the women in your family suffer such a fate? No one can! That's why I sent them off early, to spare them humiliation, to give them a proper burial. What did I do wrong?!"
Qu Laoba roared and shouted, feeling extremely wronged.
The men of the Yun clan also felt wronged: "It was my mother/grandmother who wanted to lead the wives and girls of the clan to jump into the pond. They went to jump in the middle of the night. We only found out after the accident. We are innocent!"
"Bah! You Yun family members still have the nerve to cry foul? The witnesses have all said that it was the men of your Yun family who drove the person into the pond with knives... Waaah, my poor Xi Niang, my poor granddaughter, you killed her just like that!"
"Thank goodness Yun Shier's wife didn't drown and was rescued, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to expose the evil deeds of you beasts!"
"My Ningcui is no longer Yun Shier's wife. We have severed all ties. From now on, Ningcui will live with her parents. If the city falls, the whole family will go together; if we win, she will find a good husband and remarry. She will no longer have anything to do with the Yun family. We ask all the elders and villagers to be our witnesses!" Qian Ningcui's family shouted, using this occasion to ensure that Qian Ningcui severed all ties with the Yun family.
"Don't worry, Elder Qian, we'll all testify for your eldest granddaughter and won't let the Yun family tarnish her reputation!"
Boom boom boom!
"The King of Ye has arrived!" With a loud shout, Commander Wei led the Wei soldiers protecting Wu Garden out, quickly silencing the noisy execution site.
The King of Ye, accompanied by Qi the Angel, Lord Yan, Magistrate Qu, and Elder Qiong, arrived at the high platform at the entrance. He read out the various crimes of Qu Ba, Clan Chief Yun, and those who set fire to people's houses to vent their inner fears, and announced their punishments.
The prisoners were terrified and furious, shouting, "Wrongfully killed! Wrongfully killed! We did nothing wrong! We were trying to help them and save them from being harmed by the enemy! The King of Ye's treatment of us is against justice!"
"Ha, you're not even human, and you cry foul after being severely punished? If I had three-tenths as thick-skinned as you back then, I wouldn't have had to castrate myself to become a eunuch just for a bite to eat." Qi Tianshi mocked, utterly despising them: "Your bodies may be whole, but you're not even as good as eunuchs. Every day you live is a disgrace to the Northeast!" "You, you eunuch, you have no female relatives to worry about, so it's easy for you to talk like that. If you had a wife and daughters, if your wife and daughters were about to be ravaged by hordes of enemy soldiers, would you still be able to talk like that?!" Qu Laoba knew very well that if he couldn't win the argument, he would die, so he roared until his mouth was almost torn.
Upon hearing this, Qi Tianshi looked at Qu Laoba, a smile playing on his lips. He pointed at him with his long, slender fingers and ordered the assassins and eunuchs: "Disrespecting His Majesty's angels will result in the removal of their ears, noses, and tongues, to protect His Majesty's divine authority."
Two assassin eunuchs moved with lightning speed, flashing to Qu Laoba's side. With four quick cuts, they severed his ears, nose, and tongue, placing them on a wooden tray for Qi Tianshi to inspect.
"Ahhh!" Old Qu was rolling on the ground in pain.
The criminals nearby were so frightened that they backed away to both sides, their faces pale, and they also felt a sharp pain in their tongues.
After this minor punishment, the prisoners became obedient and dared not utter another word.
But Old Master Yun, who was also Old Madam Yun's husband, still dared to say a few words. He raised his droopy eyelids, looked at Qi Tianshi and Ye Wang, and said five sentences.
The first sentence: "May I ask the King of Ye and the Qi envoy, where are Your Majesty's reinforcements? Without reinforcements, is this battle doomed to defeat?"
The second sentence: "Since defeat is inevitable, wouldn't it be a blessing to let the women of the clan die before the city falls, rather than letting them suffer the same humiliation as the captured Wei women before they die?"
The third sentence states: "When foreign enemies invade, the court is powerless to resist them and save the people. We can only bear the consequences ourselves. What's wrong with us helping the women die peacefully and innocently?"
The fourth sentence: "If the families of those captured female Wei Min knew what had happened to them, they would probably regret not being able to help them die sooner."
The last sentence: "If the King of Ye believes we are guilty, then kill us. However, after the city falls, many people will cry out for justice for us!"
Good heavens, that old man is really cunning. Every word he says sounds reasonable and well-founded, but it's just something to listen to.
The Prince of Ye retorted, "I ask you, can the city fall at this moment? Can you be sure the capital city is beyond saving before the day it falls? If the capital city is saved, who will pay for the lives of the hundreds or thousands of women you forced to die prematurely?!"
That's right, it wasn't just Qu Laoba and the Yun clan who did this last night, but the Yun clan had the most people killed, nearly two hundred.
Fortunately, drowning takes time, and a group of women were rescued.
"Even if the city falls, it will take time for the enemy to advance from the city gates to the civilian houses. Wouldn't it be more humane to die then?!"
"Benevolence, righteousness, propriety, filial piety, and loyalty—if a person lacks benevolence, how is he different from a beast?!"
Tsk, even Qi the Angel wants to emulate the Qin family. He tsk a few times to show his disdain, but as His Majesty's angel, he had to maintain his composure and only urged, "Prince Ye, please hurry."
Kill them all, kill them quickly, stop talking nonsense!
The King of Ye concluded by saying, "What I, the government troops, and I are here to do is protect the people within the city until the city falls. If the city falls, we will perish together with it. If the city does not fall, you are forcing people to commit suicide, which is murder. Since you have murdered people, you shall be executed according to the law!"
"Guards, execute the punishment of being cut in half at the waist!"
Upon hearing the King of Ye's cry, Qi Tianshi, in the voice of Uncle Qin, exclaimed: "Oh dear, I'm finally going to die!"