Zheng Quchi didn't believe a word of it: "I just checked that you are unharmed, but you are stained with blood. Did Empress Ye send you to hunt down His Highness the Crown Prince? Where is he now?"
She asked the last sentence especially hard, like scales and sharp blades piercing their skin.
"I, we don't have it. He is in Yixiu Palace. Please go and save him quickly!"
There was obviously something wrong with the state of these imperial guards, but Zheng Quchi did not make any further speculations or doubts. He only felt guilty and panicked when he caught them, which was why they were so incoherent.
"Of course I want to save people!"
When Zheng Quchi thought of the pitiful and helpless situation Yuan Xingzhou was currently in, being bullied wantonly by Empress Ye and other rebels, he didn't want to waste any more time asking questions.
She summoned someone to lead the way, and she rushed along the long red-walled road. The wind-cooled torches flickered and flickered, and a hazy stream of light flashed through the exquisite buildings in silence in the dark night, and then disappeared in an instant, regaining their beauty under the pale moonlight. Yinque.
Opened by the Xuanjia Army, the unstoppable momentum reached Yixiu Palace all the way. The stars and trees around the palace were bright, completely different from the dim and gray colors around it. Its bright color swept away the silence and strictness.
But Zheng Quchi rushed to Yixiudian worriedly all the way, but what she saw was not the chaotic fighting scene she had imagined.
Bang——
The thick red door was opened, with green trees, yellow walls and green tiles. In front of the palace, a guard with a knife and a torch stood under the eaves like a fire dragon. The light shining out of Yixiu Hall was bright and abundant, and you could see it at a glance. On the stone steps, I saw ministers wearing heavy court uniforms kneeling one by one in front of the palace...
When the sudden invasion of the army spilled into Yixiu Hall, the guards with swords guarding Yixiu Hall were immediately alerted. They looked over in shock and alert, their tense bodies already on alert.
"Who dares to break into Yixiu Palace at night?"
Zheng Quchi was a little confused when he saw this scene.
At this time, she heard a miserable wailing sound coming from Yixiu Palace, a long voice with a different tone, and her scalp was numb with shock. If she looked more carefully, she could still see blood coming from the white marble. The gully of the cast Yunlong stepstones slowly flowed down.
"Spare, spare your life, we know we were wrong, we admit our guilt, we know we were wrong, we admit our guilt..."
At this time, the completely frightened courtiers couldn't help but kneel on the cold stone steps, kowtow vigorously and beg for mercy. They looked pious and repentant, even ignoring the fact that they would smash their heads and bleed.
She frowned, feeling more and more that the current situation was very strange.
What is happening in Yixiu Palace? Why are a group of courtiers so frightened that they kneel outside and kowtow to beg for mercy?
What about Yuan Xingzhou?
Where are they after Ye?
Just as the guards were about to drive away Zheng Quchi and the others who broke into the palace, Wang Feichen suddenly saw Zheng Quchi's face clearly with sharp eyes. His face suddenly changed, and he strode over to shout: "Stop it!"
The guard with the sword froze for a moment and looked at Wang Feichen in confusion. Sure enough, he made no other attack moves for a while.
Zheng Quchi also noticed him at this time.
"Wang Feichen?"
Didn't he enter the palace with Yuan Xingzhou? Now that he is standing here safe and sound, Yuan Xingzhou...
"Wang Feichen has met the general's wife."
Wang Feichen tried his best to keep his expression calm. He stood in front of Zheng Quchi, intentionally or unintentionally blocking her from entering Yixiu Hall.
Pang Min, who had just patrolled behind, heard the report and rushed over with his knife in hand. When he saw that the person who came was Zheng Quchi, his pupils were stifled. Why is she here?
He subconsciously glanced at the Yixiu Palace, his thoughts wandered several times, and he and Wang Feichen stepped forward to salute: "Pang Min, the Royal Guardsman, has met the General's wife."
These people were all following Yuan Xingzhou, and she had seen them before at the Golden Heron Hunting Ground where the Six Nations were testing their troops.
Zheng Quchi's penetrating eyes stayed on them for a second, and then he calmly turned to Yixiudian: "Is His Royal Highness inside?"
In the past, they only thought that Zheng Quchi had a kind-hearted personality and was easy to get along with. They never knew that once she showed her majestic side, she would be so stressful.
The two lowered their heads and looked at each other. After secretly exchanging glances, Wang Feichen replied: "...Yes."
"Is Empress Ye also in there?"
Zheng Quchi's voice was soft, which seemed so out of place in the environment that was shrouded in a murderous atmosphere. But at the same time, it was like the sky at this time, as dark as a piece of iron, as if it would sink in an instant.
This time Wang Feichen did not answer, but Pang Min took the lead and said: "Yes."
"Whose people are you from?"
Wang Feichen's expression was a little unnatural: "Madam General, I hope you won't interfere with what happens in Yixiu Palace tonight. Tomorrow..."
None of them expected that she would lead her troops to force her way into the palace. Now the palace is in a state of disorder and chaos. The guards from all sides did not report the matter immediately, which is why they seem so passive now.
But at the same time, this incident also forced them to re-examine the dangers of the military power held by the general's wife in front of them to His Highness and the Ye Kingdom.
Zheng Quchi interrupted him directly: "Why should I trust you? I want to see Yuan Xingzhou."
She took a step forward resolutely, but Pang Min quickly stretched out his arms to block her.
He lowered his face and said: "You are not allowed to summon us. Breaking into the palace without permission is considered rebellion. Please be careful and please the general's wife to withdraw your troops and leave the palace immediately."
Wang Feichen's eyes widened, he grabbed Pang Min and exerted his strength, and warned in a low voice: "Pang Pang, this is the general's wife, please speak more politely!"
He knew very well what His Highness's attitude was towards the General's wife. Although they were ordered to guard outside the Yixiu Palace to prevent anything that disturbed His Highness the Crown Prince's ongoing affairs, they could not offend anyone.
Zheng Quchi was about to speak when he heard another shrill scream coming from Yixiu Palace, like torture being intensified. At the same time, someone screamed in horror: "Yuan Xingzhou, your father has just passed away, so you are going to cause massacre here." Damn it, so heartbroken and crazy——"
Zheng Quchi's eardrums shook, and he was stunned for a moment, then waved Pang Min away without any hesitation: "Get out of the way——"
Wang Feichen was so anxious that he scratched his ears: "Madam, you'd better not go, it's too messy inside, you..."
"Shut up!"
She turned her face, and the deputy commander of the Xuanjia Army strode forward and separated the two of them with a sword: "If you don't want to die, get out of the way of Madam immediately! Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless."
At the same time, a group of Xuanjia troops also surrounded them. The iron-blooded aura they brought back from the battlefield was beyond the ability of ordinary people to bear. Even Pang Min and Wang Feichen felt that they were driven to the point of being overwhelmed. Feeling angry.
Zheng Quchi saw that Wang Feichen and Pang Min were under control and escorted by the Xuanjia Army, so she walked to the footpath unimpeded.
The ministers who were kneeling here couldn't help but look up at her. They had been unable to kneel for a long time, and they had already lost their energy. They could only survive now because of their will to survive.
They didn't know if the general's wife was their lifeline, but they hoped that she would be.
Silently moving his tired and heavy body, he allowed her to pass, heading towards the place where the brutal execution was taking place.
Even though Zheng Quchi had made some mental preparations in her mind, when she actually stepped into Yixiu Hall, she couldn't help but be shocked by the bloody scenes inside.
"I, we don't have it. He is in Yixiu Palace. Please go and save him quickly!"
It turned out that what they said about saving people was not what she understood at all.
Sitting on the high dragon chair is a man with a lazy posture. He leans on the back of the chair, his expression is relaxed but powerful, and his eyes are hot and morbidly joyful as he stares down.
Standing on his left and right were two figures that she was very familiar with. They were Wang Zebang and Wei Yao who had been summoned to the palace earlier.
The hall is divided into left and right sides based on the central axis. On the left are dozens of civil and military ministers being escorted by guards to kneel on the ground. On the right are a group of Queen Ye being tied up. Yuan Chuhua is also among them. She is holding a little baby who is sobbing softly. The young man buried his head and shivered.
Finally, her eyes slowly moved to the center, where there were various horrific instruments of torture, some she recognized and some she didn't recognize. There was also a desk in the middle. On the desk, there was a pile of books that had been stamped with bloody fingerprints. confession document...
Each confession document represented a criminal who was tortured to death. She saw many corpses lying on the ground, including officials in court uniforms, nobles in ordinary uniforms, and palace guards and palace attendants.
The blood on the ground flowed from their bodies to her feet, and then flowed down the stone steps.
When he realized that someone was trespassing into Yi Xiu Hall, Yuan Xingzhou raised his eyes slightly, the murderous intention in his lazy and cold eyes was already evident. However, when he saw who it was, he sat up straight and almost lost his composure. body.
His sharp Adam's apple rolled: "...curved ruler?"
Wang Zebang and Wei Yao were originally standing in the field with expressionless expressions like two wooden stakes. When they saw the lady appear, their faces suddenly changed, and they looked caught off guard.
Zheng Quchi thought that she originally entered the palace to rescue, but the person she wanted to save now seemed to not need her help at all. Instead, others were desperately begging for mercy and help while he was applauding.
She reluctantly twitched the corners of her mouth: "Are you... interrogating?"
He stayed up most of the night, making people panic and blocking all external news. He was really interested.
The originally noisy and chaotic sounds in Yi Xiu Hall seemed to have disappeared without a trace at this moment.
Queen Ye's crazy struggling movements also stopped. When she saw Zheng Quchi, a hope of survival emerged from the bottom of her heart. She shouted loudly: "Zheng Quchi, please save me and all the ministers. Yuan Xingzhou is crazy. He set up a lynching hall to force us to plead guilty and be executed. In doing so, he was clearly avenging his personal revenge. He wanted to kill all the people of the late queen and her mother's clan, and also wanted to kill the Yuan clan's bloodline that was a threat to him. Kill them all at once!”
Queen Ye has lived in the palace for so long, so naturally she knows how to read the dishes and see a person's nature best. When she first saw Zheng Quchi, she knew that she was the woman of her and all the people in the palace. All different.
The clearness and calmness in her eyes stem from the purity and purity in her heart. She always has a side of kindness and trust in human nature. She is also a kind person. Such a person is stupid to a cunning and despicable person. She was lying, because she definitely couldn't stand others committing murder.
Zheng Quchi: "..." Is he so cruel?
"Why did you come to the palace at this hour?"
There was a fire in Yuan Xingzhou's heart that was getting stronger and stronger. He blocked all news because he didn't want her to get involved in this matter, and he didn't want her to see this scene. But he never thought that what he least wanted to happen, It just happened to happen.
He took a few steps into the palace and wanted to approach Zheng Quchi, but she stopped him: "Don't come here!"
He stiffened.
Zheng Quchi couldn't tell what she was feeling in her heart right now. She stroked her forehead and said feebly: "Do you want to kill everyone in this hall?"
"no."
Zheng Quchi was stunned and looked into his eyes.
But I heard him say with a bad smile: "There are also those kneeling outside."
At this time, Yuan Xingzhou was already aroused by her rebellious attitude. He was not a good-tempered person to begin with. He had always just put on a fake suit and pretended to be in front of her. He didn't think deeply about it. The reason why he made this gesture was because he subconsciously wanted her to get close to him and not let her fear and avoid him.
He worked hard and worked hard, and finally made her trust him and be willing to get along with him, but now everything... is ruined.
He once again saw the familiar yet disgusting feeling of alienation in her eyes, and she was thinking about how to escape and stay away from him again.
Zheng Quchi: "...Why?"
"Why? The people in Yixiu Palace right now are either those who secretly colluded with Empress Ye to commit treachery and murder the late king, or they are some rebellious ministers and rebels who surrendered to the enemy and treason, as well as these filthy Yuan clan bloodlines. Do you think this palace should not clear them out? A rotten moth that hinders the rejuvenation of the Ye Kingdom?"
Seeing that he could at least give a legitimate reason for killing, Zheng Quchi also understood the reason why these people were gathered here.
But does his way of dealing with problems have to be so extreme? If we choose to kill to stop killing in everything, no matter how big or small, without strict verification and layer-by-layer review, and public warnings to the people, then what else will national laws and regulations do?
As the future king of the Ye Kingdom, she really didn't want him to use violent means to solve problems. People would eventually be controlled by desires because they continued to indulge in desires, and they would be unable to extricate themselves. The same goes for indulging in the killing in the heart.
"You promised me, and I thought we had reached a consensus. You can avenge your mother, but you can't do anything that will endanger the foundation of Ye country. You killed so many courtiers and Yuan family's children just for the sake of pleasure, which will inevitably cause consequences. There is turmoil within the court, and the whole country is shocked, frightened, and uneasy. Do you want to make the already precarious situation of Ye State even worse?" She persuaded patiently.
"They all must die." Yuan Xingzhou did not intend to accept her persuasion. His world has never been kind and gray. He would wash the court with blood in exchange for a new one under his full control. Why not? ?
"If you want the country of Ye to prosper forever, this palace will help you achieve your wish, but you don't have to worry about the lives and deaths of these people."
Zheng Quchi was also a little angry at this time: "They are guilty, and they will be judged by the laws of the country. I will not protect them. You only need to transfer them to the Third Session of the Ministry of Criminal Justice for trial and conviction. They will receive whatever punishment they deserve. In this way, it is reasonable and legal.”
She didn't believe that all the courtiers gathered here should die, so why was Liu Guogong among them? (End of chapter)
