The woman kneeling in front of Qiu Yizhi raised her head slowly upon hearing this. It was none other than the lay Buddhist Miaozhen. She smiled and said, "I am Miaozhen, and I am an old friend of Master Qiu. Could it be that Master has forgotten me?"
She spoke in a very calm tone, as if she didn't know that she would be executed on the spot in a moment.
Qiu Yizi looked carefully and saw that Miao Zhen looked fine and even had some light makeup on her face. She didn't look like a dying person at all - but the ropes tied around her body and the label stuck behind her head made it very clear that this person was about to be beheaded.
Therefore, Qiu Yizi didn't want to bother with her any more, so he turned to the clerk and said, "This person is Miaozhen." Without waiting for Miaozhen to reply, he turned around and walked off the stage.
Qiu Yizi hurriedly walked to the shed, bowed to Zheng Xin, and said, "Your Highness, I have verified their identities and found that they are Miaozhen, Li Shenshi, and Cai Min." He looked up and saw Zheng Xin nodding slightly with a serious face, so he returned to his seat and sat down - already panting.
Zheng Xin looked up and saw that the shadow of the bamboo pole on the ground had shrunk to a point the size of a fist. He knew that it was exactly noon, and there was only a blink of an eye left before the execution at three quarters past noon.
So he said loudly: "There are three prisoners on the stage. You will be executed immediately. Do you have any last words?"
Before Zheng Xin finished speaking, Li Shenshi and Cai Min shouted at the same time - however, when two people shouted at the same time, no one's voice could be heard clearly.
Zheng Xin was furious when he heard this. He slammed the gavel and said, "You are about to die, but you still don't know how to behave properly? You are so unruly. Do you still have the demeanor of a scholar? If you have anything to say, speak up one by one."
As soon as Zheng Xin finished speaking, Li Shenshi and Cai Min were silent for a long while, waiting for the other to speak, but when they saw that the other did not say anything, they shouted at the same time - the same thing as before.
Seeing them making such a commotion, Zheng Xin was immediately furious. He slammed the gavel and said, "Shut up, everyone! Shut up!"
Li Shenshi and Cai Min were indeed frightened into silence after hearing this.
Zheng Xin's face was extremely ugly, and he said stiffly: "Li Shenshi, you speak first!"
Li Shenshi, who was kneeling, was stunned for a moment, and then he said after a while: "I have committed heinous crimes, I deserve to be put to death, I deserve more than enough death..." and then he began to recount his crimes non-stop.
Zheng Xin found it boring and tried to interrupt him several times, but Li Shenshi seemed not to hear Zheng Xin's scolding and continued to talk nonstop.
Li Shenshi talked like this for more than a quarter of an hour before he finally fainted under the merciless scorching sun. He was tied up and lying on the earthen platform, foaming at the mouth.
The two executioners beside him panicked when they saw this, and hurriedly threw away their butcher knives, poured cold water on Li Shenshi's head, pinched his Ren Zhong, and finally woke him up. Although Li Shenshi regained consciousness, his mouth was dry and he could no longer speak.
Seeing this, Zheng Xin finally breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Cai Min, what else do you want to say?"
Cai Min was much calmer than Li Shenshi and said, "Your Highness, please untie me. I have a suicide poem to write."
Zheng Xin nodded, ordered the executioner to release one of Cai Min's arms, and ordered someone to bring a pen, ink, paper, and inkstone. Cai Min took the pen and scribbled a few lines of poetry on the rice paper with one hand. Then he breathed a sigh of relief, as if all the anger in his chest had been released.
The executioner held Cai Min's suicide poem and presented it to Zheng Xin.
Zheng Xin looked at it intently, but saw a five-character regulated verse written crookedly on it: The past fifty years have been a dream, and today I bid farewell to this worldly world; when the waters overflow with dragons in the future, I will recognize that the cigarettes are my next life.
(Taken from Heshen's suicide poem.)
Zheng Xin only read it once and said to Cai Min in a loud voice: "Is this your suicide poem? A shameless and spineless official like you still think you can make a comeback in the next life? This is nonsense!" After that, he balled up the rice paper with Cai Min's last thoughts written on it and threw it away.
But Zheng Xin said again: "Miao Zhen, do you have anything else to say? It's almost three quarters after noon, you better speak quickly!"
Miao Zhen listened, slowly raised his head and said: "Yes. But I only want to tell Lord Qiu."
"Ridiculous!" Zheng Xin cursed, "If you don't want to talk, just keep it to yourself and tell the King of Hell. Why are you still acting so arrogant when you are about to die?"
Qiu Yizi said, "Your Highness, why are you so angry? I am curious about what else this evil Taoist has to say, so I will go over and listen. I am afraid she will not be able to do anything."
Zheng Xin nodded with a wooden face and said, "Then Lord Qiu should go and listen, but be careful of her tricks."
Qiu Yizi bowed, then quickly stood up and trotted to the side of Miao Zhen, and asked, "Miao Zhen, I'm right in front of you. If you have any last words, just tell me."
Miao Zhen listened, slowly raised her head, and a smile appeared on the corner of her mouth. She said, "Master Qiu, please come closer. I don't want to tell others what I said."
Qiu Yi had no choice but to put her ear close to Miao Zhen's mouth and wait for her to speak.
But Miao Zhen said with a breath as sweet as orchid: "My words are all written on a small piece of paper, which is stuffed in my right ear. Sir Qiu, please take it out and have a look."
Qiu Yizhi was stunned when he heard this, wondering what this unpredictable and erratic lay Buddhist Miao Zhen was up to. He turned his head and looked carefully at Miao Zhen's right ear, and indeed saw a ball of white rice paper stuffed in her ear hole.
Qiu Yizi was afraid that Miaozhen had stewed poison on the paper, so he didn't dare to take it with his hands. He picked up a straw from the ground and carefully inserted the straw into Miaozhen's ear hole, and sure enough, he took out a small piece of paper.
The executioner on the platform, the soldiers guarding around, Zheng Xin and other supervising officials sitting in the pergola, and the spectators in the tall buildings on the surrounding streets were all shocked by Qiu Yizi's strange behavior. They all watched with bated breath - the originally bustling Sanshan Street intersection suddenly became silent.
Qiu Yizi saw that there was nothing unusual about the rice paper, and smelled it carefully. There was no smell either, so he plucked up his courage and flattened it to take a look. He saw three words written neatly on it: "Tianzunjiao"!
When Qiu Yizi saw these three words, his mind suddenly buzzed. He was silent for a long time and was about to ask Miaozhen why he mentioned the name of the cult here.
But then a shocking thunder was heard in the air. Looking up, the clear blue sky just now was now covered by endless dark clouds, and the sound of muffled thunder continued to rumble in the clouds.
The sudden thunder suddenly woke Qiu Yizhi up, and he hurriedly shouted to Zheng Xin: "Your Highness, Miao Zhen cannot be killed!"
As soon as he said this, another thunder struck with a deafening sound, so loud that Qiu Yizi couldn't even hear what he said, let alone Zheng Xin who was more than ten steps away.
So Qiu Yizi took a deep breath and was about to shout "Spare his life", but he heard the roar of the cannons that had been prepared behind the shed, and then heard Zheng Xin's loud voice: "It's three quarters after noon, execute!"
The three executioners standing on the stage heard it clearly, raised their butcher knives high, and chopped off the backs of Miaozhen, Li Shenshi, and Cai Min's heads. Three red lights flashed, and the three bloody heads had been separated from the necks that originally supported them, and rolled around on the earthen platform.
At the same time, a series of dull thunders sounded in the sky again, followed by raindrops the size of quail eggs falling down, hitting Qiu Yizi's face and causing bursts of pain.
He lowered his head to look at the piece of paper he had taken out of Miaozhen's ear, but saw that it had been soaked by the rain, and the three shocking words "Tianzunjiao" had gradually become blurred. He reached out to wipe it, but the already blurred words became even more difficult to recognize.
Qiu Yizi was afraid that this only remaining evidence would be destroyed in his hands, so he was about to hide the note in his arms. Unexpectedly, another rainstorm poured down, and countless raindrops hit the paper, finally turning the three words "Tianzun Sect" into a ball of ink, which could no longer be recognized.
Qiu Yizi was suddenly at a loss as to what to do. She stood blankly on the uncovered earthen platform. The rain water under her feet and the blood from the three corpses had mixed together and flowed everywhere.
But he heard Zheng Xin shouting towards him: "What are you doing, Master Qiu? Come back and take shelter from the rain!"
Qiu Yizi slowly raised his head like a madman, and said to Zheng Xin almost talking to himself: "Something bad has happened..." He didn't know if his elder brother could hear him clearly.
Seeing Qiu Yizhi still standing in the rain, Zheng Xin was not afraid of getting sick from the rain. He personally held up the large umbrella that was originally prepared for sun protection, walked out of the awning, walked quickly to Qiu Yizhi's side, and said, "Brother, what's wrong? You followed our father through mountains of swords and seas of fire. How many living people have you killed and how many dead people have you seen? How come you are scared by these three criminals who deserved to die?"
Qiu Yizi turned his head and looked at Zheng Xin, who was looking at him with a smile. Just as he was about to speak, he saw more than a dozen attendants and officials holding umbrellas and climbing onto the platform in the rain. He lowered his voice and said to Zheng Xin, "Brother, there may be other hidden stories behind this. There are too many people here to discuss this in detail. I dare to ask you to talk in Qixia Temple."
Seeing Qiu Yi's serious expression, Zheng Xin said, "Okay, let's go back to Qixia Temple and discuss it in detail without further delay."
As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of north wind blew, dispersing the dark clouds in the sky. In an instant, the wind stopped and the rain stopped. The sun radiated a scorching light again. The whole Jinling city seemed to have turned into a huge steamer. Water vapor rose up, and a strange atmosphere shrouded the prosperous city.
Seeing that the rain had stopped and the sky had cleared, Zheng Xin threw away the paper umbrella in his hand and rode towards Qixia Temple with Qiu Yi.
After passing the mountain gate outside the temple, the two went straight into the Zen room where Zheng Xin was staying without stopping.
Seeing that there was no one around the Zen room, Qiu Yizhi wiped the sweat off his forehead with his sleeves, and without further ado, he asked, "Brother, do you know what Miaozhen did before he died?"
Zheng Xin said nonchalantly: "Brother, you called me over here so urgently, just to talk about this? I thought Miao Zhen is so stubborn that he can't say anything good..."
"Tianzun Sect!" Qiu Yizi no longer cared about etiquette and interrupted Zheng Xin directly.
"What!" Zheng Xin was so surprised that he cried out, but then he regained his composure and said, "How did Miao Zhen involve the Tianzun Sect again? Why didn't you tell me before? Did I hear it wrongly?"
Qiu Yizi shook his head and said, "I didn't hear the three words 'Tianzunjiao', but Miaozhen wrote them in black and white on paper." After saying that, he handed the note he had just taken out of Miaozhen's ear to Zheng Xin.
Zheng Xin took the note and finally flattened the crumpled paper. He could only see that the note was blurry and he couldn't make out what was written on it. So Zheng Xin handed the note back to Qiu Yizi and said, "Are you kidding me, my dear brother? There is clearly not a single word on this piece of paper." (To be continued)