A few days later.
Xu Lian felt that the Zhao sisters had suffered enough fear in the dungeon, so he asked the county magistrate to issue a notice of disposition.
The first item in the notice clearly stated that the patriarchs of the Zhao, Zhou and Zheng families had died long ago and were controlled as corpse puppets by some infiltrated sects and forces, who besieged the previous garrison commander. Therefore, all the members of the Zhao, Zhou and Zheng families were innocent and were released without charge.
However, the patriarchs of the three families besieged the previous garrison commander, causing him to suffer severe damage and unable to maintain order in Pingyang County. Many evil practitioners and demons and monsters took the opportunity to burn, kill and loot, causing serious losses to the entire Pingyang County. The three families had to take responsibility and their property was confiscated as a punishment.
The second item in the notice was the punishment for some small and medium-sized families. Burning, killing, looting and taking advantage of the fire were unforgivable. Except for the elderly, the weak, women and children, all the others would be beheaded in the vegetable market as a public display.
The third article of the notice did not give any reason for the punishment of all kinds of demons and monsters, but simply beheaded them in Caishikou as a warning to the public.
The Day
noon.
Caishikou was packed with people. Almost all the citizens in the city gathered here. Their eyes were red and they shouted at the top of their lungs, wanting to avenge their dead relatives.
The temporary execution ground had already been set up. Xu Lian sat in the main seat with a long table in front of him. On the table were a cup of tea and a box of beheading orders.
The county magistrate, chief clerk, registrar, inspector and other high-ranking officials in the yamen sat upright below the main seat, and in front of Xu Lian, they all acted like "good boys".
The crowded crowd slowly parted to make way, and prisoners in shackles and chains were escorted over by officers and soldiers.
Among the hundreds of prisoners, about half were humans, and the other half were strange-looking demons and monsters. All of them were poisoned and were limp and unable to resist.
The excited crowd cursed and spat, and threw rotten eggs, rotten vegetable leaves, stones and bricks that they had prepared long ago at the prisoners, making them filthy and bleeding.
The prisoners all looked numb and hopeless, no longer able to feel anything.
The officers and soldiers escorted the prisoners to the execution ground and made them kneel down in rows facing the people.
Xu Lian took a sip of tea, glanced at the sun in the sky, and announced, "It's three quarters past noon, kill!"
After saying that.
He picked up a beheading order from the box and threw it on the execution ground.
When the token falls to the ground, it means the head falls to the ground.
One by one, the executioners began to drink and sprayed the wine on the swords. They raised the swords high in both hands and swung them hard under the sunlight.
If they were normal practitioners, these executioners would definitely not be able to chop them up, but these prisoners had been drugged for several days, their cultivation had long been corroded, and their bodies had been softened, so they were not much different from ordinary people.
“Puff, puff, puff!”…
Blood flowers bloomed and heads rolled to the ground cleanly and neatly.
The crowd burst into thunderous applause, and many people whose relatives had been in trouble had tears in their eyes and murmured to themselves to comfort their relatives' spirits in heaven.
To be on the safe side, the county magistrate personally checked the bodies and confirmed that they were dead. Then he reported to Xu Lian, "Master, all the prisoners are dead."
Xu Lian stood up from the main seat and left.
The county magistrate ordered the officers and soldiers, "Hang these decapitated bodies at the city gate, expose them to the sun for three days, and then throw them into the mass grave as a warning. This is the fate of those who cause chaos in Pingyang County."
The officers and soldiers carried the decapitated bodies onto dozens of horse-drawn carriages that had been prepared long ago, and stuffed the heads directly into sacks, filling up twenty or thirty sacks.
People were still not satisfied with the show and slowly dispersed.
...
The dungeon entrance.
Everyone from the Zhao, Zhou, and Zheng families was released. They all had bright smiles on their faces, excited expressions, and tears in their eyes. They thought they were going to die, but unexpectedly they could save their lives. They had a sense of rebirth after surviving a disaster.
Although his huge property was confiscated, compared with his life, it was nothing.
If you lose the resources for spiritual practice, you can earn them again, but if you lose your life, it is really gone. You should understand this principle.
The sisters Zhao Yuqing and Zhao Yuhe looked at each other, both with red eyes, knowing that this was the result of Xu Lian's hard work... and asking the Yijiao for it.
The two sisters were grateful and touched towards Xu Lian, as well as happy and missed him, and they wished they could be by Xu Lian's side immediately.
"Hey, where's Ren'er?"
Soon, Zheng Ren's father discovered that his legitimate son was missing, and only a group of illegitimate sons and daughters were with him.
The Zheng family members looked around but didn't see Zheng Ren.
"Did the young master fall asleep in the cell?"
"Hahaha, Young Master Di is worthy of being Young Master Di. He is really generous. He can remain calm and sleep soundly in a prison cell. We are not as nervous as we are. We are far from Young Master Di's mentality."...
The tribesmen admired him very much and couldn't help but praise him.
Zheng Ren's father couldn't help but smile with relief, "After this disaster, Ren'er has truly developed the heart of a strong man."
He felt around his body, trying to find a piece of silver to bribe the officer guarding the dungeon gate, but unfortunately, he couldn't find even a copper coin, which made him a little embarrassed. He could only bow and say, "Sir, please go in and call my Ren'er."
As the head of a wealthy family in Pingyang County, in the past, he would not even bother to look at small characters like the official, let alone address them as "official sir". Unfortunately, times are different now. He has just become a free man from a prisoner and has lost his former dignity, so he has to take these small characters seriously.
The officer guarding the dungeon said calmly, "No need to shout, just stay in the dungeon."
Hearing this, the head of the Zheng family couldn't help but frown, "Why don't you call?"
The officer said coldly, "Why are there so many of you? Leave immediately. If you don't leave, you will be treated as a prison breaker."
The two Zhao sisters looked at each other strangely, and vaguely guessed that Zheng Ren’s failure to be released might be related to Xu Lian.
The head of the Zheng family looked embarrassed. He was the head of a wealthy family. He used to be so glorious in Pingyang County. Wherever he went, he was treated like a star. How could he have ever been treated so poorly by such a small character
He could kill a small character like this with just a flick of his finger.
However, he didn't dare to move at all now.
He had just come out of the dungeon. If he had a conflict with the people in the yamen and caused dissatisfaction from above, the consequences would be disastrous.
He left with his clansmen with a gloomy face. The matter of rescuing his legitimate son could only be considered over time.
The Zhao and Zhou families also left.
Now penniless and without even a place to stay, the Zhao family discussed it and decided to seek refuge with a family with which they had an alliance.
However, he didn't even have the money to rent a carriage, so he had to walk there.
People on the street looked at the Zhao family members walking on foot with strange eyes. The "hatred of the rich" is the same in any world. Seeing the once high and mighty big family fall to this point, everyone is gloating. This is human nature.
It was not appropriate for the Zhao family to run fast on the street, as that would be too embarrassing. They could only try to make their steps appear calmer and retain the last bit of dignity of the big family.
It took more than an hour to walk.
Finally, we came to a family with which we had an alliance through marriage, the Fei family.
However, when the Fei family's gatekeeper saw the Zhao family coming from afar, his face changed immediately and he hurriedly closed the door, as if he was avoiding the plague god, trying to avoid them as much as possible.
This made everyone in the Zhao family freeze, and they slowly stopped, knowing that there was no need to go over...
Obviously, the Fei family's gatekeeper had already received instructions from the head of the Fei family before he dared to do this. The action of closing the door says it all.