RPAGF Chapter 322 Life or Death
Chapter 322 Life or Death
"Does the Queen have any new instructions?" Although the tone was gentle, the eyes revealed a bit of cunning and alertness.
The Queen's tone was filled with anger: "Aren't you trying to beat her to death by doing this? If she really loses her life here, how will we explain it to the outside world? Wouldn't it make others laugh at her then?"
Even if she was just a nominal daughter-in-law, if she really died in this palace, how much gossip and rumors would there be in the outside world in the future?
How can a country allow itself to be humiliated by outsiders?
Facing the furious host, Eunuch Liu immediately bowed his head and admitted his fault with an extremely humble and sincere attitude. "I am only following the order of Your Majesty, please forgive me. The imperial edict does require Madam Jiang to accept these 100 punishments as a warning for education. We have only completed more than 40 of them. If we finish early, what should we do with the remaining parts?"
“It’s so arrogant!”
The queen was furious and scolded him directly.
Eunuch Liu apologized in a low voice, his expression became more submissive, but behind his words was a powerful authority that could not be ignored. "Please forgive me for any offense I have caused. I was only doing my duty. If I fail to complete the task as planned, I am afraid that I will anger the emperor!"
The queen's face turned pale as she stared at the eunuch in front of her, who had experienced many vicissitudes of life but still maintained a smooth and sophisticated demeanor. It was obvious that he no longer took her seriously.
As the crown prince was deposed and he himself was involved in a major case, his status gradually declined.
If it is found that there is dereliction of duty, it is still a minor matter. But once it is discovered that there is collusion with the rebels and plotting rebellion, everything will be in vain and everything will be reduced to ashes.
It just so happened that King Xuan's case fell into the hands of Song Yanyi.
To him, this almost meant that King Xuan's death sentence was a foregone conclusion, and waiting for the verdict was tantamount to waiting for death.
The current situation is very clear. Whether in the palace or in the outer court, the speed at which the attitudes of these officials change is astonishing.
Especially Eunuch Liu, who was the emperor's most capable eunuch, was groveling and fawning before King Xuan yesterday, but today he was eager to put King Xuan to death.
"My lady, shall we continue with the execution then?"
Eunuch Liu asked back with a sly smile on his face and in an almost flattering tone.
After hearing this, the queen felt as if her heart was being cut by a knife. She bit her lower lip so hard that it almost drew blood. She suppressed her anger, turned around and left, stepping into the silent hall.
At this moment, her steps seemed particularly heavy, as if she was carrying an indescribable burden, and every step was silently accusing this unjust trial.
As soon as the Queen disappeared from his sight, Eunuch Liu immediately put on a disdainful expression. After a scornful smile, he turned to the two eunuchs standing aside and shouted, "What are you two doing standing there like wooden chickens? No matter whether she is dead or alive, I must teach her a lesson and give her a full 100 strokes of the cane!"
"As ordered!"
The two responded immediately and took quick action.
I saw them each raising the long wooden stick in their hands high up, and then dropping it heavily. The air was filled with the dull sound of flesh hitting flesh.
At this moment, Jiang Xuejun, who was tied to the stone pillar and had long lost the ability to resist, closed his eyes tightly and clenched his teeth. Even though his body was shaking unconsciously due to the pain, he refused to utter a single groan.
In fact, this scene was not only a physical torture of the prisoner, but also an invisible insult and challenge to the bystander - the queen.
At the same time, outside the palace, there was a terrifying sound. Every time the stick fell, one seemed to be able to feel the victim's physical pain and the tremendous mental pressure.
The queen, in a rage, waved her hand and swept all the exquisite tea sets neatly placed on the table in front of her to the ground. The sharp sound of the porcelain breaking was deafening and particularly harsh in the quiet space.
When the servants in the palace saw this scene, they all fell to their knees on the ground, not daring to breathe, and their faces turned pale.
Only Shaoyao, the queen's personal maid who had followed her for many years, bravely stepped forward to comfort this grief-stricken and angry woman.
"Please calm down, Madam, and don't hurt yourself. After all, Jiang Xuejun is a treacherous person, and his death is not a pity."
Peony spoke carefully, trying to ease the irrepressible resentment deep in its owner's heart.
But such words obviously failed to achieve the desired effect, but instead aroused a more intense reaction.
"Do you think I care whether this woman lives or dies?!"
The queen roared, her face distorted by anger. "Today, on the surface, you are punishing Jiang Xuejun, but in reality, you are giving me a public warning! Once King Xuan is completely overthrown, the day when King Qi will succeed to the throne will not be far away...
And by then, who can guarantee that today's situation will not happen again, except that I will be the protagonist?"
Faced with her master's pessimism and even hysteria, Shaoyao couldn't help but start to worry: "But... Your Majesty is a true dragon emperor, a royal family, how can you be easily threatened..."
However, as soon as he said this, he immediately realized his own gaffe. It was obviously too reckless to express such naive ideas during such a sensitive period.
As expected, the Queen sneered and asked, "What do you think? Although the King of Qi is one of the heirs to the throne, he has not been favored since he was young, and his position is extremely awkward. Every time there is a conflict between brothers, no one cares about his safety. If a person who has grown up under such a disadvantage for a long time does not have a deep hatred in his heart, how can he have such great ambitions today? Not to mention the support of Lord Song behind him. If the King of Xuan really loses the opportunity to turn things around, they will definitely not let me go."
After a moment's silence, she finally made a difficult but decisive decision.
"We can't just sit there and wait for things to happen."
Therefore, he quickly arranged all the relevant matters and personally appointed a reliable messenger to go to the border, preparing to take advantage of the upcoming birthday banquet to invite the Prince of Zhennan back to the capital.
But when all the preparations were ready, the loyal old servant who had been by his side for many years showed hesitation...
At the same time, at the gate of Song Mansion on the other side, Song Yanyi and Cui Rongrong slowly returned home.
As soon as I stepped into the gate, I met my eldest brother, Uncle Song, who had been waiting for a long time.
The latter saw his brother return safely and hurried forward to greet him: "It's great that you can return safely, I was worried that there would be some unexpected situation on the way."
After helping Wanru, who was weak but still trying her best to support herself, get off the carriage, Song Yanyi looked at his brother with a questioning look, "Is there anything important that I can take care of?"
After careful observation, I found that I didn't find anything unusual on the other person's face, so I guessed that maybe he acted so relaxed because he didn't know the truth?
The eldest brother then explained, "Nothing serious has happened. I was just worried about your safety when I left the palace, so I chose to wait here to show my concern."