"Pfft!"
Another large head rolled onto the execution ground, bounced twice, and fell into the crowd.
"Ah…"
The crowd dispersed, avoiding the bloody head as if shunning the plague itself.
Before the execution ground opened, they doubted, they questioned.
Now that the execution ground was truly a slaughterhouse, they felt an inexplicable terror.
This was a government official!
Could he be killed like a dog?
Could they kill him for all to see?
Eventually, a brawny imperial guard playing the role of a human wall stepped forward, picked up the bloody head and, tossing it back onto the execution platform, yelled, "Catch, brothers above!"
The imperial guard tasked with cleaning up the bodies caught the flying head as easily as if catching a pumpkin: "Got it!"
Front row spectators: …
Atop the high platform, Yang Ge remained utterly unfazed by this small interruption, mechanically clapping the gavel: "Bring in the corrupt official!"
The blood on the execution platform was still steaming when another disheveled corrupt official was forced to the front.
"Corrupt official Song Shen brought in!"
"Verify the identity!"
"Corrupt official Song Shen, former magistrate of Yangzhou, beginning last September, colluded with Yongtai Grain Firm and Changfeng Gang to control the grain supply and inflate grain prices, seeking exorbitant profits…"
Once the pronouncement of the case was completed, the strongman who read it stepped aside.
Yang Ge, watching from behind, saw the white streaks in the prisoner’s hair and thought of the report from his subordinates that morning—this man’s hair had turned white overnight…
He retracted his hand from reaching for the execution arrow and shouted sternly, "Corrupt official Song Shen, the evidence against you is overwhelming, what have you to say for yourself!"
The executioner, understanding, bent down and removed the rag stuffed in Song Shen’s mouth.
Song Shen’s face bore the tracks of dried tears, and his eyes had long since lost all luster. He slowly stood up…
Seeing this, the executioner immediately reached out to press him back down in front of the platform.
Yang Ge called out sharply, "Let him be!"
The two guards stepped back at his command.
Staggering, Song Shen walked away from the execution platform, facing the hateful eyes of thousands of Yangzhou citizens below…
"Thud."
He slowly knelt down, and heavily kowtowed three times to the thousands of Yangzhou citizens, then stood up with clenched fists, his hoarse voice desperate as he cried out, "I, Song Shen, am guilty. I have failed His Majesty’s profound benevolence, failed the grace of my parents who raised me, and failed the trust of all my elders and fellow countrymen. I, a corrupt official, dare not ask for your generous forgiveness, only that those who come after me take me as a warning. If they cannot stay unblemished in the mud, at least they should not sink into the mire, following in Song Shen’s footsteps… Song Shen, regrets his past!"
With that, he stood up, took a step to the back of the execution platform, knelt down, and voluntarily extended his head beyond the platform.
Yang Ge clenched his fist, decisively grabbing a red-tasseled execution arrow and throwing it: "Execute!"
"Snap!"
The red-tasseled execution arrow landed.
An imperial guard stepped forward with a drawn sword.
"Pfft."
The head fell to the wooden surface with a "thud," revealing a tear-stained, aged face staring blankly towards the northwest.
The seething crowd grew restless.
"Bring in the corrupt official…"
"Corrupt official Li Ziming brought in!"
"Verify the identity!"
"Corrupt official Li Ziming, former judge of Yangzhou, beginning last September, colluded with Yongtai Grain Firm and Changfeng Gang to control the grain supply and inflate grain prices, seeking exorbitant profits…"
"Execute!"
"Pfft!"
"Bring in the corrupt official…"
"Corrupt official Liu…"
"Execute!"
One after another, corrupt officials—some frantically struggling and crying out their innocence, others so dejected they might as well have been walking corpses—were dragged to the execution ground.
They were turned into severed, blood-soaked corpses, then dragged away from the platform.
One after another, these familiar and once-powerful government officials and dignitaries of Yangzhou…
Were beheaded under the "watchful eyes of the multitude."
One "execute" after another.
One red-tasseled execution arrow after another.
The killing numbed Yang Ge.
The killing chilled the citizens to the bone.
Under the execution ground, the crowd—some leaving, others arriving, some returning after leaving—all bustled.
Various rumors of joy, excitement, fear, and anxiety spread throughout the city.
But the execution ground at the Vegetable Market seemed completely unaffected, maintaining a rhythm so steady and mechanical that one corrupt official after another was pressed onto the platform, their cases announced, and then chopped in two.
Twenty.
Fifty.
A hundred…
The execution continued!
It was as if the corrupt officials of the world would never run out.
Toward the end, even the common people began to worry for Yang Ge, the chief executioner and imperial envoy...
Though they hadn’t read many books and didn’t understand the convoluted workings of the court.
But the life experiences passed down through generations on this land, both rich and poor, told them that Lord Yang Erlang’s way of killing must surely not conform to the court’s rules and certainly wasn’t sanctioned by the court.
Because never, not once, had any place publicly executed corrupt officials and embezzlers en masse like this.
It had never happened. Never!
After Yang Ge had executed the salt transport commissioner from Jiaxing Prefecture, Liu Yaozu, by chopping him in two on the execution platform, suddenly a part of the crowd watching the execution knelt down and cried out in unison, "Lord Yang, you’ve done enough, don’t ruin your own future for our sake..."
Their kneeling and shouting immediately reminded the other frightened and anxious people of Yangzhou.
In an instant, the crowded street, where not an end could be seen, tipped forward row by row, and amid the chaos of voices, one could barely make out the increasingly distinct words "Lord Yang".
In Wei, officials did not need to perform a kneeling salute.
Even when in the emperor’s presence, apart from a few major ceremonies, a kneeling salute was not required.
Yang Ge had previously accepted the imperial edict with just a bow...
But at this moment, the people of Yangzhou had no other way to express their heartfelt gratitude and respect for Lord Yang Erlang than to kneel before him.
They had longed for an official who would stand up for them for too long.
So long they had nearly forgotten that an official was called a ’parent official’ because they were to manage their affairs.
And not because they were high and mighty, wielding power over them...
As the emperor’s personal guard, the Embroidered Uniform Guard must have seen a lot of the world.
Yet faced with this "vast plain" of surging crowds.
And faced with the thunderous and respectful cries before them...
All the guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard felt as if thousands of fleas were jumping on their skin, trembling so much they could barely stand.
They seemed to suddenly realize... so this is how one can be as an official?
Yang Ge couldn’t escape the custom; he too felt his scalp tingle and his heartbeat suddenly quicken.
Yet he felt a strange sourness in his nose and a rush to his head, and he couldn’t stop the moisture welling up in his eyes,
He stepped out from behind the court table, walking step by step to the edge of the platform, and facing the "vast plain" before him, he knelt down on the execution ground.
When he knelt down, the guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard immediately dared not remain standing and knelt down one after another toward the surging crowd...
"Everyone, listen to me, listen to me..."
He summoned his True Qi and shouted as loudly as he could.
The cries of the crowd slowly subsided.
Thousands of shining eyes looked up to the towering figure kneeling on the platform.
Though half of his face was masked.
They could see that he was young.
And they could see that the young man was crying...
"I know you have been suffering for a long, long time, and I know you have been waiting for this day for a long, long time..."
Facing the gaze of thousands, Yang Ge, without a prepared speech, felt completely confused and didn’t know what he was saying: "The court... has failed you all!"
"We know our mistake, and we will change!"
This content is taken from fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm.
"I have come bearing the emperor’s trust, to stand up for you, to return Jiangzhe to its rightful clear skies, to let you all live the life you deserve."
"I beg you not to let these despicable people, these rotten matters affect you, no matter how the world changes, please continue to hold onto justice, continue to face the sunlight!"
"As long as we work hard on our land, as long as we work hard in our jobs, as long as we live our lives with integrity... life will definitely improve!"
"And if not..."
"As long as Yang Erlang is still here, I will come back!"
"Please do not despair!"
"Please continue to move forward!"
"Yang Erlang, thanks you all!"
Yang Ge, with tears streaming down his face, kowtowed to the crowd before him.
He himself did not know why he was crying.
Perhaps he loved this land, still called Huaxia despite being out of its time, too deeply.
Or maybe because these people, despite being out of their time, still had black hair, black eyes, and yellow skin—he still called them compatriots...
Yang Ge kowtowed to the crowd.
The crowd also kowtowed to Yang Ge, and amidst the chaotic cries, every kind of blessing and auspicious word could be heard.
Yang Ge turned his head and sternly shouted to the still-dazed guards of the Embroidered Uniform Guard behind him: "Bring forth the offender!"
The guards, as if waking from a dream, strained their throats and shouted in unison: "Bring forth the offender!"
Yang Ge stood up, saluted in all directions, then turned and walked back to the court table, picking up a red-tasseled command arrow and throwing it out.
"Execute!"
The offender, whose charges had not even been read, was promptly brought in front of the execution platform, and his head soared high into the air...
The crowd below lifted their heads, looking up through the sunlight at the soaring head...
In that moment of brilliant sunlight, it penetrated into their hearts, dispelling the darkness and filth.
It left them with the image of a bright, valiant, and compassionate young man.
From that day on, a legend began to circulate in Jiangzhe that the imperial envoy, Yang Erlang, who had slain all corrupt officials in Jiangzhe, was none other than True Lord Erlang who cut through mountains to save his mother, descended to purge demons and ghosts from this world, rescue people from distress and bring back clear skies...
And from that day on, True Lord Erlang took on a human form; all statues of True Lord Erlang gradually changed from the valiant image in yellow garments holding a crescent halberd to a tall and heroic figure in a vermilion robe with a dragon emblem, with the precious court sword hanging at his waist.
And from that day on, Yang Ge took on a divine aspect, and whenever people heard his name again, they would subconsciously link him with "True Lord Yang Jian"...
Yang Ge protected them for a moment.
They protected Yang Ge for a lifetime.