novelraw Chapter 384: Playing Dead
Chapter 384: Playing Dead
Huangfu Jinxuan hurriedly left in a rush.
Just the thought of parading the naked shame is enough to lift one’s spirits. He wanted to follow the whole way, not wanting to miss anything. Shang Jingwang was not so fortunate, having to attend to the quarantine area; the Imperial Physicians weren’t fortunate either. When he returned, he would recount this joy to them, letting them share in the laughter.
Xia Wenjin chuckled. With matters here resolved, it was time for her to leave! Huangfu Jingchen was still waiting for her outside the town.
Meanwhile, Huangfu Jinxuan’s procession was indeed grand and imposing.
In the prison cart, Yu Shikui and Kong Tixin were bound, drawn by a horse, headed all the way to Yanglu County.
Huangfu Jinxuan rode behind on horseback with an air of arrogance and excitement. In that guise, just dress him in a red robe, and he would resemble a groom escorting his bride.
He truly detested Yu Shikui, and this time he wasn’t going to afford him any face.
As they marched, people beat gongs to open the way, while Xiong Wu and the Imperial Envoy Guard, along with the garrison left by Wen Hao led by Zhou Mu, not only cleared the way but also informed the gathering commoners of who was in the prison cart and why they were confined there.
Of course, at this time, they wouldn’t mention Xia Wenjin at all, only stating that the two took advantage of their official power, oppressing the people, forcing cheap sales of estates in Wangshan Town, how they were morally corrupt and offensive to the eye, and how it harmed societal values. Learning of their misdeeds, Lord Imperial Envoy personally escorted them to be paraded and publicly shamed as a deterrent to others.
Kong Tixin hadn’t woken up yet, but seeing Huangfu Jinxuan’s approach, Yu Shikui almost ground his teeth to shreds. But what could he do? The parade was something he begged for. Wasn’t it to save his life?
He remembered this humiliation, determined to repay it a hundred or thousandfold in the future!
But at this moment, it was an ordeal to endure.
He thought it might be better to be unconscious, so he closed his eyes and pretended to be in a coma.
But what use is feigning unconsciousness?
The commoners who came along the way were heartened.
A Prefectural Governor and a County Magistrate, figures who once seemed so exalted, ones you would have had to kneel and kowtow to upon encountering on the road. But now it’s different; Lord Imperial Envoy himself was parading them through the streets.
So, the dirt clods and stones picked up from the roadside, the grass and branches pulled at random, were all flung towards the prison cart without hesitation.
Seeing this, Huangfu Jinxuan immediately ordered two soldiers from the Imperial Envoy Guard to specifically clean the prison cart.
If their faces were covered, wouldn’t that be sheltering them? That was not permissible; they must be cleared, exposing the faces of the two men so that all the commoners of Yanglu County could clearly see—this face was their Lord County Magistrate, this face was their Lord Governor.
Whether the County Magistrate lay with the Governor, or the Governor lay with the County Magistrate, it didn’t matter; the point was that it happened. They were morally corrupt, flouting decency, openly indulging in Long Yang practices, trampling Nanxia’s rites and shame underfoot. Lord Imperial Envoy remained noble and impartial; even such a high official as the Governor was not exempt!
After all, it was just the road to the county seat and sparsely populated. Huangfu Jinxuan ordered the procession to quicken their pace.
They had horses, and moved quickly. Remarkably, those commoners from Wangshan Town, who followed to witness the spectacle, despite having only two legs, managed to keep pace, diligently flinging the prepared rotten leaves, foul mud, and bad eggs at the two as they went.
The stench and the pain from the hits made it almost impossible for Yu Shikui to continue feigning unconsciousness.
Meanwhile, the still-faint Kong Tixin was awakened by the bombardment, feeling a wetness on his forehead, a smell of blood, and great pain. He belatedly realized it was a stone thrown by a passerby that had broken the skin on his head, drawing blood. Confronted with his situation, he thought he was being dragged off for execution, and in fright and shock, he successfully fainted again.
The procession sped up and arrived in Yanglu County by noon.
Given the grand spectacle along the way, the commoners of Yanglu County were already aware. Kong Tixin had lorded over Yanglu County, where the commoners dared not speak their anger. Now that they knew the Imperial Envoy personally paraded them for exposure, for something disgraceful they had done, the populace swarmed out from their homes, almost clogging the roads.
Upon reaching the county, Huangfu Jinxuan had the procession slow down. Since it was a parade, of course, they had to move through every street in the county town.
The two of them, stark naked, made the commoners feel both uncomfortable and satisfied.
Serves them right for exploiting the populace, for corruption and perversion! Now they face their comeuppance, don’t they?
After all, it was the Emperor’s appointed Imperial Envoy doing the work; it was truly satisfying.
The Emperor is wise!
Many of the commoners, after flinging their rotten cabbage leaves at the prison cart, knelt and loudly praised the Emperor’s wisdom in sending such a just Imperial Envoy.
This delighted Huangfu Jinxuan to the extent that he almost danced with joy, but as the Imperial Envoy, he had to maintain his image, so he forcibly restrained himself.
How satisfying! To think cleaning up such filth would make the commoners so happy. This shows the level of public disdain for them.
After touring all the streets of the county town, dusk was nearing as Huangfu Jinxuan leisurely entered the Yanglu County Government, then opened its gates, allowing the commoners to observe.
He was a man of his word, having promised to administer only ten strikes, and indeed, it would only be ten.
When the prison cart opened, the two, stark naked, Yu Shikui and Kong Tixin tumbled out, the Government Officials exchanging uneasy glances—this was their Lord County Magistrate, should they strike, or not?
However, Huangfu Jinxuan wasn’t counting on them. With a wave of his hand, soldiers from the Imperial Envoy Guard stepped forward, grabbing the two mounds of pale flesh on the ground, and began laying down the boards with loud slaps.
Feigning or real unconsciousness, at this point, all pretenses were shattered, and the hall was filled with their wretched cries.
Ten lashes truly weren’t many, but Yu Shikui and Kong Tixin, who had only ever flogged others, had never faced the rod themselves. Especially given how hectic last night had been, their already injured areas sustained further damage from the lashes, making the experience all the more excruciating...
The pampered flesh, tender and pampered, quickly became bloodied and lacerated under the merciless boards.
Moreover, from the moment Huangfu Jinxuan and his retinue stormed into the room and bound them up last night, they had neither eaten nor rested, growing weary and hungry, enduring the common people’s pointing, laughter, angry curses, the nauseating stench of rotten eggs and wilted vegetables, foul mud, little stones, and hard clods of earth; both mind and body suffered unbearable pain.
As they endured the lashes, the commoners from Wangshan Town who followed them and the county town’s people had exchanged information. They were born lowly, lived cautiously, and loathed corruption and evil officials, wishing to drink their blood and eat their flesh. Now they wished they could buy another ten baskets of rotten eggs and throw them again.
After the beating, Huangfu Jinxuan stood up and said, "The charge of moral corruption has been settled. This Imperial Envoy is true to my word. Having struck, I will not kill! Now all of you may go about your business!"
With that, he walked out of the county government hall with the Imperial Envoy Guard.