Harue Kagetsu - Chapter 162

In the early hours of the morning, the gate of the palace suddenly opened, and a group of soldiers in full armor appeared on the streets of Jiankang.

The people in the private houses on the street were awakened by the noise from their sleep, and they were apprehensive, and no one dared to come out to see what happened.

After Rongkang entered Jiankang, this has become the norm for the people. The only thing they can do is to tighten the door and coax the children in the house to stop crying as soon as possible, so as not to cause disaster.

The nobles of the royal family, together with the officials of the imperial court, were awakened by the sudden and rude door banging in their early morning sleep. They learned that Rongkang had ordered people to go to the palace immediately. Frightened, they hurried out under the urging of the wolves and tigers outside the door. When they arrived, some people didn’t even have time to put on their shoes.

For officials of the Southern Dynasty who paid attention to appearance, this was simply unimaginable in the past, but at this moment, no one has the heart to pay attention to these details.

Hundreds of people were driven into the main hall of the palace, and they were horrified when they saw the scene inside.

The lights in the hall were brightly lit, and the Empress Dowager Gao sat paralyzed in the position where she usually accompanied the little emperor to govern. Her face was pale, her tears kept flowing, her whole person seemed to be trembling slightly, and she looked weak, if not forced by a palace servant behind her. Hold it, I am afraid that it will fall to the ground on the spot.

The little emperor was beside her, wearing a nightgown, as if he had just been dragged out of the bed, his body leaned on the seat in a strange way, his eyes were closed, and his head was leaning softly to one side. , motionless, at first glance seems to have fallen asleep, but in fact he is dead, but the five senses and seven orifices are still slowly oozing black blood. Although he is dead, his expression is distorted, and the pain on his face is clearly visible. Before dying, he suffered torture, which is evident.

There was a brief moment of silence in the hall, and suddenly, I do not know who started, and cried out, “Your Majesty, what’s the matter?” The ministers seemed to have reacted, and they knelt down and burst into tears.

Amid the piercing calls and mourning, Gao Yongrong’s eyes were dull and unresponsive, as if his primordial spirit had already left his body, and what remained here was just an empty shell.

Just as the ministers were weeping, behind the gate of the hall, there was a screeching sound of armor and swords moving as they walked, and someone entered the hall.

The ministers looked up and saw that Rong Kang appeared surrounded by a group of armed soldiers.

Rong Kang stopped in front of the dead little emperor’s body and stared at the minister opposite.

The crowd hated and feared him, and immediately shut up, no one dared to cry again.

The hall was quiet again.

Rong Kang roared: “Bring it here!”

There was a sound of footsteps behind him.

When the ministers turned back, they saw that Rong Kang’s subordinates were escorting a few people bound with five flowers into the palace. It was actually a Yulin general named Liu Zhen who was in charge of guarding the palace before the imperial censor Zhang Zhi and Rong Kang entered the capital.

Rong Kang pointed at the body of the little emperor: “You have all seen it, His Majesty was drugged to death, which is terrible. I have found out that it was these people who took the lead in trying to murder His Majesty’s usurping throne. They were just arrested and the law was being rectified on the spot. Okay. Avenge Xue Hate for Your Majesty!”

After he finished speaking, he drank, and several executioners with ghost-headed swords in their hands came up, crushed people to the ground and prepared to execute them. The two struggled hard and shouted at Gao Yongrong in front: “Queen Mother, help—”

Gao Yongrong’s face became paler and paler, his eyes were closed, his hands kept shaking, his nails had already been deeply embedded in the flesh, the roots were broken, and a trace of blood slowly seeped out from the depths of his palms.

“Kill me!”

The voice fell, and with a “pop”, the two heads fell to the ground, and they rolled a few times before they stopped.

In an instant, scarlet blood was splattered on the floor of the main hall, which was originally smooth as a mirror.

The ministers’ faces were as pale as earth, and they couldn’t stop shivering.

Rong Kang grinned and said, “Besides these two people who are Fa-rectification, I have also found out some fellow party members…”

His eyes flashed fiercely, and he slowly walked away on the faces of the ministers in front of him.

The people he saw were all horrified, wishing to escape three feet so that he could escape from here.

Standing in the crowd, Liu Hui lowered his head desperately, not wanting to be seen by Rong Kang, but he heard footsteps coming towards him. He dragged him out and hurriedly shouted: “Injustice! I didn’t know anything about it! His Majesty’s death has nothing to do with me!”

Rong Kang snorted: “The two of them have clearly confessed, you are the same party! Come on, kill him!”

The ministers were horrified.

Liu Hui didn’t care about his face anymore, he fell to the ground and begged bitterly: “Master, forgive me! This matter really has nothing to do with me! I am loyal to the imperial court and the master, and the sun and the moon can learn from it!”

Cold sweat kept dripping from his forehead, rolling down one after another.

Seeing Rongkang with a sneer and squinting at himself, he opened his mouth and ordered someone to take the knife, and his soul flew away. While struggling desperately, he shouted: “I will pay! I have money! Please accept my family property and exchange my life for my life. !”

Rongkang then ordered people to let him go.

Liu Huiruan was on the ground, struggling to get up, no longer seeing the usual demeanor of a celebrity, and tears and tears: “The last time when the Taishi asked me to raise military funds, I was confused for a while, and I forgot that there were thousands of gold and silver hidden at home. Two. In addition to gold and silver, I would also like to donate to the farms in various places to support the Grand Master to support the court, and only ask the Grand Master to forgive me!”

Rong Kang’s eyes flickered, and his expression slowed down a little. He ordered someone to fetch a pen and paper and asked him to write down the hidden property and the place where it was hidden.

Liu Hui took the pen and paper and wrote down the list tremblingly. There are as many as 5,000 gold cakes, tens of thousands of taels of silver, and countless copper coins. There are as many as ten places of burial, as well as farms and estates in various places, densely packed and filled with writing. a piece of paper.

It’s a pity that he is famous for his calligraphy. At this moment, the words he writes are crooked, like walking worms. It can be seen how frightened he is. After writing, the paper was taken away and presented.

Rongkang glanced at it, threw off the paper that was still wet with ink, and sneered: “When I was in Padang, I heard that Jiankang was rich! Sure enough, the reputation is well-deserved. It’s not too late to repent, and let you live for the time being.”

Liu Huizhi was relieved after escaping the catastrophe. Then he thought that all his family wealth had vanished, and his heart was twisted like a knife. He couldn’t hold it any longer and fell to the ground.

Rongkang ordered someone to immediately go to Liu’s house to check with the list, and then raised his eyes to look at others, pointing randomly with his fingers, and wherever he went, they were all from the same party.

When they were forced to donate property before, everyone naturally concealed something, but tonight they knew that they could not escape. The little emperor and the two headless corpses on the ground were proofs, and without waiting for Rong Kang to speak, they all scrambled for paper to write down the property they wanted to donate.

Rongkang ordered people to take out the paper and pencils that had been prepared earlier and distribute them one by one. Everyone worked hard to write and put them away. After looking at them, they laughed wildly, and ordered their subordinates to take the list to copy, then turned to Gao Yongrong, his face With a smile, he said respectfully, “Isn’t there another decree from the Queen Mother? While all the ministers are here, ask the Queen Mother to declare it.”

Gao Yongrong’s lips moved slightly and closed again.

“The Queen Mother! It’s not announced at the moment, when will you wait? Could it be that you want His Majesty to die?”

Rong Kang’s face suddenly turned gloomy, and he shouted sharply.

Gao Yongrong’s shoulders trembled, and finally opened his eyes, his eyes couldn’t bear to fall on the blood-stained son beside him, he trembled and said: “Your Majesty’s death, the country cannot live without a ruler for a day, it is advisable to follow Yao and Shun and tell the world, Zen master…”

Before he could finish speaking, tears were streaming down his face, and he couldn’t stop crying.

Rong Kang laughed wildly in the sky: “Have you heard it? The Queen Mother herself gave the decree, Zen is in me, so I’ll see you soon!”

Under the knife and axe, who dares to say half a word?

Everyone looked at each other in dismay, the one with weak legs knelt down, kowtowed and shouted, the voice was sparse, seeing Rongkang dissatisfied, glaring at each other, everyone was afraid, and called Long Live again.

The poor Yangyang court, civil and military officials, under the obscenity and prestige, Ren Rongkang kneaded and was toyed on the palm of his hand.

The former clan aristocrats and high-ranking officials of the gentry, no matter how dignified and romantic, had no dignity in the face of this undisguised brutal violence.

It’s so humiliating, it’s unbearable to look at.

Rongkang laughed wildly in the sky, and was triumphant. He named her surname and asked a few families to send the woman into the harem tonight and make her a concubine.

All of the names he ordered were notable names of nobles and nobles in the Southern Dynasties. In addition to Liu Shi, there is also the daughter of Feng Wei, the commander of Zhongshu.

Liu Hui just woke up and heard that Rong Kang wanted to give his daughter to him as a concubine.

After Rong Kang finished laughing, seeing those who were targeted, all bowed their heads and listened, not daring to resist at all, stood up from the ground alone, glared at himself, and looked intently, seeing that it was Feng Wei, and ordered someone to go up, Press him to the ground again.

As soon as he entered, he saw the sudden death of the little emperor, and the empress dowager lost her soul. Feng Wei knew that something was wrong.

Just a few days ago, Gao Yongrong had secretly informed him about how to get rid of Rong Kang, but he was opposed to it, so he should not act rashly.

He thought the Queen Mother had been persuaded. I never imagined that such a thing would happen tonight. Although he hates Rongkang’s human-faced and beast-like heart, and the atrocities are outrageous, but he knows that the situation is over, and he is unable to return to the sky, so he can only suppress the humiliation, temporarily surrender, and wait for the future. Never would have thought that Rongkang’s accumulation of wealth was not counted, and he went straight to seize the throne. He was shameless, and even his own daughter was not spared.

Rong Kang drew his sword and came to Feng Wei, and slashed him on the shoulder.

Feng Wei fell to the ground, still scolding incessantly.

Rong Kang sneered and sneered: “Could it be that you want your daughter to be the queen? It’s a pity that the queen is only reserved for Gao’s daughter, don’t you think too much.”

In the hall, there was a sound of laughter from Rong Kang’s subordinates.

Feng Wei struggled to get up from the ground, gritted his teeth: “Rongkang thief, you kill the king to deceive you, you will do all evil, you will be punished by heaven, and you will not die!”

Rongkang was furious and kicked him to the ground with one foot, and was about to order someone to kill him when a report suddenly came from outside the hall. The approaching army is only a hundred miles away from health.

Rong Kang was stunned for a moment, and glanced at the Southern Dynasty civil and military officials who had heard the sound in the hall, whose expressions had become different. A fierce light flashed through his eyes. After a moment’s thought, he ordered his subordinates to detain all the people here, not allowed to leave, and brought them with him. hurried away.

The army outside the city that was heading towards Jiankang overnight was the army led by Gao Yin. At dawn, they finally arrived at Shizigang, which is only twenty miles away from the imperial city. There, I met Rongkang’s army waiting in line. The two sides fought a fierce battle. After the battle, Rongkang was defeated in the afternoon. I heard that Lu Jianzhi also led tens of thousands of people and was rushing towards Jiankang. The remnants of the army fled into the city in a hurry and did not fight behind closed doors.

That night, Gao Yin and Lu Jianzhi, who arrived later, converged. After resting, the next day, when they were about to launch a siege, they learned a piece of news.

Rongkang drove the clan aristocracy, gentry officials, and the soldiers of the Southern Dynasty who had been disarmed when he first entered the city, a total of thousands, and drove them all to an open space in the south of the city, threatening to kill the city if they attacked the city. .

On that day, thousands of clan aristocrats and officials of the gentry who were not in attendance on weekdays and did not distinguish between grains, under the coercion of swords and axes, had no choice but to pick up shovels and picks and dig holes for themselves with tears in their eyes. From morning to night, a little slack is whipping with a stick. When the hole was dug, it was like chasing ducks, and they were driven to the pit collectively. If something goes wrong, kill it immediately. The crowd became a mess, and no longer dared to resist, they could only go down the pit by themselves, and let the soil shovel from the top of their heads one after another. .

Heart-piercing, full of desperate cries and pleadings, mixed with the deafening “pit! pit! pit!” roars from Rongkang soldiers above the pit head, echoed in the bustling imperial city. Every corner, for a long time. Even the people in the city who were usually dissatisfied with these people were all sad and sad at this moment.

Jiankang City, which is home to hundreds of thousands of people, fell into the silence of fear. On the street, there was a dead silence, like a tomb in the daytime.

Disgraceful humiliation, wealth withered.

Human tragedy, but that’s all.