Late Ming Dynasty: So what if Emperor Chongzhen was inactive?!

Chapter 257 Amin is dead, you chose her, idol.

"What kind of look is that? You bastard, how dare you look down on me, a mere servant!" Amin overturned the tray in the female slave's hands, spilling soup and water all over the floor.

Seeing this, he became even angrier: "What is this garbage? Is this for humans or pigs? Wine! I want to drink! If you're so capable, tell Huang Taiji to kill me!"

"Where has that bastard Jirhalang gone? After all these years of brotherhood, he won't even let me have a few jars of wine?!"

Amin cursed and kicked the Korean female slave. Kim Hyun-hee curled up on the ground, covering her head tightly, tears streaming down her face.

Amin raised her foot and, showing no mercy, stomped on Jin Xianxi's head, as if only in this way could she satisfy her desire to commit violence.

It seems that criminals always have a habit of returning to the crime scene. Jirhalang, who came to visit in prison, happened to witness this cruel scene. He showed no pity for a mere Korean female slave, but simply listened to Amin's angry curses.

After understanding that Amin just wanted to drink, he chuckled to himself, and at the same time looked down on his brother even more, and became even more convinced that he was right: the Bordered Blue Banner would only slowly perish in Amin's hands, and only in his hands would it regain its greatness.

He didn't meet with Amin because he knew that would only result in meaningless insults. However, he still satisfied Amin's desire to drink, ordering someone to send him several large jars of wine.

After Amin had some wine, he was quiet for a while, but after a few bowls of wine, he started cursing again.

He cursed Jirhalang as despicable and shameless, accused him of being a hypocrite for bringing the wine, and said the wine must be poisoned. But he wasn't afraid; he'd rather die than let others see the true face of this hypocrite. After venting his anger, he punched and kicked Jin Xianxi and stripped her naked.

After drinking half a jar of wine, Amin was completely drunk and died.

A loud crash rang out—the sound of a wine jar shattering. The noise was loud, but no one paid it any mind, assuming Amin had accidentally knocked it over while drunk.

*Rip!* A sharp shard of pottery pierced Amin's throat. He jolted awake, trying to get up but his limbs were weak, and he felt dizzy. Jin Xianxi grabbed the shard and smashed it into Amin's mouth, shattering Amin's teeth through his lips.

She straddled Amin naked, her body covered in bruises, blue, purple, and black, layer upon layer. In addition to these, there were cuts from sharp objects. The most serious was a palm-sized scar on her thigh, where a piece of skin had fallen off. It wouldn't heal properly, scabbing over and oozing pus repeatedly.

She was originally a stunning beauty, but now she's been tortured beyond recognition. These are the crimes Amin committed, the source of her immense hatred. She used to have to worry about her family's safety, but now that the Jurchens have left her homeland and their chieftain has lost power, she has no more reservations and can now unleash her full power to take revenge.

She held the pottery shards in both hands and smashed them against Amin's face again and again. She used so much force that she even scratched her palms until they bled, but she didn't feel any pain, or perhaps the pain in her body overshadowed the pain in her hands.

She was filthy, bloodied, and naked, her face contorted in a grotesque grimace, yet she exuded a divine aura. "Ahhhhh!!!" Her suppressed voice gradually broke free.

The guards outside the courtyard also heard her shouts. They initially thought that Amin was just being a nuisance even when she was drunk, but as they listened, they realized that something was wrong.

They wanted to rush in to check the situation, but to prevent Amin from escaping, the courtyard where he was being held was locked with three identical locks and keys. In the urgency and confusion, they made even more mistakes; what should have been a simple trial and error turned into several rounds of fumbling!
When they opened the door, they saw that Amin's entire face was smashed, as if she had been hit in the face by a cannonball. Her throat was also cut open, and there was a large pool of blood on the ground. Amin was no longer convulsing. Only a crazy woman covered in blood remained in the room, clutching a few teeth in her hand, grinning foolishly.

Enraged by this, one of the guards drew his weapon to kill the woman, but was stopped by his comrade. "What are you doing stopping me? She killed Amin! How are we supposed to explain this to our superiors if we don't kill her?!"

"Are you crazy? Killing her would only make things more complicated!"

"No matter what, it's our fault. The Baylors will definitely not let us off the hook. Let's run away before the news gets out!"

"Where can we run to?!"

"Let's go to southern Liaoning!"

"But we are Jurchens!"

"We'll shave off our queues and pretend to be Han Chinese!"

The people present scattered in a panic, not even caring about the murderer who killed Amin.

Jin Xianxi stared blankly at the open door. She wasn't crazy anymore; her heart was pounding!
Three days after Amin's death, his body was already decomposing before it was discovered. The cook failed to report it, the guards all fled, and they even abducted Amin's female slave. When Jirgalang learned of this, he nearly went mad. He desperately wanted to say he hadn't killed Amin, but would anyone believe him? Even Huang Taiji didn't!

"Your most important task now is not to find out who the murderer is, but to go back and ensure that your Bordered Blue Banner remains in order. Otherwise, I wouldn't mind letting Amin's son take your place." Huang Taiji paused, still worried, and added, "Don't kill your nephews too!"

“I didn’t kill Amin. If I wanted to do it, I would have done it long ago. Why did I wait until he was under house arrest to kill him!” Jirhalang said excitedly.

Huang Taiji's expression was stern as he said, "Who knows if you intend to do the opposite?"

Amin could die, but this was far too hasty. He was only under house arrest for less than half a month and he was gone! The people of the Bordered Blue Banner had very complicated feelings about Amin. Many of them had made a condition when they agreed to serve Jirgalang: the banner leader could be replaced, but Amin could not be killed.

Shengjing had long been infiltrated and riddled with holes. Half a month later, Mao Wenlong also learned the shocking news that his great enemy, Amin, the chief of the Bordered Blue Banner, had been killed. He was so excited about this news that he drank three large cups of wine and went to find Old Yuan with a wine jar in his hand.

He had already thrown away the old man's medicine. He said, "Foolish man, all medicine has some side effects. If you can't sleep, just get yourself drunk and you'll fall asleep, right? I think you're getting senile!"

Ignoring the objections, Liu Zeqing reported his illness to the emperor. Yuan Keli thought it made sense; rather than being caught by the emperor and dying in his sickbed, dying drunk in office seemed like a good choice. He might even earn the title of "the drunkard." So he joined Mao Wenlong in his foolish antics.

Mao Wenlong shared his joy with Yuan Keli. After a few bowls of wine, he hugged Yuan Keli, laughing and crying, recounting the grievances between them over the years, and generously expressing that he had forgiven him.

(End of this chapter)