Great Zhou Martial Immortal

Chapter 106 Desiring to Destroy It

The Iron Prison of Dali Temple is located three zhang underground, where it is never exposed to the light of day.

The walls were damp and chilly, mingled with the stench of blood and rotting flesh. The condensed water droplets gleamed blood-red in the torchlight, as if dripping blood.

Zhou Xing deliberately chose cell number C to imprison Cen Changqian—the same cell where Prime Minister Wei Xuantong and the famous general Hei Chi Changzhi had both died.

Before his death, Wei Xuantong said, "Whether it is killed by humans or ghosts, what difference does it make? How can I be an informer!" He would rather die than falsely accuse someone.

This was a great pity for Zhou Xing.

He really wanted to see if Cen Changqian also had such a tough bone in her body.

Cen Changqian's official robes had been stripped off, leaving her only in a plain white undergarment.

His hands were suspended from the rack by black iron chains, his ten fingers spread open with bamboo skewers, the fingertips a bloody mess. The "Breathless" iron yoke invented by Zhou Xing was now on his neck, and if he lowered his head even slightly, the iron spikes on the yoke would pierce his throat.

Why must Prime Minister Cen insist on putting on a brave face?

Zhou Xing stood beside the charcoal brazier, the embers reflecting on his sinister face. He toyed with a thin iron needle in his hand, its tip glowing red-hot. Occasionally, a drop of molten iron would drip from it, hissing as it rose a wisp of white smoke onto the blue bricks. "Your son has already signed the document. If you continue to be stubborn, you will only suffer more physical pain."

He winked at someone in the shadows, and two jailers immediately dragged in a blood-soaked man.

Cen Lingyuan's left ear was reduced to half a piece of rotten flesh, and all ten of his finger joints were bent backward. When he was forced to kneel in front of his father, his broken leg bone pierced through his flesh, leaving two bloody marks on the blue bricks.

"Father... your son can't take it anymore..."

Cen Lingyuan's wailing suddenly turned into sobs when he saw the instruments of torture in the charcoal brazier. He choked out in pain and helplessness, "Minister Zhou wants you to identify... Minister of the Earth, Lu Fuyuan, and Grand Councilor, Ouyang Tong..."

"Shut up, you bastard!"

Cen Changqian suddenly roared, making the iron chains rattle. The old man's temples bulged with veins, but when he met his son's empty eyes, he suddenly deflated and his voice abruptly stopped.

Zhou Xing, on the contrary, burst into laughter.

He loved watching this kind of scene. He had killed so many people in the past and watched it so many times, but he still couldn't get enough of it.

At this moment, he slowly picked up a branding iron from the charcoal brazier: "Prime Minister Cen, the eldest young master has survived 'Sudden Roar' and 'Dead Pig's Sorrow,' but I'm afraid he won't be able to withstand the next 'Phoenix Spreading Wings'..."

Zhou Xing waved his hand, and the jailers carried on a wooden frame with a thick log across it, with iron chains attached to both ends.

“This is Suo Yuanli’s favorite ‘sun-dried wings’.”

Zhou Xing patted the wooden frame and said with great interest, "Tie people up on it, tighten the chains, break their bones and muscles like a bird with a broken wing, that feeling, tsk tsk—Prime Minister Cen, would you like to try it?"

Cen Changqian closed her eyes and remained silent.

Cen Lingyuan cried out in anguish, trembling with fear.

"..."

Zhou Xing stared intently at Cen Changqian's unmoved face, then suddenly sneered: "Two days and two nights in a row, and you're still so 'unyielding'! It seems raising a spoiled brat really works; he doesn't care whether he lives or dies! Then let's get the 'Nine-Turn Heart-Eating Nail' to serve the Prime Minister!"

The jailer held down Cen Changqian's hand and drove red-hot iron nails into his fingernails one by one.

The stench of burning filled the cell, and Cen Changqian gritted her teeth, refusing to utter a single word.

boom!
Zhou Xing tossed the red-hot branding iron into the charcoal brazier, saying listlessly, "Another tough nut to crack. Oh well..."

The trial was almost over in two days.

Without further ado, he grabbed Cen Changqian's bleeding hand and pressed his fingerprint onto the prepared statement.

"Cen Changqian colluded with the remnants of the Li Tang dynasty, intending to rebel; the evidence is conclusive!"

Zhou Xing sneered, took out a stack of arrest warrants from his sleeve, and handed them to Duan Hun, the leader of the Seven Stars beside him: "Join forces with the prison guards of Lijing Prison to arrest people according to these warrants—Lu Fuyuan, Ouyang Tong, Di Renjie, Zhao Wenge, Du Jingjian… Don't let any of them escape! Anyone who resists arrest will be killed on the spot!"

Duanhun bowed and accepted the gift, then led his team away.

Zhou Xing stood at the prison gate, glanced back at Cen Changqian, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth: "Don't worry, Prime Minister Cen, you'll soon be keeping Wei Xuan company!"

……

The third day of the eleventh month, at the third quarter of the hour of Chen (7:45 AM).

Just after the morning drumbeat in the capital, the gates of each neighborhood opened, and the sounds of people gradually rose from the streets.

The sky was overcast and it looked like it was going to snow. A cold wind swept through the streets, carrying withered leaves, but it couldn't drown out the sudden burst of hoofbeats.

The henchmen of Dali Temple and Lijing Prison came out in all directions, their hooves thundering. All the cavalry were divided into twelve teams, carrying Zhou Xing's orders, and rushed straight to each ward. The ward gates were violently smashed open, startling a chorus of barking dogs and crying babies.

Lu Fuyuan, the Minister of Revenue, was verifying the autumn tax revenue and expenditure at the Ministry of Revenue. The sound of abacus beads mingled with the whispers of the accounting clerks.

Suddenly, a commotion was heard outside the government office, followed by the sound of iron boots stepping on the steps, and the door was flung open with a loud crash!

"Lu Fuyuan is plotting treason; arrest him immediately!"

Duanhun personally led more than ten guards from the Lijing Prison to break in, their official boots crushing the account books scattered on the ground.

Before Lu Fuyuan could even finish writing with his vermilion pen, an iron chain was already fastened around his neck. As the old Minister was dragged across the courtyard, the officials of the Ministry of Revenue knelt in the corridor. Suddenly, a young clerk rushed out and cried out, "Lord Lu has been upright for thirty years—" Before he could finish speaking, he was struck by an iron ruler, blood splattering from his mouth and nose. Yet, he still clung tightly to Lu Fuyuan's official boots.

The courtyard was already surrounded by people, who were terrified to see the white-haired minister being led out in a thin robe.

……

At the Yanshi ferry crossing, the Yellow River surged swiftly, and the floating ice floes collided, producing a dull cracking sound. Di Renjie stood on the high bank of the ferry, his purple robe fluttering in the north wind.

He bent down, grabbed a handful of mud and sand, rubbed it in his palm, his brow furrowed. Beside him, the Water Affairs Officer of the Ministry of Works was holding a map and urgently reporting: "Your Excellency, ice is piling up upstream. If we encounter another northerly wind, there is a risk of the dike collapsing! Raising it by three feet may still not be enough!"

"Immediately conscript 3,000 laborers to break ice along the river for 30 miles to release floodwaters."

Di Renjie said in a deep voice, "Issue another order to the prefectures and counties along the river to evacuate low-lying villages—"

Before he could finish speaking, the sound of rapid hoofbeats suddenly came from outside the ferry.

More than ten riders broke through the morning mist and rushed straight to the embankment.

The leader held up Zhou Xing's warrant and shouted sternly, "Di Renjie is colluding with the remnants of the Li Tang dynasty. Imprison him immediately!"

The porters at the ferry crossing were in an uproar.

An old river worker with white hair suddenly knelt down and shouted, "Lord Di just saved the lives of our entire village yesterday!"

The cavalryman raised his whip to strike, but Di Renjie had already extended his hands: "I will go with you, but do not harm the people." When the iron chains were put on him, he was not surprised at all, and whispered to the Ministry of Works officials: "The ice-breaking work must not be delayed."

The official from the Ministry of Works, with tears in his eyes, knelt down and responded.

……

As the morning bell tolls, the steps of the Imperial College are covered with ginkgo leaves.

Ouyang Tong, the Grand Councilor, stood before the Minglun Hall, holding the *Spring and Autumn Annals*, explaining the section "Yanzi's Difficulty in Not Dying for His Ruler" to the students. He lightly tapped the bamboo slips with his knuckles, producing a resounding sound.

Yan Ying once said: "If a ruler dies for the state, then he shall die; if he perishes for the state, then he shall perish. But if he dies for himself or perishes for himself, who but his closest confidant would dare to entrust him with this task?" You, my lords, should remember that a minister should prioritize the state and consider honest remonstrance as loyalty...

Before the words were finished, the sound of iron boots suddenly rose outside the prison.

Twenty jailers burst through the door, and the cruel official Wang Hongyi, who was in charge, kicked over the lecture table, scattering bamboo slips all over the floor.

"Ouyang Tong is colluding with Li Zhen's remaining followers, plotting something sinister!"

The students in the hall stood up in surprise.

Ouyang Tong calmly straightened his crooked ceremonial cap and bent down to pick up half a scroll of the Spring and Autumn Annals.

He looked around at the students and suddenly recited aloud: "The Zuo Zhuan says: 'When Lin Fu served his lord, he thought of being loyal when he was in power and of making amends when he was in retirement.' You should all take this as your model when you stand in court in the future!"

As the prison guards escorted him across the Pan Pond, the students suddenly began reciting in unison from the Book of Songs, "Xiang Bo": "Those who slander others, with whom do they conspire?"

The sound shook the roof tiles.

……

When the three prison vans converged on the main street at noon, the entire city's population flocked to follow them.

Someone threw flatbread into the carriage, and a student from the Imperial Academy recited "The Yellow Bird" from the Book of Songs. Then came more officials, including the Censor-in-Chief Zhao Wenge, the Vice Minister of Agriculture Lu Huaizhen, and the Director of the Ministry of War Du Jingjian...

"Your Excellency!"

A charcoal seller suddenly knelt down in the middle of the imperial road, his forehead hitting the blue bricks with a loud thud.

In an instant, the entire street was filled with people kneeling.

A minor official in a seventh-rank green robe broke free from his colleagues' obstruction and rushed to Ouyang Tongche, kowtowing heavily: "Lord Nayan!" He only uttered this one cry before being dragged away by the jailers and flogged. As blood seeped onto his official robe, he continued to scream, "Your Excellency taught me to read the classics..."

boom! boom! boom!
With each thud of the cane, the commotion in the crowd grew stronger.

At first, there were only sporadic sobs, but soon they turned into a raging torrent of voices. Some people shouted "Injustice!", some recited the poem "Shu Li" from the Book of Songs, and some bolder merchants even grabbed flatbreads and fruits from their stalls and threw them at the jailers.

"Something's wrong!"

In the elegant pavilion on the top floor of the Seven Treasures Pavilion in the middle of the Heavenly Street, the Wu family members were full of pride and were looking forward to the fate of these anti-Wu people. They were just waiting to get rid of them and bring up the matter of changing the heir again.

Wu Youyi suddenly sensed something was wrong: "Don't you guys think we've gone a bit too far?"

Wu Youning picked up a glass of wine and said nonchalantly, "A bunch of peasants, so what if they're grown up? Di Renjie is famous, it's normal for a few ignorant people to mourn him in advance, no need to worry."

Wu Youyi, however, thought differently. Her gaze swept over the surging crowd: "The last time we killed Wei Xuantong, it didn't cause such a commotion. I feel something is amiss. Should we send a message to our elder brother?"

Wu Yizong shook his head and said, "He and Sansi are under house arrest and are already annoyed. Let's not add to their troubles with these trivial matters. My aunt doesn't care about public opinion, only about the will of Heaven. Relax, they can't turn the tide!"

"..."

Wu Youyi opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but seeing that his brothers were enjoying the show, he didn't bother to say anything. These brothers were useless; they couldn't even see through such obvious attempts to incite public opinion.

The charcoal seller and the lowly seventh-rank official were clearly up to something.

How could an ordinary person have such a loud voice? And how could they draw blood with a single blow, with blood flowing like a gushing stream?
This is clearly an act.

I just don't know what other tricks they have up their sleeves; acting alone won't do any good.

If my aunt cared about public opinion, Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen would have died eight hundred times over.

But they are still alive and well.

Wu Youyi suddenly remembered something and turned to look at Wu Youji in the corner. He was carving the three characters "Lu Chenyuan" on the table with a dagger. Judging from his clenched teeth and ferocious expression, he was probably in a "useless" state. Only when his eyes cleared and his behavior became measured would he be of any use. Unfortunately, he was mostly useless...

(End of this chapter)