Poverty Alleviation in Qin: A Sky-High Review of "I Am the Female Prime Minister of All Time&qu

"Right now." Song's tone left no room for argument.

Not even a minute's wait.

Don't even think about surviving a second longer with me.

The news spread quickly throughout the city, and constables went to various streets and alleys to deliver the message.

Within an hour, all the people in the city knew about it.

The afternoon sun was blazing, and prison carts were already prepared in front of the county government gate.

The six bandits were led out of the cell, still wearing the same old clothes stained with dust and blood from the night before, but the thick ropes binding them had been replaced with heavy iron chains.

Some people hung their heads and remained silent, some had empty and vacant eyes, and others muttered their explanations in low voices, all of which were drowned out by the clanging sound of the chains being dragged across the ground.

Cao Can led his troops to guard both sides of the prison cart, while Fan Kuai brought up the rear. His hand was on the hilt of his sword at his waist, and his gaze swept coldly over the growing crowd of people gathering on the street.

People from the streets and alleys around the city gate were the first to rush over, and many had prepared punishments in advance: some held rotten vegetable leaves, some carried half a basin of swill, and others held dry weeds.

As soon as the prison van turned out of the county court alley, a bunch of rotten vegetables hit the main prisoner on the forehead, and the filth dripped down his brow bone.

The man hurriedly shrank his neck, not daring to raise his hand to wipe it.

"You beast! What kind of hero bullies women and children!"

"Such a villain deserves to die!"

"Even being torn to pieces wouldn't be enough to quell my hatred!"

Angri curses surged from all sides like a tidal wave, drowning out the sound of chains dragging on the ground.

Stones were continuously thrown at the cage, hitting the wooden bars and bouncing off, rolling among the bluestone slabs.

The constables and Cao Can only maintain basic order, did not stop the people from venting their anger, and strictly prevented the crowd from ramming the prison cart.

The man who reported the crime stood on the outside of the crowd, holding his young daughter tightly in his arms, and quietly looked through the gaps in the crowd at the main criminal with his head down in the prison van, unwilling to look away for a long time.

The main culprit refused to raise his head from beginning to end, burying his neck deep in his collar and trying his best to shrink his body into a ball, attempting to use the noise of the crowd to cover himself up.

The five accomplices in the prison van behind were also subjected to being pelted with vegetable leaves and clods of dirt.

Someone raised their hand to cover their face, only to be hit on the shoulder by a rock. They groaned in pain and curled up.

Some people held on for a long time, but their whole bodies began to tremble uncontrollably. In the end, their legs went weak, and they collapsed along the wooden railings onto the floor of the prison van.

The shouts and curses on the street grew louder and louder, and the people were filled with indignation, denouncing the bandits' inhumane atrocities.

Although no one knows who the victim is, since Lord Song took office three years ago, no villain has dared to do evil again.

Now that these thugs see that the people of Pei County are wealthy, they have started to shamelessly rob, steal, and plunder.

The prison van turned down the last street and stopped in an open space in the west of the city.

The execution site has been cleared.

Cao Can jumped off the carriage to direct the crowd. His execution sword was polished to a gleaming shine. The blazing sun shone on the smooth blade, casting a cold, sharp light that slanted across the dusty ground.

The shouts and curses from the crowd continued.

Subsequently, the six bandits were brought down one by one and forced to kneel in the center of the open space.

The chains made a series of soft, low clattering sounds as they were untied from their ankles, and the untied chains were coiled up and placed aside, as if waiting for the next use.

The ringleader was placed alone at the front, while the other five knelt side by side behind him, heads bowed, none daring to look up at their surroundings.

A judge walked up to the main culprit, unrolled a bamboo scroll, and read out the charges in public.

"Those who commit robbery, armed assault, kidnapping of innocent people, or rape of women—according to Qin law, shall be executed in the marketplace immediately."

After he finished reading, he closed the bamboo slip and took two steps back.

The main culprit finally raised his head, his lips moving as if he wanted to say something.

Before he could say anything, the executioner approached and pressed the man against the wooden block.

A deep, resounding sound.

Some people in the crowd gasped, some turned their faces away, and some moved their lips slightly but made no sound.

After a deathly silence, the curses surged up again, heavier than before, as if they had been pressing on one's chest for a long time before finally finding an outlet: "Good riddance!"

"He got off too easily!"

When the five people kneeling behind heard the sound, one of them trembled violently.

Cao Can stood aside, his gaze sweeping over the main prisoner who was already lying on the ground. After confirming that it was the right person, he gestured to the executioner, signaling to proceed to the next step.

The executioner changed his knife and went to the second person.

After the ringleader and another person who attempted to force women were eliminated, the remaining three accomplices were subjected to a combination of corporal punishment, including tattooing, nose amputation, and cutting off their left toes.

The tattooing of the face, the nose cutting off, and the chopping off of the left toe were all carried out without exception.

The sand on the ground was soaked with blood, turning a dark, somber color, like a newly formed dark red stain slowly seeping outwards along the cracks in the brickwork.

The three men collapsed in pools of blood; some were still groaning softly, while others had completely lost consciousness.

When they wake up, they will face lifelong hard labor.

The crowd was slowly dispersing, but Xiao He was still standing there, watching the officials check the list.

The bloodstains on the ground had been washed away with water, leaving a few faint watermarks that slowly dried in the afternoon sunlight.

Just then, a nonchalant voice cut in from the edge of the crowd: "Hey, where's our Lord Song?"

Xiao He didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

He turned to the side and watched Liu Ji saunter over from under the wall, his hands tucked into his sleeves and a blade of grass dangling from his mouth.

Xiao He said expressionlessly, "Lord Song said he didn't want to come; it's an eyesore."

"Oh my, she's accompanying the county magistrate's wife at the county court."

Liu Ji clicked his tongue twice, a grin spreading across his face with a mischievous smirk: "Newlyweds are just different—"

Xiao He was too lazy to pay attention to him and was about to turn around and walk away when he caught a glimpse of Fan Kuai walking over from the other side of the open space, striding along with a roll of something on his shoulder.

Liu Ji also saw it, and his gaze lingered on the rolled-up items for a moment.

Wrapped in burlap, its length was indistinguishable, but its shape and the way it was dragged on the floor suddenly made him stop laughing.

"Fan Kuai, what are you carrying?" Liu Ji quickly took two steps closer and peered over to get a better look.

Fan Kuai didn't stop walking, his tone as calm as if he were remarking on the nice weather: "It's the order from the magistrate. The ringleader and the one who forced the woman—chop them up and feed them to the dogs."

He paused, as if confirming his memory, "The adults said that if the dog doesn't eat it, throw it in the mountains."

"?"

"??"

"???"

"What do you mean, feeding a dog...??"

Liu Ji slowly turned his head, looking at Fan Kuai's serious and obedient expression, and after a long while, he finally found his voice: "...Chop it up?"

Fan Kuai nodded, walked past him, and continued forward.

Liu Ji stood there, bewildered in the wind: "..."

Why do I feel a slight, throbbing pain down there?

Seeing this, Xiao He cleared his throat: "The lord also said that anyone who dares to go against the wishes of women will suffer this fate in the future."

"......"

Liu Ji swallowed hard. "Um... Xiao He, flirting with a widow shouldn't be considered against a woman's will, right...?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao He gave him a cold look and chuckled.

"......"

"It's...it's...that Cao is pregnant with my child. I came to the county court to tell Lord Song about this." Liu Ji's voice weakened as he finished speaking.

What he did was certainly not honorable.

Xiao He: "...What did you say?!"