Chapter 63: The Case of Execution in the Marketplace

The young lady watched for a while, then pulled an object hanging around her neck from inside her inner garment, lowered her head slightly, and untied the red cord behind her neck.

She said softly: "Reach out your hand."

Wang Yang reached out to receive it, and the object, still warm from the young lady's body, fell into his palm.

Thinking that her personal item was now being held by this strange man, the young lady suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable and quickly pulled her hand back.

Wang Yang walked to the window and examined it carefully against the moonlight filtering through the cracks.

This was an extremely small bronze seal, arched on top—what the academic world calls a 'tile knob'. The tile knob was still threaded with a red cord.

Engraved on the seal were five seal-script characters: 'Seal of the General of the Champions'.

The young lady took a deep breath and said: "My late father was the former General of the Champions, commander of the vanguard of the Imperial Guards, Chen Tianfu."

Wang Yang: Who???

Seeing Wang Yang had no reaction, the young lady was puzzled: "Are you not surprised?"

"Uh..."

Should I be surprised?

But I don't even know who Chen Tianfu is, what should I be surprised about?

The official title 'General of the Champions' did sound slightly familiar, but Wang Yang had no concept of how big this official was. But since she said he was a commander in the Imperial Guards, it shouldn't be small.

However, the status of military generals in the Northern and Southern Dynasties was low, even discriminated against by the 'pure' noble families—more severe than the Song Dynasty's emphasis on civil over military. But if one was from a noble family holding a military title, that was a different matter.

The era of noble families was like this; everything centered on bloodline and status.

The surname Chen—were there any noble Chen families in the Southern Dynasties?

Seeing Wang Yang pondering, the young lady asked suspiciously: "You don't know about my father's affair?"

Wang Yang was slightly embarrassed: "Apologies, I have always been immersed in my studies and don't know much about court affairs."

The young lady was greatly surprised: "The 'Case of the General's Execution in the Marketplace' four years ago shook the world; you don't know about it?"

"Uh... four years ago I was still young, and my ears were closed to matters outside my window..."

"Then you must at least know about the rebellion of Tang Yuzhi."

Wang Yang: (￣▽￣)

The young lady was stunned: "You don't even know about Tang Yuzhi's rebellion?"

Judging by the young lady's tone, Wang Yang guessed this was common knowledge. His ignorance might indeed be inexcusable, so he could only try to make up for it:

"I was too focused on my studies at the time..."

Seeing the doubt in the young lady's eyes, Wang Yang immediately said: "In ancient times, Dong Zhongshu studied for three years without peeking into his garden! I was the same these past few years; I hope Miss Chen will be understanding!"

Oh, so he's just a scholar ignorant of the world.

But why do I always feel this kid isn't entirely honest?

"In the winter of the third year of Yongming, Tang Yuzhi of Fuyang gathered a crowd to rebel because he resisted the policy of checking household registers.

The Three Wu regions responded, the momentum was massive, and he took dozens of cities including Tonglu, Qiantang, Yanguan, and Yuhang, killing the Administrator of Dongyang and the imperial clansman Xiao Chongzhi. The government army could not resist.

In the spring of the fourth year, he declared himself Emperor at Qiantang, stole the name 'Wu State', and used the false era name 'Xingping'—"

Declaring himself Emperor less than a year into a rebellion?

Wang Yang shook his head upon hearing this.

He only heard the young lady continue:

"Yuzhi's momentum was strong, and the local authorities could not control it. The Son of Heaven appointed the General of the Champions, Chen Tianfu, as General of the Vanguard, serving as commander-in-chief; and the Viscount of Zhongsu County, Liu Mingche, as General of the Left, serving as deputy commander; leading the vanguard and left divisions of the Imperial Guards to suppress the rebellion.

The army reached Qiantang, crushed Yuzhi, took advantage of the victory to advance, pacified the various commanderies and counties, and sent Yuzhi's head to the capital."

The young lady stopped there. Seeing she wouldn't continue, Wang Yang asked: "And then?"

"And then... and then after suppressing the rebellion, the Imperial Guards looted extensively, scraping for gold and silver, regardless of whether it was noble or commoner. The Three Wu region was left in ruins wherever they passed. The people were full of grievances, and the noble families were in an uproar.

This case reached the ears of the Son of Heaven. The court investigated and claimed that Chen Tianfu, in order to amass wealth, had let his troops loot and then secretly transported the looted goods back to the capital.

The Son of Heaven was furious and sentenced Chen Tianfu to be beheaded and executed in the marketplace, his body exposed in the streets. Liu Mingche was stripped of his office and title and sent to Dongye as a slave..."

When the young lady said this, her voice was slightly hoarse.

So that's how it was.

No wonder there was always a cold, resolute air about her. Seeing her age, she should be about the same as Lady Xie Lady Xie Xinghan. Her father dying tragically four years ago could be considered a childhood trauma.

The young lady paused and asked expressionlessly: "Do you think my father deserved to die?"

Wang Yang thought: 'This... it really wasn't unjust...'

"But I tell you, my father was framed."

"Framed?"

"Yes. Although my family is not wealthy, we don't lack money.

Father lived a disciplined life, didn't care about food or clothing, and other than liking martial arts and horses, he had no hobbies.

Since my mother passed away, he not only didn't remarry, he didn't even take a concubine.

There was simply no place in the house that needed money; why would he loot?

Moreover, he was always very strict in governing his troops and often told me that there were many high officials and nobles in the capital, warning me that being patient in all things would never lead to major mistakes. So he was always disciplined and low-key in his daily life, never getting into conflicts with others.

For such a person to be accused of letting his troops loot and secretly transporting several carts of wealth back to the capital—no matter what, I don't believe it."

Wang Yang thought for a moment and asked: "You say your father was framed; do you have evidence?"

"No evidence, but I know my father would never do such a thing! And there is one suspicious point: my father was already dead before the execution. The government presumed he committed suicide out of fear of guilt to avoid implicating his relatives."

Wang Yang asked in confusion: "Can you still be beheaded if you commit suicide?"

"The people's grievances were boiling; it was a public execution to show an explanation," the young lady said calmly.

"Apologies."

"Nothing to apologize for. People are already dead; it's the same even if you kill them a few more times."

Wang Yang was silent for a while and asked: "You suspect your father didn't commit suicide?"

"... I... don't know. Father might indeed have committed suicide to avoid implication, because if he were finally convicted of the crime of looting, then according to the law, I would be punished by being entered into the military register."

Wang Yang nodded: "Under the Qi law, for the crime of looting, relatives within the mourning period are entered into the military register. It wouldn't just implicate you, but also your uncles, aunts, cousins, and siblings."

"You are well-versed in criminal law?" The young lady was somewhat surprised.

"Just slightly," Wang Yang secretly reminded himself that he needed to keep digging into the Qi law. He turned and asked: "Since you think your father might have committed suicide, why do you say this is a suspicious point?"

"If it were an ordinary case where the facts weren't clear, given my father's rank, it's true that he might not have been tried after suicide. But this case was so shocking; did my father really think that one death could settle the crime? He couldn't have been trying to seek the Son of Heaven's sympathy with one death."

The young lady's voice was cold, her tone slightly mocking:

"However, the Son of Heaven might have truly left a little sympathy for this former favorite general.

After the case was settled, I was sentenced to be a government slave, but the authorities unexpectedly allowed me to redeem myself with a fine, following the precedent for the daughter of a third-rank official.

Without an order from above, how could they be so kind?

Of course, it's also possible they just wanted money."

Wang Yang thought: 'So there was a system of redeeming crimes with fines in the Southern Qi; it seems saving money is very necessary. It's just that I don't know the specific standard for the fine.'

"I paid the fine, and over the years I've investigated my father's trusted old subordinates, finding that they were either dead, demoted, fled, or scattered; almost none of them are doing well, except for one person..."

Wang Yang's heart stirred.

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Note: In many books, 'Tang Yuzhi' is mistakenly written as 'Tang Yuzhi' (using a different character for 'Yu'). This is because the ancient variant character for 'Yu' and the character 'Yu' look similar, leading to transmission errors. Thus, many ancient copies are also wrong, and the error has spread, leading to the incorrect version becoming popular. ===== CHAPTER 64 =====