Chapter 66: The Kneeling Statue

Although Wang Xuanji and his twelve or thirteen riders all died in battle, they still dragged down more than twenty of Oboi's horsemen to die with them.

Most importantly, because the pursuing force Oboi led was diverted, Fan Wencheng had by then already reached Fuzhou, boarded the ship Mao Wenlong sent to receive him, and was brought into the Great Ming.

After arriving in the Great Ming, he traveled from Denglai to the capital; in short, after a series of twists and turns, Fan Wencheng was thrown into the Imperial Prison of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Not only did Xu Xianchun, Tian Ergeng, and others rush over to see this top-priority traitor whom the Emperor had personally ordered captured from Liaodong, but the Chongzhen Emperor himself also came in person to the Imperial Prison, precisely to meet this dog of a thing who had dared to curse him beneath the walls of the capital.

Yet Fan Wencheng was nowhere near as unyielding as he had been beneath the capital's walls that day.

The moment he saw Chongzhen, Fan Wencheng fell to his knees in the cell and cried out loudly: "The guilty subject Fan Wencheng kowtows before His Majesty, may the Emperor live ten thousand years, ten thousand years, ten thousand times ten thousand years!"

Chongzhen, however, was so furious that he laughed and asked: "Oh? I wonder whose subject the great Mister Fan is?"

Fan Wencheng kowtowed again and said: "This guilty subject was previously taken captive by the Jianzhou barbarians and had no choice but to feign compliance with them. I beseech the Sacred Son of Heaven to show mercy and forgive my crime."

Chongzhen laughed and said: "I am hardly worthy of being called the Sacred Son of Heaven by your lips, Mister Fan.

You, Mister Fan, were originally nothing more than a government student in the Shenyang county school, not even a subject of my Great Ming, so as for this claim of being a 'guilty subject' — you are not yet worthy of it.

Furthermore, it was you, Mister Fan, who opened your mouth to revile me right here at the foot of the capital. I heard it with my own ears and saw it with my own eyes, and at that time no Jianzhou barbarian was forcing you.

Thirdly, according to what I have learned, it was you who beguiled your elder brother Fan Wencai into surrendering to the Old Slave together; you were not taken captive by the Jianzhou barbarians at all.

Now that you have fallen into my hands, I wonder what else you, Mister Fan, have to say?"

Although Fan Wencheng knew in his heart that he was certain to die, he still wanted to cling to a one-in-ten-thousand hope and beg Chongzhen to extend mercy beyond the law.

On the journey here, Fan Wencheng had also thought about acting like a real man, being unyielding just once, and letting the Ming barbarians see the backbone of us Great Jin slaves!

But Liu Laosi and the others knew that Wang Xuanji had been doomed to die drawing away the pursuers, and in their hearts they secretly hated Fan Wencheng, who had caused all of this.

Along the entire journey, they did not stint in applying upon him some of the Embroidered Uniform Guard's secret torture techniques — after all, the Emperor wanted him alive, but never said they could not work over this dog of a traitor.

Having endured torture, Fan Wencheng finally realized that he was absolutely no true man of iron, otherwise he would never have let his wives and concubines be slept with by Hooge and Dodo.

Now, hearing the murderous intent filling Chongzhen's words, Fan Wencheng was so terrified that he lost control of his bladder!

In order to stay alive, Fan Wencheng cared nothing for his dignity. He hastily shuffled on his knees to the cell door, kowtowed repeatedly, and begged without ceasing: "I beseech Your Majesty to show mercy!

This slave is willing to be Your Majesty's running dog. Whoever Your Majesty bids this slave bite, this slave will absolutely never let them go!

I beseech Your Majesty to show mercy!"

Suddenly recalling the intelligence he had come into contact with over on Hong Taiji's side, he added: "If Your Majesty is willing to spare this slave's wretched life, this slave is willing to reveal everything this slave knows about the Jianzhou barbarians' intelligence!

I beseech Your Majesty to show mercy!"

Seeing Fan Wencheng, who in history was so notorious and ranked first among the three great traitors of Liaodong, now begging for his life like a dog, Chongzhen felt a surge of satisfaction in his heart.

Yet Chongzhen only laughed coldly and said: "The intelligence you, the great Mister Fan, can obtain, my Embroidered Uniform Guard may not necessarily fail to obtain. The intelligence you cannot obtain, my Embroidered Uniform Guard still might obtain.

As for a dog that bites, I am not lacking any. To put it bluntly, I have absolutely no use for you. I came to see you simply to behold with my own eyes exactly what kind of wolf-hearted, dog-lunged man could willingly be a running dog for the Jianzhou barbarians and butcher his own countrymen.

I have now seen what I came to see today. Mister Fan, just wait steadfastly to kneel before the Shrine of Loyal Martyrs!"

Having finished these words, Chongzhen did not even spare Fan Wencheng another glance and walked straight out of the Imperial Prison.

Fan Wencheng, knowing his death was certain and with not a shred of wishful thinking left in his heart, actually burst out cursing: "Fatuous tyrant! Brutal despot!

I, Fan, am full of learning and strategy. If not for the examiners being blind and failing to recognize talent, how could I, Fan, have surrendered to the Old Khan!"

These words made Chongzhen halt his steps.

Yet Chongzhen, without turning his head, sneered: "In China's several thousand years of history, those more talented than you yet buried in obscurity are many, likely as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. What kind of scallion do you, Fan Wencheng, even count as?

And speaking of which, even with so many who possessed unrecognized talent, someone like you, the great Mister Fan, who took the initiative to defect to barbarians — I truly have never heard of such a thing before!"

With that, he paused not a moment longer and left the Imperial Prison directly, leaving only Fan Wencheng behind in the cell, cursing and railing without cease.

When he reached the entrance of the Imperial Prison, Chongzhen gave instructions to Xu Xianchun: "The Shrine of Loyal Martyrs will be completed any day now, but the kneeling statues of traitorous ministers before the shrine have not yet been prepared.

The others can wait; I will order the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Works to cast them together.

But as for this Fan Wencheng — first place this beast into a mold, pour molten iron over him, and cast him into a kneeling statue, so that he kneels forever before the Shrine of Loyal Martyrs!"

Hearing this, Xu Xianchun shuddered all over, secretly thinking His Majesty's heart was truly ruthless; even the cruelty of Jie and Zhou probably paled in comparison.

But as the Son of Heaven's personal troops, they had always done exactly as the Emperor said. He immediately bowed and responded: "This subject obeys the decree."

After Chongzhen left, Xu Xianchun immediately began preparing for the casting of the kneeling statue.

First, he ordered men to cut out Fan Wencheng's tongue to prevent him from cursing and screaming, then to break his four limbs and drive iron nails into the shattered joints, fixing him into a kneeling posture.

Next, he summoned craftsmen and, using the immobilized Fan Wencheng as the model, first made a mold from him, then placed Fan Wencheng inside it and secured him.

Once the iron in the furnace had melted into molten iron, the red-hot liquid iron was poured into the mold encasing Fan Wencheng.

A hissing sound was heard, and a stench of scorched hair and seared flesh spread outward. Even the men of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, who had witnessed countless cruel tortures, all felt nauseated.

Pitifully, Fan Wencheng, who ranked first among the three great traitors of the late Ming, thus perished.

When the mold cooled and was opened, an iron-cast kneeling statue appeared before everyone's eyes.

An Embroidered Uniform Guard officer who had been standing in front of the kneeling statue suddenly shuddered and immediately dodged aside, looking at that kneeling statue no more.

Only Xu Xianchun spat, a gob of phlegm landing directly on the kneeling statue's body. Upon the statue, which still held residual heat, there was another hiss, and that gob of phlegm evaporated completely at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Xu Xianchun then said to the Embroidered Uniform Guard officers: "Store it properly, and deliver it when the Shrine of Loyal Martyrs is finished."

Meanwhile, Chongzhen, having returned to the rear palace, also received a request for an audience from the Minister of Works.

Having nothing else to do, Chongzhen ordered the Minister of Works, Xue Fengxiang, to be summoned for an audience.

After the formal greetings, Xue Fengxiang brought Chongzhen a piece of good news: thanks to the effectiveness of the cement from the imperial estate south of the city, the Shrine of Loyal Martyrs was now nearing completion.

Sorry, brothers, yesterday and the day before were both single updates. I'll try my best to make up for all of it today. As for the debt, I'll aim to pay some of it back both today and tomorrow.

(End of chapter)