Chapter 808: Kindness and Might Together Forge an Iron Wall; a Steel Seal of Thought Crushes All Lives

On the official road outside the south gate of Ningyuan Xian, the smell of blood lingered in the spring breeze for a whole night.

At dawn the next day, a hastily erected Execution Platform stood in the very center of the trampled wheat field between the official road and the city gate.

The platform was higher than the one at Tongwan City, reaching four zhang, supported by four pine columns as thick as a bowl mouth, bearing a black‑cloth platform whose four corners bore fist‑sized iron blocks that would not budge even in strong wind.

The Dark Red Flag of the Mingjing Department was planted at the four corners of the platform, and the Cangying Emblem on its surface cast a heavy shadow in the morning light.

Gao Jiong's Ti Cavalry escorted all the captured powerful ringleaders and outlaws from the three surrounding counties to Ningyuan Xian through the night; the clanking of iron chains dragging on the ground echoed from dusk till dawn, frightening the dogs in the villages along the way into their dens, silencing them.

Chen Yan stood directly beneath the Execution Platform, clutching in his hand the contact book recovered from Yang Sandao's corpse.

Gao Jiong knelt on one knee before him, his voice pressed down to a tight whisper.

"Report to the Pillar State, the heads of families and core henchmen of the eight implicated powerful clans total twenty‑nine persons, and eleven surviving outlaws from the outer circle of the Qi State Shadow Department, all have been escorted into place."

Chen Yan closed the contact book and slipped it back into his bosom.

"What about the coerced Liuren?"

Gao Jiong's voice faltered for a beat.

"Two thousand thirty‑seven people have been gathered under watch at the Cheng Nan Training Ground; water and rations have been distributed according to the Pillar State's orders, none are starving nor being beaten."

Chen Yan gave a slight nod.

"Have them all present to witness the execution."

Gao Jiong hammered his fist against his Chest Armor, rose, and went to make arrangements.

At the third quarter of the Chen hour, the open space beneath the Execution Platform was packed with people.

Over two thousand coerced Liuren were led by Ti Cavalry to stand in the front row, each face bearing the same expression—more complex than fear, a blend of shame and despair that surfaces only after one's own stupidity and blind obedience have driven one into a corner.

Behind them came tens of thousands of townsfolk who had rushed from Ningyuan Xian and surrounding villages, a black mass stretching half a li.

Chen Yan ascended the Execution Platform.

The Black Python Pattern Cloak fluttered wildly in the morning wind, its dark‑gold patterns flickering intermittently in the sunlight.

He stood at the exact center of the platform, his gaze sweeping over the dense sea of people below, finally landing on the bowed heads of the front‑row Liuren.

"Raise your heads."

Over two thousand heads slowly lifted at the same instant, their eyes timidly turning toward the platform.

Chen Yan stretched his hand behind him.

Hongye handed the Bamboo Silk Scroll filled with crimes into his palm.

"I will first deal with the damned, then the living."

He unfurled the scroll, his voice grinding out from the deepest part of his chest, reaching the inner ears of everyone present.

"Bring them up."

In the side passage of the Execution Platform, forty prisoners were linked by iron chains into two rows, shoving their way onto the platform.

At the front was Xie Pingya, head of the Xie Family of Qinggui County, the heir of a three‑generation old‑clan powerhouse; now he wore only a torn white prison garment, his hair a wild mess, and his bare feet left two uneven streaks of bloody footprints on the black‑cloth platform.

Behind him followed Chen Wantong, Ma Delu, and six implicated powerful family heads and twenty‑nine core henchmen captured from various counties.

Further back were eleven outlaws from the outer circle of the Qi State Shadow Department, each bearing the marks left by the Mingjing Department's interrogations.

Chen Yan watched the forty men being pushed to kneel on the platform, the Bamboo Silk Scroll in his hand slowly closing.

"Everyone."

His voice turned toward the tens of thousands of eyes below.

"Those kneeling on the platform—some have hidden nearly ten thousand living people as slaves, some have used Qi State silver to spread White Feather Letters among you, some have hired assassins to kill the new county magistrate I promoted."

He flung the scroll onto the platform.

"Every deed they commit is digging at the roots beneath your feet."

He turned, looking at the forty prisoners kneeling on the platform.

"Lingchi."

The moment those two words hit the ground, the air below was cut off.

Xie Pingya's body shuddered violently, his mouth opening and closing as if to speak, but fear clogged his throat so tightly that not a single syllable could emerge.

Chen Wantong's body went limp, collapsing from kneeling to a prone position, his forehead pressed to the black cloth, emitting a dry, hoarse croak.

The punishment specialist of the Mingjing Department stepped onto the platform.

This time no Ghost Head Blade was used; instead a set of thin blades of varying lengths, each honed to a sheen that could reflect a person's silhouette.

The process lasted a long time.

It lasted so long that among the front‑row coerced Liuren below, a dozen people vomited on the spot, and some had legs so weak they fell to the ground and could not rise.

It lasted so long that among the rear‑row spectators, some closed their eyes, some covered their children's faces, and many simply stared with pallid faces, lips pressed, silent.

The forty people's cries shifted from shrill to hoarse, from hoarse to raspy, and from raspy to complete silence.

In the end only the rustling sound of spring wind over the black cloth and the dripping of dark‑red liquid onto the Mudi, a steady pattering, remained.

Chen Yan stood amid the blood‑soaked wreckage on the platform, the lower edge of his Great Cloak already stained deep brown.

He turned again, facing the crowd below.

This time his gaze did not fall on the ordinary townsfolk, but precisely fixed on the faces of the over two thousand coerced Liuren in the front row.

"Now, it's your turn to speak."

Over two thousand bodies simultaneously tensed like bowstrings; some teeth began to chatter, some crotches were already wet.

Chen Yan descended the stone steps from the platform, each footfall on the stone echoing sharply in the deathly silent square.

He reached the front‑row Liuren and halted.

"How many among you volunteered to storm the city gate?"

No one dared to answer.

Chen Yan's gaze swept slowly through the crowd, finally resting on a middle‑aged woman cradling a five‑ or six‑year‑old boy.

"You, come here."

The woman's legs trembled like a winnowing sieve; after someone beside her gave her a push, she staggered forward to Chen Yan, and the sound of her knees hitting the mud was dull.

"Pillar of the State, spare us. The woman was forced; they said if we didn't go with them they'd burn my house, and the woman had no choice…"

Chen Yan crouched, his gaze level with the woman.

"How old is the child in your arms?"

The woman's tears streamed down.

"Five, five years old."

Chen Yan extended his hand, his fingertip gently tapping the trembling boy's head, the child curled in the woman's arms.

"Take the five‑year‑old child with you to storm the city gate."

The woman's sobs turned into wailing as she hammered her forehead wildly against the ground.

"The woman deserves death, the woman is foolish, the woman was only afraid they'd burn the house, the woman has wronged the Pillar of the State…"

Chen Yan rose to his feet and turned toward the more than two thousand faces.

"This Duke knows most of you were coerced, and this Duke also knows those White Feather Letters terrified you."

His voice lowered a notch at that moment, a temperature that starkly contrasted with the earlier torture.

"But you made one mistake."

He extended his hand, pointing to the Execution Platform behind him that was still dripping blood.

"You believed the words of those who wanted to harm you, yet you did not trust this Duke's words."

The heads of the more than two thousand people bowed even lower, their sobs merging into one sound.

Chen Yan withdrew his hand from the direction of the Execution Platform and pointed to the large banner bearing the characters "Xiazhou" that flapped toward the city gate.

"This Duke will not kill you."

The moment those four words fell, the crowd erupted in a wave of suppressed sobbing and gasps.

"But you must pay for your own folly."

His voice hardened again.

"Two thousand thirty‑seven people, all sentenced to three years of hard labor, to go north of Ningyuan Xian onto the barren shoals to build canals for this Duke, dig irrigation channels, and construct dikes."

He turned his head, looking at Zhang Wenqian standing at the side of the platform.

"After the three‑year labor term, those who perform well may return to their hometowns, receive restored land holdings, and have their household registrations renewed."

He looked again at the more than two thousand people kneeling on the ground.

"This Duke gives you a second chance, but only this one."

His finger made a vague gesture toward the wreckage on the Execution Platform.

"If there is another time, this Duke will not speak a second word to you."

The more than two thousand people pressed their foreheads against the mud in unison, their cries and head‑banging sounds blending into one clamor.

"Thanks to the Pillar of the State's mercy of not killing!"

"Long live the Pillar of the State!"

Chen Yan no longer looked at them; he turned and walked back to the Stone Steps beside the Execution Platform, pulling from the inner pocket of his Great Cloak the Bamboo Silk Scroll titled "Xiazhou Lüshu".

He held the scroll aloft, the sunlight rendering the ink characters on the White Silk clearly legible.

"From today onward, every person in Xiazhou shall remember one sentence for this Duke."

His voice boomed from the bottom of his chest, shaking the flags on the Execution Platform into violent trembling.

"The Pillar of the State is the backbone of governance; having received the Pillar's grace, one must repay it, and there is only one way to repay: absolute obedience."

He unfurled the scroll and read each clause one by one, each line biting heavily, each character striking the Heavenly Spirit Covers of tens of thousands.

After finishing the reading, he handed the scroll to Zhang Wenqian beside him.

"Copy ten thousand copies, paste them on every wall of Xiazhou, on every city gate, and on every village notice board."

Zhang Wenqian took the scroll with both hands, clasped his fists and accepted the order.

Chen Yan cast one last glance at the sea of people kneeling on the ground below, his voice suddenly softened, as light as if he were speaking to himself.

"Remember, this Duke's blade is reserved for those who harm you, not for you."

He turned and strode toward the city gate, the hem of his Great Cloak dragging across the blood‑stained and muddy ground, leaving a dark red trail extending several steps behind him.

That afternoon, Chu Ci sent a dispatch from Qinggui County.

"Pillar of the State, the comprehensive review of land and hidden household registrations has been fully launched; no one dares to obstruct it, and each village, together with its clan heads, is scrambling to voluntarily submit the concealed population registers to the county office."

Gao Jiong, after reading the dispatch, placed the scroll on Chen Yan's desk.

"Pillar of the State, the iron plate has been forged."

Chen Yan turned the dispatch to its final line, his finger pausing on that number.

He said nothing, his gaze passing over the desk to the darkening sky outside the window.

The iron plate has indeed been forged.

But the Liuren who fled into the deep mountains, terrified by the White Feather Letters, have not yet returned.

Their food will not last more than a few days.