Chapter 177

【However, if it stopped at mere doting, it might be nothing more than another salacious court anecdote.】

The heavenly voice turned cold,

【The "calamity" of Daji lies in her using beauty as a blade and the monarch as a puppet, combining the evil of human nature with imperial power to give birth to countless hair-raising atrocities!】

The scene on the Golden List suddenly became bloody and cruel!

【The Punishment of Cannon Burning!】

The scene revealed a massive copper pillar, burned red-hot by charcoal fire and coated with grease.

A courtier or commoner accused of "slander" was forced to walk barefoot upon it.

Amidst shrill screams, the person stumbled a few steps before sliding into the roaring charcoal fire beneath the pillar, instantly turning into a human torch!

And high upon the dais, Daji, held in the arms of Di Xin, covered her mouth and giggled, her eyes flashing with an excited and cruel light, as if she were enjoying a magnificent play.

Seeing the beauty laugh, Di Xin was even more pleased and ordered a heavy reward for the sycophant who devised this punishment.

【The Punishment of the Scorpion Pit!】

The scene switched to a massive deep pit, where countless venomous snakes, scorpions, and centipedes writhed and tangled, a truly hair-raising sight.

Several palace maids who had committed only minor mistakes were ruthlessly pushed into the pit by guards.

In an instant, the sound of skin-crawling biting and desperate wails rose from the pit.

Daji leaned against the railing to watch, laughing until she shook, and said to Di Xin, "Your Majesty, look, how amusingly they dance!"

【Dissecting the Heart to Observe the Orifices!】

The scene showed an old official (Bi Gan) with white hair and beard, full of righteous indignation, speaking generously before the hall, directly remonstrating with the monarch.

Daji, beside Di Xin, feigned innocence and curiosity: "I have heard that the Grand Preceptor Bi Gan has a 'Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart.' I am truly curious, what does a seven-orifice heart look like?"

Hearing this, Di Xin disregarded the righteousness between monarch and subject and ordered, "If that is the case, dissect it and we shall see!"

Warriors stepped forward and committed murder in the hall...

The scene did not directly show the gore, but the look of disbelief in Bi Gan's eyes as he fell, and Daji's satisfied and curious expression, said it all.

【Knocking on Bones to Examine the Marrow!】

In the depth of winter, the scene showed a gaunt old man walking barefoot on ice.

Daji pointed from afar and said to Di Xin, "Your Majesty, this man does not fear the cold in such winter; his bones must be full of marrow, unlike ordinary people."

Di Xin actually nodded in agreement, ordered guards to capture the old man, and broke his leg bones on the spot to "examine the marrow"!

The old man screamed, blood covered the ground, while Daji and Di Xin merely stood there critiquing the broken bones.

Scene after scene, shocking to the eye!

This was no longer simple muddle-headedness or absurdity, but naked tyranny that took pleasure in torture and slaughter!

And the source or catalyst of all this pointed to that bewitching woman—Daji.

The Xianyang Drill Ground was already deathly silent; many people held their breath involuntarily, even feeling waves of chill.

Previously, there might have been a shred of defense for Bao Si that "not smiling is not a crime," and full sympathy for Zhen Ji, but for this Daji, what surged in the hearts of the vast majority was pure fear, disgust, and anger.

Although they knew some history of the Shang Dynasty's calamitous concubine Daji, after seeing the explanation on the Heavenly Screen, they still couldn't help but curse loudly.

"Wicked woman! Poisonous woman!"

Ying Zheng squeezed a few words through his teeth, his face livid.

He had swept across the six directions and killed countless people, but that was war, politics, for the sake of unifying the world.

But the behavior of Daji and King Zhou of Shang, who took pleasure in torture and treated subjects like grass and insects, completely touched his bottom line and trampled on the most basic dignity of a monarch.

"King Zhou is no longer fit to be a ruler! How is he different from a beast! And this Daji is even more of a monster!"

Meng Tian and other generals glared with rage; they were accustomed to life and death, but they found such meaningless torture hair-raising.

"If my Great Qin had such soldiers, I would surely execute them first!" Meng Tian growled.

Princes and princesses like Fu Su were already pale with fright, and Princess Yinman even buried her head in her brother's arms.

When had they ever seen such a direct (though somewhat veiled) display of atrocities?

The commoners on the periphery were in an uproar, fear and anger intertwined.

"My God! Is this still human?!"

"That Daji must be a monster! How could a normal person do such things!"

"Too terrifying! Too terrifying!"

"No wonder the Shang Dynasty fell; with such a Human Emperor and concubine, it would be against the laws of heaven if it didn't fall!"

The reactions of emperors from various dynasties were also unprecedentedly intense.

Zhou Dynasty (Early period, during the time of King Wu or King Cheng)

The Zhou monarchs and ministers who had seen (or learned from their fathers) the atrocities of King Zhou of Shang, now looking at the Golden List, felt both the joy of revenge and a deep sense of warning.

King Wu of Zhou might point to the Golden List and say to the young King Cheng and the ministers:

"Look! This is the end of a degenerate and muddle-headed ruler of the previous dynasty who doted on monsters! Our Great Zhou must take this as a warning, respect Heaven, and protect the people!"

Han Dynasty.

Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, slammed the table: "King Zhou is a lone tyrant! Daji is a monster! Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, if you see me even half-addicted to such evil and sycophantic acts, you must remonstrate with me to the death! If I do not listen, you may emulate the Gonghe Regency of Zhou and Zhao!"

These words were extremely heavy, startling Wei Qing and Huo Qubing, who hurriedly knelt down.

Wei Zifu also turned pale, tightly gripping Liu Che's hand.

Liu Che held her hand back and said in a deep voice, "Zifu, rest assured, I am not King Zhou, and you are certainly not Daji. Our Great Han will never tolerate such evil atmosphere!"

Tang Dynasty.

Li Shimin took a deep breath and said to Empress Zhangsun and the ministers:

"Do you all see? This is the ultimate negative example! Once a ruler loses his virtue and draws close to sycophants, there is nothing insane he will not do!"

"I take an oath here today, and I want you all to bear witness:

If a future ruler shows even the slightest tendency toward such muddle-headed tyranny, you may all regard him as a lone tyrant, and everyone has the right to execute him!"

These words were resonant, moving the ministers, who bowed in submission.

Wei Zheng said excitedly, "That Your Majesty has such a heart is truly the blessing of all the people in the world!"

Song Dynasty.

Zhao Kuangyin touched his head, still shaken: "Goodness, although I knew King Zhou of Shang played wildly, I didn't expect him to play this wildly... No, it's too terrifying."

"It seems that as an emperor, with great power, one really needs to have something to fear, something to restrain oneself. Hmm... I must think carefully about how to restrain my descendants."

He was already considering the necessity of "ancestral laws" and "ruling the world together with scholar-officials."

Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry he was jumping and cursing in front of the Fengtian Hall,

"Look at this King Zhou of Shang, he's just a muddle-headed ruler. Bi Gan was his uncle! A loyal official! And he dissected him just like that?"

"And those commoners, what did they do to offend him? Sister! Look! This is the end of doting on a monster concubine!"

"In our Zhu family, if anyone dares to learn even one-tenth of King Zhou in the future, I will crawl out of my grave to beat him to death!"

Empress Ma also trembled with anger: "Chongba is right, such behavior is against the will of heaven and the resentment of the people. Our Ming royal family must take this as a warning for all generations!"