Chapter 1244: Sending Away the Plague Gods

On the coldest day of the winter month, the death-row prisoners were escorted to the execution ground.

The cold wind raged! Pedestrians on the street all shrank their necks to walk. When the wind blew, they wished they could shrink themselves into a ball, only hating that the cotton-padded jacket wasn't warm enough.

No matter how arrogant the cold wind was, it couldn't stop people's enthusiasm for watching beheadings.

Around the execution ground, there was a sea of people.

Today, dozens of heads were to be beheaded in one breath. The major prisons in the capital all had death-row prisoners to be beheaded.

Beheading also has its own rules.

First, behead the scraps, such as Wang Yang thieves, petty thieves, ordinary murderers...

Then behead those with backgrounds.

Finally, behead the officials.

And so, Tian Youfu and the others were severely shocked, feeling the excitement of beheading. By the time they were escorted to the execution ground to be beheaded, some had already wet their pants, and some were so terrified they fainted.

Because they were all Heavenly Prison prisoners, Tian Youfu and Wu She were arranged together.

Wu She glared at him angrily.

Tian Youfu sighed. "General Wu, you are confused! Back then, if you had negotiated properly, instead of robbing grain and fodder, we wouldn't have to suffer the crime of being beheaded today."

"Lord Tian, do you want face?" Wu She was furious. "Did we not negotiate with you? Clearly, you were greedy, repeatedly infringing on our interests. Having today's encounter, I don't regret it, but you definitely deserve it."

Tian Youfu sighed mournfully. "If I had known earlier, if I had known earlier... you acted too impulsively. If this old man had known you were a blockhead, I would definitely have pacified you properly; it's just grain, giving it to you is fine. Why the need to rob! Alas, there is no regret medicine in the world to eat. General Wu, in the next life, don't just have bravery; you still need to grow a brain."

"No need for you to worry. You have a brain, yet you are still beheaded with me."

Tian Youfu was so angry he died. Sure enough, he was a reckless man, completely unable to communicate.

Wu She, however, felt very relieved.

He had long wanted to scold!

In the Heavenly Prison, he had suffered Chen Guanlou's verbal destruction, physically and mentally exhausted. Never expected that after this destruction, he had learned two tricks from the other party, knowing how to scold people to make them angry to death.

Look, the effect was so good!

Unfortunately, Military Advisor Bai didn't know how to scold, only how to reason. Alas... he couldn't even win an argument with civil officials!

Still had to be Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen, scolding without dirty words, yet able to scold people until they fainted. His mouth was truly poisonous! As if smeared with crane-top red.

"Time is up!"

With the execution official's order, the executioners raised their butcher knives, swish, waving neatly, and one head after another rolled to the ground.

Tian Youfu couldn't close his eyes until he died, opening a pair of eyes wide to look at the sky. Seeming to have repentance, seeming to have resentment, seeming to have relief!

The already arranged servants and funeral personnel went up to the execution ground to collect the bodies, clean the execution ground, and wash away the bloodstains.

The bodies and heads were matched together, lest the bodies be sewn wrongly—this is a great taboo!

The corpse-sewing craftsman was responsible for sewing the bodies.

Afterward, the funeral personnel changed the bodies into longevity clothes, stuffed in a few medicinal herbs, entered the coffin, and parked the coffin in the righteous village, waiting for family members to come and collect them.

For those with money, everything was handled according to standard procedures.

For those without money and without family members, they were sewn up casually, pulled to the mass grave outside the city to be buried.

The beheading was over, and the exiled ones should also set off.

Exiled in the middle of winter, I don't know how many people can survive to the destination.

Chen Guanlou gave Bai Yushu and the other two a bundle each.

"The Hou Fu paid, I put in the effort, prepared for you. Inside are dry rations, clothes for changing, and a little silver. The Yamen Runners escorting you, I have also tipped. But you can't rely entirely on me; you yourselves must also work hard, soften your posture, sweeten your mouth.

This journey of thousands of miles, if you want to arrive safely, if you don't work hard yourselves, no one can help you. People like you, if you die halfway, no one will ask a word. Cherish your lives well; there is nothing more important than life. Having fallen to this point, don't take on airs and have unknown dignity. Remember, survival is first!"

He also separately instructed Bai Yushu: "When you arrive in Xizhou, find a person named Shen Buzhi. Just say I arranged it. He will help you settle down!"

Bai Yushu couldn't hide his inner excitement. "Many thanks for Jiang Jiang Yucheng Chen's trouble; we will never forget it. It's just, there is another uninvited request."

"Since it's an uninvited request, don't open your mouth." Chen Guanlou didn't give him a chance.

One could guess what the other party wanted to do with their toes; it was nothing more than wanting to see Wu She's corpse before leaving the capital.

Firmly not agreeing.

The righteous village and leaving the city weren't in the same direction.

He didn't want to owe favors for these few people. Not giving a penny, yet wanting him to help—dreaming!

Before, he cared for the four of them because of the Hou Fu's entrustment.

Now, he had already completed the entrustment, and the two sides had no more entanglements.

Bai Yushu opened his mouth and stammered.

The people he met before were mostly polite, or thin-skinned. As long as he said so, the other party would catch his words, and everything would be smooth.

Who could have thought he would meet Chen Guanlou, such a person who only recognized money and not people.

The other party didn't catch the words, but instead scolded him; what could he do, only shut his mouth! It's just that he was unwilling!

Chen Guanlou gave a cold hum. "Your uninvited request, if you give money, it's not impossible."

"I... I have no money." Bai Yushu felt ashamed.

He knew there was money in the bundle. But he was clear that if he dared to take the money in the bundle to do a favor, Chen Guanlou, even if he didn't kill him, would discipline him. Maybe he would even implicate the two deputy generals, making it impossible for them to walk to the exile place alive.

"No money, then there's nothing to talk about!"

Bai Yushu nodded. Weighing the pros and cons, he ultimately didn't open his mouth again.

In the future, he would go to General Wu's grave to confess!

The group left the Heavenly Prison, following the Yamen Runners toward the unknown Xizhou.

Sending away this group of plague gods, Chen Guanlou finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The weather was getting colder.

Chen Guanlou got a few bolts of top-class fine cotton cloth and sent them to his eldest sister Chen Xiaolan.

This thing, even with money, might not be bought. Basically, it was monopolized by noble families and the imperial family.

Chen Xiaolan saw the cloth and liked it to death.

"This is fine cotton cloth; it must be very expensive. The cloth shop doesn't have it. How much is a bolt? You didn't take it from the Hou Fu, did you."

"It really wasn't taken from the Hou Fu. A friend had a way and gave me a few bolts. I thought I'm a big man, not so particular, and can't use such good cloth; I'd ruin it in two or three strokes, wasting good things. So I sent it to you."

The more expensive the cloth, the more golden and expensive it is, not durable.

Chen Guanlou worked in the Heavenly Prison; using fine cotton cloth to make clothes was too wasteful.

"How much money, I'll give it to you."

"No money."

"Nonsense!" Chen Xiaolan was angry. "Can't take your things for nothing. Otherwise, the dowry for Rongrong, you paid the big head, and we took such a big advantage. How can we keep taking your advantage!"

"Sister, I'm willing to give it to you; how can it be called taking my advantage. I'm not short of that bit of money from you."

"Anyway, I don't care, can't take yours for nothing. Otherwise, you take the cloth back."

"Fine, fine, fine, you give me five taels of silver."

"Five taels of silver might not be able to buy a bolt of cloth."

"Anyway, I only want five taels. Otherwise, I'll throw these few bolts of cloth away!" ===== CHAPTER 1245 =====

"Anyway, I only want five taels. Otherwise, I'll just throw these bolts of fabric away!"