Chapter 481: Bloodshed

The 23rd year of Hongwu, the eighth day of the fourth month.

The execution ground outside Ying Tianfu City was unusually different today.

It was supposed to be the day to execute the Ministry of Punishments' death row inmates, but before dawn this morning, the Jinyiwei sealed off every road around the execution ground.

Ordinary civilians were blocked at three streets away, leaving only a narrow alley for passage.

At the alley entrance stood a dozen Jinyiwei clad in Flying Fish uniform, each bearing an Embroidered Spring Blade at their waist, their faces stern.

Liu Zhen stood at the very center of the execution ground, a long list laid out before him.

The names on the list were those he and his subordinates had uncovered from across the realm over three months.

Ai Sa Ke, the current head of the Ai family, a squid‑man.

Ai Sa Ke's eldest son Ai Bo Er, the manager of the Ai family's business in Suzhou, a squid‑man.

Ai Sa Ke's younger son Ai La Mu, the manager of the Ai family's business in Songjiang, a squid‑man.

Ai Sa Ke's nephew Ai Xi Li, the manager of the Ai family's business in Changzhou, a squid‑man.

There were also the Ai family's steward, accountant, shopkeeper, and assistants…

A long string, one hundred and thirty‑seven people.

"Is everyone present?" Liu Zhen asked.

The clerk beside him whispered, "Yes, Sir, all one hundred and thirty‑seven people on the list have arrived."

Liu Zhen nodded, his gaze turning to the prisoners crouching on the vacant ground west of the execution site.

One hundred and thirty‑seven of them sat in neat rows, their hands bound behind their backs, torn cloth stuffed in their mouths.

There were men and women, old and young.

The oldest had completely white hair, deep knife‑like wrinkles on his face, his gaze blankly fixed on the ground.

The youngest was a five‑ or six‑year‑old boy curled in a woman's arms, his eyes wide and round, showing both fear and bewilderment.

The woman wore a black robe, her hair disheveled, her face streaked with tears.

Beside them knelt an elderly man, his black robe torn and crumpled, his head pressed to the ground, his whole body trembling.

It was the head of the Ai family, Ai Sa Ke.

Liu Zhen drew a document from his chest, unfolded it, walked to Ai Sa Ke, crouched, and pulled the torn cloth from his mouth.

Ai Sa Ke lifted his head, his lips trembling, and in halting Mandarin said, "Sir... I, a commoner, am wronged... I was only doing business... not breaking any law..."

Liu Zhen ignored him, stood, held the document aloft, and read it aloud.

"By the Heaven's Mandate, the Emperor decrees: Investigate the squid‑man Ai Sa Ke and his clan; since moving to Great Ming in the 15th year of Hongwu, they have colluded with unscrupulous merchants, hoarded to create scarcity, manipulated prices, offered usurious loans, exploited the populace, causing countless households in Jiangnan to lack food and clothing, leaving them homeless.

The evidence is conclusive, irrefutable; therefore they shall be taken to the execution ground, beheaded publicly, to serve as a warning.

Thus sealed."

Ai Sa Ke's complexion turned ghastly.

He opened his mouth, seemed about to speak, then swallowed it back.

The woman beside him, Ai Sa Ke's wife, burst into a shrill, piercing sob, her voice echoing over the execution ground.

The boy in her arms cried too, each wail louder than the last.

Ai Sa Ke turned his head, looking at his wife and son, his eyes reddened, lips trembling, yet not a single word could escape him.

Liu Zhen moved those women with children and their kids aside, saying there would be another arrangement later.

Ai Sa Ke's wife collapsed on the ground, clutching the child, trembling as she sobbed.

Liu Zhen turned away, no longer looking at them.

The sun rose higher, its light bathing the execution ground, the bloodstains on the ground still wet, shimmering a dark red.

These were the bloodstains left by a batch of executions before dawn; according to the old execution ground's custom, each execution required a sacrificial knife soaked in the condemned's blood, said to ward off evil.

Liu Zhen did not believe it, but the executioners did.

At Shi Jing, the streets surrounding the execution ground were already packed with people.

The Jinyiwei removed the sentry post at the street entrance, and the common folk surged from all directions, hemming the execution ground in.

"Did you hear? Today they're killing those merchants who hoarded grain!"

"Well done! Those guys drove grain prices so high that I couldn't afford rice and starved for half a month!"

"Exactly, the old Wang next door couldn't afford grain, borrowed their usurious loans, now can't repay, and his house has been seized."

"They deserve it! Kill all those bastards!"

The chatter rose and fell.

Zhu Yong stood on the high platform directly before the execution ground, hands clasped behind his back.

He wore a dark‑colored robe threaded with gold lines, a jade belt at his waist, a Gold Crown on his head, his expression calm.

Behind him stood Wang Gui and a detachment of Longxiang Army Imperial Troops, their iron armor glinting coldly in the sun.

Zhu Biao stood beside him, dressed in a moon‑white ordinary robe, his expression unreadable.

Today he wore no Crown Prince's crown and belt, only his ordinary robe, so the people would not think the court was taking revenge, but that the state law was punishing the wicked.

"Brother, the time has come," Zhu Yong turned his head.

Zhu Biao nodded, drew a command token from his sleeve, and handed it to the eunuch beside him.

The eunuch stepped to the edge of the platform, raised the token high, and shouted, "Execute!"

The executioner walked to Ai Sa Ke, dragged him from the ground, and pressed him onto the center of the execution platform.

Ai Sa Ke knelt there, trembling all over, muttering something.

The translator beside him listened for a moment, then whispered, "He's praying in Hebrew."

Zhu Yong gave him a glance, saying nothing.

The executioner raised the Ghoul‑head Blade, its edge flashing coldly in the sunlight.

The blade fell...

Fresh blood spurted, a head fell to the ground.

A deafening cheer erupted among the crowd.

"Well killed!"

"Next one!"

"Kill them all!"

The cheers rose and fell like surging tides.

The executioners dragged people one by one, and hacked them one by one.

When they reached the eighteenth, the blade dulled.

The executioners swapped for a new blade and kept hacking.

Blood streamed down from the execution platform, flowing through the cracks of the stone slabs, gathering into a dark‑red rivulet.

The air was thick with the heavy scent of blood, mingled with the sour sweat of the townsfolk and the oily fumes drifting from street food stalls, intoxicating the mind.