Rebellion is definitely out of the question, but you become like those you associate with. Since autumn, the Ninth Princess has been very close to that madman Jin Feng. Nobody knows what she might do!
The goat-bearded man reminded them, “In short, once we go inside, nobody speaks recklessly, especially you, Lord Xu. Keep that big mouth of yours shut!”
Normally, if the goat-bearded man scolded Fatty Xu like this in public, he would never back down.
But at this moment he also knew the situation was serious, so he nodded repeatedly.
The group of powerful nobles was led to a separate courtyard. The soldiers then ignored them completely, stood to one side on their own, and simply left the nobles standing in the yard.
They were left standing like that for more than half an hour.
Just when the nobles’ patience was almost worn out, the Ninth Princess finally appeared with Jin Feng and the others.
“The master said that confession brings leniency. This palace will give you one last chance. If you confess your crimes now of your own accord, this palace can spare your lives!”
“Spare our lives? What, is Your Highness planning to kill us?”
“Your Highness, what do you mean by confessing on our own? What crime have we committed?”
“Exactly, Your Highness really knows how to joke!”
In the minds of Fatty Xu and the others, the Ninth Princess would treat them the same way she treated the eunuchs. Beating them up to vent anger was the most severe consequence they imagined.
They never thought the Ninth Princess would dare to kill them.
Even after seeing the miserable state of the eunuchs, the nobles still believed this.
Because there were rules among the powerful families. They represented their respective clans. If the Ninth Princess beat them, she had already torn face with the families behind them.
Killing them would mean a fight to the death with no way back.
There were more than a dozen powerful families present. If the Ninth Princess killed them, the entire court of Great Kang would be shaken to its foundations.
The Ninth Princess was famous in noble circles for her calm and wise nature, and she had spent these years working hard to maintain stability in Great Kang.
Only someone who had lost their mind would make such an unwise choice!
So the nobles all believed the Ninth Princess was just trying to scare them.
Even the goat-bearded man’s originally tense heart relaxed a little.
In his view, the Ninth Princess acting this way showed she was feeling guilty.
“I gave you a chance, but you did not cherish it.”
The Ninth Princess sighed and shook her head. “Since you refuse to cry until you see the coffin, then this palace will fulfil your wish! Bring the people in!”
As soon as she finished speaking, soldiers pressed a group of men into the courtyard.
When they saw these people, the faces of all the nobles turned deathly pale at once.
Even the previously confident goat-bearded man.
The people who arrived were exactly the white gloves cultivated by each family.
The nobles had used them to remotely direct the bandits.
Although there were other intermediaries between the white gloves and the bandits, since the Ninth Princess had found this group, she could find the rest.
At this moment the goat-bearded man finally understood.
The Ninth Princess had not deliberately left them standing earlier. She had been waiting for Qing Xinyao to capture these people.
“Now can you speak?”
The Ninth Princess looked at the nobles who were sweating profusely and sneered. “If you speak now, this palace will at least leave you with an intact corpse!”
As soon as she finished, the goat-bearded man stiffened his neck and said, “We do not know what Your Highness wants us to say!”
Even now he still held a glimmer of hope, believing the Ninth Princess would not dare kill them casually.
But colluding with bandits was a capital crime. He was truly worried that someone would be frightened by the Ninth Princess and confess everything at once.
If that happened, it would all be over.
“It seems Lord Zhou still refuses to give up! Very well, then this palace will make you give up completely!”
As the Ninth Princess spoke, she gave Qing Mulan a meaningful glance.
Qing Mulan shouted towards the outside. Two soldiers carried in a large basket.
Crash!
Letters poured out of the basket and scattered across the ground.
When they saw the envelopes, many nobles were so frightened that they collapsed straight onto the ground.
These were precisely the letters that had passed between them and their white gloves. They could serve as direct evidence proving they had secretly controlled the bandits from afar.
At this thought, the nobles turned and glared furiously at their own white gloves.
To prevent forgery, the letters all bore the unique seals of each family.
By custom, these letters should have been destroyed immediately after being read.
Now they had fallen into the Ninth Princess’s hands, which meant their white gloves had not followed the rules and had secretly kept the letters.
Why keep them? The reason was obvious: to guard against being eliminated by their own families once the job was done.
Since the white gloves had handed over the letters, they had clearly made some kind of deal with the Ninth Princess.
Next they would surely act as witnesses and point the finger at their former masters.
With the letters as physical evidence and the white gloves as witnesses, everything was complete!
“This palace will give you one more chance.”
The Ninth Princess said, “Whoever is willing to voluntarily hand over the hoarded grain, this palace will arrange for your body to be collected. Otherwise, your corpse will be hung outside the city wall and you will be cursed by the people forever!”
“Hung outside the city wall?!”
The nobles were stunned with fear.
Hanging the corpse outside the city was a punishment even harsher than beheading.
Only those whose crimes were so heinous that death alone could not appease public anger would receive this sentence.
In feudal times, not only common people were superstitious. The nobles were too.
If your corpse was hung outside the city, you would be cursed by the people for eternity. It might even be recorded in history books, truly leaving a stink for ten thousand years.
According to Great Kang folk belief, such a person, even after death, could not reincarnate. They would remain forever in the eighteen layers of hell, suffering endless torment.
“You should know the methods of this palace. Even if you die, this palace can still get hold of the grain you hoarded!”
The Ninth Princess spoke again. “So this is your final chance!”
Her tone remained very calm the whole time, yet the words she spoke cut colder than the winter wind.
“Your Highness, you cannot do this!”
The goat-bearded man still tried to resist stubbornly. “We all hold official titles and are court-appointed officials. Our ancestors also rendered great service to Great Kang. You cannot kill us!”
“You still have the face to call yourselves court officials? You still have the face to mention your titles and honours? Would a true court official harm the common people like this? The Confucian books you studied to gain your titles, were they meant to teach you to exploit the people and profit from disaster?”
The Ninth Princess’s anger was finally ignited by the goat-bearded man. She shouted furiously, “Your ancestors rendered service to Great Kang. Has Great Kang ever treated your families unfairly? It granted you generations of glory and wealth. And how do you repay Great Kang? How do you repay the imperial house?
You commit such heartless, heaven-defying, outrageously evil deeds, and the common people will blame the court, blame the imperial family! Do you have any conscience towards the trust my father the emperor placed in you?”
“Even so, it should be His Majesty who punishes us personally. A princess has no right!”
The goat-bearded man continued to argue forcefully.
“The disaster in Chuan-Shu is extremely critical and concerns matters of great importance. This palace can only exercise the right to execute first and report afterwards. Naturally, this palace will explain everything to my father the emperor later!”
The Ninth Princess said, “What you need to do now is choose quickly: be hung outside the city wall, or hand over the grain!”
“I will not hand over the grain. If you have the guts, then kill me!”
The goat-bearded man was still gambling, betting that the Ninth Princess would not dare kill him.
Unfortunately, he bet wrong.
“Since you are so determined to die, this palace will grant your wish!”
The Ninth Princess said coldly, “Qin’er, execute him!”
Qin’er drew her black blade and walked towards the goat-bearded man.
“You dare…”
The goat-bearded man had only spoken two words when he suddenly felt his neck turn icy cold. Then the world around him began to spin.
In the next instant, his consciousness scattered like dust in the wind and fell into eternal silence.
