Taichang Ming Dynasty

Chapter 74 Whipping the World (Part )

Before this, each executioner visited the prisoner in his charge to determine the appropriate whip size and whipping method to be used to carry out the execution, in order to complete the task assigned by the Imperial Household Department.

Experienced executioners could use a special whip to kill a person within five lashes, or they could use a seemingly thick whip to whip someone dozens of times without breaking the bone. In other words, it didn't matter how many lashes a prisoner received; the decision on a prisoner's life and death was always made by the Imperial Household Department, whose sole function was to convey the emperor's will.

As the most skilled executioner, Xing Kuan was naturally assigned to Cui Wensheng, the highest-ranking eunuch in the East Factory. Meanwhile, high-ranking East Factory officials, including Zou Kaiyun, were assigned to Xing Kuan's most admired apprentices.

Snap! Xing Kuan unfurled the rolled-up whip and swung it heavily towards the open space behind him.

When Xing Kuan's disciples heard the whip sound, they all shook their whips.

"Oh!" The onlookers on the other side of the Jinshui Bridge once again burst into enthusiastic cheers as if they were watching a play.

Lu Wenzhao stood at the edge of the human wall closest to the Jinshui Bridge. He did not join the cheering crowd, but silently glanced at the prisoners lined up on the execution platform.

Since almost all of the senior officials of the East Factory came from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he knew many of them.

Lu Wenzhao still remembered the scene when he brought gifts to visit Zou Kaiyun, the chief of criminal justice. At that time, the high and mighty Zou Kaiyun was even unwilling to see him, and instead perfunctorily sent his servants to deal with him.

This wasn't surprising. One of the East Depot's primary responsibilities was to oversee the Imperial Guard, naturally giving it a higher status than the Imperial Guard. The highest rank below the East Depot's governor was the Chief of Criminal Affairs, and Zou Kaiyun was considered second only to the eunuchs. Therefore, even a mere fifth-rank Chief of Criminal Affairs commanded the cautious treatment of everyone in the Imperial Guard except the Chief of Guards.

Lu Wenzhao was a bit dazed, and he took a deep breath. Just then, a small, cotton-like ball of snow brushed past the tip of his nose. The icy sensation from his nose surged up his brain, causing him to shudder. At this moment, Xing Kuan threw out his first shot.

Snap! The whip blade blew against the strong wind, smashing the snowballs on the path, carrying a biting cold and hitting Cui Wensheng hard on the back.

"Ah!" Cui Wensheng cried out in agony as Xing Kuan whipped him. His body trembled under the lash, and each blow sent a sharp pain through him, as if his body were being torn apart. He struggled instinctively, but his head and hands were held firmly in place by the cane. In the end, he could only helplessly endure the torment of the lash.

The tortured person's shrill screams pierced the crowd's enthusiastic cheers and reached Zhang Shirui's ears.

"Is it necessary to use flogging?" Zhang Shirui frowned, and she did not join the carnival.

"Miss, do you think they are not guilty enough?" Ding Baiying's lips curled up slightly, but she showed no emotion.

"No. If someone has committed a capital crime and deserves beheading, they should be dragged down and beheaded. If they survive the flogging, wouldn't that spare these heinous criminals, giving them the opportunity to wreak havoc on the world again?" Zhang Shirui had a very simple sense of right and wrong. In her view, those who deserved death should lie quietly in their coffins.

"Ha! To die or not to die, that's not something the law can decide." Ding Baiying had been roaming the martial arts world for years and was accustomed to similar punishments. She had seen people beaten to death with ten lashes of the cane, and she had also seen people sentenced to exile return to their hometowns to show off their power.

"If it's not the law, then what has the final say?" Zhang Shirui asked in a rebuttal tone. "Of course, it's God who has the final say." Ding Baiying looked up at the vast sky, but saw only dark clouds covering the sky and the emperor standing proudly on the "Chengtian" plaque on the gatehouse.

"You're even better at being mysterious than I am." Zhang Shirui understood the hidden meaning behind Ding Baiying's words and stopped asking. She looked towards the gatehouse, but was obscured by the sudden onslaught of snow.

Snap! When the tenth whip was delivered, Zou Kai died. His body twitched violently, as if the last fiber of a piece of thin paper had finally been torn apart.

He was sentenced to death, and the whip prepared for him was a "steel whip" infused with iron bars and blocks. This seemingly insignificant whip would not only rip flesh and skin, but also inflict blunt force injuries similar to caning. A precise strike to the kidneys in the lower back could destroy this vital organ and cause severe internal bleeding.

Zou Kaiyun was already beyond saving from the first lash; subsequent lashes only increased his agony before death. Zou Kaiyun died, but his execution was not over yet; his body still needed thirty more lashes.

Fifty lashes, each one perfectly timed, resembled a pre-choreographed and rehearsed performance by a troupe of actors. But the blood that soaked through the prisoner's white uniform and was lashed onto the distant snowy ground clearly demonstrated the cruelty of this punishment.

The snow continued to fall, but it couldn't hide the ever-increasing scarlet. Like blossoming, the blood spots connected across the snow, forming a brutal yet solemn ink and cinnabar painting.

Each prisoner received a different number of lashes depending on the severity of their crime, but in reality, their life or death was decided long before the execution began.

Zou Kaiyun and other high-ranking officials from the Jinyiwei, as well as the eunuchs planted by Cui Wensheng in the East Depot, were sentenced to death. Other lower-ranking officers were secretly sentenced to death through a lottery system. Furthermore, all the corrupt officials from the West Depot apprehended by the Internal Audit Department were also sentenced to death without exception.

Snap! At three past noon, the final whip cracked Cui Wensheng's body. He had been sentenced to fifty lashes, and by the end, his white linen prison uniform had been completely torn apart. Not a single piece of intact skin remained on his back, only rotten flesh mashed by the whip.

But he was still alive. Xing Kuan received instructions from Wang An to not only save Cui Wensheng's life but also make it look like Cui Wensheng had received the most severe punishment. Therefore, Xing Kuan whipped him very carefully with each stroke.

After the beating, Xing Kuan let out a long sigh. He rolled up the whip with trembling hands. Blood and human tissue had made his hands dirty, but he didn't care. The executioner ate food irrigated with blood.

Xing Kuan swallowed hard. The long hours of strenuous and mentally taxing work had left him exhausted, but he couldn't leave yet. The execution was over, but there was still another act to come. Before that, both the executioner and the victim needed to take their final bow.

Xing Kuan walked around Cui Wensheng and the four eunuchs who were carrying out the execution and walked down from the execution platform. When all the executioners had reached their designated positions, Xing Kuan led his disciples to kneel down together, shouting:

"Sins forgiven!"

"People's peace!"

(End of this chapter)