Chapter 71: Tragedy in the Mortal World
Officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Criminal Justice tried to control the situation, but the notices plastered everywhere had already revealed everything, and countless enraged commoners were swarming the area.
They spontaneously began digging up the skeletal remains from the well, stormed the kitchen to find leftover butchered body parts, and discovered a variety of treasured wine vessels made from human bone.
These were people. Living, breathing people.
They could accept that society had its classes. They could accept poverty, hard labor, and exploitation by the noble families. They were born into poverty; that was their fate.
But it wasn’t enough for those people to simply exploit them—they also had to devour the flesh and blood of their children. They were human beings, not livestock raised by the noble families for slaughter.
The Chang Chun Building had been open for over a decade, and the number of children it had devoured was countless. For the convenience of ’procurement’, they had chosen a location behind a market on the edge of a common residential area. Perhaps at first they had bought children from elsewhere, but with the local children playing right before their eyes, there were bound to be times they chose not to look far for what was readily available.
Countless families in the surrounding area had lost children over the years.
They had always assumed their children were taken by traffickers. They were heartbroken and in agony, but utterly helpless.
But now they knew the truth. Their children had never even left the Capital City. Just on the other side of this very wall, they had been tortured to death by members of the aristocratic families and then eaten.
"My Fang’er, my little girl..."
"My Treasure Bead, my son..."
"Iron Child, Iron Child..."
Heart-wrenching sobs echoed endlessly, enough to break anyone’s heart.
Even the soldiers couldn’t bear to watch, but their orders had come down, and they had no choice but to disperse the crowd.
"The Ministry of Justice is conducting an investigation! All bystanders must leave immediately!"
"The Ministry of Criminal Justice is on official business! Do not come any closer!"
It was the children of these commoners who were the victims, yet now the soldiers were drawing their blades on them.
An enraged man from the crowd rushed forward to confront them. "On official business? What business? So many people have died over the years, and you’ve found nothing! Now that the murderers have been revealed, you finally show up. Who knows if you’re here to investigate the case or to cover up the truth and help those scum get away with it?"
"And you talk about catching murderers? You’re not thinking of arresting those kids who were carrying out Heaven’s will, are you?"
"Are the lives of those inhuman beasts precious, but the lives of our children are not?"
A soldier immediately moved to stop him. "You shut your mouth! Keep spouting nonsense and don’t blame me for what comes next."
The man wasn’t scared in the slightest. "Oh, I’d love to see what comes next! Can’t catch the real killers, so you take it out on us common folk. Is that it?"
The enraged soldier was about to strike, but the man immediately bellowed, "Everyone, look! The soldiers are trying to silence a witness! They’re protecting those monsters, and now they want to hunt down our children!"
As the man shouted, the already enraged commoners grew even more agitated. A group of them, fearless of death, surged toward the soldiers.
"Sir!"
Meng Zheng, the Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice, approached Qin Mu. "Someone is clearly fanning the flames. I’m afraid we won’t be able to suppress this."
Qin Mu’s face was grim. "We’ll suppress it whether we can or not. Are this pack of peasants planning to revolt?"
"Get more men. Seize the ringleaders and give them a good beating to make an example of them."
The Qin and Meng Families were both subordinate to the Lu family. A member of the Lu Family was among those killed, and what’s more, the Gao Family had a hand in the Chang Chun Building. The Eldest Young Master Lu’s wife was a daughter of the Gao Family’s main line. ’The Lu family is too deeply implicated,’ Meng Zheng thought. ’We have to get this under control, or it’s going to be a catastrophe.’
Meng Zheng still had a shred of conscience, but after weighing his options, he knew he had to protect himself first.
"Men..."
The Ministry of Justice called for more men and moved to seize the ringleaders, but the crowd fiercely protected those who had dared to speak out. Just as a larger conflict was about to erupt, a powerful voice boomed like thunder.
"Imperial Edict!"
In an instant, everyone froze.
Seeing the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice lead the officials from the Ministry of Justice in kneeling, the commoners also hesitated before following suit.
They would wait and see what the Emperor had to say.
A large detachment of the Imperial Army rushed in, completely surrounding the officials. Prince Wei, dressed in formal court attire, arrived with Lou Yan, the Chief Eunuch, who was clad in purple robes.
Lou Yan unfurled the imperial edict and proclaimed its contents in a resonant voice.
The gist of the edict was that the Emperor expressed his shock and grief over the incident. He could not believe that such a horrifying and inhuman affair could occur right under the nose of the Heavenly Emperor. He would show no mercy and was determined to investigate the matter thoroughly.
Furthermore, the Capital City Governor and the Minister of the Ministry of Justice were charged with dereliction of duty, sheltering criminals, and treating human life as a trifle. Their crimes were unpardonable. The sentence: immediate execution by beheading!
Immediate beheading?
Qin Mu looked up in disbelief. The next moment, with a dull THUD, he saw a headless corpse, blood fountaining from its severed neck. The robes it wore were painfully familiar—they were the official robes of the Minister of the Ministry of Justice.
The Lord Chief Incense, a man famous for his swift executions, had struck. In an instant, a head hit the ground. On the other side, the Capital City Governor was beheaded as well.
They were killed on the spot, with no chance to argue or plead their case.
Li Xing, the Vice Minister of the Ministry of Criminal Justice, stared in disbelief at the headless corpse that had fallen beside him. He then looked up at Prince Wei and the demonic, cold-blooded Chief Eunuch. ’The Emperor... what is he planning?’
The commoners hadn’t expected the executions to be so sudden either. After a moment of stunned silence, an excited uproar swept through the crowd.
"His Majesty is seeking justice for us! His Majesty is seeking justice for us common people!!!"
"The heavens have eyes!"
Li Xing stepped before Prince Wei, but before he could speak, the Prince cut straight to the point. "By His Majesty’s decree, Prince Chen and I are taking over this case. The Chief Eunuch and the Ministry of Criminal Justice will assist. I have been granted authority to execute any who resist and report it afterward."
Li Xing was left speechless. He bowed deeply. "This subject obeys the imperial will!"
Xiao Jingyi raised his hand, and soldiers from the Imperial Army immediately brought out thick rolls of white silk. They spread the silk across the courtyard ground. Once it was all in place, Xiao Jingyi turned and bowed to the crowd.
"From this moment on, I am responsible for this case. I give you my word, I will bring you all justice. And now, I invite any who are willing to join me in bringing these departed children back into the light of day!"
"I am!"
"So am I!"
"Your Highness, my daughter is in there. I want to bring her home."
"Your Highness, my child is in there too..."
No persuasion was necessary. His call was met with a chorus of agreement.
Xiao Jingyi had men from the Astronomical Bureau set up an altar. As they began to perform a ritual, he ordered others to start retrieving the bones.
The task of recovering the bones alone lasted from noon until well into the evening.
All the bones were recovered. There were fresh ones, still clinging with flesh and blood; there were others, rotten and discolored, black and yellow; and there were those that had been reduced to nothing but bleached bone.
They were brought up bucket by bucket and laid out on the white silk. Most of the bones were hacked to pieces and impossible to distinguish, but the skulls were largely intact. They were arranged in rows at the front.
Off to the side was a pile of fresh remains. The faces on these heads were still recognizable. Several families clustered around them, wailing in utter devastation. One mother was so overcome with grief she vomited blood and died on the spot.
Witnessing these horrific tragedies of the mortal world, and then seeing the ornate bone utensils nearby—carved, polished, and inlaid with gold, jade, and precious gems—was an irony too cruel to bear.