Chapter 79 - 78: Such Humiliation - 1

Chapter 79: Chapter 78: Such Humiliation – 1

Amidst the fluttering paper money and the heart-wrenching cries of the common people, four coffins, three large and one small… moved forward into the city.

Perhaps they had been waiting here early in the morning, and the people were already frozen. A family servant carrying the coffin of the Duke of Zhen slipped, and with a “thud,” the coffin hit the ground, followed by the other three coffins, one after another, falling in a panic.

The paper-thin coffin cracked open, and the small coffin’s hemp rope broke, causing the coffin to tilt and crash to the ground, bursting open. The body of a young boy, clad in broken armor, rolled out, and his severed head rolled straight into the snow, completely exposed!

“Little Seventeen!” Bai Jintong cried as she lunged forward, clutching Little Seventeen’s head. Looking at her younger brother’s lifeless, innocent face was like a silver spear piercing her chest. She hugged Little Seventeen’s head and couldn’t hold back her intense crying, wailing with all her might, “Little Seventeen!”

“Little Seventeen!” Bai Jinzhi also exclaimed in shock.

Bai Jinxiu’s eyes widened. “Little Seventeen!”

...

Bai Qingyan turned around and saw Little Seventeen’s rolling head. Her eyes were bloodshot, her heart shattered, and it felt as if a fierce wind was sweeping through her chest, making her hair stand on end. Her mind was filled with a shrill whistle, compelling her to draw her sword and slay King Xin immediately. “Uncle Ping, stop King Xin’s carriage for me!”

“Ah…” Mrs. Wang, the fourth lady, screamed, staggered, and knelt down, grabbing her son’s head. Like a madwoman, she crawled back to her son’s body, holding him tightly, her son’s corpse already covered in bruises. She wept in despair.

Mrs. Wang, usually the most gentle, had blood-red eyes like a demon from hell. She cursed at the noble Imperial Family, and at King Xin, the Emperor’s son, relentlessly. “King Xin, you butcher! My son… you made my son’s body be separated! You didn’t even change him into clean clothes! He was only ten years old! A ten-year-old child, you bastard! Do you have any conscience at all?”

Mrs. Wang cried out to the heavens, then whispered softly as if comforting her sleeping child, “Little Seventeen, don’t be afraid! Mommy’s here! Mommy’s with you! Mommy’s here… Mommy will warm you! We are not afraid! Not afraid…”

Lu Ping saw the once lively and adorable ten-year-old child reduced to a severed body. His eyes turned red with fury, and with a murderous intent boiling within him, he was about to chase after them when Dong Qingping leaped onto his horse and… rode into the city, stopping King Xin’s carriage just ten meters into the city.

Throughout history, if a General died in battle and his body was separated before being brought back to the city, unless the body parts couldn’t be found, the person bringing back the body would order the body to be stitched back together and dressed in clean clothes and armor, so the full body could be buried with dignity.

Even though the common people knew the battlefield had always been brutal, it was more shocking to see the body of a ten-year-old child who was beheaded right before their eyes.

Dong Qingyue sat high on his horse, his eyes blood-red, glaring at King Xin’s guards who had already drawn their swords. The Duke’s Family guards had also drawn their swords, both sides in a tense confrontation, ready to strike!

The Duke’s Family guards were incensed by the sight of the ten-year-old boy’s body rolling out. They were burning with rage, eager to fight King Xin to the death.

“King Xin! From the Duke himself to the soldiers of the Duke’s household, they are all loyal heroes of the nation. Why didn’t you clean and dress their bodies properly when bringing them back to the city? Why did you let them be disgraced with their bodies separated like this? Killing is just a matter of beheading. How dare you insult the loyal souls to such an extent!” Dong Qingyue bellowed, his eyes nearly popping out as he pointed his whip at the luxurious carriage, filled with murderous intent.

Lu Yuanpeng, a debauchee, had never seen such a gruesome scene. Feeling his blood and anger boiling, his chest surged with what felt like molten lava, almost bursting out, and he was close to rushing forward to fight King Xin.

As if even heaven couldn’t bear to watch, the axle of King Xin’s carriage suddenly broke. The wheels flew off, knocking down two guards at the side of the carriage. The carriage overturned, and the brazier inside instantly ignited the carriage’s green cover. King Xin and a beautified concubine inside screamed as they crawled out of the carriage.

Xiao Rongyan’s guard silently returned to his side and whispered, “Master, I failed. When I made my move earlier, the Duke’s Family’s guard leader and the person on horseback probably noticed me.”

Xiao Rongyan remained expressionless and coldly replied, “It doesn’t matter.”

The guard nodded silently, lowering his eyes as if he hadn’t done anything.

The common people were dumbfounded as they watched the supposedly “seriously injured” King Xin agilely jumping around, slapping the flames on his body. Beside him was a delicate beauty, shivering and looking around.

“Looks like King Xin’s injury is very serious indeed!” Bai Qingyan’s eyes were blood-red, killing intent swirling around her like a fierce wind. “Injured enough to have a beauty accompany him in his carriage but no time to have someone stitch up and dress my ten-year-old brother who died for the nation!”

King Xin’s eyelids twitched heavily. He hadn’t expected the entire city to see him standing unscathed. Clenching his fists tight, once exposed, he wasn’t afraid to do worse.

He looked coldly at Bai Qingyan, who stood outside his guard’s circle, and said in a cold voice, “I wanted to save face for the Bai family by saying I was seriously injured. Does the Bai family really want me to tell all the people in the city how Bai Weiting disobeyed my orders, leading to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of soldiers in southern Jin?!”

“When my grandfather was in command on the expedition, he had experienced countless battles. Why should he follow the orders of a yellow-mouthed brat like you who has never experienced a bloody battle in the prosperous capital!” Bai Qingyan’s tears flowed like a spring, rage and heart-wrenching pain burning away her sanity. Her voice quivered in furious agitation, “Even if my grandfather commanded poorly, the sons of the Bai family… fought for the people and sacrificed their lives for the country! Do they deserve to be left with their bodies separated after death? What kind of logic is this? My brother was only ten years old! He dared to go to the battlefield at ten years old! He died for our Jin Kingdom as a young hero! How can you dishonor him like this?”

A breath of rage blocked King Xin’s chest. Being forced to silence by a woman, he gritted his teeth.

“Even if my brother was just a commoner, you, as a royal son, should treat a child’s corpse with respect! But where is your sense of kindness and justice? You are worse than an animal! The nation’s elite soldiers died for the people and the country! And you… cooped up in a lavish carriage with a prostitute, do you deserve to be a prince? Do you deserve to be supported by the people’s taxes? If an unworthy, immoral, shameless hedonist like you, who only knows how to indulge in pleasures, were to ascend to the Eastern Palace, how would our Jin Kingdom’s people survive under your rule? You are not just unfit to be a nobleman of the Imperial Family; you are not even worthy of being called a human being!”