Chapter 78: The Circle Is Really Chaotic

Chapter 78: The Circle Is Really Chaotic

Qian Lai nodded as he listened and was about to find his subordinates to give the order.

Just as he turned around, he was called back by Xiao Ce.

“Wait!”

Qian Lai asked with a trace of confusion, “Prince, is there anything else?”

“Change your phrasing. If you speak too directly, I fear they might realize that this prince is the one stirring things up between them. Just send someone to say that if they speak well, it will count as a good deed before they die! This prince will protect their families and won’t let those Noble Clan heads harm them.”

Qian Lai nodded and called for his subordinates.

After the underlings heard Qian Lai’s instructions, they went up to the Execution Platform and whispered a few words into the ears of those officials about to be beheaded.

Then those officials who were about to be beheaded started going all out.

Officials who originally had no intention of speaking began to loudly berate the Noble Clan nobles on the city wall!

They shouted out all the times they had stabbed each other in the back.

The watching common people had a feast of gossip!

Xiao Ce listened from the side and was greatly shocked.

“The circle is really chaotic!”

He said aloud, “If they had used even half of these schemes against the Turks, the Turks wouldn’t be so rampant!”

Because, just from what the officials were revealing, these people had used their schemes on each other.

However, what Xiao Ce feared was that there was no conflict between them!

Now it seemed, with their fake and fragile relationship, there was plenty of room for him to operate.

The expressions of several Family Heads on the city wall were extremely ugly, because they had all stabbed each other in the back quite a few times.

They glanced at each other, their eyes blazing with anger.

And this was just some of what the officials were revealing. There was probably even more they didn’t know about.

At that moment, Liu Xuan, who had done relatively fewer wicked deeds among them, spoke up: “Everyone, they are like cornered dogs biting wildly… We must not believe them. Perhaps someone instructed them to deliberately provoke discord among us.”

Cai Tianming looked at Kan Zongye with venom and said, “Hmph, whether these things were done or not, I’m afraid we all know very well in our hearts.”

Kan Zongye gave a cold look. “What? Don’t tell me what they said you did to our Kan Family, you actually did?”

Cai Tianming said with a gloomy face, “There’s nothing wrong with admitting it… So what if I did it? I dare to admit it, do you dare? Speaking of despicable, the things you did were much more despicable and shameless! Kan Zongye, I tell you, I’m absolutely not finished with you!”

“Enough, it’s all in the past! Don’t you see where this is? If you can get out of here alive, then go ahead and argue.” Liu Xuan spoke up.

…

Xiao Ce watched as the people on the Execution Platform had complained enough.

He walked out from one side.

Xiao Ce was wearing a golden python robe and walked out imposingly, surrounded by a group of Guards.

He looked quite impressive!

Qian Lai, who knew how to handle things very well, shouted loudly: “The King of Northern Desert has arrived!”

The common people here, upon seeing Xiao Ce, had tears in their eyes and knelt down one after another, shouting in unison: “King of Northern Desert, Long Live! Long Live! Long live forever!”

Normally, only the Emperor was qualified to be called “Long Live.”

But the common people here had long been disappointed with the court and the Emperor! In their past years, they had been living in the darkness of exploitation by Noble Clans and various corrupt officials.

After Xiao Ce arrived, he seemed to bring them some light!

After Xiao Ce came, there were many rumors in Lingxiao City, such as abolishing the Bonded People system, carrying out land reform to give land to the people, and letting the people become the Masters of the Northern Desert!

At first, they thought it was all fantasy. Because, in their impression, the only official who was good to them was Nie Yao!

Even Nie Yao had not been able to abolish the Bonded People system. Let alone give them land!

But then, just yesterday. Led by Yan Jia, they directly tore down the Bonded People office and burned all the bondage records of the Bonded People.

Then, following Xiao Ce’s command, they had all the people register and issued Northern Desert resident identity cards.

This identity card was a wooden plaque with a unique identity number on it to distinguish people with the same name.

Moreover, Yan Jia and the others told the former Bonded People that in the future, with this identity plaque, they could prove their identity in the Four Northern Desert Prefectures. They could also use this identity card to participate in the subsequent land distribution.

Not only that, seeing that there were still some people in Lingxiao City who could not afford food.

They set up porridge kitchens in the city and began distributing porridge.

Xiao Ce’s series of actions let them know that the rumors about Xiao Ce among the people were not just talk.

They were all actually being carried out!

Today, they heard as soon as possible that Xiao Ce was going to behead a group of corrupt officials!

They all came to watch, and seeing the people on the Execution Platform truly surprised them.

Because those people tied up on the Execution Platform, they all recognized as high officials from various cities of the Four Northern Desert Prefectures!

Not only that, they found that the heads of the biggest traitors, Bao An and his son, had already been chopped off! Now, they truly believed that Xiao Ce had come to save them, so in their eyes, Xiao Ce was even more important than the Emperor!

Xiao Ce stood on the Execution Platform, looking at the Bonded People kneeling all over the ground: “Everyone, please rise quickly! This prince came late, letting you suffer!”

The common people at the scene knelt on the ground, and no one dared to get up!

“Everyone, if you kneel to this prince like this, this prince does not deserve it! You get up first. Wait for the day when you live a good life, then come kneel to this prince! This prince will definitely accept it then!”

Qian Lai saw that the people still did not dare to get up: “What, do you not listen to the Prince’s words? The Prince tells you to get up! Do you want to disobey the Prince’s command?”

Sure enough, Qian Lai’s way of speaking was effective!

After hearing Qian Lai’s words, the people kneeling all over the ground finally got up!

Xiao Ce then turned and sat down at the supervising table on the Execution Platform: “You all know your crimes now, right?”

Upon seeing this, the officials all kowtowed and begged for mercy: “Prince, we were wrong! We are guilty, but it wasn’t our original intention! It was all those Family Heads of the Noble Clans… We were all acting under their orders!”

“Yes, Prince, please spare our lives! I don’t want to die, can I atone for my crimes with merit?”

…

Looking at the people kneeling and kowtowing for mercy, seeing them trembling with fear one by one, some even losing control of their bowels and bladder!

Xiao Ce knew very well that these people merely realized they were about to die.

They were afraid, not truly repentant!

Given even the slightest chance of a turn of events, these officials would be the first to point at Xiao Ce’s nose and curse him!

Xiao Ce’s face darkened: “This prince doesn’t care who ordered you! Count up the crimes on each of your own heads. Betraying the country! Harming the people! Forcibly seizing civilian women! Your crimes are too numerous to record. You still want to atone with merit? With your countless crimes, there is no merit that can atone for them.”

“If this prince does not kill you, this prince would be unworthy of the title King of Northern Desert personally bestowed by His Majesty! Not killing you would be an injustice to the people you harmed to death!”

“Rest assured, you won’t be the first batch! This prince will continue to kill! This prince will kill all the corrupt officials in the Northern Desert, let them join you, and bring a bright future to the people of the Northern Desert!”

“Execution squad, ready!”

Xiao Ce said.

Shen Bao, who had long been prepared, brought a group of soldiers!

Looking at their faces, these soldiers seemed a bit young.

They should all be new recruits!

Looking at the expressions of these new recruits, they seemed even more nervous than the officials waiting to die!

Xiao Ce deliberately asked Shen Bao: “Shen Bao, why do the people in this execution squad look so young!?”

Shen Bao clasped his hands: “Reporting to the Prince, they are all new recruits who have never been on the battlefield or killed anyone. I thought this rare opportunity could let them practice, and it would also count as them doing a good deed before they die!”

Hearing Shen Bao’s words, those officials became even more terrified. Cries and wails resounded throughout the Execution Platform!

They knew that beheading was terrifying enough. But to have some novices do it… If they died with one chop, that would be one thing.

If one chop didn’t kill them, and they needed several more, that would be torture.

Xiao Ce ignored the miserable howls of these people.

After all, describing these people as wicked beyond measure was not an exaggeration. Killing them with one chop was already letting them off easy: “Alright, all of you go ahead! Whoever can chop off their heads with one strike, this prince will reward you with ten taels of silver!”

After saying that, Xiao Ce shouted for immediate execution.

At Xiao Ce’s command, a group of people excitedly swung their swords!

Only what followed next was truly bloody and cruel!

The pleas for mercy at the scene instantly turned into miserable howls!

Even the common people who hated these corrupt officials to the bone couldn’t bear to watch!

These new recruits, encouraged by Xiao Ce, were all very excited. To get the reward silver, they put all their strength into it!

But these new recruits only had brute strength.

They had no accuracy. With one swing of the sword, some hit the shoulder, some hit the cheek.

A few who hit the neck, the angle was wrong, and the sword got stuck halfway through!

All sorts of situations occurred.

The entire Execution Platform was like a slaughterhouse!

The mental fortitude of those new recruits was much stronger than Xiao Ce had imagined!

If one chop didn’t work, they quickly pulled the sword out! Then made a second chop!

Xiao Ce certainly had mental preparation, but the scene was now shrouded in a faint mist of blood, and the air was filled with a strong smell of blood!

He forcibly suppressed the discomfort in his heart. His coming to supervise the execution today was largely to let himself get used to it.

Although he had witnessed quite a few deaths along the way, real killing, because of the Twelve Fiends, had always been far from him! As a person who had crossed over from modern times, he had never gotten used to it!

Soon, they would be going to war with the Turks. If he still wasn’t accustomed to this, when he got to the battlefield, he might end up dead!

Originally, if skilled executioners had come, it would have taken at most a few dozen seconds to finish! Now, they actually hacked away for several full minutes!

And the scene was also a terrible sight, like a slaughterhouse!

But the intimidation factor was definitely maxed out!

Xiao Ce forced down the discomfort in his heart and pretended to look relaxed: “Alright, take these people’s heads for a public parade!”

Then, Xiao Ce turned his gaze to the common people: “Fellow countrymen! In this prince’s territory from now on, whoever dares to engage in corruption, bend the law, and oppress the people is going against this prince! Later, this prince will place a big drum at the entrance of the Temporary Palace. As long as you discover any officials engaging in corruption and bending the law, you can come and beat the drum! This prince will definitely stand up for you!”

“For those who report, this prince will definitely send people to protect your absolute safety. You need not have any worries for the future!”

The common people listened and once again prostrated themselves on the ground, shouting “Long Live!”

Xiao Ce turned his gaze towards the city wall, his eyes cold, his voice icy: “They all say the Four Northern Desert Prefectures are a barbaric and wild land. This prince has come and seen that it is not so! The reason the Four Northern Desert Prefectures have become this sorry state is that there are too many vampires. And this prince has come this time to catch ghosts!”

Then, he looked again at the common people kneeling all over the ground: “As long as you support this prince, this prince will absolutely return to you a prosperous and safe life! Next, my Madam will carry out a series of matters for everyone, such as land distribution and legal reforms. I also hope talented individuals among the people can recommend themselves or others. I will leave a suggestion box here.”

“This prince will personally read everything you write! As long as it is well written, this prince will exceptionally appoint you as officials of our Northern Desert. Moreover, this prince promises you, as long as you serve as an official under this prince, your salary will definitely be ten times that of Xiao Kingdom officials, plus performance bonuses! As long as you do well, if you want money, you don’t need to extort it from the people, this prince will give it to you!”