We have fought to the Arctic Circle, and you want me to inherit the throne?

Chapter 753 Strict Treatment

Two days passed and the deadline arrived.

There were crowds of people kneeling in front of the Fengtian Hall every day, and more and more generals involved could not bear the psychological torture and came forward to surrender.

Li Che stood on the high steps and repeated his words from the day before in a cold and expressionless manner.

Silver and money piled up again, and the sound of confession and kowtow was heard everywhere.

They were then dismissed, made to admit their mistakes, and investigated. As for whether the families of the martyrs will forgive them, that depends on their own efforts.

Almost all those who should have come have already arrived. Those who didn't come were either hoping for a lucky break or they were so confident that they could get away with it.

On the morning of the third day, Li Che woke up early and came to the hall.

A list covered in ink lay quietly on the table.

The Ministry of Justice and the night watchman worked tirelessly for two days, and the evidence of crime, connection, and amount of stolen silver after the names were all clearly marked.

By visiting the victims and interrogating the generals who surrendered themselves, the generals involved were found one by one.

Most of the names on the list have been crossed out with a red pen.

These generals were all aware of Li Che's character and knew that there was still a chance of survival if he surrendered himself.

Li Che pressed on the few names at the end of the list that had not been crossed out, and his fingertips felt cold.

He was silent for a long time, and finally sighed deeply.

There are still eight people who haven't arrived...The lives of these eight people cannot be saved no matter what.

In fact, Li Che also understands these corrupt people. After all, humans are creatures driven by desires.

Everyone has occasional greed, and they can be admonished or given a chance to turn back.

But these eight people are different. They gave clear orders to surrender, but they pretended not to hear anything. This is no longer as simple as corruption.

Instead, they lost their absolute loyalty to themselves and betrayed morality.

If someone does things this way, he will be treated as a stranger, and Li Che will not be soft-hearted.

Li Che closed his eyes, then opened them again, and the last trace of fluctuation in his eyes was suppressed.

"Zhang Zhen."

Zhang Zhen emerged from the shadows of the palace pillars like a ghost, and said with a bow, "Your Highness."

Li Che picked up the list, paused in the air for a moment, and finally handed it over.

"Go ahead, invite everyone on this list to come to me one by one."

Zhang Zhen took the list with both hands and scanned the names.

Li Che added, his voice lowered: "Just arrest the people, don't hurt their families."

Zhang Zhen bowed and accepted the order: "Yes."

. . . . . .

The streets of Fengtian City are still bustling, and it seems that time is peaceful.

Until groups of people wearing pure white tight-fitting clothes and hoods covering half of their faces appeared on the streets.

They walked silently, with the faint outline of a hard object at their waist or cuffs.

This was the first time that the Night Watchmen were exposed to the public on such a large scale, naturally attracting the curious onlookers.

Only the officials who occasionally walked by in the crowd had expressions of astonishment in their eyes.

Only they knew what the Night Watch's appearance here meant.

The other generals who returned the stolen goods came to Fengtian Hall, and it was handled privately, with some personal connections involved.

But now, when the night watchmen arrest people in public, there is no longer any humanity involved, but it is all about the law of the country.

Alas...why bother?

The people kept silent and moved aside, watching these white figures break into one mansion after another.

There was no sound of fierce fighting, only a brief scolding, followed by a burst of suppressed crying.

No matter how brave they were, they would never dare to attack the Night's Watch.

Anyone who works for Fengguo knows that the Night's Watch is His Highness's personal army and represents Li Che's will.

Soon, the gate of the mansion opened.

The once arrogant general had his hands tied behind his back, his armor stripped off, and was escorted out in a dejected manner.

Amid the exclamations of the surrounding people, he was pushed into the prison van that had been waiting on the side.

The night watchman took out the seal with the king's seal and pasted it crosswise on the red door.

The runners from the Ministry of Justice who arrived later quickly took over and blocked the entire perimeter of the mansion with knives.

In just one hour, all eight generals were captured.

They were not sent to the Ministry’s prison. Instead, the prison van drove straight to the palace and, under the gaze of the people, were taken to the front of the Fengtian Palace.

Li Che had already stood there with his hands behind his back, his back to them, looking at the towering eaves of the palace.

The cold wind blew up the corners of his robe, making him look a little bleak.

The eight people were forced to kneel on the ground, their faces ashen.

In front of the Fengtian Hall, all civil and military officials had already stood in silence as ordered.

Countless eyes fell on the eight kneeling generals in the center of the square. The air was stagnant, and the weight was so heavy that the eight men's backs were bent.

A huge sense of fear and shame surged into one's heart, finally causing one person's psychological defenses to collapse.

He crawled forward on his knees, banged his head heavily on the ground, and cried out in a sobbing voice:

"Your Highness, please spare my life! I...I was confused for a moment, bewildered by a demon! Please have mercy, Your Highness!"

This sound was like a signal of a dam breaking. The other seven people immediately followed suit and kowtowed desperately. The sounds of them wailing and begging for mercy came one after another, which was particularly harsh in the empty square.

Li Che said nothing, and remained motionless with his back to them.

Only when the wailing gradually faded away and turned into intermittent sobbing did he slowly turn around.

When Li Che turned around, the officials nearby changed their expressions and were extremely surprised.

Their Highness had burst into tears and his eyes were red without him knowing when.

Only that look was still as cold and hard as a rock.

Li Che walked down the stairs step by step and came to the general who was the first to beg for mercy.

Then she reached out and helped him up, her movements gentle, even tender.

"A good man should always be respectable and hold his head high!" Li Che said softly, "Don't... tarnish the reputation of our Fengtian Army."

The words were gentle, but they made the eight people feel as if they had fallen into an icy cave, and their whole bodies were chilled.

They would rather be scolded or beaten than face such a prince.

Li Che's eyes swept over each of their gray faces, his voice full of fatigue:

"I once heard a saying that it's easy to share adversity, but difficult to share prosperity. I... have never agreed with that."

"Our Fengtian Army has risen from humble beginnings, fighting bloody battles all the way through the border. The bond between the entire Fengtian Army is as strong as iron. How could this happen?"

"Later, I read history books again and often saw stories of kings who abandoned their bows after their birds were killed and abandoned their dogs after their rabbits were dead. I always despised those kings."

"I have always felt that a monarch who cannot tolerate meritorious officials is doomed to fail."

He paused, looked up at the sky, as if trying to hold back the tears that were welling up in his eyes.

"It's only today that I finally understand their suffering. It's not that an emperor can't share in adversity, but rather that human hearts... are fickle and unpredictable!"

The eight generals lowered their heads, their eyes filled with tears.

They had long lost their fear, and the regret in their hearts was like a poisonous insect gnawing at their internal organs.

Li Che didn't say anything else, but stepped forward and untied the rope for the person closest to him.

Qiu Bai and Zhang Zhen beside him immediately stepped forward, holding the hilt of the sword, fearing that the eight generals would do something desperate.

The atmosphere in the field suddenly became tense, and the officials did not even dare to breathe.

Qiu Bai whispered: "Your Highness..."

Li Che raised his hand to stop them, his eyes still fixed on his old subordinates: "I know my generals well. Even if they die, they will never attack me."

The eight people were so ashamed when they heard this that they choked and mumbled:

"Your Highness... I was wrong... I... am ashamed of your kindness."

Li Che untied them one by one. The eight people stood still. No one ran away, and no one attacked Li Che.

Li Che sighed, slowly walked up to a person, and patted his arm heavily:

"If you are still a good man, you should understand that since you have chosen this path, you must accept it."

The general was shocked all over and raised his head suddenly. Seeing Li Che's sad eyes, tears immediately flowed down his face.

Without Li Che saying anything else, the general finally nodded heavily, with a hint of relief in his eyes.

Li Che's tone slowed down: "Your families don't have to worry about it. I swear here that I will ensure that they have enough food and clothing, that the elderly can be taken care of, and that the children can have education."

"Your property will be confiscated and the hole must be plugged, but don't worry, I will pay for the support of your family."

The eight people lowered their heads and said nothing more.

Li Che took one last look at them, then asked softly:

"Do you have any unfulfilled wishes?"

One of them shook his head, his voice hoarse: "Nothing more, I just hope that Your Highness will ascend the throne soon, and that I will serve the country and bring peace and prosperity to the people."

Li Che nodded slightly, then looked at Qiu Bai.

Qiu Bai nodded and gestured behind him.

Eight shirtless executioners walked out from the back of the hall, holding ghost-head swords, and stood silently behind the eight people.

"Bring some wine!" Li Che shouted.

The guards quickly brought nine bowls of liquor. Li Che took one bowl for himself, and the remaining eight bowls were handed to the eight people.

The wine bowl was heavy and strong, it was the Chaoyang wine produced by Fengguo.

Li Che raised his bowl and glanced at every familiar face: "This king will send you off for the last time. All your merits and demerits in this world will be wiped out from now on."

Without hesitation, the eight people stepped forward and raised their wine bowls.

Seeing them so efficient, Li Che couldn't help but smile:

"When the day comes when I return to the grave, will you all be willing to gather under my banner and ride for me?!"

One of them suddenly looked up and shouted at the top of his lungs, "I am willing to die for Your Highness!"

"I am willing to die for your Highness!"

The other seven people roared with red eyes.

Then he raised his head and drank the liquor in the bowl in one gulp, with the liquor flowing down his neck.

Li Che also raised his head to drink it all, and then with a crisp sound of "pa", he smashed the bowl to the ground.

Eight wine bowls followed closely behind, shattering one after another.

After this, there was no more talk between the king and his ministers.

Li Che turned around, facing the officials, and said in a cold, hard voice, "The guilty generals Zhang Yi, Wang Yong... and eight others colluded with each other to embezzle compensation for fallen soldiers."

"The evidence is irrefutable, and the crime is aggravated by the delay in resisting!"

"According to military law and regulations, the death penalty is imposed!"

The ministers remained silent, staring at the eight figures in the field.

After saying the last sentence, Li Che slowly closed his eyes, and two lines of hot tears finally rolled down uncontrollably.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already a murderous red.

He squeezed out a word from between his teeth: "Behead!"

The knife flashed suddenly, cutting through the stagnant air.

Eight streams of hot blood spurted out, staining the cold ground red.

Eight headless corpses fell heavily to the ground without a sound.