Three Crimes Confirmed, Chariot Splitting Order Issued; A Solitary Minister Weeps Blood, Cursing the Imperial Crown

Ying Zheng gradually came back to himself, his gaze falling on the figure before him.

But where did Lord Changping still resemble the man he had once been?

His hair was clumped together by blood, tangled with bits of grass and mud.

The hands that had once held a jade scepter were now cut deeply by hemp rope, their nails packed with grime.

That face, once always graced by a gentle smile, now held nothing but twisted terror; even his cries came out breathy.

Like a stray dog soaked by the rain, he wagged his tail and begged its master for a mouthful of food.

Ying Zheng was silent for a long while, as though a block of ice were lodged in his throat.

He knew that there was no room left to turn things around today.

The confessions from the Black Ice Terrace, the forged seals of rank, the mountains of falsified registers, the accomplices impaled upon spears... every piece of evidence lay exposed beneath the sun.

Before the tens of thousands of soldiers at Wangyue Post Station, if the punishment was too light, how could he establish authority? How could he convince the masses?

"Li Si."

At last, he spoke. No emotion could be heard in his voice, yet his decision was beyond question.

From the ranks on the western side of the post station, a figure in green immediately stepped forward.

Li Si wore the Chancellor's court robes, a silver ribbon tied at his waist. He walked steadily before Ying Zheng and bowed. "This subject is here."

His gaze swiftly swept over Lord Changping in the prison cart, and a trace of complexity flashed through his eyes. Once upon a time, he had been a Ministry of Justice official under Lord Changping.

Yet fate made fools of