Qiang Jin Jiu (Author : Tang Jiuqing 唐酒卿)

Chapter 3 : Raptor

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Pan Rugui strode towards the Gate of Duancheng. The Imperial Bodyguards Commandants split into two rows flanking each side and stayed as silent as winter cicadas. Once Pan Rugui came to a halt and announced Emperor Xiande’s verbal edict, the Imperial Bodyguards began their work.

The Imperial Bodyguards gagged Shen Zechuan and swiftly wrapped him up in a thick cotton-padded garment before they made him lie face down on the ground.
Pan Rugui leaned over in the cold wind to observe Shen Zechuan’s state. He raised his fingers to cover his lips feebly and coughed a few times before he said softly, “You are so young, and yet you are so gutsy that you dare to put on such a melodramatic display before His Majesty. If you had just truthfully confessed Shen Wei’s crime of treason, you might still have a slim shot at survival.”

Shen Zechuan shut his eyes tightly. Cold sweat had already soaked through his clothes. 

“Start flogging,” Pan Rugui said and rose to his feet.

The Imperial Bodyguards Commandants on both sides immediately shouted in unison, “Let the rod fall!” A thunderous roar followed right after. “Hit!”

Before the words were fully out of their mouths, the rod wrapped in an iron sheet with barbs came whistling down on Shen Zechuan and dealt him a heavy blow.
After three strikes, he heard another voice. “Hit him hard!”

The pain of his flesh was like a searing fire blazing through his body. They hit Shen Zechuan until he could no longer move. All he could do was to clamp his teeth down tightly on the gag in his mouth. He was unable to swallow his blood in time, and its coppery and salty taste saturated his mouth. Shen Zechuan was still hanging on to his last breath as the dripping sweat stung his wide-open eyes.

The sky was overcast, and the heavy snow fell like willow catkins.

Flogging was not a job anyone could do. As the saying “faint at twenty strokes, lame at fifty” suggested, there were many ways to flog a man. It was generally a family craft handed down through the generations and was no less easier to train than learning a trade elsewhere.

Moreover, this job did not just require one to have good martial arts skills, but also a discerning eye. These floggers had been doing this for so long that all they had to do is to look at the expressions of these Great Eunuchs from the Ceremonial Directorate to know who should receive superficial wounds but serious internal injuries, and vice versa. 

Emperor Xiande issued a decree today mandating death by flogging, and Pan Rugui appeared to hold him in low regard. This indicated that a reversal of fate was impossible; the man was destined to die. Consequently, the Imperial Bodyguards employed their unique techniques; within fifty strokes, Shen Zechuan was to meet his end.

Pan Rugui kept an eye on the timing and noticed that Shen Zechuan had already gone motionless with his head drooping. He raised his hand over the hand warmer and was about to give his instructions when he saw an umbrella floating towards them on the path. A beauty in royal garb stood underneath. 

The dark clouds on Pan Rugui’s face dispersed in a flash and transformed into a smile. Although he did not personally step forward in a greeting, the quick-witted eunuch beside him had already gone over to offer her his arm in support. 

“My sincere respects to Third Missy. It’s such a cold day. If Her Majesty the Empress Dowager has any instructions, you can just send someone to pass the message.” Pan Rugui spoke as he took two steps closer. 

“Gonggong, is the one sprawled on the ground the son of Zhongbo Shen Clan, Shen Zechuan?” Hua Xiangyi said in a slow and soft voice.

Pan Rugui moved in tandem with Hua Xiangyi’s steps and replied, “That’s the one. His Majesty has just issued the decree to flog him to death.”