kvmb Chapter 176 Giving them justice
Chapter 176 Giving them justice
Lu Yangyang spoke each word clearly and sharply.
It calmly denounced the countless crimes committed by these evildoers.
But only she knew the extent to which her heart trembled at this.
She simply couldn't imagine how shameless and cruel some people could be for the sake of profit.
She descended the rope, first smelling a faint odor, then noticing the cliff face had turned dark. The cave was hidden by a rock, making it difficult to discover its hidden secrets without careful observation.
Lu Yangyang carefully observed the traces in the vicinity before realizing that something was wrong with the location. She tried to swing over and moved the obscuring rock with her hand, only to discover the hidden cave.
After realizing something was wrong, Princess Li Duan insisted on going with her. She could only wait for Lin Feng to bring Princess Li Duan down, and then called a guard sent by His Highness the Crown Prince to accompany her before entering the cave.
Upon entering, and going deeper, it was discovered that the cave led to an even deeper place.
Then they heard faint sounds. When they followed the sounds, they caught Ah Liang and his two companions guarding the dark room, and then they saw the scene of hell on earth.
The dark room was quite large, and presumably for the convenience of guards, it was divided into several compartments. One compartment was filled with ice blocks, and on top of the ice blocks were earthenware jars containing skulls that had been opened. Another compartment contained several broken boxes filled with skeletons.
After interrogation, it was learned that it wasn't that they didn't want to dispose of the remains, but rather that there were frequent military patrols in the area, and heavy rains were common in the summer. If they were to bury them carelessly, it would cause a lot of trouble if they were discovered. So they simply left them in the box temporarily, out of sight, out of mind.
Human lives are lost, and all they care about is a dismissive "too much trouble."
Lu Yangyang, facing the absurd expression on Qinglian Shitai's face, as if it had nothing to do with her and she knew nothing about it, gritted her teeth and let out a cold laugh: "You say you don't know, that it has nothing to do with you, but you refined all the pills. Do you dare say you don't know? Do you dare offer something you haven't tried to the current Empress Dowager? Do you dare? You don't dare, so you must have tried it yourself. You personally devoured the lives of those children, using them as tools for your own gain! You're not unaware; you're just burying your head in the sand, constantly telling yourself that the pills weren't what you wanted, and that you didn't kidnap the people, so you can say such things with a clear conscience and shamelessness!"
"Don't you have nightmares when you wake up in the middle of the night?!"
Lu Yangyang's last words were almost shouted.
It was a shout directed at Abbess Qinglian, and also at Fairy Shangshan.
Who could have imagined that such a solemn and dignified royal Taoist temple, radiating compassion, could harbor such filthy and cruel evil?
At this moment, a guard came in and whispered a few words in Pei Ji's ear.
Pei Ji turned to the Crown Prince and reported, "Your Highness, all the evidence in the secret room has been collected. What should we do with it?"
"Take it outside," the crown prince said.
"No, no, Your Highness, Your Highness!" Abbess Qinglian frantically crawled toward the Crown Prince, but was quickly pulled back by Pei Ji.
"Your Highness, I am guilty, but I truly did it for the Empress Dowager's good. Over the years, I have devoted myself to treating her health. I have done my utmost, if not meritorious, then I have certainly worked hard. Your Highness, I am willing to plead guilty. But if the world knows that the medicine the Empress Dowager used was poisoning infants, how will the world view this? Not only the Empress Dowager, but countless powerful and wealthy people in the capital are buying this 'Heart-Nourishing Pill.' If Your Highness makes this public, what will happen to you? Have you considered this? I beg your mercy, this matter must absolutely, absolutely must not be made public..."
Master Qinglian pleaded tearfully.
Upon hearing this, even the utterly disgusted Eunuch Qi suddenly realized that if the Empress Dowager were to find out about this, it would be...
He knelt down before the Crown Prince with a thud: "Your Highness, the Empress Dowager is old and cannot bear such a blow! Your Highness, I beg you, please handle this matter privately, and absolutely do not make it public!"
Eunuch Qi was already trembling with fear. The reason why the Qinglian Temple's Nourishing Heart Pill was so popular among the powerful and nobles was all because of the Empress Dowager. Even His Majesty had taken this medicine. Therefore, this matter must not be spread.
If this gets out, the consequences will be unimaginable.
The Crown Prince, the one who revealed the secret, will surely become a sinner.
Those who knew the truth were also doomed to die.
Abbess Qinglian, she wasn't confessing; she was forcing His Highness the Crown Prince to compromise. Only by covering this up, keeping it a secret among these people, could they all be safe.
The prince grabbed the teacup beside him and smashed it towards Abbess Qinglian's face.
The teacup hit Master Qinglian in the eye, and the shards cut her eyeball, causing blood to gush out immediately.
"The Heart-Nourishing Pills of Qinglian Temple are worth a thousand gold pieces and are in short supply. Apart from the two pills offered to the Empress Dowager in the palace every month, you secretly sell them at high prices to powerful officials and dignitaries to make a profit. Then you use a mere fifty taels to buy lives, and your subordinates then exploit you layer by layer, using so-called five or ten taels to have people kidnap and sell children. What do you think of human lives? What do you think of the lives of the people of my Great Zhao?" the Crown Prince asked coldly.
“Carry up the remains of those children, carry them out into the crowd, carry them out into the sunlight. They did nothing wrong, they wronged no one, so why can't they be seen in the light? Just because those who can't stand the light killed them, must they bear this fate?”
"Listen to me, all of you. They were harmed by those blinded by greed. I will personally judge these wicked people and bring justice to their wrongful deaths. I will make this matter public. If I cannot do it, then let Heaven bear witness to their injustice and let the hearts of the people of the world give them justice."
The hall fell silent and still, with only the Crown Prince's clear, cold voice, as pure as jade, remaining.
Lu Yangyang looked at the Crown Prince. He was sitting in a wheelchair, his body pale and thin from the torment of illness. He looked so frail that a gust of wind could blow him away. But for the first time, Lu Yangyang seemed to understand why her elder brother, knowing the danger, still went to the border without hesitation.
Because the eldest brother had to guard the walls of the Great Zhao Kingdom so that the enemy wouldn't be allowed to enter.
The Crown Prince, on the other hand, wanted to uphold justice for the people of Da Zhao, and to ensure that everyone could live openly and honestly under the sunlight.
This was his and his elder brother's ideal, and also the ideal of the people of the Great Zhao Kingdom.
She looked down at the dazed little boy she had brought out, who was completely terrified. His eyes were still clear; he didn't understand what he had been through, but he was sure he would live a good life from now on.
The Crown Prince waved to Pei Ji, who walked over and pushed the Crown Prince out of the main hall.
In the center of the square in front of the main hall, guards carried one box after another and gently placed them down.
The box lid was lifted, and the skeletons of innocent children, hidden in the dark, secret room, finally saw the light of day.