BXBX NOVEL Chapter 20 - Execution, Beheading!
When dealing with these fools, Richard would not show any mercy; he could only rely on iron and blood to make them submit.
The people he had beaten, now covered in wounds, stood obediently in their ranks, not daring to utter a single complaint. In their eyes, there was only panic and regret, without a trace of resentment.
But Richard knew that this was not enough; he needed to give them a little more stimulation.
He turned and instructed someone next to him.
“Go, bring Harvey out!”
Everyone smelled the aroma of food wafting from nearby, and they swallowed their saliva, filled with anticipation.
They knew that as long as they obeyed, they would be able to receive food.
And over there, there were so many prepared dishes, which might allow them to have a hearty meal.
Many of them usually had no chance to eat to their fill.
They had not expected that after the lord arrived, although they had to work, they would have the opportunity to eat enough.
However, as they waited and waited, they found that their lord had not spoken.
What was the lord waiting for?
Everyone was puzzled, but no one dared to ask; they could only wait patiently.
The knight squires stood guard at various posts, maintaining order at the scene.
In the distance, two nearby knight squires exchanged glances and smiled:
“Look, our lord is making them wait!”
“Yeah, let this group of pigs remember this. After one riot, make them wait an extra hour next to the food; next time, they’ll behave.”
“If it were up to me, I would have been even harsher. I’d starve them for one meal, and then let them eat the food that’s gone bad and cold, even with flies on it.”
“I’m just afraid that if they eat that, they’ll get sick. Who will work then? I think making them wait an hour while the food cools down but doesn’t spoil is the most appropriate punishment.”
“That makes sense; our lord is indeed wise!”
“Does that need saying? Don’t try to guess our lord’s decisions with your inferior thinking; it only makes you look foolish!”
Because they were far away, they did not hear Richard’s order to bring the tax officer Harvey. In their quiet discussions, they were still waiting patiently.
After a while, there was suddenly some commotion ahead, and they looked up to see several colleagues escorting someone over.
“Strange, why is the lord bringing Harvey here at this time? Could it be that he needs Harvey to calculate how to distribute the food?”
“Fool, I’ve told you long ago not to use your stupid brain to guess what the lord is thinking!”
“You’re so smart, why don’t you tell us?”
“I don’t know either.”
“If you don’t know, why do you blame me?”
“I once heard a clergy member from the church say that there’s a saying in the holy book: ‘The foolish man remains silent, for that is his wisdom.’ My friend, speak less and do more, and watch what our lord does.”
At this moment, sitting on horseback, Richard glanced at the escorted Harvey.
Harvey was covered in bruises, with small wounds all over his forehead, as if he had been pricked by something, and his clothes were ragged and tattered.
It was evident that during his brief period of detention, someone had teased and insulted him.
Richard did not pay attention to these details, pointing at Harvey and addressing the crowd, “This person, you should all recognize. His name is Harvey, and he has been your tax officer all along. You must be curious as to why he has ended up like this.”
With Richard’s words, the crowd stirred.
Oh my, is this really the tax officer, Lord Harvey?
How did he become like this?
Everyone was speculating about how he had offended their lord.
Before Lord Richard arrived, there had not been a viscount here for many years.
The secretary was responsible for transmitting the orders from the higher-ups, but since this place was remote, many decrees were unnecessary to convey here, and the peasants rarely saw the secretary, Rhodes.
Instead, the one they had more contact with was the tax officer Harvey, who had now fallen from grace.
If Rhodes had once been an untouchable figure for them, someone to be revered from afar,
Then Harvey was their nightmare. In their lives, Harvey’s influence and intimidation were omnipresent.
Facing Harvey, they had lost any spirit of rebellion, especially since every time Harvey appeared, he brought along his subordinates, who instilled absolute fear in them.
Such a figure, who seemed grand to them, had been captured so easily?
Moreover, he was facing trial!
It was too unbelievable!
For them, as long as someone was not an ordinary peasant, everyone in the castle was a big shot. Even a mouse in the castle was someone they envied.
They could not see the conflicts among the upper echelons; for them, that was the affairs of another world.
It felt much like the relationship between the god king Zeus and the goddess Hestia in mythology—perhaps there were sizes among them, but all were beyond their reach.
At this moment, they quietly watched, waiting for their lord, like a deity, to give his decree.
“You pig-like creatures, remember this: I have repeatedly said that everything in Long Eagle Territory is mine, but someone did not listen and claimed my possessions as their own.”
“This person is Harvey!”
Richard leaped off his horse and drew the knight’s greatsword, the tip striking the ground with a sharp sound.
Harvey was pressed down onto the wood, his eyes filled with regret.
“My lord, I am willing to confess! I was too foolish, blinded by money, and failed to grasp the meaning behind your words. Harvey hopes to use my death to remind my family to obey your commands.”
Richard nodded slightly and did not say more.
He gripped the knight’s greatsword stuck in the ground, closed his eyes, and recited:
“In the name of the House of Baynes, King Hales I, all the people of the realm, and the kings of our ancestors, I, Richard of the House of Baynes, Viscount of Long Eagle Territory, hereby announce your death sentence!”
As Richard recited, Harvey lowered his head, closed his eyes, and awaited the moment of death.
The sound of the great sword being drawn from the gravel, the rustling of Richard’s garments, the sound of the sword slicing through the air…
Here it comes!
In the next moment, Harvey’s consciousness completely vanished.
All the peasants trembled, watching the head roll on the ground, their mouths dry.
The arrogant and domineering tax officer, who had ruined countless families, the nightmare of the entire Long Eagle Territory…
Their lord had killed him just like that!
Everyone was stunned.