Princess Yang Kwei-Fei was ready when the soldiers came. The revolt had been brewing for nearly half a year, and she knew the populace wrongly blamed the economic troubles on her influence over the Emperor. She knew the Emperor, much as he loved her, would have to give her up to the soldiers in order to save his own life and throne. She'd predicted that they would come for her days ago, and ignored the rosier views of other concubines and her sisters. By the time the soldiers arrived, she was dressed in her best public clothes. Her hair was brushed out so it hung down her back, black and lustrous and lightly scented with flowers. She had used just a little musk to enhance her natural scent, behind her ears, in the hollow of her lovely throat, and at her wrists.
The captain was surprised to find her ready to go. "I'm terribly sorry, Princess," he apologized, "but the advice you've been giving the Emperor is considered treason, and the punishment is death. I'll make it as quick as I can."
The sight of her beauty made his pulse quicken. No wonder the Emperor had loved her; surely this was the most lovely woman the captain had ever seen. It was a shame to destroy such loveliness, and the captain knew the charges were unjust, but he would do what he had to do. With a small start he tore his eyes away from the lovely girl in front of him and reached for her wrist. "Come with us, please," he demanded.
Yang Kwei-Fei had already decided what she wanted, and asked, "Please, Captain, may I take a veil for decency's sake?"
"Certainly," the captain agreed. He watched admiringly as Kwei-Fei took the long, gauzy veil she had ready and attached it to her hair with a comb. He was amazed at how much grace and ease she showed, even facing death. With her veil hiding her cream-yellow face and neck, she stepped back to the captain and walked beside him out of the harem, leaving the rest of the soldiers to follow behind as if they were an honor guard rather than captors with a condemned prisoner. Her steps never faltered; she knew where he would lead her. They walked outside the palace to a nearby garden with many large trees.
The captain looked at Kwei-Fei to judge her height, then chose a tree branch and fashioned a double loop of soft rope around it. He looked at her again, pausing to admire her trim figure. She seemed to enjoy his gaze, standing up straight so her breasts stood out and pulling her long shiny hair to one side to reveal a perfect neck; what a shame to wreck it. He pulled himself out of his reverie with a sigh, glanced at her again, then moved the rope to a lower part of the branch.
Princess Kwei-Fei walked slowly over to the tree, shedding her fancy adornments one by one as she walked. The last to go was the comb holding the veil, leaving her clad only in the loose robe she'd put on in preparation for this moment, and holding the veil with her hand.
"I really am sorry to have to do this to you," the captain apologized again as she stepped under the branch.
"I understand. It really isn't your fault," Kwei-Fei told him. Then she went on in a lower voice, "There are a couple of last favors I'd like to ask you."
The captain seemed relieved that she wasn't crying or begging for her life. "As long as it doesn't conflict with my duty here," he agreed.
"I don't think it seemly for all these common soldiers — mostly peasants who have taken the sword in the last month — to see my death struggles. Would you put my veil up as a screen?"
He agreed, attaching the veil to the branch so it draped in front of her, leaving only a dim shadow to show where she was. Then he took his officer's baton and stepped behind her.
"And the other favor?," he asked.
Kwei-Fei untied her robe, then pulled it open in back, showing a beautiful, velvety smooth ass. The captain felt himself blush, grow erect, and breathe faster at the sight of it; it was as beautiful as her face and neck. Then she pulled her cheeks apart to reveal a small, puckered hole, glistening with some sort of grease.
"I have to die today," she whispered to the captain, "and I want to have a little pleasure to distract me while I die. Besides, you've been so nice about this, I think you deserve a little reward — and I bet you're too upright to keep the jewelry I left on the ground."
Well, the captain was certainly upright by now. He stepped up close behind her and unlaced his trews, then unwrapped his loincloth to let his engorged penis free. "What do you want?" he asked.
"Please, slide it in slowly before you tighten the rope," Kwei-Fei whispered. "The Emperor would sometimes choke me while we did this and I enjoyed it a lot, especially when he timed it so I got a little dizzy just before he came. I guess you'd planned to kill me as fast as possible so I won't suffer, but I'd prefer for you to do it slowly. Make it last a few minutes while you gradually tighten the rope, then you can come inside me after I faint. I think you'll find my last convulsions especially nice for you."
Hearing stirrings, the captain guessed the soldiers were getting restless. "She's asked for one last request," he called out to the troops, "but I'll finish this off soon. After she's dead, you can check to make sure."
The captain fit the double loop around her neck, then hesitated.
"Go ahead," she encouraged him, "enjoy my body while you can."
He reached inside her robe to fondle her breasts, and her breathing quickened. He brought his hands out briefly and wet them with his tongue, then reached in again to finger her nipples. She moaned.
"Quiet," he warned her, "or I'll have to quiet you with the rope. It's too bad we have to hurry; I'd like to spend hours doing this to you."
He brought one hand down and reached between her legs to finger her labia. She gasped, then started to moan again as his finger found her pleasure button. He quickly inserted the baton in between the two loops and twisted it to quiet her, but left it loose enough she could still breathe, with effort.
As he fingered her, it became harder for her to concentrate on breathing. As her head grew lighter, she pushed his hand away.
"Remember," she gasped out, "I want you in me before you get down to really strangling me."
The captain loosened the baton again, and pressed up close behind her. She spread her legs apart, then guided him into her tight asshole with one hand, while the other hand kept her cheeks parted. At this distance her scent made him feel slightly giddy and very lustful.
He pushed slowly into her, enjoying the sensation of her tight asshole around his swollen penis. As soon as he was fully in her, she whispered, "Please."
He twisted the baton further, and she started panting as her body tried to get enough air. Holding onto the baton with one hand, he used the other to help her stand on her toes, to make some room for movement. He started stroking slowly in and out of her asshole, while she reached down with one hand and fingered herself.
After half a minute, she hiked her robe up and put two fingers of the other hand into her vagina. A few moments later she started thrashing frantically, straining for more air and pushing her fingers in and out as she bucked on and off his penis. He had to fight for control to avoid coming while she was still conscious. It was obvious that she was enjoying this. At last her hands slowed a little and she forced out a choked whisper, "Now! Please!"
He twisted the baton quickly with both hands, making the tendons and blood vessels in her neck stand out. Her mouth opened and stretched for air, but she couldn't get any. Her struggles grew more frantic and nearly drove him over the edge.
After another minute or so her hands stopped moving and fell limp. Her thrashing became weaker and less coordinated. He started moving in quick strokes, thinking that he was going to come into a dead body, but too aroused to stop even for that fear. But then her body started moving faster; her arms and legs moved at random and her head and back arched. Her convulsions brought him over the edge, and he finally came, pumping frantically into her ass, and biting his tongue to keep from screaming his pleasure as she died.
He forced himself to breathe normally and held onto the baton for 50 more breaths just to make sure, then he released his hold. He used his loincloth to wipe off her ass and legs, then wrapped it around himself again. He laced up his trews, wrapped the robe neatly around the body and tied it shut again. Then he unwound the baton and pulled it out of the ropes.
He walked around in front of the body and pulled the veil free of the branch. "Now," he growled, "you men can check and make sure she's dead."
A few of the braver ones did, checking for a pulse at wrist and neck. Some of them slapped the dead face or punched the body in the stomach or kidneys to see if there was any reaction. Satisfied that the princess was really dead, they formed up in ranks again.
This crude misuse of the beautiful princess's body made the captain want to throw up, but he suppressed it. He took his hunting knife and cut through the loops, then had to drop it to catch the body as it fell to the ground. He chose six soldiers who hadn't mistreated the body and told three of them to put her on a bier. Then he had the six carry it back into the city for the Emperor and populace to see before it was buried. He made sure they buried it in the ground usually reserved for imperial wives.
All the time he was arranging for them to carry and dispose of the body, he wondered just what she'd felt while he'd been strangling her. Well, he mused, you never know. With the unsettled state of politics, I may find out for myself...
The above story was inspired by a movie about a Chinese emperor and his mistress. I'm not sure which of two movies it is --
The actual death scene is ambiguous.
The leader of the group of soldiers fashions something that looks like a double loop of rope attached to a limb of a tree — it doesn't look much like a noose. Then he drags over a small stone, about 6" high, flat on the bottom and more-or-less round on top. As she walks to her death, she sheds her fancy adornments, including the long silk veil she had draped over her head.
The actual death occurs off camera, so you can interpret the scene either as:
...the other assistant...stuck a low wooden cross in the ground, and now Hsu Deh-tai was tied to this cross in a kneeling position.... The executioner threw a noose of thin hempcord over Hsu's head, while the other end encircled the upper part of the stake. He stuck a short wooden stick between the cord and the stake behind Hsu's head, and looked toward the judge.As soon as Judge Dee [gave] the sign, the executioner quickly twisted the stick round in both hands, the cord tightened round the criminal's throat, his eyes bulged from their sockets, and his tongue protruded. The executioner stopped turning the stick, and waited. A deep silence reigned over the execution ground. Not a sound was heard... Finally the executioner felt the criminal's heart, and reported to the judge that he was dead.
The apparatus didn't look very convincing for a hanging, so my imagination turned it into the latter. I suppose you could interpret the scene other ways, too. The only sure thing is that she's dead afterwards, as the Emperor looks at her body and weeps for her.
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