0p0 Chapter 208 Staged Victory
Chapter 208 Staged Victory
Wang Liyang's shoulders drooped, his whole body weak, and he looked very old: "I know."
Since he chose to stand on the side of Prince Beijing, he was destined to be the prince's mortal enemy.
Now the prince has captured his family members in order to force him to blame Prince Beijing.
Otherwise, the prince would never show mercy. How could a prince be merciful? Moreover, he was the one who stood against the prince first, so nothing the prince did would be excessive.
As he was speaking, Eunuch Wei ran up panting.
His old bones really couldn't bear climbing up and down the city wall several times.
"Your Majesty, this is the petition from the common people, and the suicide note sent back by their son."
The emperor opened the envelopes with a grim face and poured out some green rice and black beans.
"What is this?"
The emperor did not read the petition first, nor did he have time to read the contents of the letter, so he did not know the reason for the incident.
Wei Zhong bent down and picked up the green rice and black beans, saying truthfully, "This is moldy rice, and these are rotten and then dried soybeans."
The emperor seemed to have realized something. He unfolded the letters and glanced at a few of them. The contents were almost the same.
"Bastard!"
The emperor was so angry that he threw the letter in his hand: "Wang Liyang, who gave you the courage!"
Wang Liyang's face was ashen, and he offered no resistance: "Your Majesty, I, a sinner, deserve to die."
"I have lived a clean life. I have served as Minister of Revenue for decades and have never embezzled a single penny."
"I am a guilty subject...I was forced to do this."
"It was...it was the Prince of Beijing who threatened me with my family. I had no choice but to do this."
"If Your Majesty doesn't believe me, you can send someone to search. I have handed over all the hundreds of thousands of taels I embezzled to Prince Beijing."
"I, a sinner, deserve death. Your Majesty, please spare the lives of my family."
After Wang Liyang finished speaking, he jumped directly from the city wall which was several meters high and died on the spot.
Chu Zhongyuan's face turned pale. He never expected that Wang Liyang would bite him back before he died.
Moreover, he did receive 100,000 taels of silver. Even if he had mouths all over his body, he probably wouldn't be able to explain it.
Who is behind this...?
Is it the Lu family or the prince!
Chu Zhongyuan swept a gloomy look over everyone he suspected.
"Father, I am innocent."
"Your son...your son has never done this."
He wanted to explain but didn't know how. Could it be that he had known for a long time that the Minister of Revenue had embezzled military rations?
Even accepted money to help him solve the problem?
Wouldn’t that be a crime of harboring a criminal?
But if he doesn't explain anything, the crime will be put on him.
Chu Zhongyuan had never been so embarrassed before. Over the years, relying on the emperor's favor, he had always been successful.
Now I have tasted the pain that is hard to express in words!
He looked up at the prince next to him. The prince's expression remained the same and there was nothing wrong with him.
When the emperor saw that he only cried out for justice but could not provide any evidence to prove his innocence, he was immediately furious and extremely disappointed.
He rebelled because his entire family was forced to death by corrupt officials and he had no way to make a living.
Everyone knows how much he hates corrupt officials.
But his most beloved son insisted on touching his bottom line, how could he not be sad.
What's more, this matter was revealed in front of all the people and soldiers in the capital, so he had no way to cover it up.
"Wei Zhong, you personally lead your men to search the Wang family and the Prince of Beijing's mansion."
"Yes."
"Father, I am innocent."
The emperor snorted coldly, waved his sleeves and left, leaving the matter to the prime minister. He publicly promised the people that he would get to the bottom of the matter, punish the corrupt officials, and give an explanation to the people of the world.
As a result, the grand welcoming ceremony was cancelled and the people were evacuated.
Wei Zhong did not find any banknotes in the Prince of Beijing's mansion, nor did he find anything valuable in Wang Liyang's home.
Moreover, Wang Liyang's family had long since left the house.
However, they raided the Jing'an Marquis's Mansion and seized silver bills, gold bars, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, gold, silver and jewelry totaling two hundred thousand taels.
Marquis Jing'an betrayed his family and had them all executed. The people gathered at the entrance of the vegetable market to watch the bloody scene of hundreds of people being beheaded.
Three days later, some of Wang Liyang's family members were arrested. Based on the evidence, all those who participated in the corruption were executed. For those who did not participate in the corruption, the male members were sold as slaves and the female members were made military prostitutes.
As for Chu Zhongyuan, no one found the 100,000 taels of silver in his house, but they did find it at his father-in-law's house.
However, apart from the 100,000 taels of silver, there was no evidence of his involvement in the corruption case.
Chu Zhongyuan also told the truth to the emperor. He was not involved in the corruption case and had no knowledge of it. The 100,000 taels of silver was the reward for helping Wang Liyang settle the trouble.
The emperor felt a little better after hearing this explanation.
But now there is no evidence that he was involved in the corruption case, and it is impossible to prove his innocence. After all, the 100,000 taels of silver are there.
Therefore, the emperor stripped Chu Zhongyuan of his title as King of Beijing and confined him to the Third Prince's Mansion.
Chu Zhongyuan's father-in-law was implicated and dismissed from office.
Lin Che and his son Lin Pingxi were also beheaded at the same time, which was considered justice for Su Qingyu.
At the same time, the court also issued generous pensions to the families of the dead soldiers.
The military pay for the surviving soldiers and generals was also increased, and the case of corruption came to an end.
The Crown Prince's party temporarily defeated the Third Prince's party.
However, the prince knew in his heart that the third prince was still the emperor's most beloved son.
It's only a matter of time before he comes out!
It was destined to be a life-and-death battle between him and the Third Prince. As long as they didn't die, the fight would continue endlessly.
Su Yujiao was in a good mood when she learned that Chu Zhongyuan's throne had been abolished and he was under house arrest indefinitely. She specially prepared a large table of delicious food and decided to celebrate properly.
She didn't invite anyone, she just ate and drank with the people in the courtyard.
After all, her parents' family went back to their hometown, and it was inconvenient for her husband's family, so they divorced after all.
As for Peony, she remained unconscious.
"Jiaojiao, you're so mean. You made so many delicious dishes and didn't even call me."
Lu Ziwei's complaints could be heard from a distance.
Su Yujiao smiled and said, "I would like to invite you, but I have to find someone like you."
During this period, Zhou was busy choosing a husband for Lu Ziwei, and Lu Ziwei was busy reuniting with her sisters in the capital.
Therefore, she is either on the way to a blind date or on the way to a party, and is very busy.
"Anyway, I'm angry, and I can't be appeased without delicious food."
"Yes, yes, there's a big table here, enough for you to eat."
"And there are new things today, I've never tried them before."
"What, a new trick?" Lu Ziwei looked expectant. She knew that Su Yujiao was not only a good doctor, but also an excellent cook.
"Hey, this is a cream cake. I made it. There were so many people, so I specially ordered it... a three-layer cake."
Su Yujiao pointed to the multi-layered flower-shaped cake on the table next to her.
She was so happy today that she went back specially and ordered a big cake to celebrate.
"Wow, it's so beautiful. Is this a pastry? Is it edible?"