"I don't know the efficacy of the medicine either. My friend didn't tell me, so I didn't feel comfortable asking. I suppose this is a trade secret of the Nanzhao Kingdom?"

Trade secrets? Emperor Mingxi was almost amused by this self-righteous fool!

Seeing that he couldn't get anything out of this guy, he knew that if he kept pressing the issue, it would arouse the suspicion of the other two.

So I stopped talking.

The conversation then turned to other matters: "Xu Wei, Xu Mao, you seized farmland, your servants beat people to death, and forced women into prostitution. What are your crimes?"

When Xu Wei and his son Xu Mao saw that Emperor Mingxi was about to get serious and fight to the death, they quickly knelt down and begged for forgiveness.

"Your Majesty, please understand! Those...those were all done by ignorant servants! They have nothing to do with your subject or my son!"

Xu Mao looked at Emperor Mingxi with a face full of admiration, "Uncle, it was all done by lowly servants. My father and I really didn't know the inside story."

He attempted to rekindle the meager blood ties and non-existent maternal affection between himself and Emperor Mingxi.

The father and son were both shirking responsibility in the same way; they truly are father and son!

Emperor Mingxi waved his hand impatiently to interrupt their sophistry. He was exhausted from judging cases all morning and had not yet gotten the answer he wanted. He no longer wanted to argue with these irrelevant people.

“The facts have been verified, and you two no longer need to make excuses. Although it was the evil servant who did it, he was acting on your orders.”

As he finished speaking, he also put down his pen, writing down his last word.

Emperor Mingxi instructed Eunuch Qian to read aloud the charges against the individuals, and Eunuch Qian quickly took the task and read them aloud.

"Xu Wei and his son Xu Mao have seized farmland, committed murder, and allowed their servants to do evil. They are hereby stripped of their positions as Imperial Son-in-Law and Commander-in-Chief, and demoted to commoners."

Apart from the princess's private property, all of the Xu family's original farmland was confiscated and turned over to the national treasury, and half of their other assets were also confiscated.

Upon hearing that both father and son had become commoners and lost their family fortune, Xu Wei nearly fainted.

"Xu Wei failed to properly educate his daughter, and Xu Mao instigated and helped his sister beat and injured five servants, each of whom was given fifty lashes."

Xu Jiao, arrogant and domineering, has caused the deaths and injuries of many. Her title of county princess has been revoked, and she has been demoted to a commoner.

Princess Taikang was punished for failing to properly educate her daughter. She was confined to her quarters for six months, fined two years' salary, and the confiscated salary was used to compensate the family and the victims of her death or injury.

All illegally acquired land belonging to the Princess's residence will be confiscated and returned to the original landowners by the Ministry of Revenue.

All the unruly servants of the Princess's residence involved in the case will be imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice's jail to await execution.

After Eunuch Qian finished reading the imperial decree, Emperor Mingxi said to his subordinate Shen Kang, "Kang'er, you will cooperate with Cai Xian's men from the Ministry of Justice to enter the princess's residence and arrest people. If there is any resistance, kill them on the spot!"

He then said to Eunuch Qian, "Qian Gui, go and oversee the execution. Make sure they hit me hard enough. Anyone who dares to go easy on me will be punished along with them."

[Master, if this is a serious beating, these two won't be able to get out of bed for at least a year or two! A more ruthless approach would be to cripple them completely.]

"This is nothing. They'll suffer even more when they get to the underworld!"

The Xu family father and son were dragged away like dead dogs. Princess Taikang panicked instantly and quickly knelt down to beg for mercy.

Emperor Mingxi did not give her a chance to explain further, and said, "Taikang, if Xu Jiao makes another mistake, you will no longer be able to retain your title of princess."

As for what the Xu family father and son did, don't pretend you know nothing about it. I am not punishing you today because of your status as a royal princess and for the sake of my royal family.

Therefore, Tai Kang, do not continue to exploit our sibling bond, and do not force me to take drastic measures against you!

His expression grew increasingly cold, and by the end he no longer looked at her.

He just waved to her, like shooing away a fly, telling her to get lost. Just looking at her gave him a headache.

Watching Princess Taikang's departing figure, Emperor Mingxi seemed to suddenly remember something. He beckoned to Shen Kang and said, "Take some men and go to all of the Xu family's estates in the capital. Make sure to confiscate all the imperial rice. I don't trust those people from Nanzhao. I have a feeling that this stuff is not simple!"

[For once, the emperor has shown some wisdom!]

Emperor Mingxi: Thank you? Would you dare say a few more words?

After all the annoying people had left, Emperor Mingxi immediately changed his expression, looking at Yue Fuguang with a kind face and saying, "Fuguang, are you satisfied with how you handled things just now?"

Fearing he might not understand the deeper meaning, he explained, "Although Xie Zhiyao's private life is somewhat improper, so far no major mistakes have been found in her."

Therefore, I thought of driving them out of Dayan, so that I wouldn't have to see them and be bothered by them.

This girl is no pushover; keeping her in Dayan would be a disaster, but sending her out might turn her into a hidden weapon. It all depends on her methods.

【Master, the emperor's thoughts are exactly the same as yours! He said that Xie Zhiyao did not commit any major mistakes, but that it will be discovered later that she participated in the Prince of Qi's rebellion.】

When you get slapped in the face, does your face hurt?

Emperor Mingxi: My face is starting to hurt now!

"Is Your Majesty not afraid that she will turn against Dayan after she becomes powerful and influential in the Western Qiang?"

"Little Pearl, I personally oppose the practice of marriage alliances. A country that uses a woman's marriage as a substitute for marriage is showing its incompetence."

Sending a noblewoman to marry a foreign ruler only shows that the men of this country are incompetent.

They used a weak woman as a stepping stone to gain a false, fleeting peace. A truly powerful empire should be one where others send their sons and daughters, not the other way around. Don't you think so?

However, I fully agree with the idea of ​​marrying Xie Zhiyao to a foreign ruler.

Master, you're so hypocritical!

"Double standards? It certainly seems quite double standards. But what can I do? She messed with me. I like the phrase 'retaliatory'."

Emperor Mingxi, accused of incompetence, the Crown Prince, and Shen Kang, who had not yet left: !!

The Empress Dowager and the Empress agreed with Yue Fuguang's words. Although the Empress had no daughter, as a woman, she could feel some emotion.

Besides Emperor Mingxi, the Empress Dowager also had a daughter, Shen Kang's mother, who is now the only Grand Princess of the Dayan Dynasty.

During the late emperor's reign, he favored Consort Hui and her son, Prince Rong, and even considered changing the heir apparent. This is why the Empress Dowager and the emperor valued the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate heirs so highly.

So the Empress Dowager and the Emperor never really understood what happened when Yue Fuguang said that Emperor Mingxi wanted to make the Ninth Prince the Crown Prince.

If the crown prince were still alive at the time, it would have been almost impossible for the ninth prince to have the opportunity to ascend to the throne.

It can be said that maintaining the position of the legitimate heir to the throne is to maintain the legitimacy of Emperor Mingxi. Even if he were confused, he would not do something that would create a landmine for himself.

If it weren't for the fact that they were the legitimate heirs of the Empress, the mother and son would have been deposed long ago by the biased late emperor.

It's estimated that the graves overgrown with weeds now belong to the mother and her two children, not Consort Hui and her children.

Even now, more than a decade after Emperor Mingxi ascended the throne, rumors still circulate among the people that the late emperor intended to depose the crown prince and install Prince Rong as the new crown prince before his death.

Therefore, the only way to make the ninth prince the crown prince is if Zhiyan is no longer alive!

Because she was not favored, Grand Princess Xie Yun, despite being the legitimate daughter of the Empress, was almost sent by the late Emperor to marry into the Nanzhao Kingdom due to the instigation of Consort Hui and her son.