Upon hearing Yun Qi's words, the executioner still brought his blade down towards the neck of the Prince of Yanping.

Just as the blade was about to reach the neck of the Prince of Yanping, a silver ingot shot towards the executioner's knife with great force, knocking the executioner and his knife to the ground.

Yun Qi rode over at breakneck speed, and only managed to avoid hitting anyone by reining in the horse.

Shen Wan couldn't believe it.

She thought she could never get her get-out-of-jail-free card back.

Duke Mao, sitting on the execution platform, stared at the gleaming pardon in Yun Qi's hand and jumped up in shock, exclaiming, "This pardon is fake?!"

It seems that the Duke of Maoguo didn't send someone to steal the pardon from the Yun family; at least he knew about it.

Xie Jingyan looked at Duke Maoguo and said, "Everyone in the capital knows that the Emperor bestowed a death-exemption token upon the Yun family, yet Duke Maoguo claims that the Yun family's death-exemption token is fake. I'm curious why Duke Maoguo said that."

Duke Mao wished he could bite his own tongue off. He knew he had said the wrong thing as soon as he blurted it out. The Yun family's pardon was stolen without any fanfare. They only sent people to sneak into Princess Huyang's residence to try to retrieve it. The pardon was placed in a place that no one would expect, so it was impossible for Prince Ling and the Yun family to get it. Now that a pardon has appeared, it must be fake.

But he knew it was fake. Others didn't know; they only knew that the Yun family had an imperial pardon bestowed by the emperor, and that if they took it out, it must be real.

Duke Mao quickly tried to salvage the situation, saying, "We were too far away to recognize the eldest young master of the Yun family. But since the Yun family wanted to use the pardon to save the heir of Prince Yanping, why didn't they bring it out earlier instead of waiting until now?"

Young Master Yun stepped onto the execution platform and said, "As long as the pardon can save my life, that's enough. Do I need to explain my family's affairs to Duke Mao so clearly?"

Duke Maoguo's face was stiff, his eyes were cold, and he didn't know what to do as he looked at Young Master Yun, who was holding up the pardon.

At that time, the Prince of Yanping and his wife had already been placed on the execution platform. They helped the Prince of Yanping, who was kneeling on the ground, up and untied the ropes binding his hands.

Mao Guogong said, "Bring up the pardon."

The Ministry of Justice yamen runners hurried over. Yun Qi glanced at Xie Jingyan before handing the pardon to the runners.

The constable presented the pardon to Duke Maoguo. Duke Maoguo took it, glanced at it, and said, "I know the Yun family has a pardon, but that doesn't mean it's real."

Xie Jingyan walked over and looked at Prince Yanping, saying, "Take the young master back to Prince Yanping's residence."

Mao Guogong said, "Prince Ling, how dare you! Even if the imperial pardon can spare the heir of Prince Yanping, the Emperor still needs to approve it before he can return to Prince Yanping's residence."

Xie Jingyan said, "I'm afraid that if the Prince of Yanping is taken back to the Ministry of Justice prison, someone will poison him."

As he spoke, he looked at Vice Minister Li of the Ministry of Justice, "Does the Crown Prince of Yanping absolutely have to return to the Ministry of Justice prison?"

Logically, the Prince of Yanping should be taken back to the Ministry of Justice's death row first, and only after the Emperor reclaims the pardon can the Prince of Yanping be released. However, Prince Ling's concerns were not unfounded. The Empress Dowager and Princess Huyang were determined to kill the Prince of Yanping. He had heard rumors that the Yun family's pardon had been stolen. Now that the pardon had been recovered, it could save the Prince of Yanping's life, but it was hard to guarantee that the Empress Dowager wouldn't use other methods to avenge her grandson.

The Empress Dowager killed the heir of the Prince of Yanping, but no one could do anything about it. At most, they could just return the pardon to the Yun family intact.

The Ministry of Justice is a pushover; Prince Ling and Prince Yanping's mansion can't do anything to the Empress Dowager, but the Ministry of Justice can't escape the charge of negligence in guarding the palace. We absolutely cannot cause trouble for ourselves and the Ministry of Justice.

Li Shilang hurriedly said, "In principle, it is not possible, but with Ling Wang's guarantee, as long as the Prince of Yanping does not leave the Prince of Yanping's residence, we can go back to the residence to keep an eye on him."

The way the Duke of Mao looked at Minister Li was as if he wanted to devour him alive.

Li Shilang was trembling with fear. Today he had really offended the Duke of Maoguo to the death. He was afraid that the Empress Dowager would be angry with him if she found out, and his career would probably be over.

In the end, Duke Maoguo was just an executioner. The heir of the Prince of Yanping was a criminal in the Ministry of Justice. Whether or not he could return to the Prince of Yanping's residence was up to the Ministry of Justice to decide. Duke Maoguo's words were useless.

The Duke of Maoguo angrily stood up and took the imperial pardon away with him.

Yun Qi looked at Xie Jingyan, who nodded to him and said, "I'll take care of the rest. You escort Prince Yanping and the others back to their residence."

Yun Qi couldn't help with the rest. He and Tang Ze helped the Prince of Yanping into the carriage and rode them back to the Marquis of Pingyang's residence.

Shen Wan walked to Xie Jingyan's side and asked, "Where did my cousin find that get-out-of-jail-free card?"

Xie Jingyan said, "The 'immunity from death' token is fake."

Shen Wan, “…!!!”

She looked at Xie Jingyan in disbelief and said in a low voice, "Forging a get-out-of-jail-free card is a capital offense."

The Yun family would never dare to do such a thing; this was Xie Jingyan's idea.

But if the Emperor investigates, not only will Xie Jingyan die, but the entire Yun family will not escape punishment.

Xie Jingyan knew perfectly well that forging a pardon was a capital offense, but since the real one couldn't be found, this was the only way to save the Prince of Yanping.

If it weren't for Old Master Yun's reluctance to part with his pardon and his decision to carve an identical wooden pardon as a keepsake, they wouldn't even have had the chance to forge it.

Compared to Shen Wan's worries, Xie Jingyan was much more composed. His decision to take such a risk must have been based on a degree of certainty.

Xie Jingyan said, "If the Empress Dowager doesn't dare to produce a real pardon, then this fake one must be real."

Shen Wan, "..."

Is it... is it still possible to do this?

It seems to actually work.

I wonder how furious the Empress Dowager will be when she finds out that she painstakingly stole the Yun family's pardon and couldn't produce it in the end, so she had to melt it down into gold ingots.

In order to help their cousin and the Crown Prince of Yanping, they have offended the Empress Dowager to the point of no return.

However, offending him is offending him anyway; it was just happening earlier than expected. Xie Jingyan's ambition to become the crown prince inevitably leads him to oppose the eldest prince and the empress dowager who supports him.

Shen Wan punched Xie Jingyan's chest with her small fist, "Why didn't you tell me sooner? You made me worry for days for nothing."

Xie Jingyan grasped Shen Wan's soft hand, "It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that I'm afraid the get-out-of-jail-free card won't be ready in time."

This get-out-of-jail-free card is brand new.

Yun Qi didn't come to see off the Prince of Yanping; instead, he stayed at the goldsmith's shop, waiting for the death-exemption token to save his life.

Fortunately, we arrived in time.

Xie Jingyan looked at Shen Wan and said, "I'll escort you back to the Prince's residence."

Shen Wan shook her head, "I want to go to the palace with you."

The Empress Dowager already disliked Xie Jingyan, and now that Xie Jingyan was preventing her from executing the Prince of Yanping, she was even more furious with him. Whether the pardon was real or fake was still up for debate, and if she was allowed to return to her residence first, she would probably be so anxious that she would be restless.

Xie Jingyan knew Shen Wan's personality; she insisted on going to the palace with him, so Xie Jingyan agreed.