Chapter 279 Request Your Majesty to execute Shen Chu and imprison him in the death row.

Upon hearing the eunuch's report, Emperor Longqing frowned slightly and subconsciously glanced around at the people in the room.

Shen Chu hurriedly said loudly, "Your Majesty, please grant me pen and ink, and I will certainly confess honestly."

The Longqing Emperor nodded impatiently to the eunuch.

The eunuch handed Shen Chu a pen and some paper.

Unexpectedly, Shen Qingshuang spoke up at this moment.

"Your Majesty, I have something to say."

"What is it? Speak."

"After I learned that Shen Chu was a fake, I was very panicked and didn't know who to talk to about it."

As you know, my father now... now locks himself in his room all day, shouting that there are ghosts and crying his head in despair.

After much deliberation, I realized that I had no choice but to go to the palace and seek help from Her Majesty the Empress.

When the Empress heard about this, she felt it was a serious matter. Since Shen Chu had damaged the imperial examination system, she should go to the Minister of Rites for advice.

Therefore, I went out of the palace to find the Minister of Rites, who then led me into the palace to meet His Majesty.

The Empress must also be concerned about this matter, which is why she has come at this time.

Emperor Longqing stroked his beard, seemingly lost in thought.

"I see. In that case, please invite the Empress in."

Empress Feng, wearing an empress's crown and a blue empress's robe embroidered with gold phoenixes, knelt down as soon as she entered the room.

The Longqing Emperor was somewhat surprised.

"What is the Empress doing? Why is she wearing her full court robes?"

This kind of grand court dress for empresses was generally only worn during festivals or particularly important occasions.

Empress Feng performed a grand salute with perfect decorum, raised her head, and said:

"Your Majesty, I know you are investigating the case of Shen Chu impersonating someone else to participate in the imperial examination. After much thought, I feel I should speak to Your Majesty."

Your Majesty may not like to hear these words, but honest advice is always hard to swallow. As long as it benefits our Great Wei, what harm is there in being a villain?

Emperor Longqing stood up and went forward to help Empress Feng up.

"Speak your mind."

Empress Feng said, "I know that Shen Chu is intelligent and resourceful, and he is quite talented. In just a few months as an official, he has investigated and cleared up almost all the wrongful cases that have been accumulated over the years."

Your Majesty knows that you cherish talent. Although the court selects the virtuous and capable without being bound by convention, Shen Chu became an imperial censor by impersonating someone else and deceiving the emperor.

If Your Majesty were to condone this now, it would be to encourage the corrupt practices in the imperial examinations.

As soon as Empress Feng finished speaking, the Minister of Rites immediately echoed her words.

"Your Majesty is right. If we let Shen Chu off lightly today for impersonating someone else, people will impersonate others in the future, or even take exams for others or steal other people's scores."

For the sake of fairness in the imperial examinations, Your Majesty should immediately punish Shen Chu and publicize his misdeeds to the world as a warning to others.

The Longqing Emperor listened expressionlessly, without uttering a word.

Empress Feng secretly gave the Minister of Revenue and the Minister of Rites a wink.

The Minister of Revenue stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the events of the past few days are too strange. Previously, Lord Shen..."

Oh no, it was Shen Chu who, along with the Sixth Prince, visited Li Ming's house and then claimed upon their return that there was some treasure from the previous dynasty.

It was said that these treasures were secretly kept by the Crown Prince and Chief Minister Feng, and then used for military training or something similar.

Now the treasure has been found with the Sixth Prince. Shen Chu, who is so close to the Sixth Prince, surely knew nothing about his hidden treasure?

The Longqing Emperor looked at him with suspicion. "What are you trying to say?"

The Minister of Revenue said, "Now that Li Ming is dead, there is no way to verify his testimony. These words cannot be taken at face value simply because Shen Chu and the Sixth Prince said them."

But upon closer examination, there are still many doubts surrounding this matter.

Everyone says that Chief Minister Feng and the Crown Prince secretly took the treasures of the previous dynasty, but the Feng family and the Eastern Palace have searched everywhere and found no treasures.

They only found a few objects from the previous dynasty displayed in Chief Minister Feng's home.

Empress Feng looked aggrieved.

"My brother has no other hobbies but collecting old objects. All of these objects were auctioned off from the Green Jade Pavilion and are documented."

If Your Majesty does not believe me, you can send someone to the Jade Pavilion to inquire.

"The Green Jade Pavilion?" The Longqing Emperor raised an eyebrow. "Is that the place that frequently holds treasure appraisal and auction events?"

Empress Feng nodded.

"The owner behind the Green Jade Pavilion is extremely secretive; no one has ever seen his true face."

The Minister of Revenue said, "With so many treasures from the previous dynasty in his possession, it would be a piece of cake for the Sixth Prince to siphon off rare and precious items."

Empress Feng exclaimed in surprise, "Could it be that the owner behind the Green Jade Pavilion is actually the Sixth Prince?"

Shen Qingshuang suddenly pointed at Shen Chu and said, "Your Majesty, this fake Shen Chu and the Sixth Prince have both been to the Green Jade Pavilion, and I heard that they were treated very well there."

The group chanted in unison, while Emperor Longqing's face grew extremely gloomy.

Empress Feng wept bitterly.

“Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has been raised by our side since he was a child. He is a filial and obedient child. How could he dare to do such things as taking treasures and raising private soldiers behind your back?”

This is clearly a conspiracy to frame the Crown Prince and the Feng family. They want you to despise the Crown Prince and depose him.

Your Majesty, you mustn't be deceived by their petty tricks.

Emperor Longqing suddenly remembered that he had agreed to Pei Yuan's request to investigate the Feng family because the sixth prince had hinted to him that the crown prince harbored rebellious intentions.

Only then did he allow Shen Chu to secretly monitor the Crown Prince under the pretext of investigating the case of the Marquis of Ning'an's residence.

Could it be that all of this was a conspiracy between Lao Liu and Shen Chu from the very beginning?

The Longqing Emperor's gaze toward Shen Chu was extremely gloomy.

"Chen Chu, I ask you, does the Green Jade Pavilion belong to the sixth prince?"

Shen Chu shook his head, "I don't know, and I've never met the owner of Green Jade Pavilion."

Emperor Longqing slammed his fist on the table and coldly shouted, "Speak! Did you and the Sixth Prince conspire to frame the Crown Prince and the Feng family?"

Shen Chu clenched her hands, but still couldn't suppress the grief and indignation in her heart.

"I want to investigate the Feng family only because of the case of the Marquis of Ning'an's mansion. The discovery of the treasure happened after we fell into the Li family's secret passage."

Even if I possessed extraordinary abilities, it would be impossible for me to devise such a meticulously planned scheme to frame the Feng family in just a few days.

"I admit to impersonating Shen Chu, but as for the claim that I conspired with the Sixth Prince to frame the Feng family, I absolutely refuse to admit to doing something I didn't do."

Empress Feng snorted coldly.

"Even now, he's still being stubborn. Your Majesty, regardless of whether he colluded with the Sixth Prince, the fact that he impersonated someone else to participate in the imperial examination is enough to warrant his execution."

Your Majesty, you must not be soft-hearted.

Several ministers knelt down at the same time to make their request.

"Your Majesty, please issue an order to execute Shen Chu!"

“Shen Chu deserves to be executed for his crimes.”

"Shen Chu must die to appease public anger!"

The adults' voices grew louder and louder.

Shen Chu clenched his fists; his palms were sticky and sweaty.

His Majesty is suspicious, and he has probably taken Empress Feng's seemingly plausible but ultimately misleading instigation to heart.

She gritted her teeth, stepped forward, and handed what she had just written onto the dragon's desk.

"Your Majesty, I have written down everything I wanted to say and write down. Please take a look."

The Longqing Emperor didn't even look at it.

He slammed his hand on the table and said coldly, "Guards! Shen Chu has deceived the emperor and committed heinous crimes. Throw him into the death row immediately!"