Chapter 417 You Have to Be Punished Whether You Want To or Not; Your Life Is the Most Precious

King Jing's laughter wasn't loud, but the blatant mockery made people very uncomfortable.

The Longqing Emperor pursed his lips. "What is Prince Jing laughing at?"

King Jing stood up, his long eyebrows slightly raised, a half-smile on his face.

“In our Southern Yue, the newly appointed top scholar disguised himself as a man and secretly slept with a prince, deceiving the king.”

He was bound to be dragged to the execution ground and beheaded, but I never expected His Majesty the Emperor of Great Wei to be so merciful.

Before I came to the Great Wei, my elder brother specifically instructed me to learn the Great Wei's way of governing the country. I heard that the Great Wei has always had strict laws and effective governance.

Looking back now, tsk tsk, it might have been better not to learn it.

The provocation in those words was so obvious that it instantly caused Emperor Longqing's expression to change drastically.

Pei Yuan's expression also changed drastically.

When Shen Chu entered the hall just now, he saw the bright red satin cloak with gold trim that Shen Chu was wearing, and he had a vague guess in his heart.

The fox fur on the cloak was skinned from a white fox he had personally hunted last year.

He also personally carved and prepared the leather before presenting it to his father.

Later, the emperor ordered a cloak to be made, but he did not give it to anyone.

The Emperor sent Cai Chong to personally fetch Shen Chu, bringing not only the Imperial Guards but also this cloak.

He vaguely guessed that his father must already know A-Chu's identity, but he didn't know why he hadn't revealed it.

So he was gambling that his father wouldn't punish him and Achu severely today.

Most of the pain would be physical, so he wanted to take all the blame and not let Ah Chu be punished.

But now, King Jing's words have directly linked whether or not they should be punished to whether the Great Wei is well-governed.

Even if the Emperor didn't want to punish them, he had to.

Prince Heng was so happy he almost jumped for joy, and his gaze toward Prince Jing couldn't help but carry a hint of appreciation and gentleness.

This King Jing of Nanyue must have been sent by a deity as his helper.

Although he didn't know why Prince Jing was speaking up for him, it didn't matter, as long as the sixth prince and Shen Chu were dealt with today.

He was originally struggling to pretend to be a close brother, and it was not appropriate to directly ask his father to punish the sixth prince and Shen Chu.

Now look what's happened; King Jing's few words have instantly ignited the fire.

If Shen Chu and Lao Liu are not punished, it would mean that the laws of Wei are not strict and the country is poorly governed.

It's not even as good as Nan Yue, a small southwestern country.

Prince Heng secretly gave Lord Yang, Marquis Anding, and others a meaningful look.

The crowd immediately knelt down and begged.

"Your Majesty, our Great Wei has always been founded on law. If we do not deal with Shen Chu and Prince Rui today, it will be difficult to make the people of the world submit."

“Shen Chu and Prince Rui should be executed, Your Majesty.”

"We must not allow Shen Chu and Prince Rui to disrupt the order of the court. Your Majesty, please behead them!"

Li Chengxuan, Zhou Jun, He Zhengxiang, Wei Wuhou, and others pleaded for Shen Chu and Pei Yuan.

The hall was filled with the sounds of arguing.

Just then, King Jing let out another sneer.

"Your Majesty, shouldn't this matter be decided by your own divine will? Or are you, the subjects of Great Wei, allowed to arbitrarily influence Your Majesty's decision?"

The Longqing Emperor's face was ashen, and he slammed his fist heavily on the table.

"Shut up, all of you."

The hall fell silent immediately.

The Longqing Emperor stroked his beard and said coldly, "Shen Chu and Prince Rui..."

"puff."

Shen Chu finally broke through the acupoints with his internal force and spat out a mouthful of blood.

“A-Chu”.

Pei Yuan's expression changed, and he reached out to support her. "What's wrong?"

Shen Chu pushed him away and knelt down on the ground with a thud.

"Your Majesty, it's all Shen Chu's fault, it has nothing to do with Prince Rui. Shen Chu concealed her identity in order to seek justice for the Marquis of Ning'an's family."

Shen Chu is willing to accept any punishment, and begs Your Majesty to forgive Prince Rui in consideration of his unwavering loyalty.

As she spoke, she kowtowed heavily.

Within moments, his forehead became red and swollen.

She seemed oblivious to the pain, continuing to kowtow forcefully, crying out, "Chen Chu begs Your Majesty for mercy."

"Achu." Pei Yuan grabbed her, preventing her from kowtowing any further.

"Father, it's my fault, punish me..."

"Enough!" Emperor Longqing was furious. "I don't want to hear any of your explanations."

Guards! Shen Chu has deceived the emperor and committed an unforgivable crime. Throw him into the death row immediately.

The Sixth Prince, Pei Yuan, knowingly failed to report the crime, making him an accomplice. He is immediately stripped of his positions as Commander of the Flying Eagle Guard and Commissioner of the Five Cities Garrison, and dragged away to be flogged fifty times.

"Father."

"His Majesty."

The Longqing Emperor slammed the memorial to the ground, his eyes blazing with fury.

"What are you all standing there for? Guards, drag him away immediately!"

After saying that, he glared fiercely at Li Chengxuan, who was about to jump up.

"Any of you who dares to plead for them again will be considered accomplices, and I will throw you all into the death row."

"Close it..." Li Chengxuan blurted out without thinking.

Zhou Jun quickly covered his mouth, signaling him to stop talking.

Four imperial guards walked up to Pei Yuan and Shen Chu.

"Your Highness, Lord Shen, please."

Shen Chu's fingers trembled slightly, and she looked deeply at Pei Yuan with a pale face.

She was always calm and resourceful, but what happened today was too sudden, shattering all her composure.

When the emperor sent Cai Chong to fetch her, he specially had a bright red cloak delivered to him.

He added, "His Majesty has instructed that since the weather is extremely cold today, he has specially bestowed a cloak upon Lord Shen to keep him warm."

Looking at the cloak that completely concealed her figure, she vaguely guessed that the Longqing Emperor already knew her identity.

Since the emperor already knew and was still trying to cover for her, she thought that nothing would happen to her when she went to the palace.

But an accident still happened.

With just two sentences, King Jing caused His Majesty to imprison one of them in a death row cell and dismiss the other from her post and have her flogged.

At this moment, she was unsure of the emperor's thoughts.

"Don't be afraid, I won't let anything happen to you, nothing will happen to us."

Pei Yuan helped her tighten her cloak and whispered in her ear.

Shen Chu closed her eyes briefly, suppressing the stinging sensation in her eyes, and nodded gently.

"Sixth Brother, don't do anything foolish."

She was worried that Pei Yuan would do something foolish for her sake, just like how he had taken all the blame earlier.

Pei Yuan curled his lips into a smile, his eyes filled with her image.

"Be good, take care of yourself. Remember, nothing is more precious than your life."

After saying this, he gave the two guards a deep look.

The two guards shivered inexplicably, and even their voices softened.

"Young Master Shen, let's go."

Shen Chu took a deep breath and followed the Imperial Guards outside.

As she passed by King Jing, she suddenly stopped and turned to look at him.

"Your Highness Prince Jing, may I ask why you insist on putting Shen Chu to death?"

King Jing leaned back in his chair, his pale fingers toying with a wine cup.

He glanced at Shen Chu indifferently, and slowly uttered two words.

"It's fun."

Shen Chu choked, suppressing his anger, and continued to ask:

"Has Shen Chu met you before? Has he offended you in any way?"

"I have never met him, nor have I ever offended him."

Shen Chu's eyes flickered slightly as she raised them to carefully examine Prince Jing's appearance.

After a moment, he suddenly lowered his voice and said, "That was someone my master had met. Did my master offend you?"

The veins on the hand holding the wine cup suddenly bulged, and the coldness in his eyes crumbled instantly.