Chapter 201

"Grand Marshal Ding personally tried the case. The late emperor ordered the execution of the Xie clan's rebels. How could you, Lin Huaiting, have any say in this?" Yi Chi said sternly to Emperor Yongyuan, "Your Majesty, the remnants of the Xie clan have been captured. But someone deceived the emperor and made excuses for Xie Chen. They should be punished as well."

"Your Majesty, Lin Huaiting has a close relationship with the remnants of the Xie family and has helped him escape accountability many times. How do we know that he is not an accomplice?" Ding Wenqi also said. If Lin Shuge and Xie Chen were not arrested together this time, it would be a big trouble if one of them was allowed to recover.

Especially this Lin Shuge, who can talk a dead person back to life with his clever words, and he has made contributions in the northwest. Judging from what Your Majesty has been saying recently, it is obvious that he wants to make use of him. If we don't kill him today, does he have to wait for him to counterattack?

"Your Majesty, judging from this man's reaction today, he obviously knows Xie Chen's background and has repeatedly covered up for him. This criminal is deceiving the king."

"Yes, Your Majesty. Although Xie and Lin have made contributions in the northwest, the laws of the country are strict. If we do not punish them, it will be difficult to convince the people."

Lin Shuge raised a sneer at the corner of his mouth, "Your Majesty will decide my guilt. Judging from what you said just now, you know whether you want to frame me or eliminate dissidents. Let's not talk about what the Xie family's crime was back then. With your actions, are you trying to force Your Majesty to punish loyal ministers again? Just like you forced the late emperor back then."

"Lin Huaiting, are you crazy?" Ding Wenqi didn't expect him to be so bold, and asked unconsciously.

"Your Majesty, I request Your Majesty to reiterate the case of the Xie family. I have..." Lin Shuge kowtowed to Emperor Yongyuan.

"Lord Lin, please don't act on impulse. I know you don't know the truth. I will ask the governor of Dingyuan County to collect evidence for what Xie Chen said just now. I will also have Xie Chen interrogated thoroughly. As for the Xie family..."

The eunuch suddenly hurried to the side of Emperor Yongyuan and whispered something. Emperor Yongyuan sighed, "Is it really so? Why would they do that?"

Emperor Yongyuan waved his hand and the eunuchs withdrew. The palace door made a heavy sound and a strong wind blew up the flying snow. Everyone looked outside the door and saw several women in white mourning kneeling outside the palace in the snow. The leader was Xie Ning.

A layer of snow had already fallen on the bodies of several people. Xie Ning held something high up and said loudly, "The daughter of the Xie family requests to see His Majesty and ask His Majesty to review the case of Xie's treason. My father Xie Suwen had made outstanding military achievements throughout his life and was loyal to the emperor and patriotic. My brother Xie Yan worked hard and fulfilled his duties, and he was worthy of the country and the people of Dayan. The Xie family is full of loyal and brave people, but because of the false accusations of the traitors, the Xie family was wronged and almost all the children in the family died. If we can't redress the injustice for my father, how can we live in this world with dignity?"

"Your Majesty, please reiterate the case of Xie's treason." The other Xie women kowtowed.

The snow was falling in a thick layer, and the sky and the earth were all white. The voice of Mrs. Xie was so sad that it almost merged with the sky and the earth.

The soldiers outside the hall reached out and brushed off the snow on their shoulders. The voice of Emperor Yongyuan came from inside the hall, "Let them in."

Xie Ning walked into the hall without looking directly at him, bowed to Emperor Yongyuan and said, "Your Majesty, I have something to present to you today."

Emperor Yongyuan glanced at the eunuch, who understood and presented the item in Xie Ning's hand.

"This is the last letter written in blood by my father before his death. My father was loyal and courageous, and his heart is known to all the world, but he was framed by the villain. The name of treason has brought trouble to the descendants of our Xie family. I hope Your Majesty will have pity on my father's merits during his lifetime and re-examine this case." Xie Ning said again.

Emperor Yongyuan took the last letter, and saw that every word in his heart was so powerful that it could be seen through the paper. Every sentence was a confession, and every word was tearful and bloody, all of which emphasized the word "innocent". Emperor Yongyuan thought of the head of the Xie family whom he had met before, and the light letter in his hand seemed to weigh more than a thousand gold.

"Xie Ning, the late emperor took pity on you and you have already married, and he did not pursue your faults. Not only do you not repent and feel grateful for the late emperor's kindness every day, but you are so rebellious that you even want to reverse the verdict of that traitor. I advise you to be careful with your words and actions and do not let down the late emperor's kindness." Yi Chi said loudly.

Xie Ning turned a deaf ear to him and said to Emperor Yongyuan: "Your Majesty, my father's loyalty is all in this book. Please review this case."

"Your Majesty, as far as I know, the key evidence for convicting the Xie family of treason is the letter from the head of the Xie family that Wang Heng produced. However, there are many doubts in this letter. It is not credible that Wang Heng and others identified it alone. Moreover, if someone has been with Mr. Xie for a long time, the handwriting of the letter can be imitated. Your Majesty, please interrogate Wang Heng carefully and find out the truth of that year." Lin Shuge said hurriedly.

"Your Majesty, this case has already been concluded. How can we have a retrial just because of a sudden letter and the crying of Ms. Xie? If everyone does this, then every case will have to be retried, right?" Ding Wenbo said.

Emperor Yongyuan looked at Ding Yanhe with a smile and said, "What do you think, Grand Marshal?"

"Your Majesty, this case was decided by the late emperor himself, and it cannot be easily overturned. The remnants of the Xie family and Lin Shuge, Your Majesty will punish them severely according to the law."

Emperor Yongyuan said, "But the blood letter from the Xie family cannot be fake. What Minister Lin said makes sense. When the late emperor was seriously ill, the case was presided over by the Grand Marshal. It is indeed unfair to convict the Xie family just because of a letter. Why not..."

"Your Majesty, there are both witnesses and evidence in the case of Xie family's treason. How can there be insufficient evidence? Please don't believe the words of the treacherous people, slander the loyal ministers, and disrupt our country." Ding Yanhe said slowly in an old voice.

Lin Shuge thought that Ding Yanhe usually didn't talk much in the court, but he made such a fuss today. He must have noticed Emperor Yongyuan's intention. If he wanted to vindicate the Xie family, he would naturally know what the verdict would be on the Ding family who investigated the Xie family back then, and he would not let Emperor Yongyuan accomplish this.

"Your Majesty, what the Grand Marshal said is wrong. Re-examining the case of treason of the Xie family will not only restore peace to the world, but also clear the name of loyal ministers and good generals. How can it disrupt the country? The Grand Marshal is trying to stop it, but what's the hidden story behind it?" Lin Shuge responded.

Suddenly, a soldier outside the hall came in to report.

"Your Majesty, the people of Yandu heard that Lord Wei...Xie was imprisoned, and they gathered at the gate of the palace, asking Your Majesty not to listen to the words of villains and punish the meritorious officials."

"Your Majesty, the students of the Imperial College and the students of Wei County have jointly written a petition to Your Majesty, requesting that you review the case of Xie's treason and clear Captain Xie's name."

"Your Majesty, someone from the northwest came and said that he brought a ten-thousand-word letter from the people of the northwest, guaranteeing Captain Xie, and hoping that Your Majesty would review the case of Xie's treason in consideration of Captain Xie's merit in killing the Xiongnu Chanyu."

"Your Majesty, and the Lu family..."

Soon a crowd of people gathered in the hall. Lin Shuge knelt down and said, "Your Majesty, please review the case of Xie's treason."

The hall was full of people kneeling, and everyone said in unison: "Your Majesty, please review the case of Xie's treason."

The voice soared into the sky. The Wei father and son were timid and looked at the Ding family in panic. Yi Chi had an ugly look on his face, and the rest of the Ding party all frowned as they watched the scene in front of them.

Zou was so frightened that she collapsed to the ground, not daring to make a sound for a long time.

"You...you are trying to rebel but you actually misled the people and forced His Majesty." Ding Wenqi looked at Lin Shuge in shock, hating him secretly in her heart. It must be him. It must be him who did this.

Emperor Yongyuan said: "This is the will of the people, and I cannot fail to follow their wishes."

Seeing that Emperor Yongyuan was following the trend, Ding Yanhe stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, how can the court be swayed by public opinion? Lin and Xie have been operating in the northwest for a long time. Maybe they instigated the people to do this. Such behavior shows that they take the ministers of the court and Your Majesty seriously."

"Then I was also instigated by these two, right?"

Lin Shuge followed the voice and said in surprise, "Your Highness Prince Liang, Lord Yin."

Prince Liang supported Yin Hongan into the hall, and the two of them saluted to Emperor Yongyuan.

"This old minister greets your majesty."

"Your humble servant pays respect to my brother, the Emperor."

Emperor Yongyuan stood up and asked, "Why are you here, sir?"

"Your Majesty, I heard that you were going to punish that kid named Wei, so I came here specially to plead for him. The war in the northwest is not over yet, and I hope that Your Majesty will consider that he can still fight, and if necessary, let him atone for his crime by using his merits." Yin Hongan said.

Lin Shuge felt amused. This old man actually sounded a bit dishonest.

"Lord Yin, the kid you are talking about is the remnant of the Xie family." Ding Wenqi said angrily. He couldn't stand this old man taking advantage of his age. If he hadn't taken the initiative to give way and run away to farm, he would not have been able to survive until today. Otherwise, he would have gone to hell with that Xie guy.

"No wonder when I entered the palace, I heard people outside the city shouting for Your Majesty to redress the Xie family. So it turned out that they were descendants of the Xie family. Your Majesty, the case of the Xie family back then was indeed full of doubts. Xie Suwen was a very conservative person, so how could he have the intention of treason? I also ask Your Majesty to conduct a thorough investigation and clear the Xie family's name."

Yin Hongan was about to kneel down, but Emperor Yongyuan stepped forward and helped him up, saying, "Since you agree, I will let Minister Yi and Minister Ruan preside over the case, and Minister Lin will assist you."

Lin Shuge said happily: "Thank you, Your Majesty. I will obey your order."

Xie Ning and the others cried with joy, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Ding Yanhe's face turned pale, "Your Majesty, will this move chill the hearts of loyal ministers?"

"What are you saying, Minister Ding? This is the voice of the ministers in the court and the people of the world. As the lord of all people and the ruler of a country, I naturally have to follow the will of the people. Minister Ding, you don't have to say anything. I know that the case of the Xie family was handled by you. If the case is to be overturned, you will definitely be involved, but I believe that you must have handled it impartially and there would be no mistakes. Am I right, Minister Ding?" Emperor Yongyuan said gently.

Ding Yanhe gritted his teeth and said, "Your Majesty is right."

The wind and snow gradually stopped and it was already dark. As soon as Lin Shuge walked out of the hall, he heard Xie Ning's voice.

"Stay in the library."

Lin Shuge looked at her and the Xie family girl behind him and said softly, "Thank you all for coming today."

Xie Ning smiled and said, "It's obviously us who should thank you. Fortunately, you reacted quickly and asked A Xuan to come find me. Otherwise, we would not have known about this outside the palace and would not have had time to enter the palace."

The soldiers came with ill intentions, and Lin Shuge had no time to get others to cooperate, so he could only hint to Lin Xuan, asking her and Lin Qingyuan to go to Liu's house to invite Xie Ning over. Fortunately, Lin Xuan was smart and understood the meaning of Lin Shuge's words.

Unexpectedly, Zhongxuan was forced to admit his identity. However, there was an unexpected surprise. As long as the case for the Xie family could be overturned, Zhongxuan's situation would be easily resolved.

As they were talking, they were walking out of the palace and suddenly saw two sneaky figures.

Xie Ning sneered. She had already heard about the Wei family's behavior. "Master Wei really opened my eyes."