Emperor Donglin sneered at Concubine Duan, "Cai Hanqi, tell everyone why I demoted you to a concubine! I don't want anyone to misunderstand!"
Cai Hanqi was already feeling disappointed because of Ji Zhonghai's shirking of responsibility yesterday, and just wanted everyone to die together.
Now that Emperor Donglin was asking him questions, Cai Hanqi bowed his head, straightened his body, and told him about his relationship with Ji Zhonghai, as well as Xiao Wenhang's identity.
"Shit! It's actually true!"
"So the emperor already has evidence?"
"The reason why I demoted my concubine yesterday was to alert the enemy and catch him in the act!"
"Hiss! So this is what the Emperor is planning!"
"Damn it, if I had known this would happen, I wouldn't have stood up!"
After Cai Hanqi told the truth in person, all the ministers exclaimed again.
As a father, Cai Li sat on the ground in despair.
...
...
He never imagined that his daughter would be so bold as to have an affair in the palace and cuckold the emperor.
Cai Hanqi looked at Cai Li mockingly, "Dad, if you hadn't wanted to get close to someone rich and powerful, I wouldn't have done such a thing! If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being greedy!"
Although she hated herself for misjudging the person, she also hated her father Cai Li.
If she had married Ji Zhonghai back then, she might not have seen Ji Zhonghai's true face, and she would not have cuckolded Emperor Donglin and committed a capital crime.
"you!"
Cai Li pointed at Cai Hanqi angrily, his whole body shaking with anger. The look in his eyes showed that he wanted to tear her to pieces, as if the person in front of him was not his daughter, but his enemy.
"Our entire Cai family has been destroyed by you!"
Cai Hanqi, however, looked indifferent, "I no longer consider myself a member of the Cai family. What does your life or death have to do with me?"
Cai Li was so angry that he covered his chest with both hands, his eyes rolled up wildly, and he gasped for breath. It was obvious that he was very angry with his daughter.
Emperor Donglin sneered, "Censor Zhuo, do you have anything to say?"
Censor Zhuo's old face turned red, and he opened his mouth, but no sound came out.
What did he say? Did he say that Emperor Donglin did something wrong?
He has been cuckolded, so he is allowed to do whatever he wants. What's more, he is the king of a country, and his position concerns the reputation of the country.
"You, Censor Zhuo, dare to point at my nose and scold me without knowing the whole situation!"
Zhuo Yushi knew that he had made a mistake, and he immediately knelt on the ground to apologize, "This old official is guilty!"
"Since you admit your guilt, considering you are a veteran of two dynasties, you will be punished with ten strokes of the cane and one year of service!"
Emperor Donglin raised the corner of his mouth and smiled complacently in his heart. Well, since he was the first to speak out, I believe that others will not dare to talk about the matter of Concubine Liang and her daughter anymore.
When Censor Zhuo heard that he was going to be caned, his body was shaking, but he still knelt on the ground, "Thank you, Lord!"
All the ministers looked at Zhuo Yushi, the first one to stand up, with sympathy, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately it was not them who stood up.
"I wonder if you have anything else to say?"
The ministers who were suddenly named, "..."
"I acknowledge my guilt!"
Emperor Donglin snorted coldly, "Since you admit your guilt, all court officials will be punished to serve for one year!"
"Long live the emperor!"
The ministers felt their hearts bleeding after being punished with one year's service, but they still knelt on the ground and kowtowed to express their gratitude.
At this moment, they all regretted it very much. Why did they stand up? If others wanted to stand up, they could do so. Wouldn't it be better for them to just stand aside and watch?
Some ministers were already thinking in their hearts that they would just let the matter of Concubine Liang go and they would not get involved. It was not easy to mess with the cuckolded emperor, lest they become innocent victims!
After punishing these ministers, Emperor Donglin began to deal with the culprit.
"Princess Duan was given a white silk ribbon, the fourth prince Xiao Wenhang was demoted to a commoner, Ji Zhonghai was executed by slow slicing, and the entire Cai and Ji families were executed!"
Upon hearing that he was about to be executed by slow slicing, Ji Zhonghai felt his mind go blank and his head hit the ground. He had a look of despair on his face and just wanted to die.
Cai Li also felt that all the strength in his body had been drained away. His eyes rolled back and he fainted.
The ministers didn't even look at the two men, and no one cared about them. In their hearts, they were already dead.
Of all the people, only the Fourth Prince Xiao Wenhang was alive. It was unknown whether it was because Emperor Donglin was reluctant to let him go or for some other reason.
However, Xiao Wenhang was unwilling to accept that he would become an ordinary citizen. He lay on the ground frantically, kowtowed and begged for mercy.
"No, no, no, father, you can't do this. I am your son, I am your son! I don't want to become a commoner! I don't want to!"
If he became a commoner with no status and no power, those who had bullied him in the past would never let him go, and he would be living a life worse than death.
Emperor Donglin looked down at Xiao Wenhang, who was crying on the ground, with a mocking look, "So you want to die with your parents? Then I will grant your request!"
"No, Father, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!" Xiao Wenhang shook his head in fear again, constantly begging Emperor Donglin, "Father, don't kill me, I'm still young, I don't want to die yet!"
Seeing Xiao Wenhang being so afraid of death, Emperor Donglin sneered and asked with a malicious smile, "Do you know why I didn't kill you?"
Xiao Wenhang paused in his kowtow and looked up at Emperor Donglin in confusion, "Why... why? Doesn't the emperor still care about our father-son relationship?"
In fact, it was not just Xiao Wenhang who thought so, all the ministers in the hall thought so too.
Emperor Donglin sneered and said in a bad tone, "Father-son love? I don't have such a big heart! You rely on your status as a prince to bully others. Now, I will let you have a taste of how miserable it will be after losing this status!"
Emperor Donglin just wanted Xiao Wenhang to experience what it felt like to be bullied.
A bastard dared to bully his little lucky star Yiyi, and this is what happened to him!
Similarly, Xiao Wenhang and all the ministers in the hall felt a chill running from the soles of their feet to the top of their heads, and they couldn't help but shiver.
They didn't expect that Emperor Donglin didn't kill Xiao Wenhang for this reason.
Those ministers couldn't help but think of Emperor Donglin's decisiveness in killing when he first ascended the throne. That cold-blooded and ruthless image instantly made these ministers feel cold in their hearts, and they were all silent.
It seems that Emperor Donglin has not killed many people in recent years, making them forget how terrible his methods were in the past.
Emperor Donglin's arrangement is definitely more cruel than killing Xiao Wenhang.
If Xiao Wenhang had died directly like his parents, he would have avoided the pain of torture, but now he was only demoted to a commoner. This was the fate that Xiao Wenhang and Emperor Donglin wanted.
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