The Emperor: "In your opinion, what should I do?"
Lord Zhang: "In my humble opinion, it would be safest to capture the family that is harboring the demon."
The Emperor asked, "If this sword is not a demon, what should you do?"
Lord Zhang: "Your Majesty, it is better to kill the innocent than to let the guilty go free!"
The Crown Prince glared at Minister Zhang: "Minister Zhang, are you already sentencing people to death so early? Father hasn't even convicted them yet. Are you trying to overstep your bounds?"
Minister Zhang, terrified, knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "This old minister dares not, this old minister dares not! But I beg Your Majesty to give an explanation to all the ministers! Your Majesty—"
Left with no other choice, the Emperor said, "Very well! Summon the First Rank Lady and her family to the palace!"
Eunuch: "Yes!"
At the Qi residence, Xiao Zhenzhen clapped her hands with joy upon hearing that the soldiers had found a demon in Xu Ruyun's house.
Xiao Zhenzhen: "Great! That's wonderful! Heaven has eyes, and those people have finally been brought down."
Qi Jia frowned, annoyed: "You should watch your mouth. Don't forget, my children are in there."
Before Xiao Zhenzhen could finish laughing, she heard someone knocking on the door.
When she sent someone to check, she was surprised to find that she herself had been confronted by soldiers.
With a wave of his hand, the leading officer arrested Qi Jiating and his men.
Xiao Zhenzhen, who had been gloating, was suddenly stunned.
Xiao Zhenzhen: "Sir, what crime have we committed? Why are you arresting us?"
Soldiers: "His Majesty says the Qi family is harboring demons; they must all be arrested. Go! Take them all away!"
Xiao Zhenzhen: "What? Your Excellency, you've made a mistake. We didn't harbor any demons! It's Xu Ruyun and her group! We're not with them!"
The officers and soldiers ignored Xiao Zhenzhen and instead stuffed a rag into her hand.
Soldiers: "This is so noisy and annoying! Let's go, take them all away!"
Qi Jiating and Qi Gaoming were also confused and were taken away along with Jinlan, who had not yet recovered.
Meanwhile, in the palace, the emperor had prepared a lavish banquet to entertain the Qiuqiu family.
The Emperor also did not believe that the Qiuqiu family would harbor a demon.
More than the monster, the emperor was interested in whether the sword he had sent over was indeed an ancient divine sword.
The Emperor wanted to test Qiuqiu and hear what she really thought.
The Empress Dowager and the Empress were also very happy to hear that Qiuqiu had entered the palace.
Everyone arrived at the dinner party.
The Queen picked up Chiu Chiu and said, "My little darling, they didn't do anything to you, did they? I heard that someone went to your house this morning to search for some kind of monster."
Chirp: "I'm fine, thank you, Your Majesty!"
Empress Dowager: "I knew the Emperor couldn't be this confused. If he dares to harm you, tell me. I will be the first to not let him off!"
【My dear Empress Dowager! You're the first one who won't let him off the hook. You're the only person in the world who can reprimand the Emperor. You're the first and the last person who can properly control the Emperor.】
Upon hearing this, Xu Ruyun quickly expressed her gratitude: "Thank you, Empress Dowager!"
Your Majesty: "Mother, I am in a difficult position. You don't know how much those old ministers pressure me every day. I have no choice but to do this!"
Xu Ruyun: "Thank you, Your Majesty! I don't want to put Your Majesty in a difficult position. How about we be tried as normal?"
The Emperor waved his hand and said, "No need, no need. Those people from the Qi family are already being tried in your place."
Xu Ruyun: "Huh?"
No one understood what it meant.
But in the prison, Xiao Zhenzhen and Qi Jiating had already been beaten until their skin was torn and bleeding.
With a cloth stuffed in her mouth, Xiao Zhenzhen looked at Qi Jiating with teary eyes, thinking to herself: Ever since I married into your family, I've never had any good things happen to me, and bad things always seem to come my way. I'm such a terrible person!
Although Qi Jiating felt wronged, he was worried about his children. After being tortured, he tentatively asked the jailer.
Qi Jiating: "Brother, may I ask if my family members are all here?"
The jailer pointed at Xiao Zhenzhen and Qi Gaoming and said, "Aren't these your family members? Have you been beaten into a daze?"
Qi Jiating took out some loose silver from his waist and stuffed it into the jailer's hand, then asked, "Brother, what I want to ask about is my ex-wife, the First-Rank Lady, and my children with her. How are they now? Will I be able to see them in prison?"
The jailer spat, stuffed the silver into his sleeve, then pulled Qi Jiating aside and whispered, "Your precious daughter is the Emperor's darling. How could the Emperor bear to send them to a place like this?"
Qi Jiating: "Then where did they go?"
Jailer: "I heard they were taken to the palace and are being treated to the best food and drink. The Emperor is so kind to them!"
Qi Jia breathed a sigh of relief, temporarily forgetting the pain in his body. He nodded and said, "That's good, that's good! But we haven't committed any crimes, so what are we doing here?"
The jailer laughed and said, "You? Of course, you're here to be scapegoats!"
Qi Jiating: "Scapegoat?"
The jailer said, "His Majesty was pestered by those ministers, who insisted that he give them an explanation. So, they arrested the Qi family and handed them over to us for questioning. Isn't this exactly what they wanted? See, now they'll give us an explanation, won't they?"
Qi Jiating: "Oh, I see."
Qi Jia thought to himself: Perhaps I've done too many bad things. I owe them too much. I'll take the blame. Consider it my way of atoning for my sins. Zhenzhen and the others can't know about this, otherwise Zhenzhen will definitely hate Yun'er.
Qi Gaoming had never suffered like this before; he couldn't take it after only a few strokes.
Qi Gaoming shouted, "Stop hitting me! Stop hitting me! Please, stop hitting me!"
The jailer looked at Qi Gaoming with disdain and said, "Young man, you can't even handle this? You wait! The worst is yet to come!"
The jailer raised the board, intending to strike Qi Gaoming's men again, but was stopped by someone shouting.
"Wait!"
Qi Gaoming exclaimed happily, "Someone's come to save me! That's great! Someone's saved me!"
A man in official robes came in, held up a sign, and said to the jailer, "I'm taking this man away!"
The jailer bowed and scraped respectfully, saying, "Yes, sir! The person is now in your care. Please take care!"
Qi Gaoming happily followed the person who came, and as he left, he didn't forget to tell his parents and sister, "Just bear with me a little longer, I'll come to pick you up soon!"
Xiao Zhenzhen looked at Qi Gaoming expectantly, then nodded.
The official led Qi Gaoming into a dimly lit alley.
With no one around, the official whispered to Qi Gaoming, "Have you completed the tasks assigned to you by His Highness?"
Qi Gaoming said mysteriously, "Your Highness, rest assured, everything has been taken care of!"
Official: "That's good!"
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