In the main hall.

The emperor sat upright on the main seat, his hand on the armrest, with Zong Zhengchen and Qin Ye standing to his right, and Zong Zhengyu kneeling in the middle, admitting his fault:

"Father, I am a fool. I was blinded by greed and took the wrong path..."

He was talking about the incident of forcing the emperor to abdicate that day.

He was really pushed to the extreme by Zong Zhengchen!

Zong Zhengchen sent people to sneak into the prince's mansion, steal the secrets in the study, and told the emperor everything he had done over the years.

He was afraid of being punished, so he had to strike first.

He was wrong.

Old ginger is still spicy.

He can't defeat the emperor.

Zong Zhengyu admitted his fault and finished his words, but received no reply. He raised his eyes slightly and cautiously, but when he saw the emperor looking straight at him, he immediately lowered his head.

He has confessed everything, is there anything else he hasn't said?

On the side, Zong Zhengchen kindly reminded:

"Brother, what you have done is a crime that will wipe out your entire family. Father has shown mercy to you. You must tell us everything that happened before, without leaving out a single word."

His smile was elegant, but he looked like a wolf in a mask, exuding invisible danger.

Zong Zhengyu secretly clenched his hands.

He understood what Zong Zhengchen meant, which was to ask him to explain what he had done in the past besides forcing the emperor to abdicate.

He did a lot of unspeakable things in the past...

That’s all!

Since his father already knows everything, he might as well admit it. As long as he can get his father's forgiveness, there is nothing he can't say!

He closed his eyes, thought about what to say, opened his eyes, gritted his teeth and spoke:

"Father, I know I was wrong. Last year, when Prince Chen was at war, I shouldn't have bribed Deputy General Hou and sold out military secrets, which almost caused Prince Chen's entire army to be wiped out!"

The emperor was suddenly stunned when he heard this.

That expression looked like surprise, like astonishment.

But Zong Zhengyu didn't notice and continued:

"I shouldn't have associated myself with the bandits in Guangning Mountain, and I shouldn't have set fire to the mountain, killing so many people. I regret it very much."

The emperor's eyes widened and his mouth slightly opened, obviously shocked.

"I shouldn't have bribed assassins, I shouldn't have poisoned people, I shouldn't have sold official positions, I shouldn't have won over the Minister of Revenue, and I shouldn't have used the Minister of Revenue to get benefits from the national treasury. I shouldn't have..."

Zong Zhengyu sincerely admitted his mistake.

At this point, he had only this one option left.

The emperor's expression changed from initial indifference to surprise, then to astonishment, and then he stood up with his eyes wide open as if struck by lightning.

So many sins...

"I shouldn't... shouldn't spread the disease in Dongning City, I..."

"What did you say!!"

The emperor was so shocked that he overturned the teacup beside him.

Zong Zhengyu looked up, and when he saw the emperor's expression of surprise and astonishment, his heart skipped a beat.

Why did the Emperor react like this?

Didn't he already know what he had done?

Could it be that...

Suddenly, as if he realized something, he turned around and looked at Zong Zhengchen, "You!"

Zong Zhengchen stood at one side leisurely and spoke slowly:

"Brother, I thought you were just forcing the emperor to abdicate, but I didn't expect you to do so many bad things! You were the one who caused the plague in Dongning City?! More than a thousand innocent people died in that plague. They were all your people. How could you be so cruel?"

He sighed deeply, sighing for the people who died in vain.

"You bastard!"

The emperor's eyes were red with anger, he rushed forward and raised his hand to slap him hard.

"I thought you were just a little naughty and took the wrong path for a while, but I didn't expect you to be so cruel that you even killed your own people!"

"brute!!"