Chapter 42: Cut from the neck or from the waist?

"!!!"

If he hadn't been holding a tablet, all the civil and military officials would have wanted to applaud Dai Lumao.

Lord Dai and Master Zhang had both studied at the Imperial College. The fact that he could do this shows how deep their friendship was. It was really enviable.

At this moment, a sharp announcement came from outside the palace: "The commander of the imperial guards, Ye Hanqin, wants to see you--" Sitting

on the dragon chair, Sikong Yan raised his lips lightly, "Announcement."

Ye Hanqin entered the hall and knelt immediately, "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you!"

Sikong Yan lowered his eyes and glanced at him, and asked, "Why are you so anxious to see me, Mr. Ye?"

Ye Hanyin said in a sonorous and powerful voice, "Your Majesty, last night I went to the villa set up by Master Zhang in the suburbs of Beijing with Lord Shen. Not only did we seize 500,000 taels of silver from the villa, but after smashing the wall, we found that eight walls of the villa were built with gold bricks, and the rockery in the courtyard was made of jade stones. . I have asked craftsmen to test them, and they are all top-grade jade, priceless!"

Even though his old nest was destroyed, Zhang Shoujiao still had a hard mouth, "Your Majesty, I don't own any real estate! Even the house I live in now was my wife's dowry. I have been incorruptible and honest all my life. If you believe in slanderous words, wouldn't all the loyal officials in the court be disheartened?"

Zhang Shoujiao was worthy of being the third place winner in the imperial examination more than 30 years ago. Originally, the case was about him alone, but he was instigated like this. As long as Sikong Yan convicted him, he would offend all his loyal officials.

The emotions of all the officials in the court were incited, and they were waiting for Sikong Yan to clear Zhang Shoujiao's grievances with indignation.

Sikong Yan sneered, "Shen Qing and Ye Qing, Lord Zhang seems to disagree with the results of your investigation. Do you have any evidence to prove Lord Zhang's guilt?"

"Of course, I have not only physical evidence, but also witnesses!"

After Shen Qingyuan left the palace yesterday, he opened the letter written to him by Shen Chaoyan in the carriage.

The letter recorded in detail how Zhang Shoujiao accepted 12,000 taels of silver from the Dai family and how he found gunmen to take the exam for Dai Bixiu.

Not only that, but also where Zhang Shoujiao had plundered the people's money over the years were recorded one by one.

Therefore, as soon as Shen Qingyuan finished speaking, Sikong Yan said, "Send the witnesses and the physical evidence."

Then, thirty beautiful dancers walked into the hall, and hundreds of boxes of gold, silver and jewelry were carried into the hall.

Zhang Shoujiao shook his head vigorously, still speaking in a righteous tone, "Your Majesty, I don't know when I have offended Minister Shen, which made him go to such great lengths to frame me!"

The evidence was all in front of him, but Zhang Shoujiao was still stubborn.

Sikong Yan only realized today that the skin on Zhang Shoujiao's face was really thicker than pig skin.

He glanced at the dancers kneeling in three rows and spoke in a deep voice, "I heard that Lord Zhang often picked up babies to raise. You often serve Lord Zhang, have you heard of this?"

After hearing this, several dancers burst into tears on the spot, "Your Majesty, those were not abandoned babies at all, they were children born to us sisters. Lord Zhang did not allow us to raise the children, and he had someone deliberately abandon the children on the side of the road, and then he picked up the children and brought them back to the Zhang Mansion for Madam Zhang to raise."

"Not only that, every time Lord Zhang entertained his colleagues, he would ask us to serve him. If someone got pregnant, she would be raised alone until she gave birth. And all the dancers who gave birth were sold and were never allowed to enter the capital."

"Your Majesty, Lord Zhang once said after he got drunk that he was not a sucker. The reason he raised a child for his colleague was that he thought that one day when he would need help from others, he could use the child as a bargaining chip."

"Shut up! You bitches are talking nonsense!" Zhang Shoujiao knelt on the ground and crawled forward a few steps with his hands. "Your Majesty, these bitches must have been bribed by Shen Qingyuan! They have committed the crime of deceiving the emperor. Please punish them severely! Clear this old minister's name!"

"Innocent?"

Sikong Yan really couldn't stand his face anymore. He was too lazy to watch him act anymore, so he raised a letter and threw it over. "Take a look at this letter. It was written by Dai Bixiu, the runner-up in the palace examination. It records the whole process of your cheating!"

Zhang Shoujiao widened his eyes in disbelief when he heard it.

No one except the Dai family knew about his deal with Dai Bixiu, so how did the emperor know about it?

He immediately picked up the letter on the ground and read it at a glance, "No, it must be fake! It's fake! Someone wants to harm me and forged this letter!"

As he said that, he rolled his eyes and wanted to stuff the letter into his mouth.

Ye Hanqin saw through his purpose, stepped forward and dislocated his jaw, snatching the letter.

"Ah! Ah!" Zhang Shoujiao's jaw was dislocated, his mouth opened wide, but he couldn't say a word.

Sikong Yan ignored him, glanced at the officials with different expressions, and said in a deep voice, "Ye Qing, hand the letter to Lord Dai. He and Dai Bixiu are father and son, and he will definitely not mistake his son's handwriting. Otherwise, it will be a crime of deceiving the emperor, and you will lose your head."

Plop!

The man's nonchalant tone frightened Dai Lumao so much that he fell to his knees.

He was sweating profusely on his forehead, but he didn't dare to wipe it off. "Your Majesty, please spare my life! It's all because of my son's incompetence that I wanted Lord Zhang to worry more about the exam! I know I was wrong, and I beg Your Majesty to be lenient with me because of my momentary confusion!"

Shen Qingyuan saw that Dai Lumao had pleaded guilty, and thought of what Sikong Yan had told him yesterday. He turned his gaze and looked at Zhang Shoujiao, "Zhang Shoujiao, Lord Dai admitted his mistakes in time, and maybe he could still keep his life. What about you? Are you still planning to refuse to plead guilty?" If you

plead guilty, you will have a chance to live?

Dai Lumao heard the hidden meaning in Shen Qingyuan's words, and said, "There is evidence in my house that Lord Zhang leaked the test questions! Not only my son, but also the sons of several officials have passed the palace examination and made it into the top three!"

Sikong Yan's deep black eyes were dark, and even the air around him suddenly became cold and murderous. "The imperial examination is to select talents for Daxia. You, for your own selfish desires, dare to use crooked ideas for the palace examination! You leaked the test questions and cheated, and sent a bunch of good-for-nothings into the court. Do you want to destroy Daxia?"

The emperor was angry, and Wen All the military officials knelt on the ground immediately, "We have failed to do our job well, please punish us, Your Majesty!"

Sikong Huang swept through the crowd and shouted coldly, "If such behavior is not severely punished, how can we be worthy of the students who have studied hard?"

Dai Lumao trembled all over and was about to piss himself on the spot, "I will never dare to do it again! Please spare my life,

Your Majesty! Spare my life!" Sikong Huang glanced at Dai Lumao who was kneeling in the front, and remembered how he had just vowed to vouch for Zhang Shoujiao, and couldn't help but chuckled, "Sir Dai has made a meritorious report. If you want me to spare your life, it is not impossible!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty! I kowtow to Your Majesty!" Dai Lumao breathed a sigh of relief and kowtowed desperately.

"I haven't finished yet." Sikong Yan narrowed his narrow eyes and said slowly, "I remember when Lord Dai supported Master Zhang, he also threatened him. In this case, I will fulfill your wish. Come on, bring the toilet!"

Soon two eunuchs carried a toilet in front of Dai Lumao.

Before the toilet was even opened, all the civil and military officials couldn't help but cover their noses.

It stinks!

I don't know whose toilet this is, the smell of feces and urine in it is too strong!

Sikong Yan looked at Dai Lumao and said in a tone that could not be refused, "Lord Dai, if you can eat and drink this bucket, I will spare your life."

"Ah? This, this, this is really..."

Dai Lumao hesitated as he looked at the smelly toilet in front of him.

Sikong Yan gave Ye Hanqin a look, "It doesn't matter if you don't want to, just drag him out and chop him off. I can let you choose, chop from the neck or the waist? Chop in two pieces or three pieces?"

Ye Hanqin walked forward expressionlessly, pretending to drag Dai Lumao out.

Dai Lumao's face turned pale and he struggled desperately.

Unfortunately, he was a civil servant, and in front of Ye Hanqin, he was like a chicken.

Seeing that he was about to be dragged out of the hall, Dai Lumao hurriedly shouted to the man on the dragon chair, "Your Majesty, I eat!"