"You! Liu Yanzong! You're despicable! It was clearly you who instigated me..."
He spoke in a fit of rage, but accidentally let slip that he had been misled. He looked at the emperor with terror in his eyes and said, "Your Majesty, spare my life! This sinful subject was confused for a moment and was bewitched by Liu Yanzong!"
Zhao Huan ignored Geng Nanzhong's pleas for mercy and continued, "Come, Liu Yanzong, tell me, what kind of unspeakable secret have you reached?"
"Geng Nanzhong deliberately framed Prime Minister Li, making His Majesty believe that Prime Minister Li wielded too much military power and was arrogant and domineering. His Majesty would surely strip Prime Minister Li of his power and position. This was all because the Jin invaders had intensified their attacks on the city. Without Prime Minister Li, the defenses of Dongjing City would inevitably weaken, and His Majesty's pressure would naturally increase. In this way, Geng Nanzhong could persuade His Majesty under the pretext of negotiating peace!"
"The word 'persuade' is not quite accurate. It seems you intend to use peace negotiations as a pretext to coerce me! Geng Nanzhong, my teacher! Do you really want to kneel and be a dog to the Jurchen invaders?!"
"Your Majesty, I know my crime, and I would gladly die ten thousand times over!"
"You said it yourself! Guards, throw Geng Nanzhong into the death row!"
"Your Majesty, you must not!"
The Junior Minister Wang Boyan immediately stepped forward and said, “Your Majesty, Minister Geng is Your Majesty’s teacher. Fan Ye of the Southern Dynasty once said, ‘I have heard that wise kings and sage rulers all respect their teachers and value the Way.’ If Your Majesty throws Minister Geng into a death row, it would be contrary to the Way of the sage ruler and would be despised by the people of the world. I hope Your Majesty will think twice.”
Half of the ministers knelt down and cried out in unison, "We beg Your Majesty to reconsider!"
He Ye immediately stepped forward: "Your Majesty, Geng Nanzhong has committed four major crimes: First, he ordered someone to beat an unarmed old woman to death in the street; second, he colluded with an enemy country; third, he plotted to assassinate the current prime minister; fourth, he instigated discord between the emperor and his ministers, deliberately putting pressure on His Majesty the Emperor. All four are capital offenses, deserving of a thousand cuts! As a warning to others!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
