Chapter 70: King Xuan is punished
Lord Anyuan was so angry that he was shaking all over. He pointed his bony finger at Xie Yan and said in a sad and angry voice, "What do you mean by a momentary mistake? The prince clearly intended to kill!"
He suddenly knelt on the ground again and cried, "Your Majesty! The news of your marriage has already spread throughout Shengjing, but the prince chose to kill him at this moment. I don't know if the prince is dissatisfied with the Anyuan Mansion or the emperor!"
"Poor old minister's son, he rarely even sees the prince. I wonder how he offended the prince to end up like this!"
"I, an old minister, am heartbroken to see my son die at the hands of his father. I beg Your Majesty to consider my age and make a decision for my son who died tragically!"
He cried with tears streaming down his face, his forehead red from knocking his head, and every word he said was implying that Xie Yan had no respect for his superiors.
The emperor was also furious.
Of course he knew that Wei Wencai's oppression of the people, his contradictory words, and his accidental killing were all excuses.
Xie Yan had previously gone to the palace to ask him to withdraw his decree of marriage. He had clearly told Xie Yan not to continue interfering in the affairs of the Marquis of Zhenguo's Mansion. Unexpectedly, Xie Yan not only did not repent, but also directly killed Wei Wencai!
In Xie Yan's eyes, there is really no such thing as his father!
If he is not severely punished today, who knows what kind of stupid things Xie Yan will do in the future!
The emperor's voice was as cold as iron: "Propagate my decree - Prince Xuan Xie Yan is dismissed from his post as Deputy Privy Councilor and fined for three years. In addition, he shall be severely punished with fifty strokes of the cane in court and executed immediately!"
When a prince made a mistake, he would usually be demoted, fined, or placed under house arrest, but would rarely be punished with a beating in court. This shows that the emperor was really angry this time.
Although the prince is subject to the same punishment as the common people when he breaks the law, Lord Anyuan did not expect the emperor to kill Xie Yan.
In particular, Xie Yan also produced a lot of evidence to prove that his son and his cronies deserved to be put to death.
Fifty strokes of the cane in court was already a severe punishment, and no matter how unwilling he was, he had no choice but to accept this result.
Lord Anyuan originally wanted to watch Xie Yan being punished in person to vent his anger, but he was exhausted after kneeling all night and needed help to walk. As soon as he left the imperial study, Eunuch Yang ordered the eunuch to escort him out of the palace.
On the way to the execution, Eunuch Yang whispered, "Your Highness, you've really gone too far this time. Killing Wei Wencai is a minor offense, but disobeying the Emperor is a major one! The Emperor is showing you a special mercy by punishing you with fifty strokes of the cane."
"But the Emperor still loves you. After a while, if you sincerely admit your mistakes to the Emperor, you will be reinstated soon. However, you must never interfere in the affairs of the Marquis of Zhenguo Mansion again!"
Xie Yan remained silent.
Eunuch Yang is the emperor's confidant. Many times, what Eunuch Yang says in front of the emperor is more effective than what anyone else says.
He thought for a moment, then lowered his voice and said, "I appreciate your kindness, eunuch."
"I'll also be honest with you, my father-in-law. Mingyi grew up under my watch, and I will not bear to see her suffer any injustice. If my father still wants to arrange a marriage for Mingyi, then I... would rather receive another fifty strokes of the cane."
Eunuch Yang quickly looked around and whispered, "Your Highness! Princess Mingyi is not your biological sister. Why would you do this for her?"
Xie Yan took a deep breath and said with an ambiguous tone, "Mingyi is indeed not my sister, and I have never considered her my sister..."
Eunuch Yang was so smart that he immediately understood what Xie Yan meant.
His heart skipped a beat, and he interrupted hurriedly: "Hey, Your Majesty, be careful with your words!"
He lowered his voice and said, "Your Highness, your situation is very different from that of His Royal Highness Prince Duan. You should know that the emperor is most reluctant to see you get too close to the Zhenguo Marquisate. You... Sigh!"
"We'll pretend we didn't hear what you just said. Please don't be confused!"
Xie Yan kept a stern face and said nothing more.
When they arrived at the side hall where the execution was to take place, the guards in charge of the execution were already waiting there.
The fifty strokes of the cane were imposed in court because, firstly, the emperor was really angry and wanted to teach Xie Yan a lesson, and secondly, it was to give an explanation to the Duke of Anguo.
But everyone in the palace will act according to the instructions, so who would dare to hit the prince?
Especially since King Xuan was brought here personally by Eunuch Yang, the guards naturally knew what to do.
Eunuch Yang cleared his throat and said, "All outsiders, please stay away."
The palace maids were eager to leave quickly to avoid being hated by the prince.
Soon, only a young eunuch and a guard were left in the side hall.
Eunuch Yang said to Xie Yan again, "Your Highness, let me wait outside first."
After Eunuch Yang left, the guards and the young eunuchs looked at each other, trembling in fear, and no one dared to say a word.
Even the legitimate son of Duke Anyuan was killed on the spot for contradicting King Xuan.
After they beat the prince, are they still alive today?
No wonder the other palace maids all ran away when they heard "all outsiders please stay away"!
Xie Yan took off his outer robe and threw it on the young eunuch.
The young eunuch was stunned for a moment, but soon understood what was going on. He quickly put on Xie Yan's outer robe and lay down on the bench very consciously. The guards also raised their sticks high.
Xie Yan sat beside him with an impatient look on his face, "Hurry up, I have something else to do."
So the young eunuch counted the number of blows while being beaten.
The guard had only hit him for the second time when the eunuch had already counted to five. When he hit him for the fifth time, the eunuch had already counted to ten.
Fortunately, Lord Anyuan was not here. If he were here, he would probably faint from anger.
The "Fifty Beatings of the Cane in Court" was delivered so hastily that the young eunuch didn't even get a scratch on his skin.
It’s just that Xie Yan’s outer robe was a little dirty, so he put it on to pretend.
Xie Yan casually put on his outer robe, threw a bag of gold leaves at the young eunuch, and walked out.
Eunuch Yang was waiting at the door. Seeing Xie Yan coming out, he whispered a reminder, "Your Highness, you received fifty lashes of the cane today. You will need to stay in bed for at least a month after returning home. During this period, you must not go out or reveal your identity. Otherwise, it will be difficult for us servants to do our job."
Xie Yan said in a deep voice: "I understand. Call my guards and help me out of the palace."
Prince Duan was naturally the happiest when Xie Yan was punished.
After hearing the news, he immediately rushed into the palace excitedly, saying that he wanted to pay his respects to his mother, but in fact he wanted to take the opportunity to mock Xie Yan.
But when he arrived at the place of execution, he didn't see anyone.
Prince Duan called the eunuch on duty and asked with a frown, "Fifty strokes of the cane, how come it's over so quickly?"
The eunuch quickly said, "Your Highness, the fight is indeed over."
Prince Duan's face fell instantly. Why did he rush into the palace in such a hurry?
I wanted to see Xie Yan make a fool of himself but I didn't get to see it, so it was a wasted trip!
*
The Marquis of Zhenguo Mansion.
Ruan Yunbo still hasn't recovered from the shock of Xie Yan's murder last night.
In his impression, Xie Yan was a gentle and self-possessed person who rarely fought with others.
When Shengsheng fell into the lake, his second brother was so angry that he beat Xie Yan until he vomited blood, but he didn't even fight back.
So he really didn't expect that Xie Yan would have such a cruel side.
He was a little scared by Xie Yan's eyes last night.
He said in a daze: "Shengsheng, didn't you see Xie Yan's eyes at that time? They were so fierce!"
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