After Xuan Yuan Yu, Su Hui Yan, and the others were torn apart by five horses, apart from Physician Liu having family members to collect their bodies, Su Hui Yan, Su Fei Ling, and the others had no one to collect their bodies.
It wasn't Madam Liu or her son who came forward; it was her nephew.
Su Xuening frowned and asked the executioner beside her, "Where is Physician Liu's wife now?"
The executioner bowed and replied, "The Liu family has been raided. Madam Liu and her sons have all been imprisoned in the imperial prison. The Emperor has not yet given the order, and no one dares to conduct the trial."
Su Xuening nodded silently and looked at Xuan Yuanzhan: "This Physician Liu was probably also tricked by Su Feiling. He is in a dilemma. His family may not know what he has done. Ignorance is no excuse. If possible, let's give him a lighter sentence."
How wronged was Lady Liu! Her husband had been keeping a palace maid behind her back, and the serious crime they committed had implicated her and her sons. If it were her, she would never be able to die in peace.
Xuanyuan Zhan did not care about the Liu family's affairs. In his mind, even if the Liu family did not know what he had done, confusing the royal bloodline was a serious crime. Even if the Liu family was not executed, they should not be given a light sentence.
However, since Su Xuening had spoken, he couldn't ignore it. He said to the executioner, "Since the Liu family has already been raided, the rest of the Liu family members will be released, but they will be banned from entering the capital for three generations!"
"Yes." The executioner quickly replied, then gave Su Xuening a meaningful look.
This Crown Princess is quite kind-hearted, and it's rare that the Crown Prince dotes on her so much and is willing to listen to her.
With such a wise and virtuous Crown Princess by his side, the Crown Prince will surely become a wise ruler in the future.
Apart from Physician Liu's nephew coming to collect Physician Liu's body, the bodies of Su Huiyan and the others were all taken away by corpse collectors.
Su Xuening thought of her father and her grandparents in Sujia Village who treated him like their own son. She couldn't stand idly by and turned to Ye Yu, instructing, "Prepare a few thin coffins and bury Su Huiyan and Su Feiling."
Su Yun'an glanced at Su Xuening but did not object.
He could understand his sister. Even if Su Huiyan and Su Feiling had done many wrong things, they were already dead and had already paid the price.
They were still my father's family, even if they weren't his biological children. It wouldn't hurt to give them a proper burial for the sake of my grandparents.
"Yes." Ye Yu responded, glancing at Xuan Yuan Yu's mangled corpse below, and frowned, "Where is Xuan Yuan Yu's body?"
Su Xuening frowned in disgust: "Put it in a coffin first, don't bury it yet."
"Yes." Ye Yu didn't ask any more questions and immediately sent people to collect the body.
Xuan Yuanzhan seemed to understand Su Xuening's meaning: "You want to release that farmer couple?"
Su Xuening raised an eyebrow and asked, "You want to punish them?"
Xuan Yuanzhan shrugged noncommittally: "In principle, they should also be punished. They lied when they first entered the palace and intentionally protected Xuan Yuanyu."
Moreover, Xuanyuan Yu is their son, and having committed such a heinous crime, he should be implicated according to the laws of Eastern Chu.
“However, if you don’t want to punish them, then we won’t.” Xuan Yuanzhan knew that Su Xuening was soft-hearted. After the couple started lying, they didn’t continue to lie, which could be considered as making amends for their mistakes.
Su Xuening nodded: "They had their son stolen and he died, so they are victims too. Let's just fine them some silver and let them go. Then we can give them Xuan Yuan Yu's body back to them, so that they can return to their original state."
"Mm." Xuan Yuanzhan nodded in response and then instructed Ye Yun to do it.
After the bodies of Xuan Yuan Yu and the others were collected, another group of people were brought up to the execution platform; it was the Liang family.
This time, Xuanyuan Peng did not give Liang Taifu a light sentence. Apart from Liang Taifu, all the men in the Liang family who were over ten years old were sentenced to beheading. Apart from the women in the Liang family who were sentenced to beheading, the other young unmarried girls, even if they did not die, were put into the status of lowly.
The people never expected that after being torn apart by five horses, someone would still be beheaded.
"That's Grand Tutor Liang, isn't it? Didn't he retire many years ago? Why is he still being beheaded?"
"I've heard that Grand Tutor Liang colluded with the enemy and betrayed the country. He was responsible for the Northern Rong invasion four years ago, and he was also involved in General Su's affair!"
"I've also heard that the Second Prince's secret dealings with the Northern Rong were orchestrated by Grand Tutor Liang. This Northern Rong invasion was instigated by the Second Prince!"
"With the nation in peril, the North is suffering from both water and food shortages, yet this Second Prince still dares to collude with the enemy and betray the country, allowing the Northern Rong to deliberately invade the North. He is utterly unworthy of being a prince!"
"So the Emperor demoted him to a commoner!"
"The Second Prince committed such a serious crime as treason, yet he was not beheaded, but merely demoted to a commoner."
"Besides being demoted to a commoner, he will also be exiled to the north. He'll be in big trouble when he gets there."
"That's true. If the people of the North knew he was colluding with the enemy and betraying the country, they certainly wouldn't welcome him!"
Amidst the murmurs of the people, Grand Tutor Liang and his entire family were beheaded.
The entire Liang family, from top to bottom, was convicted of a crime, and no one in the family came to collect the bodies. Even the distant relatives and collateral relatives, seeing that the Liang family had committed such a heinous crime, dared not come out to collect the bodies for them.
This time, Su Xuening did not intervene, letting the corpse collectors take the body away and dump it in the mass grave or burn it.
After watching the execution, Xuan Yuanzhan and Su Xuening returned to the palace.
Su Yun'an went to buy wine first and took a lot of it to the Huangli military camp.
As soon as Xuanyuan Zhan and Su Xuening arrived at the palace gate, they saw Ye Yun leading Xuanyuan Yu's biological parents and their family out.
The three of them immediately knelt down upon seeing Xuan Yuanzhan and Su Xuening: "Thank you, Your Highness and Your Highness."
"Our Prince and Princess are now the Crown Prince and Crown Princess," Ye Yun reminded them.
The three quickly changed their tune: "Thank you, Your Highness and Your Highness's Consort, for your forgiveness of our sins!"
Xuanyuan Zhan glanced at them expressionlessly: "It was the Crown Princess who pleaded for you."
The young man immediately kowtowed to Su Xuening, prostrating himself on the ground and saying, "Your Highness, I have no way to repay your great kindness. In my next life, I will be your servant and repay your kindness with my life!"
Su Xuening didn't say much, only saying, "I've already had someone take care of Xuan Yuan Yu's body. You can take his body back."
Upon hearing that Xuanyuan Yu was dead, the elderly couple immediately burst into tears.
The boy dared not cry, and kowtowed again to Xuan Yuanzhan and Su Xuening: "Your Highness, Your Highness's Consort is so kind."
Fearing they wouldn't be able to find Ye Yu, Su Xuening instructed Ye Yun, "Take them to collect the body."
"Yes," Ye Yun replied, and then led the three of them to find Ye Yu.
Su Xuening looked at the elderly couple who kept wiping away tears with a wistful expression.
Xuan Yuanzhan put his arm around her shoulder: "What are you thinking about?"
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