Wang Liyang's shoulders slumped, his body was weak, and he looked like an old man: "I understand."
By choosing to stand with the Prince of Bei Jing, he was destined to become the Crown Prince's mortal enemy.
Now the Crown Prince has arrested his family members, trying to force him to implicate the Prince of Bei Jing.
Otherwise, the Crown Prince would never have shown mercy. How could someone who is the Crown Prince be so soft-hearted? Moreover, he was the one who stood against the Crown Prince first. Nothing the Crown Prince did would be excessive.
As they were talking, Eunuch Wei came running up, panting.
His old bones couldn't take it anymore after climbing the city wall several times.
"Your Majesty, these are the petitions from those people, and the wills their sons sent back."
The emperor, his face ashen, opened the envelopes and poured out some green rice and black beans.
What is this?
The emperor did not read the petition or the contents of the letter first, so he was unaware of the reason for the matter.
Wei Zhong bent down and picked up the green rice and black beans, saying truthfully, "This is moldy rice, and these are rotten soybeans that have been dried."
The emperor seemed to have realized something, and quickly read through several letters, the contents of which were almost identical.
"You bastard!"
The Emperor angrily slammed down the letter in his hand: "Wang Liyang, who gave you the audacity!"
Wang Liyang's face was ashen, and he offered no resistance: "Your Majesty, this sinner deserves to die."
"This humble subject has lived a life of integrity and honesty. I have delayed the appointment of Minister of Revenue for decades, and I have never embezzled a single penny."
"This sinful subject...this sinful subject had no choice."
"It was...it was the Prince of Bei Jing who threatened me with my family. I had no choice but to do this."
"If Your Majesty does not believe me, you may send people to search. I have handed over all of the hundreds of thousands of taels of silver I embezzled to Prince Bei Jing."
"This sinful subject deserves to die ten thousand times over. I beg Your Majesty to spare the lives of my family."
After Wang Liyang finished speaking, he jumped off the city wall, which was several meters high, and died on the spot.
Chu Zhongyuan's face turned ashen; he never expected that Wang Liyang would turn on him before he died.
Moreover, he did indeed receive 100,000 taels of silver notes, and now even if he had a mouth full of mouths, he probably wouldn't be able to explain himself.
Who exactly is behind this scheme?!
Is it the Lu family or the Crown Prince?
Chu Zhongyuan's gloomy gaze swept over everyone he suspected.
"Father, I am innocent."
"Your subject... Your subject did not do this."
He wanted to explain but didn't know how. Could it be that he already knew about the Minister of Revenue's embezzlement of military rations?
Did they even accept money to help him resolve the trouble?
Wouldn't that constitute the crime of harboring a criminal?
But if he doesn't explain anything, the blame will fall on him.
Chu Zhongyuan had never been so embarrassed. Over the years, he had always had a smooth life thanks to the emperor's favor.
Now I'm experiencing the bitterness that I can't express!
He looked up at the Crown Prince beside him, whose expression remained unchanged, and there was nothing wrong with him.
When the emperor saw that he could only cry foul but could not produce any evidence to prove his innocence, he was furious and extremely disappointed.
He rebelled because his entire family was driven to their deaths by corrupt officials and he had no other way to survive.
Everyone knows how much he hates corrupt officials.
But his most beloved son insisted on crossing his bottom line, how could he not be heartbroken?
Moreover, with this matter revealed in front of all the people and soldiers of the capital, he would have no way to cover it up.
"Wei Zhong, you personally lead men to search the Wang family and the Prince of Bei Jing's residence."
"yes."
"Father, I am innocent."
The Emperor snorted coldly, turned and left, leaving the matter to the Prime Minister. He publicly promised the people that he would investigate the matter thoroughly, punish the corrupt officials, and give the people an explanation.
Thus, the grand welcoming ceremony was cancelled, and the people were evacuated.
Wei Zhong did not find any silver notes in the Prince of Bei Jing's residence, nor did he find anything of value in Wang Liyang's home.
Moreover, Wang Liyang's family members had long since left the house.
They did raid the Jing'an Marquis's residence, and the silver notes, gold bars, antiques, calligraphy and paintings, and gold and silver jewelry they found amounted to as much as 200,000 taels.
Marquis Jing'an betrayed his family and ordered their execution. The common people gathered at the entrance of the market to witness the bloody scene of hundreds of people being beheaded.
Three days later, some of Wang Liyang's family members were arrested. Based on the evidence, all those involved in the embezzlement were executed, and those who had not embezzled were sold into slavery by the men and forced into prostitution by the women.
As for Chu Zhongyuan, they didn't find 100,000 taels of silver notes in his residence, but they did find them at his father-in-law's house.
However, apart from the 100,000 taels of silver notes, no evidence could be found to prove that he was involved in any corruption case.
Chu Zhongyuan also told the Emperor the truth: he was neither involved in nor aware of the embezzlement case, and the 100,000 taels of silver was a reward he received for helping Wang Liyang resolve his troubles.
Hearing this explanation, the emperor felt a little better.
However, no evidence has been found that he was involved in the embezzlement case, nor can his innocence be proven, given that the 100,000 taels of silver notes are there.
Therefore, the Emperor stripped Chu Zhongyuan of his title of Prince of Beijing and confined him to the Third Prince's residence.
Chu Zhongyuan's father-in-law was implicated and also dismissed from his post.
Lin Che and his son Lin Pingxi were also beheaded, which can be considered as getting justice for Su Qingyu.
At the same time, the imperial court also provided generous compensation to the families of the fallen soldiers.
The surviving soldiers also received increased pay, thus bringing the embezzlement case to a close.
The Crown Prince's faction has temporarily overthrown the Third Prince's faction.
However, the Crown Prince knew in his heart that the Third Prince was still the Emperor's most beloved son.
It's only a matter of time before he gets out!
It was destined that he and the Third Prince would fight to the death; as long as he didn't die, the battle would continue endlessly.
Su Yujiao was overjoyed to learn that Chu Zhongyuan had been deposed and placed under indefinite confinement. She prepared a large table of delicious food to celebrate.
She didn't invite anyone; she just ate and drank with the people in the courtyard.
After all, the wife's family had gone back to their hometown, and it was inconvenient for the husband's family, since they were divorced.
As for Peony, she remained unconscious.
"Jiaojiao, you're so unfair! You made so much delicious food and didn't even call me."
I could hear Lu Ziwei's complaints from a great distance.
Su Yujiao smiled and said, "I would like to invite you, but I would have to be able to find you first."
During this time, Zhou was busy choosing a husband for Lu Ziwei, while Lu Ziwei was busy reuniting with her girlfriends in the capital.
Therefore, she was either on her way to a blind date or to a party, she was very busy.
"Anyway, once I'm angry, nothing can appease me except with delicious food."
"Yes, yes, yes, there's a whole table full, enough for you to eat."
"And there's something new to try today, something you've definitely never had before."
"What, a new trick?" Lu Ziwei asked expectantly. She knew that Su Yujiao was not only a good doctor, but also an excellent cook.
"Hehe, it's a cream cake, I made it. There were a lot of people, so I specially ordered it... a three-tiered cake."
Su Yujiao pointed to the multi-tiered cake decorated with flowers on the table next to her.
She was so happy today that she went back home and ordered a big cake to celebrate.
"Wow, it's so pretty! Is this a pastry? Is it edible?"
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