Chapter 502
The whole capital city focused on this case. Even if Zeng Yuanxin ran around, it was of no use. With the presentation of evidence and the appearance and confession of relevant witnesses, Zeng Kang's guilt was firmly established after the trial by the three courts. Not only did he collude with foreign enemies to sell out the army and interests of the Da Ning Dynasty, he also murdered his own brother and nephew.
The charges were proven, the title of the Earl of Yongyi was stripped on the spot, and his property was confiscated and he was sentenced to death. To the emperor, Zeng Kang's crime was simply unforgivable. The reason why his entire clan was not executed was because of the fact that Zeng Heng and his son, as well as Zeng Yuanjing, were killed by him.
The Bo Mansion was sealed, and all the members of the Zeng family were driven out, including the old lady lying on the bed. However, since she was Zeng Heng's mother, her private property was not confiscated. Therefore, the family did not end up living on the streets penniless. If they managed their business well, they would live a better life than most ordinary people.
It’s a pity that the Zeng family was in chaos.
This time, Yuan Jing still refused the title and preferred to be a commoner. The reason for his refusal was that seeing the title would remind him of why his father and brother died, and he wanted to kill his selfish and cruel uncle, so he would rather not have the title and just wanted to live a quiet life.
When the date of Zeng Kang's execution was set, Yuan Jing made a special trip to the prison, and Jing Lie of course accompanied him.
The jailers knew that the young master was valued by the emperor, so when Yuan Jing asked to speak to Zeng Kang alone, they did not stop him but stepped out to give the space to the uncle and nephew.
Zeng Kang never thought that he would be reduced from an uncle to a prisoner, and would be executed soon. He was frightened at this moment, and rushed over to beg, "Nephew Yuan Jing, please save your uncle. Your uncle does not want to die. Since your uncle has raised you for more than ten years, as long as you save His Majesty, His Majesty will definitely spare me."
Yuan Jing looked at him coldly. Zeng Kang, who had never received a response, finally saw Yuan Jing's expression. He stepped back a few steps and revealed a sinister look: "Did you know this a long time ago? Did you do everything on purpose? Well, I didn't expect that my good nephew would play dumb and fool everyone."
Yuan Jing then spoke: "Isn't this as it should be? If I had shown a little bit of intelligence, would you have let me live? I was so fat and stupid before, and you poisoned me. Zeng Kang, Zeng Kang, should I say that you are being too smart? When you secretly decided to kill my father and brother, you wanted to kill two birds with one stone, not only to get the title, but also to please His Majesty, right?"
"Yes! So what? Blame it on your mother for having such a face. Not only did she captivate your father, but even His Majesty couldn't forget her. Instead of letting His Majesty vent his anger on the Yongyi Marquis's Mansion, wouldn't it be better to give her to His Majesty? But my good elder brother is a stubborn person. If he doesn't die against His Majesty, who will die? But I didn't expect that woman to be so stupid. She gave up the great wealth and glory and chose to seek death. His Majesty still vented his anger on our mansion. It's all your fault!"
"Haha, do you really think His Majesty will let you go? You are daydreaming. Do you really think that it was all my credit that I was able to do it so smoothly? Haha, my good nephew, I will wait in the underground to watch your good show and see how you try to break free. Anyway, you like men, so what difference does it make?"
Jing Lie sneered at the side: "Do you think Yuan Jing is as selfish and greedy as you? From the moment you brought Yuan Jing into the palace, you stepped into Yuan Jing's plan. Don't you know how you died? Do you really think Yuan Jing is as stupid as you?"
"It's you? It's actually you? Impossible, you don't have the ability to do it!" Zeng Kang went crazy. He thought that someone was helping Zeng Yuanjing deal with him for his title. But now Jing Lie told him that everything was controlled by Zeng Yuanjing. He actually let such an enemy grow up. If he had known this, he might as well have killed his nephew early and sent their family to reunite in the underground.
Yuan Jing looked at the mad Zeng Kang with cold eyes and said, "When you are in the underworld, instead of thinking about my end, you should think about how to face my father, brother and grandfather. You should give them an explanation first."
"By the way, His Majesty said he would give me the title of Marquis, but unfortunately, I declined it again. Look, the title of the Zeng family that you value so much has been rejected by me twice. The Zeng family has completely become an ordinary citizen. Will the ancestors of the Zeng family forgive you?"
"So you should worry about yourself first, and your children outside. Without the halo of family background, how do you think they will live?"
After saying that, Yuan Jing chuckled, then walked out hand in hand with Jing Lie. At the last moment, Jing Lie turned around and gave Zeng Kang a malicious smile, which made Zeng Kang step back a few steps and fall to the ground, covering his face and sobbing.
After leaving the dungeon and returning to the sunlight outside, Yuan Jing looked up at the sun in the sky and sighed, "Zeng Kang is so selfish and stupid. Who would have thought that he would kill his father and brothers for such a reason?"
Jing Lie said: "Now he has got what he wanted."
Yuan Jing narrowed his eyes and said, "Go take another look at the old lady."
According to his estimation, the old lady's health had not been good to begin with, and after suffering such a blow, she probably wouldn't live long. But what did this have to do with him? The man who pretended to be a filial son in front of her all day long was the murderer who killed her eldest son and grandson.
When Yuan Jing and Jing Lie arrived at the present Zeng family's house, which was the old lady's private property, there was a lot of noise inside because the whole family was arguing about dividing the family property.
In the past, those illegitimate sons and daughters did not dare to do anything to Song, the main wife. But now Zeng Kang is about to be beheaded, and Song's family is eager to cut off ties with her and will not support her. They are also unwilling to stay in the capital. If they stay here, they will always be carrying the title of having a murderer father. It is better for them to take the money and run away, and start over in another place.
Even Song might not want to care about these concubines and illegitimate children anymore, but she didn't want to share the old lady's things with them at all. In her opinion, these things should all belong to her two children. Without the wealth of the uncle's mansion, these properties were now guarded very closely by her. After all the quarrels and arguments, no one cared about the old lady's health. Nanny Lin couldn't stop these people from running to the old lady and making trouble.
Yuan Jing's appearance at this time made Nanny Lin feel like she had seen a savior, and the concubines and illegitimate sons and daughters fell silent.
Song and Zeng Jingshu stared at Zeng Yuanjing who suddenly appeared with hatred. In their opinion, it was Zeng Yuanjing who caused the Bo family to fall into such a situation and killed their husbands and fathers. They wanted to pounce on him and bite his flesh and drink his blood.
"How dare you come over here?" Zeng Jingshu screamed.
Yuan Jing was surprised: "Why am I so shameless to come here? It was me who asked Zeng Kang to kill my father and elder brother. It's good that I didn't settle the score with you and took my anger out on you. Oh, by the way, it was your mother, my good aunt, who poisoned me. Shouldn't I be the one asking you whether you have the face or not?"
"Or why don't I, the victim, just die, so that you perpetrators don't have to worry about your actions and dark thoughts being exposed to the sun?"
"Ah - you will die a horrible death!" Zeng Jingshu really rushed forward to scratch Yuan Jing.
But before they could touch Yuan Jing's men, a kick came from the side and kicked Zeng Jingshu away. Zeng Yuanliu and the others then saw the man standing next to Yuan Jing. They slowly retracted their outstretched foot and subconsciously took a few steps back, fearing that the kick would fall on them.
"Jingshu!" Song threw herself on her daughter.
Zeng Yuanxin was in a daze the whole time, and only came to his senses when Jing Lie kicked Zeng Jingshu out. However, he could not say a word of accusation when meeting Yuan Jing's cold eyes. He had no idea that his uncle and cousin were killed by his father. He knew it was impossible to wrongly accuse his father after the three judges held a joint trial, so he was ashamed when facing Yuan Jing, his cousin whom he once looked down upon.
Since there was nothing he wanted to say, Yuan Jing just walked past him and ignored him, just like Zeng Yuanxin had done to him before.
Nanny Lin saw Yuan Jing and said sadly: "Fourth Young Master, you are finally here. The old lady..."
"Let me go in and see the old lady."
Nanny Lin nodded repeatedly and took Yuan Jing inside. There were not many servants in the house now, just some loyal servants like Nanny Lin. Otherwise, the old lady who had no one to take care of her and had to lie in bed would have become smelly and there was no way she could lie there as fresh as she was now.
Hearing the noise outside, the old lady tried hard to look outside, making "hehe" sounds from her mouth. Her symptoms were more serious than the first stroke. The last time it might have been a minor stroke, but this time it was a major stroke. Her eyes were cloudy, she had become much thinner, and looked older.
"Old lady, I'm here to see you." Yuan Jing stood by the bed and lowered his head to look at the old woman on the bed.
Tears rolled down the old lady's eyes. She was sad and upset. Why did the great Marquis' Mansion fall to such a state? The eldest son was killed by the second son, and her eldest grandson, even Yuan Jing, was almost killed by the second son's family right under her nose. She would not be able to see the old man and the eldest son in the underworld.
"Madam, I just went to see my second uncle. I told him that I did everything. I was the one who poisoned myself in front of His Majesty so that I could move out. I was also the one who asked someone to re-investigate the deaths of my father and brother. After finding the evidence, I asked my uncle to come to the capital to file a complaint. I was the one who personally sent my second uncle to jail. Will you blame me, old lady? But I don't regret it. Evil will be punished. It's not that there will be no retribution, it's just that the time has not come yet."
"Although the old lady is my grandmother, I can't forget the past, so I won't come here unless there is something important. I will leave some money for Nanny Lin. This money is for the old lady's retirement. If she needs money in the future, let Nanny Lin come to me, but I will not take care of other people."
"That's it. Old lady, take care of yourself. This house is in such a mess, and we can't do without a head of the household."
After saying that, Yuan Jing turned and looked at Nanny Lin, not worried at all that she would tell others what she heard. As a son, isn't it his duty to avenge his father and brother? He took out a silver note of 1,000 taels and handed it to Nanny Lin: "Mammy, keep this money well. You don't have to tell them. Even if they want to divide the family property, they won't get this money. Keep it to buy some good medicine for the old lady to take care of her health."
"Thank you, Fourth Young Master. Thank you, Fourth Young Master, for still thinking about the old lady." Nanny Lin sobbed. Even if she heard the whole story, she couldn't blame the Fourth Young Master. She never thought that the Second Master was so cruel. The Eldest Master and the Young Master were such good people.
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