Kangxi's face was as dark as ice. "Your Highness, please read this first before deciding whether to plead for Suo'etu!"
He then handed the blood-written letter from Suo'etu to Liang Jiugong, who immediately presented it to the Crown Prince.
The Crown Prince took a closer look. Even though he already knew that Suo'etu was corrupt and had accepted bribes, he did not expect the amount to be so enormous.
The crown prince looked at Suo'etu with a sinister gaze, and Suo'etu lowered his head in shame.
"Your Highness, do you still wish to plead for Suo'etu?" Kangxi asked coldly.
The Crown Prince was truly at a loss for words. Suo'etu's appetite was enormous; he had just accepted nearly ten million taels of silver, which was almost half of the Qing Dynasty's annual tax revenue.
"Your Majesty, I confess my guilt. You may kill me or punish me as you please, I will have no complaints whatsoever!" Soetu knelt before Kangxi and said with a pained expression.
"Father, although Suo'etu's crimes are heinous, please, for the sake of his previous diligence and the Empress Dowager, let him hand over all the embezzled silver to the national treasury and spare his life?" The Crown Prince kowtowed heavily to the ground.
"Your Highness, I am so ashamed of myself!" Soetu cried bitterly.
“Your Majesty, this servant does not know what crime Suo’etu has committed, but he has also done his best for the court. Could we let his merits and demerits offset each other and spare his life?” Suhetai stepped forward and said to Kangxi.
Soetu rubbed his eyes and looked at Suhetai in disbelief. He really didn't expect Suhetai to plead for him.
Suhetai looked at Suo'etu's ghostly expression and curled his lip in disdain. If it weren't for the Crown Prince's involvement, he wouldn't have pleaded for Suo'etu!
If Emperor Kangxi were to execute Suo'etu, Suo'etu would become a stain on the Crown Prince's reputation. The Crown Prince could not have any blemishes if he were to succeed to the throne, and Suo'etu could not become a burden to the Crown Prince.
Kangxi ignored Suhetai and stared sharply at the Crown Prince. He didn't know whether he wanted to see the Crown Prince plead for Suo'etu or not.
He didn't want to see the Crown Prince trust and rely on Songgotu too much, as he worried that Songgotu would have too much influence on the Crown Prince.
At the same time, he didn't want to see the Crown Prince be too heartless; Songgotu's contributions to the Crown Prince over the years were evident to all. The Crown Prince was the most important person to Songgotu.
After a moment of silence, Kangxi said sternly, "Your Highness, you must remember this: those who embezzle and break the law must be severely punished! If I pardon Suo'etu today, won't everyone follow suit in the future?"
The crown prince lowered his head and remained silent, but he was secretly pondering to himself.
Seeing this, Kangxi softened his tone: "Considering that Suo'etu has rendered meritorious service to the court, I can give him a break. However, he must hand over all the silver he embezzled, and Suo'etu will be demoted to a commoner and never be employed again."
The Crown Prince hurriedly expressed his gratitude: "Your son, on behalf of Soetu, thanks Your Majesty for sparing my life."
Soetu was moved to tears and kowtowed repeatedly, saying, "Thank you for Your Majesty's grace! Thank you, Your Highness the Crown Prince!"
At this moment, the brothers Tong Guogang and Tong Guowei stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, we brothers are getting old and our health is not as good as before. We beg Your Majesty's permission to resign and retire!"
Emperor Kangxi looked at Tong Guogang and Tong Guowei with a headache. Both of them had mentioned resigning from their official posts to him before, but he had refused. He didn't expect them to bring it up again now.
After thinking for a moment, Emperor Kangxi said, "Since both of my uncles insist on resigning from their posts, I grant their request!"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Tong Guogang and Tong Guowei replied, and they resigned from their official posts.
Mingzhu pondered to himself, "Now that Suo'etu and the Tong brothers have resigned, what should he do?"
Before Mingzhu could figure it out, she felt three gazes fall on her. Following the gazes, she saw Suo'etu, Tong Guogang, and Tong Guowei.
Mingzhu looked at the three of them and actually understood the meaning in their eyes. "We've all resigned from our official posts, what are you waiting for?"
In fact, Mingzhu didn't care about resigning from his official post. The eldest prince had told him long ago that he had no interest in the position of crown prince, so he gave up. At that time, he wanted to support the eighth prince, but the eighth prince was sent to Shengjing by Kangxi, so he simply put his mind to it.
Why not take this opportunity to resign as well? Just as Mingzhu was hesitating, Kangxi directly announced the end of the court session.
Mingzhu waved helplessly at Suo'etu and the other two, "There's no chance today, let's do it another day!"
When the Crown Prince came before Suo'etu, he saw that Suo'etu had aged considerably after taking off his official robes, and he felt very sad.
"Your Highness, I have explained everything to the Emperor. I hope this will not implicate you."
"From now on, this servant will pray for your well-being and for the Qing Dynasty from the manor!"
Looking at Suo'etu's hunched back, the Crown Prince nodded, speechless for a moment.
Soetu patted the crown prince on the shoulder like an elder would, then turned and left.
The Crown Prince kept watching Suo'etu's back until he could no longer see him before turning back to Yuqing Palace.
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