Chapter 19: It's easy to find a pretext for a crime
The people who were responsible for confiscating the property have not arrived yet, which means that what they did last night has already caused trouble for the Dog Emperor.
On the other side...
In the Northern Qi Imperial Palace, Emperor Mingde, who was sitting on the throne, waved his sleeves violently, knocking over the memorial presented by the eunuch.
"Good, very good. Civil and military officials all came to me when their homes were robbed. Then who should I go to when the national treasury was robbed last night?"
Emperor Mingde was furious, his whole face turned red from anger. As if scolding was not enough, he raised his foot and kicked the young eunuch next to him down the stairs.
The table was smashed with a bang, and Emperor Mingde roared at the people below.
"Talk? Aren't you all usually very talkative?"
"Not only was the treasury stolen last night, but the entire palace was burned to ashes. You didn't want to share my worries, but instead wanted me to give you justice. What use do I have for a bunch of you trash?"
All the civil and military officials were frightened when facing this scene, and no one dared to open his mouth and offend the emperor at this critical juncture.
They had no idea who had stolen from the national treasury, and they had no idea why the homes of more than a dozen officials were robbed overnight.
Some officials whose homes had not been robbed did not dare to show any expression, for fear of being impeached for gloating over their misfortune. Officials whose homes had been robbed did not dare to speak a word and could only blame themselves for their bad luck.
Prince Qi Jing glanced at Master Shen who was resting with his eyes closed, then continued to keep his head down and remained silent.
The second prince Qi Ren, who was standing next to him, pretended to be worried and walked forward to speak, as if to comfort him, but also as a reminder.
"The dragon's health is more important. Please calm down, father. The theft of the national treasury can be handed over to the Dali Temple for investigation. We have more important things to do today."
After hearing this, Emperor Mingde, who was standing beside the dragon throne, temporarily put away his anger. After being reminded by the Second Prince Qi Ren, he did remember that he had something important to do today.
Without the emperor saying anything, the attendant Eunuch Li took out the evidence he had prepared in advance and read out in front of everyone the imperial edict sentencing Gu Yanchen to confiscation of property and exile for treason!
A small number of ministers present had already known about the emperor's actions, and did not show too much shock on their faces. Ran Qingxuan's grandfather, Master Shen, was obviously stunned for a moment after opening his eyes, and while Emperor Mingde was not paying attention, he turned his head and glanced at the people in the hall.
General Chang Hu was about to speak, but unexpectedly someone stood up before him to defend Gu Yanchen.
This person was none other than Zhou Zhiyuan, the father of my eldest sister-in-law Zhou Furong. Although he was a second-rank official, he was a civil servant after all. Before he could say a few words, he was immediately reprimanded by the angry Emperor Mingde and even demoted one rank to a third-rank minister.
Being demoted by one rank is not scary. What is scary is that the emperor is determined to deal with the Gu family. If anyone pleads for mercy, it will only add fuel to the fire.
In order to avoid being criticized, Emperor Mingde even pointed out several officials who had agreed with Gu Yanchen, and bluntly stated that since they agreed with Gu Yanchen's remarks so much, they must have the same intention of rebellion as him.
It's easy to find a pretext to accuse someone of a crime. Anyone with a discerning eye can tell that it's nonsense, but what can we do?
If the king wants his subject to die, the subject must die!
Without even being given a chance to defend themselves, the ministers who were named were all taken away crying.
When the officials who knew that Gu Yanchen was wronged and wanted to plead for him saw this situation, they did not dare to say a word.
Emperor Mingde acted swiftly and decisively. In just one morning court session, he had already found more than a dozen charges against Gu Yanchen. The imperial edict had already been read out, and the ministers kneeling in the hall were forced to accept it.
Not only that, Emperor Mingde even sent General Huaibei to read the imperial edict and confiscate the property.
Although Huaibei General Deng Zhuo has always followed Gu Yanchen, he is too ambitious, otherwise he would not have helped Emperor Mingde forge evidence of Gu Yanchen's treason.
Sending Deng Zhuo was also a humiliation of Gu Yanchen by Emperor Mingde, humiliating him for being blind and trusting someone he shouldn't have trusted!
Because the national treasury had been stolen, it was already past the hour of Mao when the confiscation team set out from the imperial city.
Zhou Zhiyuan and Chang Hu were extremely anxious and rushed out of the palace before the house-raiding team.
"The Emperor is so ruthless that he would take advantage of Gu Yanchen's serious injury as an excuse to confiscate his property and exile him. Isn't this pushing him to a dead end?"
Zhou Zhiyuan quickly whispered, "Nephew, please stop talking. Now that things have already been decided, we should hurry up and remind them that Furong and Yue'e are sisters-in-law. I'll write a letter and you can send your fast subordinates to deliver it."
Then he continued, "The Emperor has not issued an order that family members cannot see them off. I will go home and pack some soft blankets and wait outside the city. You should also hurry up and prepare some. It is better than letting them suffer from the cold on the road!"
Chang Hu was a rough man, and his mind was not as delicate as that of a civil servant. He immediately became anxious when he heard this.
"Don't worry, uncle. I will also write a letter and send it over."
The two men hurried back to their respective residences. The legs of the servants carrying the sedan chair in Zhou's residence were so rubbed that sparks were coming out of their legs. Zhou Zhiyuan was also shaken dizzy inside.
When Zheng Huilan learned that her daughter's family was about to be confiscated and exiled, she was so frightened that she fainted.
Zhou Zhiyuan didn't care about his wife and hurried to the warehouse to get money and quilts and clothes for the winter.
Chang Yue'e's father was injured while leading troops in battle a few years ago and had retired from the court early. After hearing his son's report, he became so angry that he stood up and wanted to go to the palace.
"Dad, it's too late. The confiscating team is probably about to arrive at the Gu Mansion. Let's pack up some things and wait for my sister and the others outside the city!"
Old Master Chang was so furious that he raised his hand and slapped his son.
"Asshole, why didn't you defend yourself and just watched your sister's family suffer this disaster? Is this how you act as a big brother?"
Mrs. Chang, who was standing next to him, recovered from her shock and stood up to stop him.
"What's the point of beating your son now? Will beating him make the emperor take back his order?"
"And how is he going to defend himself? The Emperor clearly wants to punish the Gu family. Didn't he hear what happened when Lord Zhou pleaded for mercy? Do you still want your son to become a third-rank official?"
As he spoke, tears began to fall.
"Yue'e has a hard life, and so does the Gu family. Instead of beating your son now, why don't you quickly prepare something for Yue'e? The weather is getting colder day by day, and what if she gets sick again during exile..."
Mrs. Chang couldn't continue talking, so she stood up, took her son and went to pack up. Mr. Chang slammed the table hard and helplessly ordered people to harness the carriage.
The two families here were busy packing up their things, but on the other side, the Gu family was crying and shouting, which was completely the opposite.
The smug-looking Huaibei General Deng Zhuo took the imperial edict and led his men into the Gu Mansion, shouting, "I have been ordered to confiscate the property. Everyone in the Gu Mansion, do not move!"
Madam Gu stood up calmly and walked out. Although the three sisters-in-law had known that this would happen and had prepared themselves mentally, they still panicked when they really faced it.
Hearing the noise in the front yard, Gu Yanchen wanted to get up, but Ran Qingxuan quickly held his shoulder and signaled him not to be impulsive.
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