Xiao Qi told him everything about the poetry meeting. If there were no other people around, he would have wanted to beat this guy up! Now that he saw Xiao Yuankai looking as miserable as a beggar, he felt very happy!

"Master Xiao may have forgotten that Concubine Xian was punished to copy scriptures under house arrest. Even if he knew about this, he would be powerless. As for Master Xiao..."

Thinking of the spy who had just been taken to the cell, Zhao Chengwen looked at him and said meaningfully: "I can't even protect myself, how can I take care of you?"

After saying this, he turned around and strode away in a good mood.

Xiao Yuankai eagerly stretched out his hand through the gap in the cell and grabbed forward with force, trying to stop him and ask him clearly.

"Stop, what do you mean?!"

"Come back! Explain it to me!"

But the other party had already gone far away, and no matter how much he shouted, it was in vain.

The next morning court session.

In the Tai'an Hall, seeing that General Li and Zhao Jingwu had not been seen for a long time, the ministers came forward to greet the two.

The two men, who had also not attended court for a long time and were surrounded by many ministers, formed a sharp contrast with Xiao Wentao who was standing alone on the other side.

Zheng Fang secretly spat in their direction, then turned around and looked at Xiao Wentao flatteringly.

"They are just a bunch of fence-sitters. Sir Xiao, don't pay any attention to them."

However, Xiao Wentao kept his brows furrowed and ignored him.

For some reason, he always felt a little uneasy.

"The Emperor has arrived——"

"Your Highness, I pay my respects to you!"

Emperor Qixuan sat upright on the dragon throne, looking at the court officials with dignity.

Suddenly, Censor Zhou took a step forward.

"Your Majesty, I want to impeach the Minister of War Zheng Fang for corruption and bribery, and for instructing his brother-in-law Sun Wei to use his position to poison the assassin who appeared at the palace banquet and kill him to silence him! As soon as the words fell, there was an uproar in the Tai'an Hall.

"Zheng Fang is so bold?"

"But doesn't he hate corrupt officials the most in his life? He even arrested several ministers who were corrupt and accepted bribes."

"Could it be that he has some connection with the assassin, so they are in a hurry to kill him?"

Someone glanced at Xiao Wentao and whispered, "Zheng Fang has always followed Minister Xiao's lead, so this matter will not be resolved..."

Hearing this, Xiao Wentao glanced over with a cold look, and the man was so scared that he quickly shut up.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent!" Zheng Fang was so frightened that his face turned pale and he fell to his knees on the ground with a thud.

"The testimony and account book are here, please have a look, Your Majesty!"

Censor Zhou held several books in both hands and raised them high above his head.

After Emperor Qixuan took it, he read the testimony above, took a few deep breaths, and suppressed his anger. After looking through the account book, he could no longer suppress his anger.

“Bold!”

"How dare you covet military supplies, military pay, and the money used to build weapons? Soldiers are fighting desperately on the battlefield to defend their country, but you're lying on top of them, sucking their blood!"

Emperor Qixuan threw three two-finger-thick account books one by one onto Zheng Fang's forehead.

“Damn it!”

Because of years of martial arts training, his aim was very good and he hit the same spot every time.

Zheng Fang was hit three times, his forehead was already broken, blood mixed with cold sweat flowed all over his face, and he looked in a miserable state.

He stopped protesting and raised his head tremblingly, glancing in the direction of Xiao Wentao.

Emperor Qixuan watched his actions coldly and said sternly: "If you are willing to make up for your crime and make meritorious contributions, I can spare your life!"

Hearing this, Zheng Fang subconsciously glanced in the direction of Xiao Wentao.

Xiao Wentao seemed to have eyes behind his back. He suddenly turned around, pointed at him and said righteously:

"Zheng Fang, you are such a bastard. It's fine if you embezzled military funds, but you even dared to assassinate the emperor. Aren't you afraid of sacrificing the lives of your entire family by doing such a heinous act?!"

Hearing this, Zheng Fang's face suddenly turned pale, his eyes became moist, his forehead slammed heavily on the ground, and his voice was slightly choked.

"Your Majesty, this is all done by me, the guilty minister. It has nothing to do with anyone else!"

He closed his eyes heavily, tears of regret sliding from the corners of his eyes onto his sleeves.

The county magistrate at that time hastily closed the case and convicted and beheaded his father because of the one hundred taels of silver given by the murderer's family.

From then on, he was determined to eradicate all injustice in the world and to fight against corrupt officials!

Originally, he was determined to be a good official who was loyal to the emperor, patriotic, and dedicated to serving the people.

I don't know when it started, but he gradually became the person he once hated the most.

Xiao Wentao's meaning was very clear.

If they don't confess him, the worst outcome for the Zheng family will be exile, but their family members may still survive.

But to tell the truth, before Xiao Wentao died, he would drag dozens of people from the Zheng family to be buried with him.

He doesn't dare to gamble!

"snort!"

Emperor Qixuan snorted in dissatisfaction, "Someone come!"

The royal guards outside the palace came in upon hearing the order.

"Put Zheng Fang in the death row, and behead him outside the Meridian Gate in three days. All Zheng family assets will be confiscated and put into the national treasury. The rest of the Zheng family will be exiled!"

After Zheng Fang was taken away, Xiao Wentao gradually loosened his clenched fists. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, he heard:

"Bring the people up!"

"Crack, tear..."

The sound of iron chains rubbing against the ground reached everyone's ears.

The Royal Guards carried a prisoner into the hall.

The man's hands and feet were chained, he was wearing dirty prison clothes, his hair was messy and his face was dirty.

After seeing the man's appearance, Xiao Wentao looked a little panicked. He subconsciously staggered back half a step and almost lost his balance.

Isn't he dead?

The person brought up was none other than the insider he had planted next to the Li family, Ma Qi, who was also the spy who leaked military intelligence to Xiyue before the war.

Xiao Wentao turned his head abruptly and looked at the figure sitting high on the dragon throne.

So that's how it is. Sending Zhao Jingwu to suppress the bandits was also fake.

The emperor had long suspected him, and together with the Li and Zhao families, he had woven a big net, waiting for him to get in! That Yuan Kai was caught? Damn, he was so confused yesterday! Seeing his slightly panicked expression, the prince pulled the corner of his mouth slightly.

It was indeed he who sent people to find the Cheng family, and it was also his instruction to stop Xiao Yuankai in the street.

His original intention was just to take this opportunity to arrest Xiao Yuankai, and he didn't even expect to convict him based on that deed alone.

But as long as Xiao Yuankai is put in jail, the Xiao family will certainly have no time to take care of other things.

In this way, General Zhao could escort the spy back to Beijing smoothly.

Machi knelt on the ground, pointing in the direction of Xiao Wentao with a look of resentment on his face.

"Your Majesty, everything was ordered by Minister Xiao. He was the one who asked me to leak the information to Xiyue, and he was also the one who asked me to frame the Li family!"

Xiao Wentao took a step forward, without even looking at him, "Your Majesty, please understand! I don't even know this person!"

"You're talking nonsense!"

"It was you who arranged for me to be with General Li. This time, it was you who promised to give me 10,000 taels of gold and let me get promoted after the matter was accomplished!"

Xiao Wentao turned around and looked at him with disdain.

"Your Majesty, this man cannot be trusted. He is clearly making random accusations. He must be jealous of me, so he is throwing dirty water on me!"

His contemptuous look irritated Ma Qi, "I have helped you to send letters to Wei Wei, the head of the Xiyue State Military Headquarters, many times. Those letters are the evidence!"

Emperor Qixuan immediately ordered people to search the Xiao Mansion.

March looked resentful.

Want to kill him to silence him? Then he will let Xiao Wentao and the entire Xiao family be buried with him! It's worth it to drag so many people down with him on the road to the underworld!

Seeing his attitude, Xiao Wentao sneered silently.

Humph, wishful thinking! (End of this chapter)