Chapter 347: Forcing Qingwu to Hand Over the National Seal
Liang Yongan said something in a hurry and it was no use regretting it because everyone heard it.
The Dali Temple official shouted, "Take him away."
The yamen runner understood and stuffed the smelly socks back into Liang Yongan's mouth, then took him to the Dali Temple prison without giving him a chance to refute.
Concubine Yue was also escorted by the Jingzhao prefect's yamen runners. Before leaving, the Jingzhao prefect gave Shi Yu a look of gratitude.
Forced by Princess Qingwu to take over Liang Fuzhu's case, he was at a loss as to what to do, thinking that he might really have to go to the underworld to find Liang Fuzhu in three days.
However, they did not expect that with the help of the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess, the truth would be revealed the next day. All that was left was to interrogate and sign the papers. According to the law, those who should be killed would be killed, and those who should be flayed would be flayed, and the case would be closed.
He was able to save his life in this regard.
Regardless of whether the Crown Princess was truly possessed by a ghost or not, Liu had already remembered this favor.
Seeing Shi Yu carrying Wei Qingyan away, he hurriedly caught up with the Dali Temple Minister.
Although these are two cases, they can actually be considered as one case. In addition to Concubine Yue, Liang Yongan was also the one who killed Liang Fuzhu. If the two were imprisoned in two separate yamen, it would be inconvenient to interrogate them.
After some discussion, the two adults finally decided to put them all in the Dali Temple Prison. The Dali Temple Minister and the Jingzhao Prefecture Governor jointly tried the case, and Qingwu was present throughout the whole process.
The person mainly responsible for the trial was the Dali Temple Minister. He was always a smooth official and would not easily stand out, but the tragic death of Liang Fuzhu made him feel angry. When the Jingzhao prefect politely declined, he accepted it without hesitation.
Just because he also had a thirteen-year-old daughter, Liang Yongan's beastly behavior towards Liang Fuzhu aroused his fatherly instinct.
Liang Yongan was a coward. After being tortured with only three of the thirty-six tortures of the Dali Temple, he confessed and admitted that he and Concubine Yue had killed Liang Fuzhu together.
He poisoned the old lady and framed the Crown Princess because he was worried that the Crown Princess was proficient in occult arts and would cause trouble for him after finding out about Liang Fuzhu, so he decided to strike first.
On the contrary, Yuepin had admitted to her identity and murder, but she suddenly took all the responsibility for Liang Yongan. The reason was that she was punished with five types of punishment. In the end, she never revealed anything until she died of pain. She only said that she loved Liang Yongan and was willing to take the blame for him.
The Dali Temple Minister didn't believe it.
In the end, it was the prefect of Jingzhao who reminded him that there was another key figure in Liang Fuzhu's case, who was the person who led Liang Fuzhu to Yuepin's palace.
Liang Fuzhu leaned over the Crown Princess without revealing anything, probably because she didn't know.
Concubine Yue may not know either, but the most likely possibility is that she made some guesses later.
It has been more than 20 years, and the palace maids have been replaced several times. They have no clues and have no way to investigate.
The most important thing is that a palace maid would not offend Concubine Yue and Marquis Zhenbei for no reason. It is very likely that she was also instructed by someone. The people who can order the palace maids are naturally the masters of the palace.
The former masters of the palace are all dead, and the living ones, except the queen, have all gone to the temporary palace to retire. There are not many who are mentally normal now.
There are only a handful of people who can make Yuepin feel apprehensive.
Let’s talk about Liang Yongan’s false accusation against the Crown Princess. He has been highly valued by the Queen in recent years, but he went to deal with the Queen’s daughter-in-law who had just arrived in Fengzhao.
I'm afraid Liang Yongan's intention may not be that simple. Both of them are old hands in the officialdom, and they know that for some things, knowing less can save your life.
Both of them tacitly chose to stop there and asked Yuepin and Liang Yongan to sign their confessions respectively, which was also an explanation to Liang Fuzhu.
The next morning at court, the confessions of the two men were presented before the emperor.
The queen was furious after reading it.
Liang Yongan and Yuepin were immediately sentenced to death by slicing on the charge of committing adultery in the palace, and after being discovered, they refused to repent and instead used extremely cruel means to kill people to silence them.
As soon as the Queen decided on the punishment for the two, a minister stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, committing adultery in the harem is a grave crime punishable by genocide. The law punishes the entire family in order to deter and warn the people of the world about the price of crime. Don't commit evil lightly."
Yesterday, the old marquis temporarily split the clan to exonerate the Liang clan. This move is truly inappropriate. If everyone follows the old marquis's example in the future, where will the laws of Fengzhao be?"
This is true, and many ministers agreed.
"Although what you said makes sense, the Liang family is a founding family of the nation. Aside from that loser Liang Yongan, the Liang family has never made a major mistake.
The old marquis even fought for Feng Zhao on the battlefield for half his life, and the other four sons of the Zhenbei Marquisate all sacrificed their lives to protect Feng Zhao."
Qingwu walked in from outside the palace. She was not wearing a gauze skirt today, but a neat men's suit. Her long hair was tied up high. She bowed respectfully to the queen.
"Looking across Fengzhao, there is only one family like the Liang family that has achieved such a century of merit. There is absolutely no one who can emulate them. Qingwu implores the Queen to consider the Liang family's past achievements and make appropriate arrangements."
"If you take the princess's words as they say, then the old marquis is suspected of taking advantage of the emperor. It is the duty of a minister to receive the emperor's salary and share his worries.
"In the future, if anyone makes a contribution to Fengzhao, and their family members commit crimes, this can be used to offset their mistakes. Wouldn't Fengzhao be in chaos?" a minister retorted.
Qing Wu glanced at him coldly, "Wait until your family also surrenders to the nomadic kingdom and your four sons die in battle, then you can say this."
"You..." The minister was furious. "Princess, you are being partial and acting in an absurd way."
"Please show some mercy, Your Majesty." Qing Wu was too lazy to pay attention to him and looked at the Queen again.
"Everyone has their own reasons for what you say."
The Queen spoke in a deep voice, "Qingwu, I understand your friendship with Miss Fu and your desire to help the Liang family. No one can deny the achievements of the old marquis and the four sons of the Liang family.
But in the future, there may be people whose achievements can match or even surpass those of the Liang family. If they make mistakes in the future, what should I do?
I cannot bear to see a family of loyal ministers and generals implicated because of the crimes of one man, Liang Yongan. Does Qingwu have a plan that can both protect the Liang family and prevent future generations from following suit?
Qing Wu half-lowered her eyes, anger in her eyes. What was this win-win plan? It was clearly forcing her to give up that half of the national seal in exchange for the lives of the entire Liang family.
Only the national seal cannot be compared with any great achievements of future generations.
However, the national seal was given to her by her brother the emperor to check and balance the empress. If she hands over the national seal, Feng Zhao will all fall into the hands of the empress. Wouldn't that be a betrayal of her brother the emperor's trust? How would she face her ancestors in the future?
Will the queen, who has obtained the national seal, kill Shi Yu?
While Qingwu was struggling between inner and outer struggles, the old marquis asked for a meeting outside the palace.
He had given up his title several decades ago and had long lost the qualifications to attend court, so he could only wait outside the palace to be summoned, but he could hear everything spoken inside clearly.
After entering the palace and paying respects, the old marquis spoke directly, "I have come here today to both apologize to Her Majesty and to ask for Her grace.
My old wife and I have failed to raise our children properly, and our lives are at the mercy of Your Majesty.
Liang Yongan committed a serious mistake and deserves to be cut into pieces, but the Liang family members are innocent.
Back then, the third daughter of the Lin family conspired with Xiao Pei to rebel, which was a crime that implicated nine generations of the family. The Lin family immediately expelled the third daughter from the family.
The late emperor was merciful and only punished Miss Lin San because the Lin family had worked hard for Feng Zhao despite having no merits.
This old minister, shamelessly offering his few achievements, will exchange this document for the division of the clan. I hope Your Majesty will grant this."
After saying this, he glanced at the queen's gloomy face, lowered his head quickly, and revealed a hint of bitterness.
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