Chapter 510: Punishment of the Second Prince
With these confessions, Luo Qinghan could convict these fifteen people.
According to the laws of the Great Sheng Dynasty, those who cheated in the imperial examinations would have their scores invalidated and would be disqualified from taking the examination for life.
But this is just the punishment for cheating.
They also bribed the examiners and stole the test questions, which is a much more serious crime than cheating.
According to the law, anyone who bribed an imperial official would be sentenced to beheading.
When Luo Qinghan was deciding to sentence these people to beheading, Dong Mingchun couldn't help but remind him.
"Your Highness, please think twice."
If this verdict were issued, it would mean that the prince would offend more than a dozen aristocratic families at once.
Luo Qinghan ignored his dissuasion and stamped the prince's seal on the verdict.
Dong Mingchun looked at the verdict in front of him and felt a little cold sweat when he thought about the situation that would arise next.
When the prince arrived at the Weiyang Palace with his confession and the verdict, it was already noon.
Twenty people were kneeling at the gate of Weiyang Palace.
Luo Qinghan looked carefully and found that they were the families of the fifteen cheating candidates.
They already knew that their younger generations had been caught cheating in the exam, so they went to the palace to ask for an audience with the emperor, hoping that the emperor would show mercy and spare the lives of those ignorant younger generations.
However, the emperor claimed to be ill and refused to show up.
They had no choice but to kneel outside the Weiyang Palace, hoping to impress the emperor in this way.
As a result, they did not wait for the emperor's attitude to soften, but instead waited for the prince to arrive.
When they saw the prince appear, their eyes instantly turned unfriendly.
Luo Qinghan could feel that these people must hate him.
But he didn't care.
He walked past these people without looking around, entered the Weiyang Palace, kowtowed to the emperor, and presented his confession and verdict.
The emperor looked at what was presented to him and was silent for a long time before he spoke.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Luo Qinghan said calmly: "Since I have taken the first step, I will not look back."
The emperor thought of those people kneeling outside, hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help but give them a few more words of advice.
"Why don't we just settle this privately? After all, it's not a glorious thing. If it gets out of hand, people will think you're deliberately taking the opportunity to suppress the Second Prince."
Luo Qinghan didn't want to make any more excuses and just said this calmly.
"Right and wrong are in the hearts of the people, and I have a clear conscience."
The emperor sighed and said helplessly, "I don't know who you inherited this stubbornness from, and I don't know whether your temper is good or bad. Anyway, you should take it easy."
He picked up the imperial seal next to him and pressed it on the verdict.
This judgment has now officially come into effect.
Gan Fu took the verdict with both hands and silently stepped aside.
The emperor then turned and asked about the second prince.
Luo Qinghan said truthfully: "My second brother is now imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice, awaiting the emperor's decision."
The emperor slowly turned the jade ring on his left thumb and asked, "What do you think should be done with him?"
Luo Qinghan: "He is my brother, and I don't want to be harsh on him. However, this time the exam has been leaked twice in a row. As one of the main culprits, if he is not severely punished, I am afraid it will be difficult to explain to the scholars of the world."
"According to you, you want to severely punish the Second Prince?"
Luo Qinghan lowered his head and looked down, showing a humble attitude: "It is difficult to reconcile national law with common sense. I don't know what to do. At this time, I have to ask my father for instructions."
The emperor was quite satisfied with his reaction.
Although the prince has the advantage of being young, youth also has its disadvantages, such as being not experienced enough in handling matters.
At critical moments, he, the father, has to make decisions.
The emperor sighed and said, "This is indeed the Second Prince's fault. He must be punished. The Second Prince is getting old now, so it's time to give him a throne."
He summoned the eunuch in charge of writing and began to draft the decree.
The Second Prince Luo Yunxuan was enthroned as King You and granted the fiefdom of Youyun County. He was ordered to go to his fiefdom immediately and was not allowed to return to the capital without the imperial edict.
This imperial edict seems to be a reward, but in fact it is a punishment.
Not to mention that the title of King You itself carries an ominous meaning, just the fact that Youyun County is a very remote place is no exaggeration to say that it is a poor and remote mountain area.
Once Luo Yunxuan goes to such a place, his future days will definitely be difficult.
The most important thing is that Youyun County is very far away from Shengjing.
Luo Yunxuan's departure meant that he was forced to stay away from the political center. If something happened in Shengjing in the future, he would have no way of knowing since he was so far away.
In other words, he had lost the qualification to compete for the right to inherit the throne.
This punishment was even more painful for Luo Yunxuan than killing him.
But when he received the imperial edict, he had to force himself to pretend to be very happy.
He went to the palace to thank his father and say goodbye.
The emperor dismissed all the servants around him, leaving only him and Luo Yunxuan in the room.
The father and son chatted alone for an hour.
No one knew what they talked about.
When Luo Yunxuan walked out of Weiyang Palace, the dejected look on his face had disappeared completely.
He regained his usual gentle and elegant demeanor, and gave Gan Fu instructions with a smile.
"After I'm gone, please take good care of my father for me."
Gan Fu said hurriedly: "Serving Your Majesty is my duty, Your Majesty, there is no need to be so polite."
Luo Yunxuan kowtowed three times towards the gate of Weiyang Palace before leaving reluctantly.
That afternoon, King You's carriage drove out of Shengjing City and headed towards the distant Youyun County.
When this matter reached the ears of King Xiling, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"The old fox emperor deliberately sent Luo Yunxuan away. On the surface, he wanted to appease the scholars of the world, but in fact he wanted to take the opportunity to keep Luo Yunxuan away from Shengjing, a place of trouble. From this point of view, it seems that the emperor still likes his second son Luo Yunxuan the most."
Xie Chuxue filled his glass with wine and asked softly, "Should we send someone to stop Luo Yunxuan?"
Prince Xiling: "No need, Manager Fang has already gone after him personally. With him out there, Luo Yunxuan will definitely not be able to escape."
Thinking of the unprepossessing Manager Fang, Xie Chuxue felt somewhat doubtful.
She asked tentatively, "Father, do you really believe in Fang Wujiu? Although he has helped you a lot, he is an outsider after all, and he is also involved with Xuanmen behind the scenes. We don't know much about Xuanmen. What if Xuanmen has evil intentions and wants to harm you? What should we do?"
Prince Xiling took a sip of wine and narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Don't worry, I have someone watching him. If he does anything wrong, that person will kill him immediately."
Xie Chuxue felt relieved: "Father is really thoughtful."
Prince Xiling put down his wine glass and asked: "Have you prepared the birthday gift for the Queen Mother?"
Xie Chuxue: "It's ready."
King Xiling stood up and said, "Take me to see it."
Xie Chuxue smiled: "Okay."
…
There are two girls who have never come to receive their awards and cannot be contacted. In this case, we will assume that they have voluntarily forfeited their rights.
Don’t waste the two extra gift packs.
I plan to draw one person each on Weibo and in the book review section, and the winner will receive a customized Xianyu peripheral gift package.
As for Weibo, it’s still the same as before, just repost and comment on my pinned Weibo. My Weibo is the super delicious big fruit grains.
For book review, just leave a comment below this chapter.
I will randomly select two people from them and announce the results at midnight tomorrow night.
ps: The winners must subscribe to this article on QQ Reading. Please support genuine reading~
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
