Bang!
The old lady's ribs were broken by the Marquis of Zhongyong's kick, and she fainted.
Marquis Zhongyong could no longer listen.
How foolish they had been all these years, father and son, that they were both killed by this wicked woman.
"Your Majesty, Shu Liuniang harmed my mother, wife and children. Her crimes are heinous. I beg Your Majesty to execute her according to the law."
The emperor listened with a furrowed brow to what Shu Liu Niang said next.
Truly, a woman's heart is the most poisonous; fortunately, his harem is clean.
The Marquis of Zhongyong immediately granted the request and sentenced Shu Liuniang to be executed by slow slicing at Caishikou the next day.
Ye Zhen woke her up, making Shu Liu Niang hear her own fate.
Shu Liu Niang confessed everything, hoping for a quick death, but she never expected to be torn to pieces. Terrified, she hurriedly begged for mercy.
"Bang'er, Bang'er, your mother was wrong, your mother has suffered too. Your father respects me on the surface, but he has never truly treated me as his wife. Bang'er, your mother was forced into this situation..."
"Does Fu Jiang know that Nianxi was killed because of you?"
Ye Zhen interrupted her wailing.
The old lady was on her deathbed and could no longer care about Fu Jiang, so she hurriedly said, "I know, I have told him about it."
"Did you send Fu Jiang to use the jade pendant to deceive the Grand Princess?"
"No."
The old lady hurriedly denied it, saying, "I stole the jade pendant when Nianxi had a difficult childbirth, and I've kept it hidden very well ever since."
I never imagined Fu Jiang would steal it. He was caught having an affair with Liu by Xie Bang. I was worried he would be killed, so I testified for him, hoping the Grand Princess would spare his life…”
Ye Zhen smiled slightly at the eunuchs carrying the person, indicating that he had finished asking his questions.
Shu Liu Niang was then gagged and carried away.
Ye Zhen then looked at the Grand Princess, saying nothing, but the mocking smile on his lips seemed to say a lot.
The Grand Princess was filled with shame and anger, knowing that everyone was mocking her for being completely fooled by Fu Jiang and his mother.
She hated Fu Jiang and his mother, and she also hated people like Ye Zhen, including the emperor.
But she still has to live on. As long as Kang Le succeeds, she can regain her former glory.
Just as he was about to lament and extricate himself from his guilt, he heard a series of loud bangs outside.
Xie Tingzhou cupped his hands in greeting, "Your Majesty, this is the Drum of Petition!"
To prevent common people from beating the drum for every trivial matter and pleading with the emperor, the court had a rule that anyone who beat the drum to petition the emperor would be punished with thirty strokes of the cane.
With this regulation in place, unless it involves a matter of life and death that the prefectural government or other government offices in the capital cannot handle, they usually will not sound the petition drum.
The sound of drums today must mean something big has happened.
The emperor's face turned solemn, and he hurriedly sent someone to investigate.
The person who came to investigate quickly reported back, "Your Majesty, it was Consort Han who led the people of Wujiazhuang to sue Fu Jiang, the former magistrate of Qingzhou County, for taking advantage of the flood season to damage the dike, causing the entire village of Wujiazhuang downstream to be flooded."
Another village annihilation!
The emperor's eyes darkened, and he immediately ordered that the person who filed the complaint and Fu Jiang be brought over.
Han Zijin was helped in by Wu Er and the village chief's son.
He wrote the divorce papers last night, and early this morning he got up with his old cronies and used his connections to get the divorce papers filed with the authorities.
Then they headed straight out of the city to meet up with Wu Er, who was taking the village chief's family home.
When Wu Er found the village chief's family, he found them being oppressed by the locals. Wu Er rescued them and told them the truth about what happened back then.
When the village chief's son and daughter-in-law learned that the flood was not caused by Han Zijin, and that Xie Tingzhou's men would vouch for their safety, and considering that it would be difficult to survive in the north, they followed them all the way to the capital.
Han Zijin felt ashamed before Wujiazhuang, so he took the blame for being the one who struck the drum and received the thirty lashes.
Upon entering the palace, he loudly proclaimed the truth about the flood in Wujiazhuang that year: "...Your Majesty, I was seriously injured and wandered into Wujiazhuang that year, where they kindly rescued me."
This led to the destruction of their entire village. Their good deeds were met with no reward. I am deeply ashamed and pained. Today, I kneel and beg Your Majesty to restore justice to Wu Family Village and to give justice to the good people of this world.”
After saying this, he kowtowed three times to the emperor.
The village chief's sons and Wu Er also kowtowed.
When Fu Jiang was carried in, this was the scene he saw, and he felt inexplicably uneasy.
When he saw the Grand Princess with her face covered in swollen bumps, his unease intensified.
He's still waiting in prison for the Grand Princess to rescue Xie Lanzhou first, and then come to rescue him.
The Grand Princess also promised that even if his crimes were proven, she would find a way to make a deal with the Emperor to let him fake his death and escape.
But he was suddenly brought here today, and the Grand Princess doesn't seem to think it's a good day for him...
Kneel down!
Fu Jiang was thrown to the ground, and two constables from the Wude Division forced him to crawl on the ground.
The emperor said coldly, "Fu Jiang, how dare you destroy the dike and harm the entire village of Wujia for your own selfish desires?"
Fu Jiangxin was startled.
Why bring up something from so many years ago?
He subconsciously turned his head to look at the people kneeling to the side, and only recognized Han Zijin.
My heart sank. How did things from back then get exposed?
But verbally, he protested his innocence.
The emperor grew impatient and looked at Xie Tingzhou, signaling for torture to be administered.
Xie Tingzhou understood, dragged Fu Jiang outside the hall, threw him to the ground, and pulled out a long knife from a nearby constable, stabbing it into Fu Jiang's groin.
Prince Ning pulled Prince Yun over to help, but upon arrival they witnessed this scene, and instinctively clenched their legs together.
Why are all the people in the Marquis's mansion like this?
But despite its brutality, the results were excellent.
Fu Jiang was so frightened that he convulsed. He looked down at his crotch; his pants were nailed shut, and he was just a hair's breadth away from being unable to have children.
I was so scared that I broke out in a cold sweat and almost lost control of my bladder.
Then Xie Tingzhou said, "Stop it! If you dare to be disrespectful in front of the emperor, I will cut you into eighteen pieces."
Disrespect in front of the palace is a capital offense. Fu Jiang was afraid and covered his groin with his hands, saying, "I am innocent. I did not damage the dam."
Xie Tingzhou sneered, "Your mother was stubborn just now, but she's already been thrown into jail and will be executed by slow slicing tomorrow morning."
Fu Jiang, the Grand Princess already knows you are not her grandson and will not protect you. Your crimes are numerous; one more won't make a difference. If you don't want to suffer, confess the truth.
If Fu Jiang hadn't had to carry this mess back later, he would have cut right into his vitals.
Upon hearing this, Fu Jiang shouted into the hall, "Grandmother, save me!"
No one responded.
Even if the Grand Princess knew that Fu Jiang had Kang Le's secret and wanted to protect him, she wouldn't dare.
With Fu Jiang's identity exposed, she no longer had a reason to save him; any further rescue would only arouse suspicion.
Fu Jiang only believed Xie Tingzhou's words when he received no response.
His eyes darted around, trying to think of a way to deal with it, when a flash of cold light appeared before his eyes, followed by a sharp pain.
"ah!"
He was cut up!
Xie Tingzhou sheathed his knife and pointed it at his groin. "Tell me, why did you destroy the dam? Who ordered you to do it?"
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