Chapter 419: The Pit Digged by the Late Emperor
"Why are you rushing me? Aren't I thinking about it?"
Marquis Ji'an rubbed his hands habitually in a hurry, and looked at Ji Xun pitifully with his eyes, which fully expressed his meaning.
Military Advisor, save me, save me, save me...
Honest people have this advantage: even if they have been completely cheated, they still firmly believe in the person who cheated them.
Sure enough, the military advisor was still the good military advisor who was always thinking about his comrades. He saw the deaf-mute man sighing deeply with difficulty and kowtowing to beg for mercy.
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty. The Zhang brothers have been renowned for their honesty ever since they followed the late Emperor.
But they were indeed two brave generals under the command of the late emperor, and had made great contributions to Dayu. Furthermore, because of their upright character, the late emperor was worried that they would be murdered if they entered the officialdom, so he only rewarded them with titles and life-saving items…”
He sighed again and raised his head to ask with his eyes, and saw the cunning queen nodded slightly. Ji Xun paused, his tone hard and dry.
"That's the Zhang family's only way out."
"No, the future of the Zhang family's descendants, that is their only way out."
The queen simply stopped playing dumb and told them directly that she wanted to make a deal that was mutually agreed upon.
"Marquis Ji'an, I vaguely remember hearing my father tell me about you. You risked your life to protect your master during the Battle of Taoshui. You were shot by six enemy arrows and your life was hanging by a thread, yet you still used your body as a shield to protect the late emperor."
Marquis Ji'an said stupidly, "No," and smiled naively.
"Hehehe, sacrificing one's life for the lord, isn't that what I should do? A hero doesn't brag about his past achievements. Never, never..."
To be honest, if Prince An's concerns were not justified and should not have left hidden dangers for the royal family, Jiang Wan really would not want to snatch things from such an honest person.
The late emperor was a man of sentiment. In order to express his gratitude for saving his life, he gave Zhang Lun a golden medal of immunity from death out of a sense of righteousness.
The key point was that she had heard from her father, Old Jiang, that the words "exemption from death" were clearly written on the back of the red-lettered iron certificate, and it bore the late emperor's seal. However, he hadn't specified under what circumstances death could be avoided!
When Xiao Jiang and Xiao Li found out about this, they were so angry about what Lao Li had done that they almost died of anger.
Goodness, no wonder old fox Ji dragged the Zhang family into the rebellion. It seems he knew that no one in his family would die no matter what happened?
This is simply Old Li digging a big hole for his descendants!
The queen sighed softly in her heart, because the other party's honesty was not fake, so her voice and expression instantly became much gentler.
"Marquis Ji'an, when the late emperor bestowed your title, I heard that the red-lettered iron certificate he gave you was slightly different from those given to others. Doesn't yours have the words 'exempt from death' engraved on the back?"
The color drained from Marquis Ji'an's face instantly. He looked at the Emperor and Empress seated above him in panic, then quickly turned to look at the military advisor. After the latter's very obvious soothing look, he dared to let go a little and nodded cautiously.
"Yes, that's true. But Your Majesty, the red-lettered iron certificate in my house is indeed genuine, and I didn't carve it myself!
I don't know why mine has two more words than others. I asked the late emperor about this before, but he said he was too lazy to bother with such trivial matters and told me not to complain about it outside.
I, I really haven’t told anyone!
Your Majesty, Your Majesty, my red seal and iron certificate are truly authentic..."
"I know what you have in your hand is real. Why are you in such a hurry? Let the Queen finish what she has to say!"
Li Chengxiu smacked his lips. It was difficult for him, as a son, to ask for something back that his father had given him. His eldest brother said, "What should we call this? A son should follow his father's will."
In fact, he didn't quite understand why he was too embarrassed to ask for it?
He has the nerve to do this kind of thing, okay?
But unfortunately my wife doesn’t agree.
The Queen also smiled soothingly at the Zhang brothers.
"Let me make it clear to you: your red seal and iron certificate does indeed grant immunity from death. The late emperor gave it to you out of gratitude for your bravery in sacrificing your life to protect him.
The whole world should be just like this.
But you have now committed a crime punishable by the death of all nine generations of your clan, so Zhang Lun, either you exchange your two brothers' titles for it, or you exchange your red seal and iron certificate for it."
"...Does my red seal and iron certificate really grant immunity from death? Military Advisor, is what the Empress said true? Didn't the late Emperor push us aside because he thought my Zhang brothers were stupid and useless? He actually wanted to protect me, isn't that right..."
The tall, strong body of the Marquis of Ji'an was trembling, his throat quivering violently. He needed a definitive answer from his military advisor before he could truly believe that the lord he had risked his life to follow had not truly abandoned him.
"yes!"
Ji Xun nodded heavily.
"The late emperor was worried that your overly honest natures would make you unable to adapt to the intrigues of the court. Therefore, he gave you two brothers titles, mansions, and money to support yourself.
He was also worried that you might be exploited and commit a fatal crime. So he personally inscribed the words "Exempt from Death" underneath your red seal and iron certificate.
"My Lord! Zhang Lun is so sorry!"
This time, Marquis Ji'an really cried out in pain.
It turns out that the king never betrayed his subjects, but now...
"I have failed the late emperor's kindness!
I don't deserve to live, Zhang Lun will die to atone for my crime!
I beg the Emperor to sentence me to death by a thousand cuts. I deserve death, I deserve death!"
How could he be so wicked? How could he betray his lord just to make his own family live a better life?
Zhang Lun cried heart-wrenchingly.
His cousin also followed behind and cried, shouting that he did not want to live anymore and asked the king to give him a severe sentence so that he could go down and apologize to his lord.
You see, even the dumbest people don't have their own tricks. Sincerity is always the ultimate weapon!
At the empress's signal, the emperor had no choice but to step down from the dragon throne himself and pull up the two Zhang brothers who were kowtowing and apology, and even wished they would die in the hall.
The rest is easy to communicate.
Having resolved the biggest knot in his heart, Marquis Ji'an handed over the red book and iron certificate without hesitation.
He also kowtowed and swore on behalf of the descendants of the Zhang family that the Zhang family would allow the emperor and empress to order them around in the future, and they would never complain even if they were assigned to sweep the streets or carry manure.
Since the king has not betrayed me, I will die for him!
The emperor and empress who successfully revoked the death pardon order, Prince An who had just recovered from a long illness, Prince Jing who stayed at home digging earthworms, and Prince Shun who stayed by his fiancée's side every day, all sat together in the Qianyuan Hall looking at this rare thing.
"Oh, it must be said that our old man is the one who knows how to play. He is really knowledgeable! I guess he listened to a lot of opera singers practicing their voices when he was a child. How could he even come up with a golden medal of immunity from death?
He must have felt that he was very righteous at the time, but he didn't care at all about how these poor emperors would live!
Right, fourth brother?"
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