As Wei Zheng listened to his mother, his brother, and his sister-in-law hurling their heartless words at him, he silently lowered his head. Tears streamed down his face, dripping onto the ground, gathering in the cracks between the bricks, and then flowing away in all directions.
Although he understood that saving as many people as possible was the best he could do in such a situation, these words were indeed like sharp knives piercing his heart.
Wei Shuwan got what she wanted; these were exactly the words she had been waiting for.
When my father learned the truth about his origins, he silently endured the pain. When he transferred all the family property left by my grandfather to the eldest branch of the family, neither my grandmother nor my uncle and aunt showed him any courtesy; they all accepted it without question.
Later, with his own abilities and his mother's help, the father and mother rebuilt their business. When the Wei family became the wealthiest family in Jiangzuo, that business was entirely built by the father and mother themselves. Even so, before moving to Shengjing with them, the father still gave some of his shops to his eldest uncle to manage.
They thought that those things were a way of repaying the Wei family for raising them, but after the decline of the Wei family in Wu County, they still shamelessly came to Shengjing to seek relatives and seek refuge.
So be it. It's not that the Wei family can't afford to support a few people. However, with the truth coming out about the incident twelve years ago where they harmed their younger brother, Ah Xiu, Wei Shuwan could no longer bear living under the same roof as the eldest son's family.
But she knew that her father would most likely still remember the kindness of her grandmother in raising her.
Now look what's happened. My grandmother, uncle, and aunt said such heartless things in front of my father. Surely he should see things clearly now.
Looking at her father's deeply bowed head and hunched back, Wei Shuwan still felt a pang of heartache.
While the Wei family was pondering these matters, Zhang Jian had already ordered someone to verify them, and at the same time, he wanted to probe the Crown Prince's intentions.
Crown Prince Zhu Haogan only wanted to see Wei Chengxiu being tortured today, so he naturally didn't care about Wei Hai and didn't have much of an opinion on it, leaving Zhang Jian to handle it alone.
Zhang Jian was working for Prince Jing and was tasked with bringing down the entire Wei family. However, he did not expect that Wei Zheng was not the Wei family's biological son. According to the laws of the current dynasty, an adopted son should not be implicated.
While they hesitated, the official who had been sent down to verify the matter returned.
“Lord Zhang, Lady Wei Wen does indeed have two sons registered, but there is no statement that one of them was adopted.”
Hearing the official's report, Wei Wenshi and the three members of the eldest branch of the family were once again on edge. Wei Wenshi quickly explained:
“My lord, I adopted him with good intentions. I did not state that he was an adopted son when I registered him, so that he would not feel inferior to others when he grew up.”
Zhang Jian was too lazy to listen to the old woman's explanations any longer, and simply replied, "I will act in accordance with the law." He then ordered the yamen runners to prepare for the execution.
Seeing that her words were useless, Wei Wen tried to throw herself at Wei Hai again to stop the execution, but was stopped by a yamen runner who had been watching her all along!
Lady Wei was so anxious that tears streamed down her face. With all her might, she struggled and called out her son's nickname, "Hai'er!"
Meng collapsed to the ground in tears, while Wei Shuyao kept kowtowing and begging for mercy. Wei Hai, on the other hand, was trembling with fear, not knowing what to do.
In contrast, Wei Zheng remained extremely numb and calm. No matter how painful the punishment was, it was not as painful as the words spoken by his closest relatives.
Sun Lurong seemed to accept it, silently shedding tears but unlike the others in the eldest branch of the family, she was not agitated. From the day her husband was imprisoned, she knew that she could not escape this suffering. She only hoped that Wei Zheng could endure these tortures. As long as he was alive, there might be a day when the truth would come out!
Just as the constables were about to pull the ropes to torture the three members of the Wei family, another voice rang out: "Stop!"
Using only one form of torture, after several twists and turns, Zhu Haogan was already somewhat impatient. He squinted at Wei Shuwan, his tone harsh:
"It seems I've been too lenient with your Wei family, allowing you to repeatedly roar in court and obstruct the execution! Guards, bring all the women of the Wei family here. Since you are such an inseparable family, then you shall share the blame!"
Upon hearing that His Highness the Crown Prince was truly enraged this time, Zhang Jian quickly ordered, "Then let's use the torture together!"
Upon hearing this, Wei Shuwan and her daughter remained relatively calm, but Wei Wenshi, Mengshi, and Wei Shuyao all showed expressions of panic! Seeing that several yamen runners were indeed walking towards them, they instinctively shrank back.
Just as the two constables were about to take Wei Shuwan and Sun Lurong away, Wei Shuwan stood up first.
The actions of the family members of the accused on trial were clearly disrespectful to the officials and His Highness the Crown Prince present! Even the nearly numb Wei Zheng suddenly turned around and looked in this direction, his eyes revealing shock and fear.
He doesn't mind suffering himself, but if his wife and daughters suffer with him, it would be better to kill him!
Just as Zhang Jian was about to reprimand Wei Shuwan for her disrespectful behavior, Wei Shuwan took out a brocade pouch from her sleeve and, before the two yamen runners could reach for her, raised a plaque from the pouch high above her head.
"His Majesty has bestowed upon us a pardon from death; who dares to disobey His Majesty's decree!"
Wei Shuwan's loud voice drowned out all the noise in the hall, and everyone fell silent instantly, turning their attention to the plaque in her hand.
The gilded plaque was clearly inscribed with the words "Exempt from Death," but none of the people present, including Imperial Censor Zhang Jian and Crown Prince Zhu Haogan, had ever seen such a thing before.
The "get-out-of-jail-free card" is something most people have only heard of through rumors; how many have actually seen it? Since no one has seen it, it's impossible to determine its authenticity.
Now, looking at the gleaming gold medal, Zhang Jian and Zhu Haogan exchanged glances, neither of them speaking. The hall fell into an eerie silence, the atmosphere suddenly becoming strangely tense.
Zhang Jian carefully recalled what he had heard from Prince Jing about the Wei family. Although Wei Zheng had made great contributions to the court's disaster relief efforts when he was in Wu County, the reward he received afterward was nothing more than ordinary wealth and a fifth-rank official position. The emperor had never and would never have given him a death-exemption token for this.
Besides this incident, the Wei family has no other merits that would warrant such a reward.
Shortly after, Zhang Jian abruptly stood up from his chair, his voice authoritative and fierce:
"Wei Shuwan, if you dare to forge a pardon to falsely convey the Emperor's will in order to save your father, it is a capital offense punishable by the extermination of your entire clan!"
"Lord Zhang also said that forging a pardon is a serious crime punishable by the extermination of the entire clan. How could I dare to take such a risky step?" Wei Shuwan held the gold medal in her hand, showing no sign of fear.
This time, even Crown Prince Zhu Haogan could not sit still and asked in a deep voice, "Then where did you get this gold medal from?"
"Your Highness, I dare not deceive you. This pardon in my hand was a gift from the Prince of Xiaoqiaochuan!"
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