Long Live the Empress

Chapter 313 Disregarding human life

"My guards were walking at night and passed by a mass grave. They saw a few people who were not dead yet, so they rescued them! They said they were students who took the imperial examination this spring. The guards thought they were beaten and their brains were damaged, so they were talking nonsense. I didn't expect that someone would come to file a complaint with the emperor today because of this! Haha..."

Yan Liyuan was clearly laughing, but the sound of his laughter was like the death horn of hell, making people feel frightened and terrified...

Who would walk to a mass grave at night? This is a very high-sounding lie!

Everyone in the Wei Kingdom knows that the subordinates of the 9,000-year-old man are strictly disciplined and kill without blinking an eye! And he rescued a few students? I'm afraid even a three-year-old child would shake his head when hearing this!

But... having the old emperor's letter is enough!

The old emperor stroked his beard and nodded, "Are they the witnesses that the Ninth Prince mentioned?"

"This governor is just guessing. Whether it is true or not must be decided by the emperor himself!"

The old emperor smiled bitterly. Yan Liyuan had clearly found out the truth, but he still wanted to put this old man on the fire.

The figure of the Minister of Justice moved, and he secretly looked at the Second Prince, who was also looking at him with a warning look.

The Minister of Justice looked behind the Second Prince and saw a young eunuch holding a transparent jade pendant in his hand!

The Minister of Justice closed his eyes slightly. That was the birthday gift he gave to his youngest son! His youngest son liked it very much and never left it...

Everything is over... The Second Prince is threatening him with the lives of his entire family...

Soon, the guards carried a few people in. After they bowed to the old emperor, the student from Jiangnan excitedly spoke first, "Brother Zhang! It took me so long to find you! Where have you been these days?"

"How dare you! The Emperor is here, don't act rashly!" the eunuch scolded.

The Jiangnan student then remembered that he was still in the hall, and he knelt on the ground and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

"No problem!" The old emperor didn't care about these details. He just wanted to know who was the mastermind behind this. "Tell me!"

Student Zhang was pale, lying on a stretcher, without even the strength to raise his head. "Your Majesty, on the day the list was announced, I noticed that someone was cheating for personal gain in this spring exam, so I went to the government with other students to report the case. As the case was of great importance, the students were afraid that someone would retaliate if they dispersed, so they gathered at the gate of the government so that they could take care of each other! In the evening... probably just after the hour of Chou, dozens of men in black came and started beating me without any explanation... When I woke up, I was already in a mass grave... If it weren't for the guard who came to my rescue, I would have become a pile of rotting meat..."

"Were they also rescued together with you?" asked the old emperor.

Zhang Xuezi nodded. "The guard was kind-hearted and found a doctor for us. We are able to survive! However, some of the seriously injured ones have not yet woken up!"

"Do you know who those men in black are?"

"I don't know! But I picked up a token from the ground before I fainted. Please take a look, Your Majesty!" Zhang Xuezi took out a token from his arms and presented it to the eunuch.

The token was completely black, with only a gilded “刑” character in the middle...

"Ministry of Justice, do you have anything to say?" The old emperor took the token in his hand, his eyes sharp, "Don't tell me you don't know him!"

The Minister of Justice seemed to have all his strength drained out, and his limbs collapsed on the ground, "I am guilty! I accepted bribes from several students and promised to let them be on the list! But these ignorant people actually wanted to sue me, how could I let them go! I asked my guards to dress up as men in black to deal with them! I didn't expect that they would be rescued by the nine thousand year old guard! Your Majesty, all of this was done by me alone, I beg Your Majesty to spare my family and grant me death!"

"Humph, as the Minister of Justice, you are careless about human life and break the law knowingly. Your crime is unforgivable! Pass on my decree. At noon tomorrow, all nine clans will be executed!"

"Your Majesty, spare my life... Second Prince, please save me, Second Prince..." The Minister of Justice did not expect that even though he took the initiative to take responsibility, the Emperor would still punish his entire clan! In a panic, he knelt down and crawled to the Second Prince, hugged the Second Prince's legs and cried, "Second Prince, please save me... You promised me..."

The Second Prince kicked the Minister of Justice aside and said viciously, "This is all your own fault! Come on, drag him away quickly!"

"The Second Prince?" The Minister of Justice did not expect that the Second Prince would go back on his word. Since the Second Prince is unkind, don't blame him for being unjust!

The Minister of Justice used all his strength to break free from the restraints of the guards and crawled to the old emperor. "Your Majesty, all this was done by the Second Prince. He said that if I could handle this matter well, he would let my daughter become the Second Prince's consort! It was all because of my momentary ignorance that I believed the Second Prince's words. I beg Your Majesty to see clearly!"

"You are slandering me!" Seeing that he had turned against me, the Second Prince also knelt on the ground and said, "Father, this criminal is slandering me! You know how much effort I put into this Spring Examination! Besides, marriages for princes and princesses have always been arranged by you, so how could I easily agree to it? Please clear my name!"