20demayo Chapter 764: Playing a scene in front of the surname
Chapter 764: Playing a scene in front of the surname
As soon as this was said, everyone in Jingzhao Prefecture started discussing again, "How could it be that the Fourth Prince killed Madam Li?"
One minister asked in confusion, "It was the Fourth Princess who killed the man, and now the Fourth Prince has come out to confess his guilt. What's going on?"
"It is also rumored that the Fourth Prince has rebelled. What happened in the palace?"
"I heard that the emperor issued an imperial decree to block the news in the palace." The official whispered again: "Concubine Chang has been imprisoned. Could it be that the rebellion of the Fourth Prince and Concubine Chang failed?"
Everyone was confused. If the Fourth Prince really rebelled, why didn't the Emperor lock him up?
In his previous life, Xie Yang did rebel, but failed in the end. Xie Shang did not kill him, but just put him under house arrest. In this life, before he rebelled, the affair between Concubine Chang and Shu Lang was exposed, and due to some coincidences, his rebellion failed.
Xie Yang knew that if anyone else came out to confess, they would not believe it. At that time, there would still be people who doubted the relationship between the emperor and Zhang Yurou. The reputation of the royal family could not be ruined, and he was willing to bear all the consequences.
"What are you arguing about?" Xie Shang slammed the gavel in his hand on the table with a deafening sound, and the noisy sounds around him stopped abruptly in an instant.
The emperor was sitting upright, emitting a thunderous aura. He was furious and said, "You all know how to judge cases. I will give this position to you and let you judge the cases."
All the officials stood up one after another: "Your Majesty, calm down."
Xie Shang said in a deep voice: "Xie Yang, what are you doing?" The royal family's ugly deeds must not be made public, otherwise where is the dignity of the royal family? He went out of the palace today to perform this act just to save the royal family's face.
Xie Yang knelt on the ground. "That night, when I woke up drunk, I saw Shu Xue breaking into my bedroom. She took off her clothes on purpose to seduce me, and I accidentally killed her. Later, Minister Shu came to the Fourth Prince's Mansion. He was looking for Shu Xue, and I was also scared. Minister Shu told me not to worry and asked me to return Shu Xue's body to him, and he would take care of it. I don't know what happened after that."
"You mean Shu Lang went to the Fourth Prince's Mansion to find Shu Xue on the night of the Lantern Festival. Why did he go to find her?" Xie Shang asked.
Xie Yang nodded, "It was Minister Shu. I also got a piece of news. Minister Shu has long been dissatisfied with the royal family and the Jiang family. He has contacted ministers everywhere to deal with the Jiang family. He once wanted to win over me, but I refused."
They were ready to put the blame on Shulang for everything.
Zhang Anyu asked: "Since it was the Fourth Prince who killed Shu Xue, why did the Fourth Princess take the initiative to admit that she was the murderer and even claimed the little princess's true life experience?" He did not dare to mention the emperor's name.
Xie Yang said, "Because the princess wanted to help me take the blame, I knew that the emperor would find out about me sooner or later, so we thought of a way to save Yi'er and turn her into a princess. In this way, the emperor might let the princess and Yi'er go for the sake of blood relationship. We also had a fluke mentality, thinking that we could get away with it."
The Fourth Prince's testimony could only be barely acceptable, and this could also connect the facts that Zhang Anyu had found out earlier. Shu Xue's body was indeed transported away by Shu Lang from the Fourth Prince's wife, and the abuse she suffered after her death could also be blamed on Shu Lang.
Jiang Fenghua watched coldly. She didn't say a word. She just watched Xie Shang and Xie Yang restore the reputation of the royal family in front of the people.
She thought: Only those with enormous power are qualified to distort the truth at will. Even if they have committed a capital crime, they can do whatever they want and find a scapegoat to settle the matter.
If it were an ordinary person, he would definitely die.
There is no such thing as fairness or unfairness in the world. Only those with power and influence are qualified to talk about fairness.
The saying that the emperor is guilty of the same crime as the common people is just a slogan. For the sake of the royal family's face, Jiang Fenghua had to go against his conscience and act with Xie Shang.
At this time, Zhang Yurou was also brought in, and she naturally made a passionate confession to the Fourth Prince.
"Rou'er, I'm sorry. I was a coward and you suffered."
"As long as it's for the good of Your Majesty, I'm willing to do anything."
Jiang Fenghua just felt disgusted when looking at their expressions. However, this script was written by Xie Shang. He made all the plans and arrangements after weighing the pros and cons. The only way to break the impasse was to let Xie Yang and Zhang Yurou have deep love and affection for each other. How could such a couple with such a good relationship betray each other? Their daughter is their biological daughter.
The most important person appeared next. Shu Lang was tied up and sent to the court.
Xie Shang said coldly: "Shu Lang, what did you do to your niece's body? Why don't you tell the truth?"
Shu Lang's face turned pale. He knew that he was finished. If his death could save the Shu family, he was willing to die.
Shu Lang said, "I had Xue'er's body destroyed by someone else. I also framed Jin Ji in order to trap him and the Jiang family in public opinion and make the Minister of Revenue Jiang Jinyan uneasy in his position as Minister."
Xie Shang asked: "Why do you do this?"
Shu Lang added: "Because I am unwilling to see Jiang Jinyan snatch the position of Shangshu that should belong to me, I want to take revenge on the Jiang family, so I thought of starting with Jiang's son-in-law."
"Do you have any help?"
Shu Lang said again: "Yes."
Shu Lang began to recite the script that had been prepared for him. He said, "The idea of framing Jin Ji was also a last-minute one. I knew that the Jiang family was not easy to offend, and Jin Ji could not be killed with a minor crime. So I let some beggars and vagrants violate Shu Xue's body, and framed Jin Ji to cause a sensation." He was telling the truth, so signs of posthumous violation were found on Shu Xue's body. As for other things, he did not go into details. If Shu Lang could do this, he could do other things as well.
Someone pointed at his nose and cursed: "You are her uncle, how can you have the heart to do such a thing, using your niece's body to frame the Jiang family, you are simply not a human being."
Shu Lang lowered his head slightly, "I was also blinded by jealousy. I deserve to die. I plead guilty."
Xie Shang asked again, "How did you know Shu Xue would go to the Four Princes' Palace on the Lantern Festival? How could it be such a coincidence?"
"It was I who asked Xue'er to go to the Fourth Prince's Mansion. She was close to the Fourth Prince's Consort. I wanted her to persuade the Fourth Prince's Consort and the Fourth Prince to help me deal with the Jiang family. It was me who instigated Xue'er to seduce the Fourth Prince. I wanted to make it a done deal between the Fourth Prince and Xue'er. The Fourth Prince is timid and cowardly. If he did something wrong and I had the evidence against him, I would have asked him for help and he would have helped. I didn't expect the Fourth Prince to resist and even strangle Xue'er to death by mistake."
Now, everyone understood that it was Minister Shu who was behind everything.
Zhang Anyu asked, "Why is Li Cheng willing to help you frame Jin Ji?"
Shu Lang glanced at Xie Shang, "He doesn't like Xue'er, and he had no choice but to marry her. Naturally, he was willing to help because of the benefits. Li Cheng and the Jiang family also have a grudge, and I helped him get revenge. He can't thank me enough."