Chapter 55 His Majesty has gone crazy again
"Your Majesty... Your Majesty, I am innocent, I am innocent!" Du Ming naturally did not want to die like this, and hurriedly struggled to cry out for justice, "I have served the country and the people all my life, and I have never slacked off. You can't do this, Your Majesty, you will chill the hearts of those meritorious officials, Your Majesty..."
Apart from his son and his own life, what Du Ming cared about most was his own reputation. Otherwise, he would not have adhered to the right path and never accepted bribes in all these years.
However, his career as an official was too smooth, and his doting on his young son blinded his eyes, which eventually led him to make mistakes in his later years. Not only did he lose his son, he was also ruined, and even the future of his family was shattered.
Not to mention relying on the imperial examination to enter the officialdom, even the path of relying on marriage was blocked.
Unless someone has been an official for a long time and longs for a pastoral life, otherwise, who would marry into the Du family?
This is even worse than being the consort of a princess. There is no room for promotion at all.
No matter how he shouted, the emperor sitting on the dragon throne remained indifferent and even laughed out loud at his words:
"Heh... chilled? That's great. I haven't seen what a chilled-hearted person looks like yet. Why don't we cut open a few of them and see? Prime Minister Du... Oh, you're no longer the Prime Minister, Du Ming. Are you chilled-hearted? How about we start with you? Liang Dehai, bring me my dagger."
Du Ming was so frightened by these words that he shuddered. The remaining half of his urine, which he had been trying hard to hold back, flowed out. His trouser legs were completely wet and stuck to his legs. A strange stench filled the hall.
Ye Qiongying, who was kneeling beside him, silently moved her knees to the other side.
The emperor on the throne frowned, waved his hands and said:
"Forget it, you only have this little courage. If you really cut open my heart, it will dirty my carpet. Take it away, take it away!"
Soon, a guard dragged Du Ming, whose legs had become limp, out of the door.
Looking at his dejected face, he obviously didn't dare to open his mouth or struggle anymore.
Now, apart from a few guards and Liang Dehai, the only people left in the hall were the emperor sitting on the top and Ye Qiongying.
The emperor lowered his eyes and looked at Ye Qiongying, his voice cold:
"Why? Miss Ye also feels chilled and refuses to accept my punishment?"
"No," Ye Qiongying's heart tightened, and she said quickly, "I am willing to go to the border town. Thank you, Your Majesty, for your mercy and lenient punishment."
"All right, go down," the emperor waved his hand impatiently, "Go home early, and leave for the border town on time within three days. Liang Dehai, you take Miss Ye out of the palace."
Liang Dehai agreed, walked to Ye Qiongying and said with a smile:
"Miss Ye, please."
Ye Qiongying breathed a sigh of relief, bowed to the emperor again, then stood up and followed Liang Dehai out of the palace.
She was clearly guilty of murder and was sentenced to be sent to a border town, but her treatment was obviously different.
Du Ming was dragged out by two guards like a dog, but she was escorted out by the steward himself. To anyone who looked at her, she didn't look like a criminal who had lost her conscience.
Liang Dehai had a smile on his face the whole time, and he didn't say much. He waited until the carriage stopped outside the Ye Mansion and saw Ye Qiongying had gotten off the carriage before he spoke:
"By the way, Miss Ye, you are going to the border town on this trip as ordered. Although your starting point is a bit low, you can still bring two or so followers with you."
After saying this, without waiting for Ye Qiongying to ask what this meant, he lowered the curtain of the carriage and told the driver to leave.
Those few words just now seemed to be spoken casually.
Ye Qiongying frowned and stood there for a while before turning around and preparing to go back home.
Before she even stepped onto the steps, the door to the Ye residence opened. Uncle Ye and a few others surrounded Ye Qiongying as soon as they saw her.
"Girl! You're finally back!"
Today, the old friends that Madam Hua asked for help sent back a message saying that the palace had no intention of severely punishing Ye Qiongying, but that the Prime Minister's Mansion would suffer instead.
Let them not worry too much.
But they can't feel at ease until the person comes back.
Therefore, Uncle Ye had been guarding here with his men. As soon as he heard the noise outside, he hurried out to check. Sure enough, he saw his eldest daughter standing outside the door unharmed.
Ye Qiongying entered the mansion, washed up, and was taken by Uncle Ye to meet Madam Hua.
"Aunt," Ye Qiongying had already learned about the situation in the mansion from Uncle Ye on the way. Uncle Ye and Auntie had teamed up to keep it a secret, so Grandmother didn't know anything yet. The old lady hadn't left the mansion for a long time, so there was no need to worry about hearing about it from other families. "Thank you for your help."
Madam Hua stretched out her finger and tapped Ye Qiongying's forehead:
"Girl, what are you talking about! You are a family and you still talk about this? You were put in jail yesterday. Did anything happen to you?"
After Uncle Ye came back yesterday and explained everything clearly, Madam Hua immediately went to the government office to make arrangements.
The purpose was not to take his niece away, but to ask the government office to keep Ye Qiongying under guard and not allow anyone to visit.
Of course, she had no grudge against Ye Qiongying, but she was taking advantage of this to prevent the Prime Minister's Mansion from having the opportunity to harm Ye Qiongying.
As long as people are alive, things will turn around.
What's more, it was the Prime Minister's Mansion that was at fault in the first place.
She had even made preparations. If the emperor decided to side with Prime Minister Du Ming and execute Ye Qiongying, Madam Hua would arrange for people to bring up Du Chengxiu's affairs in the capital, and the bigger the better.
Although the current Majesty is cruel, he is not a fool.
The people’s will is not so obvious that it cannot be seen.
As long as His Majesty knew what a rotten thing Du Chengxiu was, given his majesty's character, it would be good enough if he didn't kill anyone from the Du family. How could he let the only legitimate daughter of the Ye family in this generation pay with her life for Du Chengxiu?
But doing so also carries risks.
The current emperor has many talented people at his disposal. Once he finds out that the Ye family is actually inciting the people to achieve their goals, he will definitely be feared.
This is not conducive to the future development of the Ye family.
But Mrs. Hua had to take the risk. She couldn't bear to see her brother's last girl die like this.
Fortunately, they didn't need to do anything, Ye Qiongying had returned here safely.
"I'm fine, little aunt, don't worry." Ye Qiongying looked very optimistic. "This is my first time seeing the prison in the government office. The prison food is not bad."
Mrs. Hua was speechless:
"You, you, do you want to go again? Okay, you were transferred to the palace this morning, right? Now you can come back, has the matter been resolved?"
Ye Qiongying then told His Majesty the decision.
After hearing about the execution of the Du family, Madam Hua and Uncle Ye both showed relieved expressions. When they heard that Ye Qiongying needed to go to the border town, they frowned:
"This……"
There is a difference between going to the border town by yourself and being punished to go there.