northernbook Chapter 190 Success and failure both stemmed from Xiao He
Chapter 190 Success and failure both stemmed from Xiao He
With her cloudy, tearful eyes, Madam Shen looked at the unrepentant Marquis Chengen. Her heart, already riddled with holes and bleeding, felt as if it were being torn apart by an invisible hand.
“I would rather you were not my biological son, so that I would not have to send off my son twice as an old man, nor would I have to go to court with my own son in my old age.”
Madam Shen said, word by word, "Xuan'er and his wife will not die young. They will live well and become good officials who serve the country and the people, just like their father. They will raise their children to be successful and make the Marquis's mansion prosperous."
"You've finally told the truth. Whether in the past or now, you all regret having me. I'm not as learned as my elder brother, nor as sensible as a child born out of wedlock."
Marquis Chengen refused to admit his wrongdoing and instead found a reason to justify killing his brother and sister-in-law.
“If you hadn’t been biased towards my eldest brother and hadn’t been so critical of me, you wouldn’t have given him the opportunity to pretend to be a good person in front of me.”
“He has shown the magnanimity of an elder brother, always yielding to me. So let him yield to the end. Why cling to the title and refuse to let go?”
"He's just offering me a few small favors, asking me to work for him for the rest of my life... What kind of good deal is that?"
“It wasn’t me who killed him; it was his hypocrisy that ruined him.”
At this point, Marquis Chengen seemed to suddenly understand, and said with a sudden realization, "I know. I was in charge of transporting the grain from Qingzhou to Guanzhou, but all the grain sank to the bottom of the river, and I was imprisoned."
He stopped crying and pleading, his eyes filled with a strange light: "You're afraid that my dereliction of duty will implicate your elder brother's son, so you're framing me and reporting me to gain merit so that you and your grandson can be exonerated, right?"
Although Madam Shen was utterly disappointed in him, she still felt heartbroken upon hearing his words.
At the same time, she realized that her son had long since lost all conscience and was beyond redemption.
"I was right, and you have nothing to say now?" Seeing that Madam Shen remained silent, Marquis Chengen turned to Emperor Jing'an and said, "Your Majesty, you heard me. I have been wronged. Please investigate."
Emperor Jing'an was not surprised by Madam Shen's accusations, as all the charges were written in the complaint.
He calmly looked at the Marquis of Chengen, who was feigning madness: "I will not wrong any loyal minister or general, nor will I let a single fish escape the net."
Marquis Cheng'en's heart pounded.
The next moment, Madam Shen said, "Your Majesty, Shen Wenxian embezzled the money from selling grain. After the incident in Guanzhou, the Provincial Governor Cao, who was involved in the case, took out the money he had embezzled and accepted as bribes to buy grain for Shen Wenxian to replenish the granary."
“Counselor Cao took the blame for him and was executed. He thought he was safe now.”
"It's a pity. Councilor Cao had a backup plan. He left a copy of the evidence of his collusion with Shen Wenxian with his mistress and illegitimate son. He told them to use these documents to ask Shen Wenxian to return the money used to buy the grain."
"Counselor Cao's mistress came to the Marquis's residence, acting suspiciously. I saw her and ordered her to be taken away, which led to the discovery of this shocking secret."
“Your Majesty, even tigers don’t eat their cubs. As a human being, I would never falsely accuse my own son. If he hadn’t committed heinous crimes, I would not have reported him.”
Madam Shen took out a booklet from her sleeve and presented it to Eunuch Cao with both hands.
"This is the evidence that I obtained from the concubine of Councilor Cao. I humbly request Your Majesty to take a look."
Eunuch Cao handed the booklet to Emperor Jing'an.
Upon hearing this, Marquis Chengen immediately understood.
The silver donated by Shen Shaoheng was actually dug out of the stables of the Liu family's ancestral home.
Councilor Cao used the embezzled silver to buy grain, and then had his mistress and illegitimate son ask him for more silver. He used the grain purchase as a pretext to launder the embezzled money.
No wonder Councilor Cao didn't dig up the silver in the stables, nor did he come to ask him for it. If he had asked him for the silver, after his family was confiscated and he was executed, all the silver would have gone into the national treasury.
Councilor Cao plotted for his mistress and illegitimate child, but ended up trapping him in the scheme.
He used the promise of a mistress to Councilor Cao, with whom he fathered an illegitimate child, to manipulate Councilor Cao into taking the blame for him.
In the end, he was defeated by the mistress of Councilor Cao.
It truly is a case of "success and failure both stemming from Xiao He".
The fear of impending death surged towards him, igniting his strong will to survive.
Every crime his birth mother listed was a crime that would lead to his being torn to pieces.
The more they wished for his death, the more he wanted to live.
Marquis Chengen looked up at Emperor Jing'an's gloomy face, his lips trembling as he tried to say something, when an inkstone came flying at him.
There was a muffled sound.
Marquis Chengen felt a sharp pain in his forehead, and blood mixed with the ink on his face flowed down.
He dared not cry out in pain, nor did he dare to cover his wound.
"Your Majesty, this humble subject..."
"Shen Wenxian, for the sake of power, you did not hesitate to kill your own brother and sister-in-law. What else is such a heartless and vicious person capable of?" Emperor Jing'an said angrily. "For your own selfish reasons, you have also brought disaster to the people by embezzling disaster relief grain, causing widespread famine. You greedy scoundrel, I will not be able to quell my hatred without executing you by a thousand cuts."
Marquis Chengen's face turned ashen; he finally realized that there was nothing he could do to reverse the situation.
His eyes were empty, as if all life had been drained from him, and he collapsed to the ground.
"Cao Chunxiang, go and convey my imperial edict: send the Embroidered Uniform Guard to search the Chengen Marquis's residence." Emperor Jing'an ordered, "Find any evidence related to the Qingzhou case, immediately confiscate the Chengen Marquis's residence, and imprison everyone in the residence. Anyone who disobeys will be executed on the spot!"
Eunuch Cao received the order and left.
Madam Shen knelt on the ground, trembling like a leaf, her summer clothes soaked with cold sweat.
In just a few words, Emperor Jing'an had already made it clear that he was determined to severely punish the Marquis of Cheng'en's family.
She presented all the evidence to Prince Yu, and there was nothing else in the secret compartment.
Emperor Jing'an probably couldn't find any evidence of his crimes by searching for him.
The feeling of waiting is especially unbearable.
Madam Shen's heart was in the frying pan, and she placed all her hopes on Shen Shaohuai.
After waiting for an unknown amount of time, footsteps finally came from outside the palace.
Madam Shen turned her head and looked over. After seeing who it was, she seemed to see something terrifying, and her eyes were filled with fear.