SFS Chapter 598: Confession? Old woman, please say less
Chapter 598: Confession? Old woman, please say less
"Well, do whatever you want. If it doesn't work, we can just take the person away."
"Ok, I know."
"I have arranged for our people to be in the Dali Temple, but you must also pay attention to your safety! Never put yourself in a dangerous situation at any time."
"Yeah, don't worry, I cherish my life! I won't be in danger."
The next day, Yao Qingnian disguised himself and sneaked into the Dali Temple with Zheng Cheng.
Zheng Cheng thought about it for a long time yesterday and decided not to implicate Cao Fangyi and the child, so he gave instructions to his servants, wrote a divorce letter, signed his name on it and put it away, and told Cao Fangyi that if anything happened to him, she must sign her name and sever ties with him. If things went well, he would come back and stay with her and would never go there again.
After they arrived at the Dali Temple, they mixed in with the team of officials, waiting for the new emperor to arrive.
At the hour of Si, the new emperor and Prince Hong came with their men, followed by Shen Wenting, as well as some important court officials. However, they were all the new emperor's men, and their presence was just a formality.
"Someone, bring up Duke Chen and his wife." The new emperor personally tried the case.
After a moment, someone brought up Duke Chen.
"Your Highness." Old Duke Chen bowed neither humbly nor arrogantly.
"Old Duke Chen, do you plead guilty to treason? If you tell the truth, I will give you a lighter sentence in consideration of the late emperor and your contributions to the court."
"I don't admit it! I have devoted my life to the court and never had any other thoughts. Heaven and earth can bear witness to this. I swear that if I have any thoughts of rebellion, I will not die a good death. I never thought that at my old age, I would be accused of treason by a treacherous villain!"
"You don't admit it? Then how do you explain these letters?" The new emperor threw the letters in front of him.
"These letters were not written by me. Someone must have deliberately wanted to frame me."
"I have already asked someone to check it. The document on it was written by you."
"The handwriting is just similar. How difficult is it to imitate my handwriting?" Old Duke Chen was calm and composed, not panicked at all. It's just that his body couldn't bear it and he was shaking slightly as he stood.
"I think you won't cry until you see the coffin, Your Majesty. Old Duke Chen has always been cunning. In my opinion, he won't recruit anyone unless he uses some tricks."
"What do you think, uncle?" The new emperor frowned and looked at Prince Hong. In fact, he knew very well whether old Duke Chen was plotting a rebellion or not. He just wanted to take this opportunity to kill his prestige. Even if he could not be dealt with, at least he could prevent him from interfering in the affairs of the court in the future. And the huge property of the Duke's Mansion could be added to the national treasury, which would be beneficial rather than harmful. The things that were confiscated in the Duke's Mansion last time were all worthless things. The property of the Duke's Mansion was nowhere to be found. He began to suspect that Prince Hong had embezzled it, but his people who went with him did not find anything. Could it be that the rumors about the Duke's Mansion's rich property were all lies?
The matter has not been investigated clearly yet, so this is why the new emperor has not taken any action yet. These days, he has sent many people to investigate, but there is no news. Except for the old Duke Chen, all the other people in the Duke's Mansion have run away. He suspected that he gave all the things to his daughter Chen Shuhua. He was a little impatient, so he came here in person today to see if he could find out something.
"Someone, bring the person up."
As soon as Prince Hong finished speaking, an officer brought Madam Chen up.
"What do you mean?" Seeing Old Madam Chen being brought up, Old Duke Chen had a bad feeling in his heart.
"Your Majesty, the old Duke Chen has always cared about his wife. If..." Prince Hong whispered a few words in his ear, and the new emperor nodded in understanding.
"Old Duke Chen, I advise you to confess obediently. Otherwise, you are an old man who is not afraid of death, but what about your wife, your daughter and granddaughter? I have the final say in this world now, and it must be easy to arrest a few people."
"Your Majesty! If you have any anger, just come at me! I have not committed treason. Even if you kill me, I will not confess." Duke Chen looked at the new emperor angrily. He had thought before that he had never intervened in the disputes in the court. Now that Emperor Cang Ling had suddenly died, he had never had any second thoughts. He followed the late emperor's wishes and assisted him to ascend the throne, so as not to let them kill each other. He was already old, what else could he do? But the new emperor had to confess himself. There must be something unknown. A few days ago, King Jing's people came to him and told him that the new emperor had murdered Emperor Cang Ling. He still didn't believe it and thought it was the rebels who deliberately instigated discord. Now it seems that it is not simple.
"Someone, come and execute him!" Prince Hong looked at him sinisterly. If he couldn't touch him, could he not touch an old woman? He ordered people to bring instruments of torture and prepare to torture Old Madam Chen.
"Prince Hong! How dare you! You are a prince, but you stayed in the capital for several months under the pretext of attending a funeral and meddled in the affairs of the court. I think it is you who wants to rebel, not me!"
"How dare you! Your Majesty, don't listen to his nonsense. You know best why I stayed." Prince Hong was afraid that someone would talk about him in the capital, and this old man would bring up things that were not relevant.
"I agreed to the emperor's uncle staying in the capital. Old Duke Chen, you'd better confess the truth quickly to avoid your family suffering physical pain." The new emperor continued to threaten.
"Old man, you can't admit it. We can never admit to anything we haven't done. If we admit it and the charges are confirmed, how can we face the late emperor and our ancestors! Even if we die, we can't put the blame on our Chen family. Prince Hong, you are a sinister and despicable villain. Don't think that no one knows about the things you did. If it weren't for my old man, do you think you can still stand here and talk now! Anyway, I've lived enough. You can beat me or kill me as you please." Old Lady Chen cursed at Prince Hong.
"You!" Prince Hong was extremely angry.
"Humph! I was right!" Old Madam Chen was not panicked at all.
"Old woman, please say less." Duke Chen advised, worried that they would use torture to extract a confession.
"I'm telling the truth. You just found someone from somewhere to write a few crappy letters and want to frame us. No way!" Old Madam Chen ignored them and said whatever they wanted to say. She had made up her mind anyway.
Yao Qingnian applauded for her grandmother.
"What nonsense are you talking about! Why are you still standing there? Execute them!" Prince Hong was so furious at her words that he gave orders without caring whether the new emperor was there or not.