Chapter 73 Confession
When Rong Que was pointed at, he hurriedly said, "Father, please forgive me. I am afraid that I cannot concentrate on investigating the matter of the Xishan Camp."
The emperor frowned and looked at Rong Que. His face was full of anger and the muscles on his cheekbones were throbbing with excitement.
Rong Que said anxiously, "The person who killed me today is most likely from the Duke of Zhenguo's Mansion."
After saying this, Rong Que licked his lips, fearing that the emperor would not believe him, and said with a confused look, "I hope it is not the case. If it is really the Duke Zhenguo Mansion, I am afraid I will not be able to rest day and night."
As Rong Que spoke, he knelt there with a pale face, looking pitiful no matter how you looked at him.
After all, he is his own son.
After experiencing such an incident again today, the emperor was rarely distressed. The Minister of Justice looked at the emperor's face and said at the right time: "Your Majesty, since the Crown Prince and Zhao Chunming were ambushed when they left the Xishan camp, Zhao Chunming must know a lot of secrets. In order to prevent more trouble, let's try him now."
That man even dared to stop the prince. If he is not tried, he will probably be just a corpse.
The emperor's anger grew stronger and stronger, and he slammed the table, "Trial, trial here!"
Rong Que followed up and said, "Father, we must also send people to the West Mountain Camp as soon as possible. When I rescued the Crown Princess, I only brought a few dozen of my own people with me. We don't know what the situation is like there now."
The emperor was so angry that he was confused.
He immediately summoned the commander of the imperial guards and asked him to take people to take control of the Xishan camp immediately. As for the fate of the person, he would decide after interrogating Zhao Chunming.
The commander of the imperial guards received the order and carried it out, and the Minister of Justice turned to Zhao Chunming.
Zhao Chunming was so frightened that his breath was trembling and his eyes were shaking, and he almost died of a ruptured liver and gallbladder.
The Minister of Justice slowly said to the Chief Eunuch: "I'm going to trouble you. Before anything is found out, please keep an eye on his family to prevent them from suffering any misfortune."
The chief eunuch knew that this was the master's plan, so he immediately agreed and left the imperial study. He did not actually go to find Zhao Chunming's family, but moved a bench and sat outside.
In the imperial study.
Zhao Chunming was already very frightened, and when he heard that his family was going to be controlled, he was even more frightened.
The Minister of Justice still had that lukewarm look on his face, and he slowly fiddled with his sleeves.
"Lord Zhao, do you want to speak for yourself, or should I torture you in front of His Majesty? It's not a good thing to have blood splattered in the Imperial Study, but if you insist on being wrong, I can take it seriously in order to find out the truth. After all, you are a special person, and I am afraid that if I transfer you to another place for interrogation, something bad will happen on the way."
These words were spoken to both Zhao Chunming and the emperor.
Zhao Chunming trembled there. What else could he hide now? The commander of the imperial guards would know everything once he went to the army and asked.
In order to avoid physical pain, Zhao Chunming quickly said, "It is just as the Crown Princess said. I was afraid that those dirty things would be exposed and I would lose my official position, so I was bewildered for a while and had evil thoughts."
The Minister of Justice said with a fake smile, "Is it because of those dirty things? If it was because of those dirty things, why was there an interception on the road when His Royal Highness the Crown Prince took you away? Is there any great person in your army who was also involved in those things and was afraid that it would be leaked?"
Zhao Chunming felt bitter.
As the prince said, the person who intercepted them must be the Duke of Zhenguo's men.
The reason for intercepting was, of course, to prevent the military rations from being leaked. Unfortunately, the interception failed. Therefore, his only chance of survival now is to keep the secret and exchange a way out for the life of the Duke of Zhenguo.
Having made up his mind, Zhao Chunming shook his head, "I don't know what you mean, sir. I was confused at the time and was really afraid that this matter would get out of hand."
The Minister of Justice smiled and said, "Do you think that as long as you keep a secret, you can exchange a way out for the person who supports you?
Then I advise you to give up this idea as soon as possible.
I don't need to repeat to you what happened on the way to the palace today . That person wants your life.
Therefore, if you confess honestly and let His Majesty arrest that person, you still have a chance to survive. You can live even if you are exiled to Ningguta.
But if you don't confess, when I take you to the prison of the Ministry of Justice, do you believe that you will be a corpse before you even get there?"
Of course Zhao Chunming had thought about this.
But he wanted to take a gamble.
It's death anyway.
What if...
"I don't know who intercepted me, and I don't know why. I admit my crime, but I don't know. Even if you torture me, I won't admit it."
The Minister of Justice turned and looked at the Emperor.
Of course, it wasn't that he really couldn't get the truth from the interrogation. He was just beating around the bush just to show it to the Emperor.
Let His Majesty see clearly that not only can the soldiers in the Xishan camp rebel at will, but even in the Imperial Study, these rebellious soldiers will still not give face to you, the emperor.
The emperor's temples were throbbing with excitement. "Come here, beat him to death, arrest all nine clans, and confiscate their property immediately."
Zhao Chunming was stunned for a moment.
Beat to death?
According to the procedure, shouldn't he be taken back to prison first?
If he is beaten to death now, what is the point of hiding those things?
Seeing the door of the imperial study being pushed open, two guards came in from outside and rushed towards him, Zhao Chunming was frightened and confused.
"No, no, Your Majesty, Your Majesty, I have something to say. I, I have something to say. I want to redeem myself for my crime ."
"To make amends for one's crime?" The emperor looked at him gloomily.
Zhao Chunming's mind was in a mess, "I report the Duke of Zhenguo for reselling military rations."
emperor:!
It was as if a bolt of lightning struck the emperor's head. He froze in anger. "What?"
Zhao Chunming said hurriedly, "I am reporting the Duke of Zhenguo. Ever since I was appointed to the West Mountain Camp, the Duke of Zhenguo has been communicating with me privately. He promised me a large sum of money and asked me to resell the military rations of the West Mountain Camp every month, and then buy old grain from outside to fill the granary."
The emperor was so shocked by the news that his heart trembled.
Not only did the soldiers in the Xishan camp rebel, but the Duke of Zhenguo actually resold military rations?
Anger surged in the emperor's heart and rushed straight to his crown. If a mortal eye could see it, the smoke coming out of the emperor's seven orifices could flood the imperial study.
"How dare you!" The emperor slammed the table and stood up.
Zhao Chunming trembled and kowtowed.
"I dare not speak nonsense. If I say even one word, my whole family will be struck by lightning and die miserably."
The Minister of Justice glanced at the Emperor, and seeing that he was so angry that he was about to lose his mind, he took the opportunity to quickly look at Crown Prince Rongque.
Rong Que nodded vaguely.
The Minister of Justice immediately said to Zhao Chunming, "You said that the Duke of Zhenguo was reselling military rations. Regardless of the evidence, did the buyer know that these were military rations?"
Zhao Chunming nodded, "I know."
The emperor is about to explode.
Who is this person? He is so bold that he dares to buy it even though he knows it is military rations!
