Volume 2: The Capital, I’m Back Chapter 56: The truth comes out
Zhu Qiyu walked up quickly and saw Zhu Qizhen riding a horse and looking at him from afar.
At this moment, he felt his nose sore and tears couldn't stop flowing out.
Although the two were of similar age, Zhu Qizhen acted like an elder brother since he was young. In the first year after he ascended the throne, he conferred the title of king on Zhu Qiuyu. In the second year, the nine-year-old brother personally performed the ceremony of crowning for the eight-year-old brother.
By now Zhu Qiyu was already 20 years old and had reached the age to become a fiefdom, but Zhu Qizhen was reluctant to let him go, so he stayed in the capital.
Now when the two brothers meet again, it feels like a lifetime ago.
"Your Majesty, I, Zhu Qiyu, kowtow to you!"
"My brother, please stand up!"
Zhu Qizhen dismounted from his horse and helped Zhu Qiyu up.
Zhu Qiyu could no longer hold back and cried, "My emperor, my brother..."
Zhu Qizhen still acted like an elder brother, touching Zhu Qiyu's head and whispering, "You are already an adult, why are you still crying?"
"Brother, you have become thinner and darker. You must have suffered a lot these days..."
Zhu Qiyu wiped his tears with his sleeve, tried hard to control his emotions, and knelt down again.
"Now that the emperor has returned triumphantly, I, your humble servant, will hand over the power of regent and respectfully welcome the emperor back to the palace!"
"No hurry, no hurry," Zhu Qizhen waved his hand and said, "I still have some things to deal with, so there's no rush to enter the city!"
Zhu Qiyu said in surprise: "Brother, please go to the city first. It won't be too late to return to the palace to tell me what you want to say!"
Zhu Qizhen shook his head and said, "I dare not enter."
"Why?"
Zhu Qiyu suddenly froze, his face full of confusion.
Zhu Qizhen smiled faintly and said, "I am worried that once I enter this city gate, someone will be waiting for me with a knife!"
Zhu Qiyu was so frightened that he broke into a cold sweat and asked cautiously, "Brother Royal... why do you say that?"
While the two were talking, Cao Jixiang, Shi Heng and others followed Li Zhen and came closer.
"Your Majesty, long live the Emperor!"
"Come, I'll open your eyes!"
Zhu Qizhen took Zhu Qiyu's hand, came to Cao Jixiang and others, and said, "Do you know these people?"
“Recognize…know!”
Zhu Qiyu was a little confused and could only nod.
Suddenly, he was startled. Aren't these people the same ones who persuaded him to become regent?
This is clearly a case of settling scores after the event and making an example of someone.
I am that monkey!
Thinking of this, he felt a chill in his heart. They were just brothers with deep affection, but now they were about to become enemies.
The imperial family is the most ruthless. I thought this kind of thing would never happen to me, but I didn’t expect it. I didn’t expect it…
At that moment, he was disheartened and said, "These are all ministers who are pillars of the country. I wonder why the emperor is asking this question?"
"A pillar of state?" Zhu Qizhen smiled and said, "Cao Jixiang, the King of Qing thinks highly of you!"
Cao Jixiang knelt on the ground with a pale face, and said tremblingly: "I am terrified..."
"You're still scared?" Zhu Qizhen's expression suddenly changed, and his tone became cold. "When you were doing big things, you were never scared!"
"Your servant, your servant...is timid..."
"Coward? Humph!" Zhu Qizhen suddenly waved his hand, "Fan Zhong!"
Fan Zhong stepped forward immediately: "I am here!"
"Cut it off!"
"yes!"
Cao Jixiang only felt a warm current flowing out from between his thighs. He wanted to beg for mercy, but his mouth was shaking uncontrollably . No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't utter a word.
Fan Zhong drew out his sword and slashed down without hesitation.
A stream of blood spurted out, and Zhu Qiyu couldn't help but stretch out his hand to block it, but it still splashed all over his face.
Shi Heng and others who were kneeling on the ground were stunned. This was serious!
It is okay to kill someone, but at least the reason must be clearly stated, and then the case will be handed over to the three courts for trial, and finally the person will be executed in the autumn.
Now, they are too lazy to even follow the procedures and just cut it off.
Is this still the legitimate emperor I know?
Zhu Qizhen turned to look at Cao Qin and asked, "Cao Qing's family, I beheaded your godfather, don't you have anything to say?"
"Your Majesty, Your Majesty..." Cao Qin stammered, "Your Majesty is guilty...Your Majesty beheaded!"
"Oh?" Zhu Qizhen looked at him with a playful expression and asked, "What crime have you committed?"
"Your Majesty, I shouldn't... I shouldn't..."
At this time, Zhu Qiyu could no longer bear it and stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, please have mercy on them. They are innocent. If you have any problem, just come to me!"
Zhu Qizhen gave him a meaningful look and said, "It is not your turn to interfere with my work. Step aside!"
After saying this, he winked at Fan Zhong.
Fan Zhong understood what he meant, raised his sword and slashed Cao Qin's head to the ground.
Zhu Qiyu was stunned and stood there, not knowing what to do.
At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind: why did the emperor change his temperament so drastically and become so bloodthirsty after returning from the war?
Although these people had some evil intentions, they had not done anything wrong. They had only supported him to be regent. Now they were dying in front of him one by one. Such an outcome was really hard to accept.
Zhu Qizhen turned to the next target: "Ma Shun, do you have anything to say?"
Ma Shun had already wet his pants out of fear. When he heard the news that Wang Zhen was killed on the front line, he knew that his life was in danger, so he turned to support Prince Qing. However, after Prince Qing became regent, he became increasingly distant from them. He thought that if he waited for the emperor to come back, he would still be doomed, so he decided to rebel with Cao Jixiang and his son!
Who would have thought that the emperor would suddenly come back before he could take any action!
This completely disrupted their plans. They only wanted to welcome the emperor back first and then make plans, but they didn't expect that the emperor couldn't wait to enter the city and started killing people outside the city.
At this point, he was still wondering which link had gone wrong and why the emperor drew his knife without saying a word when they met.
"You don't want to talk, right, Fan Zhong!"
Fan Zhong stepped forward and chopped Ma Shun with one sword. The whole action was as easy as crushing an ant to death, without even blinking an eye.
Zhu Qizhen looked at Xu Yun and asked, "Does the Xu family have anything to say?"
Xu Yun watched helplessly as the three people in front of him were beheaded. Now it was his turn. He was so scared that he was sweating all over. He hurriedly said, "I am guilty. Please forgive me, Your Majesty!"
"Oh?" Zhu Qizhen repeated his old trick and asked, "What crime have you committed?"
"I learned about the rebellion of Cao Jixiang and his son, but I did not report it in time. This is... this is... the crime of deceiving the emperor!"
Zhu Qizhen nodded. It turned out that the scholars were powerful. They put the hat of rebellion on a dead man, and he himself was accused of not reporting the truth. Isn’t that infuriating?
"Tell me, when did you know that Cao Jixiang was plotting a rebellion?"
Xu Yun rolled his eyes and said, "Last night!"
"How do you know?"
"This..." Xu Yun's mind was working rapidly, and he said, "They want to recruit me to join them. If I don't agree, my life will be in danger. I don't care about life and death. I am just worried that no one will come out to deliver the message, so I pretended to agree. When the time is right, I will report it to the court as soon as possible!"
Zhu Qizhen fell silent. This guy was so good at fooling people that he could even fool good people!
At the same time, Zhu Qiyu was confused, his eyes were blank, and he had no idea what was going on.
Fan Zhong had long been impatient and said, "Your Majesty, there is no point in talking to this traitor. Just kill him with a sword!"
Zhu Qizhen curled his lips and said, "I am a reasonable person. Even if I have to chop him off, I have to make him convinced!"
Xu Yun hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, I was really coerced. Cao Jixiang and his son, Shi Heng and his nephew were all the masterminds. And that Ma Shun is Wang Zhen's godson. Wang Zhen has committed many evil deeds, and Ma Shun is closely related to him. I am willing to confess everything I know, and I only ask Your Majesty to show mercy and not punish me!"
"Xu Yun, you son of a bitch!"
At this time, Shi Heng on the side started cursing.
"That eunuch Wang Zhen is a worthless person. You are even worse than him. When we were planning this, you came up with the most ideas. Now that the conspiracy has been exposed, you have tried to clear yourself of all charges. I will kill you!"
After saying that, he pounced on Xu Yun like a hungry wolf and started hitting him with his fist.
Shi Biao did not have the courage to do so. He knelt down and begged, "I am a fool. Please forgive me, Your Majesty. The idea was proposed by Cao Jixiang and his son and Xu Yun. I am just an accomplice. Please forgive me this time, Your Majesty, for the many years I have spent guarding the border!"
"Speaking of guarding the border, I haven't settled the score with you uncle and nephew yet!"
Zhu Qizhen suddenly got angry and pointed at Shi Biao and cursed: "When the Wala invaded Datong, you and your nephew ran faster than rabbits, disrupting all my deployments, and later we were almost trapped to death in Tumu Fort. Damn it, the more I think about it, the angrier I get. Fan Zhong, what are you still standing there for? Do it!"
