Chapter 183 Iron Coupon to Avoid Death
Everything Liu Zongzhou said was true, and there was evidence from witnesses and evidence. Xue Lian had nothing to defend himself at all, but it was obviously impossible to get him to confess his guilt outright.

So he knelt on the ground again, pretending to be wronged and ignorant, and said: "Your Majesty, this was all done by my servants, I know nothing about it!"

Usually after saying this, the emperor would usually back down and say, "So that's the case. Your Excellency is still a pillar of the country, but you just didn't control your servants well enough, and you need to discipline them strictly in the future."

Just compensate the victim casually and the matter will be over.

However, what Xue Lian and the civil and military officials did not expect was that Chongzhen obviously did not have the awareness of previous emperors. He slammed the armrest of the dragon throne and said angrily: "Asshole! Liu Zongzhou's victims' confessions have been continuous from the 46th year of Wanli to now, more than ten cases of varying sizes, and there are still a large number of victims who have not been strictly investigated. You don't know anything about so many crimes?"

Chongzhen stood up, walked slowly to Xue Lian and said word by word: "Xue Lian, you should be more careful when you lie!"

Xue Lian was lying on the ground, looking at Chongzhen's boots. This time he was really panicking, and all the officials could see it. It seemed that the emperor would not let the matter go peacefully this time, but was really going to use Yangwu Hou Xue Lian as an example to establish his authority!
As soon as he thought of this, sweat began to fall from Xue Lian's forehead. He kept confessing his guilt, "I am guilty. It is because I did not discipline my subordinates strictly that I have suffered today. I am willing to make amends to those who have suffered. I beg Your Majesty to give me a chance to atone for my sins, considering the great contributions my ancestors made to the Ming Dynasty!"

"Are you thinking of redeeming your sins now?" Chongzhen sneered, thinking of the time when he was chatting with Wang An about Xue Lian last night, he had inadvertently revealed that there were a lot of gold and silver buried in the cellar of Xue Lian's house. The murderous intent in his eyes became even stronger!
In history, bandits broke into Beijing and tortured the nobles of the Ming Dynasty. They used clamps to hold Xue Lian for three or four days before Xue Lian confessed that there were gold and silver hidden in his cellar.

However, when the two bandits arrived at Xue Lian's house, they learned that another bandit leader had already dug it away ahead of them. The bandits were so angry that they killed him immediately after returning.

So this bastard has been robbing and plundering all his life, but in the end he still got the advantage of the rebels. Instead of this, I might as well keep it for him, and at the same time I can make some contribution to our Ming Dynasty.

Chongzhen thought so, and a sneer appeared on his face. He said, "It's a pity that the law is not merciful. If I give you this chance, will I also give other nobles a chance to oppress the people in the future?"

"Your Majesty!" Xue Lian looked up at Chongzhen in disbelief. From what he said, it seemed that he did not intend to keep him.

As expected, Chongzhen's face changed, and he said coldly: "You have received the grace of the country for generations, but you don't know how to repay the court. Instead, you oppress the people and make them angry. You are simply digging into the corners of our Ming Dynasty. How can we appease the anger of the people if we don't kill you?"

After saying that, he looked outside the palace and shouted: "Where is the great Han general? Why don't you throw this traitor into the prison of the Ministry of Justice and wait for execution!"

"Here!"

Immediately, several big Han generals strode over, picked up Xue Lian and walked out of the palace.

Xue Lian reacted immediately and said hurriedly: "I still have the iron certificate of immunity from death granted by Emperor Chengzu in my house!"

Upon hearing this, several Han generals stopped in their tracks and looked at Chongzhen hesitantly.

Chongzhen was slightly stunned, then sneered: "Okay, since you have the iron certificate of immunity from death in your hand, I will naturally not violate the ancestral system!"

But before Xue Lian could show his joy at escaping death, he heard Chongzhen say in an even more sinister voice: "You can be spared the death penalty, but you cannot be forgiven for the crime of living!"

"I will exile you to Lingnan, and all the male members of your family will be sent to Liaodong as slaves, and all the female members will be sent to the Jiaofang Bureau to be prostitutes (singers)!"

Upon hearing such a verdict, Xue Lian's whole body suddenly went limp. If it weren't for a few big generals guiding him, he would have become a puddle of mud.

All the officials looked at each other, excited and terrified.

What is exciting is that Xue Lian is usually arrogant and domineering. He looks down on civil servants without titles and offends many people with his words.

Originally, Chongzhen would have killed him and the matter would have been over, but this fellow could not see the situation clearly and insisted on bringing out his own iron certificate of immunity from death.

If he is not carried out, it means that only Xue Lian is dead.

Chongzhen would not do anything to his family because of the certificate of immunity from death. At most, he would revoke the certificate and make his student status a civilian.

But when he was carried out, Xue Lian's life was saved, but his family was in a miserable state!
Although Xue Lian's life was saved, he was exiled to Lingnan and stripped of his title. He had no money on him. Wasn't it a life worse than death?

Rather than this, I might as well die.

All the officials were also happy to see Xue Lian's end, not to mention that Chongzhen directly ordered his female relatives to be sent to the Jiaofangsi to be concubines. Given the status of the officials present, would it be difficult for them to show their support when the time came?

Thinking of this, some officials who had grudges against Xue Lian even reacted.

He made up his mind that no matter how old Xue Lian's mother was, he would let her experience how powerful he was.

As for the other nobles, although they felt a sense of grief, they did not dare to stand up and speak out after seeing how violent Chongzhen was today.

Xue Lian had an iron certificate of immunity from death, and thought he could do whatever he wanted. However, his end was worse than death, which deeply shocked these self-proclaimed nobles.

After the court was dismissed, Dong Lingju, the Shaoqing of the Honglu Temple, who was greatly shocked, was about to leave with his colleagues from the Honglu Temple, but was suddenly stopped by Wang Chengen, who took him aside with a smile.

Dong Lingju was filled with doubts. After paying his respects, he asked respectfully, "I wonder if the eunuch Wang is looking for me to tell His Majesty what?"

Wang Chengen nodded and whispered something in his ear.

The more Dong Lingju listened, the more suspicious he became, but he still nodded honestly and said, "Since it is your Majesty's order, I will naturally obey your order!"

Wang Chengen patted Dong Lingju's shoulder with satisfaction and instructed again: "By the way, remember, don't say anything more except the matter of the imperial merchant, understand? Don't reveal your Majesty's identity through words!"

Dong Lingju nodded and agreed solemnly.

…………

Wang An's butt was almost ulcerated from sitting in the gatehouse. He had finished a pot of tea and was feeling bored when he suddenly heard the doorman outside the gatehouse nodding and bowing to greet him.

"Mr. Zhengqing, Mr. Shaoqing, you are back!"

"Master Zhang, Master Li, your tea will be delivered right away!"

When Wang An heard this, he knew that the officials from the Honglu Temple had returned from a meeting, so in his anxiety he didn't think about offending anyone and went straight out of the lobby to look around.

(End of this chapter)