Chapter 74

"I admit my guilt."

In an instant, the Donggong Palace fell into a silence as deathly as a tomb.

Even though Jiang Huan had handled so many major and critical cases over the years, he had never before seen an offending official like Su Qiao.

Right there, under the gaze of all present.

Su Qiao abruptly drew the Embroidered Spring Blade from the hand of a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Jiang Huan instantly snapped back to full alert, shouting loudly,

"Protect Your Majesty!"

Su Qiao, true to his bold nature, simply tossed the Embroidered Spring Blade with a "clang" onto the ground before Zhu Yuanzhang and said,

"Please, Your Majesty, kill me."

Zhu Yuanzhang's body trembled slightly as he stared at Su Qiao, his upper and lower teeth chattering uncontrollably.

And within the chat group,

Zhu Youjian's voice kept drilling into Zhu Yuanzhang's ears.

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Great-Grandfather, this Su Qiao truly does not seem like a treacherous minister."

"I have seen plenty of treacherous ministers; none are like Su Qiao!"

Zhu Yuanzhang's body trembled slightly as he looked at the Su Qiao before him.

He gritted his teeth and said,

"Are you truly not afraid of death?"

Su Qiao made a deep bow and spoke clearly,

"I, your subject, only seek a swift death!"

Zhu Yuanzhang nodded slightly, forcing a smile to his lips.

"Good, good... you want to die, do you?"

"I will grant your wish!"

Zhu Yuanzhang stared fiercely at Jiang Huan beside him and said,

"Jiang Huan!"

"This humble official is here!"

"Take Su Qiao out through Wumen and behead him!"

Hearing this, Su Qiao's eyes instantly lit up with flattery.

But before Su Qiao could rejoice for long, Zhu Yunwen knelt on the ground from the side and remonstrated,

"Imperial Grandfather, you must not! Since the founding of our dynasty, there has never been a precedent for immediately executing a scholar-official."

"Even the faction of Hu Wei was not executed until after autumn."

"Your grandson begs Imperial Grandfather to reconsider."

Since the Two Song dynasties began,

there had been the tradition that punishment should not be inflicted upon scholar-officials.

Since the founding of Great Ming, although Zhu Yuanzhang did not completely inherit this bad habit,

there were still many privileges regarding the use of punishment on scholar-officials.

Unless they were caught red-handed for treason, they would be beheaded immediately.

For the rest, they were basically sentenced to Executed after autumn only after the trial was nearly concluded.

Moreover, since the Tang Dynasty, the Central Plains dynasties had been extremely cautious about the death penalty; even executing ordinary bandits required the Son of Heaven to personally mark the execution order, so naturally, it was not so simple for a scholar-official to be executed.

Hearing Zhu Yunwen's words, Zhu Yuanzhang finally managed to force himself to calm down a bit.

He stared fiercely at Su Qiao, gritted his teeth, and said,

"Good! I will make sure you, young man, die convinced and satisfied!"

"Did you all hear the Crown Prince's words?"

"Take this mad scholar down for us; Executed after autumn!"

"Yes!"

Hearing Zhu Yunwen's words, Su Qiao wished he could rush forward and slap Zhu Yunwen twice right then and there.

Is it only you who has a mouth?!

When adults are speaking, what business is it of a child like you?

Executed after autumn!

It is only May right now!

If I wait until after autumn, won't I have to stay in prison for another three or four months?

Earning this billion is indeed not so easy!

71, I must preserve the entire sect!

After Su Qiao was taken away,

Zhu Yuanzhang immediately turned his gaze to Zhu Youjian in the chat group.

Emperor Taizu Gao:

"Why are you, young man, just standing there?!"

"Hurry up and summon all the children of the Zhu family back!"

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Great-Grandfather... the court has no silver left."

"The fields of the various princes occupy one-third of all the arable land under heaven."

"Our Zhu family owes far too much to the people of the world..."

Emperor Taizu Gao:

"Are you a child with a stubborn heart?"

"You must summon Lan Yu to recall them immediately."

"Even if they are stripped of their princely titles and reduced to commoners, it is better than letting them die on the battlefield!"

"When two armies face each other and the commander dies, the entire army still scatters."

"A full thirty Princes of the Blood."

"Wouldn't the mouths of those Tatars beyond the pass twist into smiles?"

"In this battle, you are afraid you will use the lives of our Zhu family members to forcibly carry those few Tatars into the Wumiao!"

"Even if you were heavenly soldiers and generals, you would have to scatter and flee!"

Since ancient times, when has one heard of thirty kings perishing in a single battle?

Even though Zhu Yuanzhang said this.

Zhu Youjian's heart remained unmoved.

Because Zhu Youjian had seen it long ago.

The Great Ming, passed down to his generation, had long since become a dead end.

Without a strong medicine, it is absolutely impossible to pull it back.

Zhu Youjian looked at Zhu Yuanzhang before the lens, wanting to speak but holding back.

Emperor Sizong Lie:

"Ancestral Grandfather, but the great army has already departed; if this battle is not fought, these silver will have been spent in vain."

Emperor Taizu Gao:

"Who said we must lose?"

"In this battle, I will command personally!"

"Lan Yu is the one fighting on the front lines; I do not believe that we, the founding generals and marshals of the Great Ming, cannot deal with a few Tatars!"

Looking at the message sent by Zhu Yuanzhang.

His own ancestor had already spoken to this extent.

Even if Zhu Youjian was as unwilling as he was.

He could not be so disrespectful to Old Zhu's face!

Emperor Sizong Lie: