Princess, she is the one who facilitated the extradition.

The three offenders were executed. The emperor looked at Shen Ze and said, "Your father committed a heinous crime that shook the foundations of the country. He should have had his family property confiscated and his clan exterminated. However, considering your merit in providing evidence, the rest of the Shen family members who were not involved in the case are all pardoned."

The title of Duke is temporarily revoked, and the public property of the manor is confiscated. However, if you make substantial contributions in the future, you may continue to inherit the title.

This means that his official position and the dowries of his mother and wife will be retained, and as long as he serves the country wholeheartedly, he will still have the opportunity to regain his title.

For Shen Ze, this was already an excellent result, and he quickly kowtowed to express his gratitude.

The emperor glanced in the direction of the Censorate and added, "For a son to identify his biological father in court is contrary to filial piety."

But you distinguish right from wrong, and you couldn't bear to see countless souls wronged, so you stood up for justice. This is acting for the public good and upholding righteousness; it is an act of justice.

Today, he spared the rest of the Shen family. The Duke of Zhenguo was worried that some officials who had been frightened by the forbidden technique might follow Shen Ze's example and tomorrow he would surely incite the censors to use the fact that the son identified his father as the issue.

He decided to silence them while the intimidation was still in place.

Shen Ze kowtowed again, this time with more gratitude than before.

His Majesty defined his actions today as upholding justice, and from now on, no one will dare to ridicule or make things difficult for him and his family in front of him.

In the residences of the Marquis of Wu'an and the Minister of War, all adult males aged sixteen and above were sentenced to beheading, while men aged fifteen and below and their female relatives were confiscated and enslaved.

In comparison, the Shen family had already received an immense favor from the emperor, and Shen Ze felt a lingering fear, as if he had survived a calamity.

Fortunately, he believed Gui Yao; fortunately, he identified his father. Otherwise, with his youngest brother already over sixteen, the Shen family would be left with only the women and their three-year-old son as slaves…

Shen Ze dared not think about it.

Shen Feiwan secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Gui Yao had kept his promise and protected her sister-in-law and nephews. Now, all that was left was Yang Shi.

She turned her head to look at Madam Yang.

Yang's face now looked as if she had been dead for three days.

The emperor attributed the credit for the account books to Shen Ze, leaving her with nothing to do with it; otherwise, the emperor would have mentioned her when he pardoned Shen Ze.

She was also aware of what happened thirteen years ago, as well as Princess Baozhu's affairs; she didn't know how much the Duke of Yue and the Emperor had discussed.

"Your Majesty, I am innocent. The Duke of Yue is resentful that I did not help him cover up the truth, so he maliciously slandered me."

Yang didn't want to die. Rather than waiting for the emperor's verdict, she wanted to fight for herself first.

"I am just a woman confined to the inner quarters; I have never come into contact with any evil magic."

"The Duke of Yue indeed never mentioned you."

The emperor's expression was inscrutable. "But whether you were involved in what happened thirteen years ago still needs to be verified."

Until then, you shall remain at home and cooperate with any summons from the authorities.

Yang had prepared a whole host of excuses, but they were all useless. She hurriedly kowtowed to express her gratitude, a secret smile appearing on her lips.

The Duke of Yue had been tamed by her for decades, and even if he knew the truth, he dared not actually report her.

He's smart to be sensible.

Overjoyed, she failed to notice the murderous intent hidden in the emperor's lowered eyes.

The long morning court session finally came to an end.

Many officials felt their legs go weak and had to help each other leave.

The Crown Prince wanted to keep Gui Yao to talk, but Da Shan spoke first, "Sister, shall we go together?"

Gui Yao did indeed still have things to finish, so she nodded, "Okay."

Marquis Weilie knelt down before the emperor again, said nothing, and performed a kneeling bow with his hands on the ground.

Although some charges were not clearly listed on the spot, they were evident from the Duke of Zhenguo's feigned unconsciousness and the Emperor's recent actions.

He also realized that what happened back then was not that the emperor was protecting treacherous officials, but that the treacherous officials had intercepted his letters and memorials, thus deceiving the emperor.

The Duke of Yue was a man of the Duke of Zhenguo. The emperor must have known that the real mastermind behind this matter was the Duke of Zhenguo, but it was not the right time to eliminate the Duke of Zhenguo with all his might.

Therefore, the emperor was often vague about many things, but the fact that he could execute these three people in court today is enough to prove that he had misunderstood the emperor before.

This bow is both an expression of gratitude and an apology.

The emperor had risen, but had not yet left. He stood on the high jade steps, looking at Marquis Weilie.

"Gu Xiao, are you still willing to serve the imperial court?"

Zhuzhu had told Marquis Weilie about sending his nephew to Nanyao.

But he never harbored any thoughts of betraying the country, so the emperor was willing to give him another chance.

With this incident, the Ministry of War lost one Minister of War and one Vice Minister of War.

Marquis Weilie was a loyal man, and now that his nephew's health was expected to improve and he had found his son, he naturally hoped to settle down in the capital.

"Your subject is willing."

The emperor nodded. "You will temporarily take over the vacancy of Vice Minister of War. Do your job well."

Although things are peaceful now, the soldiers still need to be supported. Gu Xiao is a military general who came from the battlefield and has such experience. He should be able to understand the suffering of the soldiers and will not be like those parasites who skimmed off the soldiers' money.

But people's hearts are unpredictable. He had previously harbored resentment towards the royal family, so the emperor dared not place him in the position of Minister of War.

I barely slept last night while talking with my daughter, and I've been busy for so long this morning. Even the emperor is tired.

He waved his hand, "Alright, you can all leave the palace now."

Thinking of something, he looked at the mountain again, "Although I didn't get to eat your lychees, I appreciate your kindness. When you have time, I'll have your sister take you to the palace to play."

When the emperor took his lie seriously, Da Shan suddenly felt embarrassed. He scratched his head and said, "Uncle Emperor, I will definitely bring two trees next year."

One tree for my sister, and one tree for my uncle, the Emperor.

But this statement is tantamount to revealing that the lychee tree he had given to Gui Yao was actually a gift.

Sometimes clever, sometimes silly, it's quite amusing. The emperor smiled and nodded, then waved to the crown prince.

Seeing the emperor's exhausted face, the crown prince helped him up through his clothes.

"Father, shall we ask the imperial physician to examine you?"

The emperor shook his head. "It's nothing. I'll be fine after resting for a while. Did you need something from Gui Yao earlier?"

"Yes."

The Crown Prince did not hide anything, "Your subject wishes to ask her for help in finding my sister's whereabouts."

He still didn't quite understand why his father would let Yang leave the palace unharmed, since the Duke of Yue had clearly said that Yang's gang used evil magic to harm Baozhu.

Thinking this way, he asked the same question.

"Besides your mother, there were two other forces that harmed your sister that day, and both of these forces were in cahoots with your maternal grandfather."

The emperor's steps became heavier.

"And as you just saw, the Duke of Yue and the Minister of War couldn't leak any information."

They were all your maternal grandfather's men. Did you ever imagine your maternal grandfather would have such methods before this?

The crown prince shook his head; he had actually been frightened when he saw it.

"Your Majesty understands. Father does not know much about my maternal grandfather and those two forces. If Yang is punished, she may implicate my maternal grandfather."

If some things are left unsaid, everyone can pretend to be at peace and not dare to take action easily. But once they are exposed, my grandfather might become desperate and do something rash.

Seeing that he had figured it out, the emperor said, "Crown Prince, you should also be more careful in the future, and the Eastern Palace should also be investigated."

"it is good."

The crown prince agreed without hesitation.

He now suspects that his maternal grandfather planted a pawn in the Eastern Palace; the evil magic is terrifying.

Since her maternal grandfather harmed Zhuzhu in such a way, he could very well manipulate her into becoming a puppet. Once he has the throne, this puppet will be sent to the underworld.

Thinking of this, he reminded the emperor, "Father, you should also be careful."

Before his maternal grandfather could take action against him, he would first have to take action against his father. Without his father's protection, he would be a lamb to the slaughter.

"Father, I regret it."

The crown prince suddenly said, "I should have tried harder before."

He shouldn't have been so ignorant and incompetent just because he had his father's sister, his mother, and the Zhang family.

The emperor looked at his suddenly sensible son, his expression complex. "Would you like to try for the position of Minister of War?"

He knew that his son had been frightened repeatedly before he started to reflect on himself, but his inherent laziness and selfishness had not been completely eradicated.

But as long as he's alive, he can still keep an eye on the Crown Prince and still want to give him some chances.

The crown prince asked instinctively, "Father, am I capable?"

In the past two years, he has been overseeing the country externally, but when it comes to real matters, his father and maternal grandfather are behind the scenes.

Now he dares not confide in his maternal grandfather, and his father is also very busy, so the crown prince is somewhat insecure.

The emperor chuckled, "Before becoming emperor, my father never imagined he would become emperor."

Although he hasn't done a great job over the years, he has managed to get through it all and hasn't made the situation worse than before.

The Crown Prince remained silent for a few moments, then said, "I will give it a try."

The emperor nodded. "Then let's give it a try."

The emperor's authority could instill fear in the crown prince, but it could not unite the crown prince with the emperor's will. The emperor thought that this was also an attempt to find a new way for fathers and sons to get along.

The matter was settled, and the Crown Prince was somewhat pleased.

Feeling that this showed his father trusted him, he promised to do things well and not cause his father any more worry.

The emperor smiled, thinking of his daughter, wondering how she would deal with Lady Yang.