She thought the Xie family was already in a terrible state. It had fallen from the peak in the blink of an eye, but she never expected it could get even worse.
"If I'm not mistaken, things should have happened like this. Back then, your grandfather schemed his way into the Guo family. With the Guo family's help, he advanced smoothly in his career. Although his talent was not outstanding, he gave people a reliable impression, and Prime Minister Guo was willing to mentor him."
"Later, your grandfather met Xue Bozheng and was amazed by his talent. So he had the idea of taking Xue Bozheng's talent for himself. At that time, it was the reign of the deposed emperor, and everything was in chaos, which allowed your grandfather to succeed." Yi Qing looked at the empress.
"What does this have to do with Xue Bozheng?" The empress didn't understand.
Yi Qing didn't explain the empress's doubt and continued, "To protect your grandfather, Prime Minister Guo didn't let him be promoted further. Seeing his rapid improvement in talent, he let your grandfather gain a high reputation among the scholars. But what your grandfather really desired was power, so he resented Prime Minister Guo. Later, he learned that Prime Minister Guo's real intention of staying in the capital was to protect the just people in the capital and help the emperor when he made a comeback. Then your grandfather had another idea. He stole all of Prime Minister Guo's preparations and, when the emperor attacked the capital, he plotted to kill the entire Guo family, including his own wife and children."
Hearing what Yi Qing said, the empress involuntarily clenched her fists. "How is that possible?"
This was something the empress couldn't even imagine. She never thought her grandfather could do such a thing.
"If it's true, what will you do?" Yi Qing looked at the empress.
The empress slumped in her seat for a long time. "I'll ask the emperor to depose me. I'm not worthy of this position."
If this was true and the whole world knew about it, she would surely lose her position.
"Do you regret asking me to investigate this matter?" Yi Qing looked at the empress.
"I don't want this to be true, but I don't regret it." The empress said firmly.
Yi Qing let out a sigh. "We can't choose our birth, but when we have the right to make an active choice, we can choose what to do."
The empress gave a bitter smile. "I really envy you."
"What?"
"Your family treats you badly, but you're not so entangled." The empress gave a self - mocking smile.
"There's no need for so much entanglement. As long as you have a clear conscience."
The empress thought that if her grandfather had died back then and hadn't been saved by Yi Qing, things wouldn't have been so difficult. But that would have been unfair to the Guo family.
It was almost dusk when the emperor summoned Xiao Jinghan and Yi Qing to the imperial study. He had thought about it for an afternoon and finally made a decision.
"If it was really the descendants of the Guo family or their followers who killed the Xie family members, and their purpose was to clear the name of the Guo family, I'll give the Guo family a chance. I'll post a notice. If they dare to admit that they did it, I'll re - examine the case of the Guo family. But they have to crawl over the bed of nails and accept the punishment of the laws of the Great Jin." The emperor looked at Xiao Jinghan and Yi Qing.
"Aren't you being too harsh?" Yi Qing thought the emperor was just looking for trouble.
"If they don't dare to stand in the sunlight, how can I give them light?" It was also difficult for the emperor to make this decision.
Surprisingly, Yi Qing was convinced. "What if it wasn't them?"
"If it wasn't them, we'll continue the investigation." The emperor gave the order.
Yi Qing was not satisfied with this result. Xiao Jinghan knew that the emperor had made a big concession. A king couldn't make mistakes. Once he made a mistake, his prestige would be damaged.
"The emperor has made a big concession." Xiao Jinghan saw that Yi Qing was still in a bad mood after getting into the carriage.
"I'm not thinking about this."
"Then what's wrong?"
"I'm thinking about why people are so easily deceived. It's just that everyone only wants to believe what they want to believe." Yi Qing said with a sigh.
"Come on, you've been tired all day. Go back and rest early." Xiao Jinghan pulled Yi Qing into his arms.
By the time they got to the general's mansion, Yi Qing had fallen asleep. Xiao Jinghan carried her back.
Yi Qing woke up at noon the next day. She was starving when she woke up and saw Xiao Jinghan sitting at the table on one side, reading something.
"You're free today?" Yi Qing raised her hand to block the light.
"Yes." Xiao Jinghan was worried that Yi Qing might be sick because she hadn't woken up for a long time, so he didn't dare to go out.
Yi Qing walked to the door and looked around. "Why is it so quiet today?"
Usually, as soon as she woke up, there would be people coming to tell her something. Suddenly having nothing to do, Yi Qing was a little surprised.
"What do you want to happen?" Xiao Jinghan got up and walked to Yi Qing's side. "Is it that Baozi has been thinking about getting a little sister?"
Yi Qing thought Xiao Jinghan should think about something more serious. But Xiao Jinghan thought this was a serious matter.
"Madam, something big has happened!" Xue Miao'er ran over in a flurry. When she saw the general was there, she took a step back.
"What big thing?" Yi Qing looked at Xue Miao'er.
"The emperor posted a notice saying that as long as someone admits to killing the Xie family members, he'll re - examine the case of the Guo family. As a result, hundreds of people went to the Supreme Court, vying to crawl over the bed of nails. What kind of family is the Guo family? How could there be so many people?" Xue Miao'er was very puzzled.
Xiao Jinghan and Yi Qing looked at each other. It seemed things had really gone too far this time.
What exactly did the emperor's notice say? Didn't it get things backwards?
Yi Qing changed her clothes and went to the Supreme Court with Xiao Jinghan. Sure enough, the entrance of the Supreme Court was surrounded by people. Most of them were old people, and there were also some young and strong men. They all said they were the ones who killed the Xie family members and wanted to crawl over the bed of nails, asking the emperor to re - examine the case of the Guo family.
Most of these people were wearing short clothes, looking haggard but with firm looks in their eyes. They were very excited, as if going to their deaths was an honor for them.
Yi Qing lifted the curtain of the carriage and looked outside. "If the emperor hadn't covered up this matter immediately in order to stabilize the situation back then, the Guo family definitely wouldn't have ended up like this, and he wouldn't have lost Xue Bozheng either."
Xiao Jinghan knew the emperor had made a big mistake, a completely wrong one. The matter of the Guo family was not that complicated. As long as he had mentioned it, things might have been different.
But he cared too much about the fact that Prime Minister Guo had assisted the deposed emperor, so this matter was completely buried.
"Waner?" Yi Qing saw Waner walking into the crowd.
Yi Qing glanced at Xiao Jinghan, and the two of them got out of the carriage together.
Xu Maozhi never expected so many people to come. The emperor had said that the murderer who killed the Xie family members, if they wanted to clear the name of the Guo family, should surrender themselves. After crawling over the bed of nails, the emperor would re - investigate the case of the Guo family, but the murderer must accept the punishment of the law.
"I, Guo Ling, the illegitimate daughter of the Guo family, personally killed Xie Hongyi and Xie Hongning. I'm here to surrender." Waner knelt on the ground and presented a blood - written confession.
The crowd instantly fell silent and stared blankly at Waner kneeling in front.
"Heaven has eyes. The Guo family still has descendants." An old man shouted and knelt down with a thud.
Immediately, everyone knelt down. For a moment, there were cries everywhere.
Xiao Jinghan and Yi Qing had just walked to the back of the crowd and looked very out of place. Xu Maozhi saw them at a glance and hurriedly came over to take them inside.
"What should we do?" Xu Maozhi never expected such a result. "What should we do now?"
Yi Qing looked at Xu Maozhi. Ask his emperor. This mess wasn't caused by her.