At this moment, the crowd outside stirred again. Several people lay on the nail - studded planks to pave a path for Wan'er so that she could step over. Those people were already old and simply couldn't bear lying on the nail - studded planks. Immediately, they fainted.
Yi Qing saw the situation outside. "Someone's injured. I'll go and take a look." She turned around and ran.
Anyway, it wasn't her business.
Wan'er stepped over those people on the nail - studded planks with tears in her eyes. Seeing Yi Qing running down from the steps, she nodded slightly.
Yi Qing cleared her throat. "What are you standing there for? She's already crossed the nail - studded planks. Hurry up and carry these people down."
The guards on one side hurriedly carried the people lying on the nail - studded planks down. Two of them were already dead, and Yi Qing started treating the rest.
Normally, crossing the nail - studded planks was only used when one wanted to appeal to the emperor and was mostly set up in the imperial palace. This time, the emperor just wanted to intimidate those people, but he didn't expect such a result.
Hearing the news from outside the palace, the emperor looked up at the sky. Dark clouds were gathering, and it seemed that it was about to rain.
"Let's go out of the palace." The emperor turned his head and ordered Xiao Dezi to prepare the imperial carriage.
Wan'er claimed to be the youngest daughter of the Guo family, named Guo Ling. Back then, in order to deceive the deposed emperor, Prime Minister Guo had placed all his family members in the old mansion but prepared hiding places for them.
Who could have thought that Prime Minister Guo didn't die at the hands of the deposed emperor but at the hands of the person he had always supported. Xie Xiuxian knew where the Guo family members were hiding and killed them all.
However, there was always a young and naughty child in the family. The child slipped out to play and didn't follow the others to hide. Instead, the child hid in the doghouse at home and witnessed the massacre of the family with their own eyes.
That night was chaotic. There were sounds of fighting and crying everywhere in the city. Some people were fleeing for their lives, while others were in pursuit. It was normal for a child to be covered in blood.
"But you have an alibi," Xu Maozhi asked rigorously.
"That was just a simple trick. I said I was inside, and others believed me. After all, I'm a brewer, and the people around me had all drunk. They couldn't be sure themselves," Wan'er said frankly.
"But..." Xu Maozhi was about to ask further.
"Cough... cough..." Yi Qing cleared her throat.
Xu Maozhi looked at Yi Qing.
"According to what you said, you could have killed the Xie family members long ago. Why didn't you act until now?" Yi Qing was more concerned about this.
"What I wanted wasn't to kill people but to seek justice for our Guo family. But the Xie family covered the sky with one hand. I knew I had no chance, so I just waited," Wan'er gritted her teeth and said. "I waited until the Xie family was infamous, but only the case of Xue Bozheng was investigated, and there was no news at all about our Guo family's case. I secretly sent a petition to the Ministry of Justice, but still got no news. That's when I realized that you wouldn't investigate the Guo family's case. You all thought my grandfather was a villain."
"Why did you secretly send it to the Ministry of Justice?" Xu Maozhi wondered.
"Before the trial of the Xie family, I couldn't let others know that I was still alive. I still had to rehabilitate the Guo family," Wan'er said firmly. "Originally, I wanted to put the petition on Xie Hongyi and Xie Hongning, but then I thought that since there was no news before, it would be useless. So I planned to end the lives of all the Xie family members myself. Otherwise, I couldn't face the Guo family members."
Hearing what Wan'er said, Yi Qing frowned slightly. Wan'er said "the Guo family members" instead of "my family members".
"The emperor is coming—" The palace servants outside announced.
Everyone hurriedly stood up and went to pay their respects.
Wan'er knelt on the ground, her head bowed, watching the emperor come in. A relieved smile appeared on her lips. She had done it.
The emperor saw Wan'er kneeling on the ground. A palace servant hurriedly carried a chair and placed it on one side. The emperor didn't take the main judge's seat but sat on one side to listen to the trial.
"Xu Maozhi, continue the trial. I'll listen," the emperor ordered.
Xu Maozhi bowed and returned to the main judge's seat.
The people outside the courtroom were all willing to testify. Back then, Prime Minister Guo accompanied the deposed emperor in order to save those who opposed the deposed emperor. Although there were all kinds of bad rumors about him outside, only those who had been saved by Prime Minister Guo knew that he did this to protect the Jiangshan of the Great Jin.
It was a pity that later Xie Xiuxian had too much power, and he suppressed all these things. Some people who spoke up for Prime Minister Guo were brutally killed. Since the emperor turned a blind eye to this, these people didn't dare to say anything.
Now that they knew Prime Minister Guo had a descendant and the court was going to retry the case, they immediately stood up. They thought they had lived long enough after all these years of surviving. Even if they died, they wanted to do something meaningful before they died.
The emperor looked at those people in the courtroom who were ready to die. Most of them were literati from the time of the deposed emperor. Unfortunately, they had been implicated and had to live in obscurity.
"Bring Xie Xiuxian here," the emperor said with a gloomy face.
Xie Xiuxian was already cruel enough in the case of Xue Bozheng. Unexpectedly, there was such an old and long - standing case.
However, when those people went to the Xie family, Xie Xiuxian had already committed suicide. Before he died, he left a letter saying that everything he had done was for the court.
The emperor laughed when he saw the letter. Such a person would never think he was wrong. Instead, he thought the world had wronged him.
Even so, Xie Xiuxian's body was still brought to the Supreme Court to receive the long - overdue trial.
Most of the evidence was prepared by Xiao Jinghan and Yi Qing. With Wan'er and those people testifying, the truth about how Xie Xiuxian had massacred the entire Guo family was finally revealed.
This truth was too heavy. Even though the Guo family had won, they couldn't be happy.
"Pass on my imperial edict. Search for the remains of Prime Minister Guo's family and give them a grand burial. This is my fault for using the wrong person. I'll offer sacrifices to heaven to atone for my sins and console the souls of the dead," the emperor announced.
Everyone knelt down and shouted long live, except Yi Qing, who stood on one side.
When this case was finally over, it was already dusk. The Xie family was raided, and their members were exiled. All those who were involved in this case back then would be dealt with leniently if they surrendered themselves, but severely if they were found out.
When the emperor returned to the palace, a muffled thunderclap sounded, followed by a downpour.
It was almost winter now, but there was such a heavy rain all of a sudden. People said that this was a sign that the long - standing injustice of the Guo family had been righted.
The queen, wearing plain clothes, knelt at the palace gate. No palace servant held an umbrella for her, and her clothes were soaked. The emperor saw this as soon as he entered the palace.
"Who's serving the queen?" the emperor roared when he saw this.
The palace servants hiding from the rain on one side then trotted over and knelt down.
"I beg you to deprive me of the title of queen. From now on, I'll live a life of devotion to Buddha, praying for Your Majesty and atoning for the sins of the Xie family," the queen kowtowed.
Before the emperor returned, the news about the Xie family had already spread to the palace. Everyone in the palace knew that the queen might be deposed. She had risen because of the Xie family and would fall because of them.
The emperor held the queen's hand and helped her stand up. The two of them had gone through a lot of hardships over the years. The queen had indeed been a virtuous assistant.
"You're already a member of the royal family after marriage. You have nothing to do with the Xie family," the emperor held the queen's cold hand. "But the position of the queen..."
The emperor knew very well that with what had happened to the Xie family, the court officials would surely force him to depose the queen.
No one dared to covet his throne, for that would be treason.
But there were too many people coveting the position of the queen. They wouldn't miss such an opportunity.