Ming: I am fake, walking on thin ice

Chapter 86 The Queen Mother was stabbed in the back! Are you going crazy?

Sure enough, Liu Dingzhi lived up to expectations.

It took him three days to complete the trial of Sun Zhen and directly sentenced Sun Zhen to death by beheading.

This case was actually easy to investigate, as there were both witnesses and evidence, but there was a lack of someone who dared to judge the case. Liu Dingzhi was not threatened by the Marquis of Huichang and judged the case impartially.

Three days later, Sun Zhen will be escorted to Xishi and beheaded.

Sun Jizhong, the Marquis of Huichang, came out of Kunning Palace with a gloomy face. He had just asked the Queen Mother to save his son. However, the Queen Mother refused, believing that the case had been decided and she could not openly show favoritism.

Sun Jizhong's heart was bleeding. He only had one son, and he would never let him die. But now that the case had been judged, there was no way to save him legally.

Back at the mansion, he paced back and forth anxiously, thinking about how to rescue his son. At this time, his nephew Sun Lian came forward and bowed: "Uncle, things have come to this point, we can only take a risky move."

"Do you have any solution?" Sun Jizhong asked anxiously.

"Do you still remember the jailer of Shuntian Prefecture? He is a relative of the Sun family." Sun Lian reminded.

Sun Jizhong snorted coldly: "Of course I remember. The last time I went to visit him in prison, it was he who helped us. But he is just a prison boss, what can he do?"

Sun Lian came closer and lowered his voice, saying, "Although the jailer is not a high-ranking official, his position is important. We can find someone to replace my cousin, and then bribe the supervising official, and that will be done, right?"

Sun Jizhong's eyes instantly sparkled with hope. For him, it would not be difficult to bribe the executioner, because the person supervising the execution would be an official from the Ministry of Justice, and the Minister of Justice Yu Shiyue was one of his own.

Now, all we need to do is find someone to replace the son, but this person is hard to find. Who is willing to die?
"Uncle, I've found someone who can replace my cousin." Sun Lian whispered, "Do you still remember the stupid son of Uncle Six or Nine in the countryside? He is somewhat similar to my cousin."

Sun Jizhong clapped his hands excitedly: "Great, Lian'er, you have done a great job this time."

Sun Lian bowed sincerely: "Uncle, what are you talking about? We are all family."

However, Sun Jizhong didn't even listen to him finish and left in a hurry. Sun Lian looked at his back with a sneer on his face.

……

The second night.

Sun Zhen, who had just been released from prison, returned to the Marquis's mansion. After experiencing this ordeal, he looked much thinner. As soon as he entered the door, he loudly ordered: "Qiuxiang, go and get the bath water for the young master, you come and help the young master bathe. These days, I have been really pent up...ah...Dad, why did you hit me?"

Sun Jizhong slapped him mercilessly and said coldly: "The carriage is waiting outside, you must leave the city now."

"Leave the city? Why? Dad, I'm not going anywhere." Sun Zhen shook his head and refused.

"Then you must die!" Sun Jizhong shouted angrily, "You were replaced, how can you stay in the capital? I have made arrangements in Suzhou, you can hide there for a while."

Sun Zhen looked puzzled: "Dad, what are we afraid of? Can't the Queen Mother help us? Isn't it just a case of killing an old man? Is it that serious?"

"Humph, if the Queen Mother knew that you were replaced, she would kill you first!" Sun Jizhong's face was livid, "Why don't you leave quickly? Do you want to implicate the entire Sun family?"

Sun Zhen had never seen his father so serious before. He realized the seriousness of the matter. Even though he was extremely reluctant, he had no choice but to leave home for refuge. He slipped out of the Marquis's Mansion through the back door and hurriedly got on the carriage.

The carriage drove towards the city gate. Although it was late and the city gate was closed, Sun Jizhong was in charge of the rear army governor's office and had the ability to open the city gate at night.

However, when the carriage was about to reach the city gate, hundreds of Jinyiwei suddenly rushed out from the alley next to it and surrounded the carriage. The person leading the way on the tall horse turned out to be King Xiang.

"Sun Zhen, where do you want to go?" King Xiang sneered, "What a great Marquis Huichang, he will do anything for his son."

……

The next day, morning.

King Xiang dragged Sun Zhen to the palace and impeached Sun Jizhong, the Marquis of Huichang, saying that he had exchanged a death row prisoner for someone else. As soon as this remark came out, it was like a stone that caused a thousand waves. In an instant, all the ministers' eyes were focused on the Marquis of Huichang.

At this moment, he was speechless.

Zhu Qizhen's mouth flashed a barely perceptible smile, he slightly tilted his head, his eyes penetrated the curtain and looked at the Queen Mother. The Queen Mother was so angry that she trembled all over, she never expected that her eldest brother, who was always calm and steady, would do such a ridiculous thing for his son.

"I am guilty!" The Marquis of Huichang's legs softened and he fell to his knees, weeping. "But I only have this one son! Let me ask all the ministers present here, if your son just made a mistake in the heat of the moment, would you just watch him die?"

He was grief-stricken, crying out the heartbreak of an old father, and looking back on all the contributions he had made to the Ming Dynasty over the years. Could it be that all of this could not bring back his son's life?
Upon hearing his words, many ministers were touched by his deep and profound fatherly love.

Zhu Qizhen sneered in his heart.

Damn it, they are all good actors, and you are trying to be sentimental at this time?

"Marquis Huichang has made great contributions to the country. In a moment of desperation, he came up with this desperate measure to save his son. His feelings are understandable." The Queen Mother's voice came slowly, "However, a crime is a crime. Sun Zhen should be executed according to the law. As for Marquis Huichang, he will be fined for one year's salary as a punishment."

"The Empress Dowager is wise." Yu Shiyue, the Minister of Justice, bowed and said.

Many ministers echoed and agreed with the Queen Mother's decision.

Zhu Qizhen glanced at the whole room, then quietly winked at Yang Guifang. Yang Guifang understood, immediately stood up, and bowed respectfully: "Report to the Queen Mother, Your Majesty, the case of Marquis Huichang has not been fully investigated, and some people want to impeach him."

The Queen Mother's face turned cold when she heard this, and she asked, "Who else?"

Yang Guifang said in a deep voice: "It is the nephew of Marquis Huichang, Sun Lian! He is waiting outside the hall right now."

The Queen Mother was obviously surprised when she heard this, and the Marquis of Huichang was even more incredulous. Seeing this, Zhu Qizhen took the opportunity to wave his hand and said, "Then please come up quickly."

……

Sun Lian walked into the hall, looking obviously nervous, and knelt down respectfully.

Zhu Qizhen's eyes fell on him and he asked slowly, "Sun Lian, as the nephew of Marquis Huichang, are you going to report your uncle?"

"Yes!" Sun Lian did not dare to look up, but his voice was unusually loud. "My uncle bribed the jailer to get Sun Zhen out, and used his position as the commander of the rear army to order the gatekeeper to open the gate and secretly send his son out of the city. In addition, he bribed the executioner of the Ministry of Justice to let a cousin of mine in the countryside be beheaded for his son."

"Shut up!" Marquis Huichang became furious when he heard this.

"Uncle, I really...cannot agree with what you have done." Sun Lian said, "This is not only a violation of the law, but also a crime of deceiving the emperor. I have read the books of sages since I was young, and I know that such behavior is not allowed, so I can only stand up and report you."

The Queen Mother behind the curtain had already realized the complexity of the matter. Someone was using the Sun family to stab the Sun family in the back.

(End of this chapter)