Chapter 223: Chapter 221: Desperate Plea for Help (18th Update)
However, as soon as Ma Zhou’s words fell, the scene suddenly became silent.
The Civil and Military Officials were all dumbfounded, looking at Ma Zhou as if looking at an idiot.
They could never have imagined that Ma Zhou could utter such words.
Well, even the common people’s words have been spoken by him.
After such words were spoken, it made the surrounding Imperial Censors instantly want to find a crack to crawl into.
Is this man still one of their Imperial Censors?
Is this the level of their Imperial Censors?
If it really is so, the standard of these offices will be questioned by many.
After all, one must know that the people of You Country have always been at odds.
They have frequently harassed the borders of our great You Country.
Therefore, to be able to say that the people are just people, this is simply outrageous.
And sure enough, as soon as his words were uttered, the Emperor’s face changed instantly, and then he, frowning, waved directly at the guard beside him:
“Take him down, lash him 100 times!”
Following this command, when people looked at Ma Zhou, their eyes were filled with pity.
After these 100 military lashes, Ma Zhou will for sure no longer appear before everyone.
Especially hearing the tone of the Emperor, he meant no falsehood.
These truly are 100 military lashes; not just Ma Zhou, even a General from a military background couldn’t bear it.
Nowadays, Ma Zhou’s body could only withstand 20 lashes at most.
However, regarding this, the Emperor clearly showed no intention of mercy.
This guy has been displeasing to the eye for a long time, and now that he has spoken such nonsense, isn’t this a perfect opportunity?
If it wasn’t for the fact that his foundation was not yet stable, based on this single utterance, it wouldn’t have been impossible to exterminate his whole family line.
And until this moment, Ma Zhou also instantly realized, knowing he had misspoken.
So, he immediately kowtowed on the ground, begging the Emperor for mercy with snot and tears.
Regardless of whether Lin Yi competes with the people for profit, just this one statement alone is high treason, rebelling against the state, and colluding with the enemy.
Moreover, he is such an official, such an identity, and still could say such words, it truly made everyone look at him with disdain.
Even their own master, even the Fourth Prince upon hearing these words, immediately frowned.
Although he was very contentious with the Emperor, he also had no good feelings towards barbarians.
After all, internal strife is one thing, but these barbarians are from outside.
They are ever thinking about invading over here, wanting to completely overthrow the state.
Therefore, facing such a person, the Fourth Prince and the Emperor will definitely stand on the same side.
But now, Ma Zhou obviously realized his mistake, yet no one was willing to protect him.
Even though his own uncle was present in the court, a man of high rank and power, he also dared not say a word right now.
He was afraid that speaking out would implicate his entire family line.
After all, facing such a sensitive topic, who would dare to speak out?
And the action here was also quick, several Soldiers immediately stepped forward to hold Ma Zhou up and headed towards the outside of the hall.
Not only this, but Ma Zhou was not taken far away; the execution began right at the entrance of the hall.
Following the sound of a slap, the wails of Ma Zhou were instantly heard throughout the hall.
Hearing this hair-raising scream, it made all the officers in the hall involuntarily shiver together.
Really, such a thing hasn’t happened for many years.
The last time such a thing happened was during the reign of the old Emperor.
As for the years since the young Emperor ascended, not to mention executing someone at the doorway, punishment was practically non-existent.
This also made the ministers look at the Emperor with an indescribable emotion in their eyes.
Honestly, they really did not expect that the Emperor could have such a ruthless side, such a decisive side, which is quite the contrast to what he had shown before.
Even the ministers in court felt a strange sensation when looking at the Emperor now; they could not quite see through him anymore.
They seemed to see a fierce dragon about to rise.
Moreover, the two Princes who had always suppressed him, now showed signs of decline.
This is actually something they definitely did not want to see.
If the Emperor truly rises, then perhaps the first unlucky ones would be them.
As for the Generals, upon witnessing this scene, their eyes instantly lit up.
They seemed to have seen the shadow of the old Emperor on him.
Back in the hall at this moment, the screams continued to echo in everyone’s ears and did not dissipate.
It lasted for quite some time before gradually subsiding.
And this also meant that to see Ma Zhou again, one would have to wait 18 years.
Regarding this, Lin Yi was completely indifferent, viewing everything with no perturbations in his heart.
And looking at Wang Kui’s face right now, it was extremely ugly.
Standing there very awkwardly, he now felt the sensation Ma Zhou must have felt.
Wanting to argue a few more words, but with no words to object with, wanting to retreat back into the crowd, but everyone’s gaze was now on him, causing him to sweat profusely for a moment, not knowing what to do.
That pleading look also surreptitiously glanced toward the side at the Imperial Censor.
After all, one could say he was a trusted subordinate/XMLSchema.com, 御史大夫 11/23/2023 3:48 PMof the Imperial Censor; surely at this time, the other would not just watch and do nothing.
And indeed, as he guessed, when his gaze fell on the Imperial Censor, he saw him frowning, but he nodded directly at himself.
The meaning was clear, the other side was going to make a move, they would certainly not sit idly.
And this also brought joy to Wang Kui’s heart.
As long as the Imperial Censor made a move, then at least he wouldn’t be too passive.
And looking at the Imperial Censor at this very moment, he had already cursed Ma Zhou thoroughly in his heart.