Chapter 539: Chapter 539 Announcement
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
At this point, King An knew that if he wanted to convict Yang Shicheng, he could only work on Mrs. and Madam Cui.
However, both of them knew very well that if they exposed Yang Shicheng, the Yang and Cui families would be finished.
Only when Yang Shicheng was safe could their children be safe, and only then would they have a chance to turn the tables.
Zhou Ying admired their perseverance, but she knew that nothing must happen to Yang Shicheng now, especially before Yang Wanning cut ties with him.
Therefore, she didn’t do anything and obediently waited for the verdict.
King An tortured them a few times, and even when the two of them fainted, he still did not get an answer.
He could only helplessly tell the Emperor about his result.
When the Emperor saw the Cui Family’s confession, a murderous look flashed in his eyes. He never expected the Cui Family’s initial 20,000 taels of silver to grow to a total of 200,000.
These were collected from middle- and lower-class farmers and small businessmen with no foundation.
It could be seen how many people they had harmed over the years. It was probably much more than what Xiao Heng had investigated.
After that, he asked once again, “The two didn’t relent?”
“No, they’ve already been tortured, but they still haven’t relented.”
“Since they are willing to be the mastermind, then let them be.” After the Emperor finished speaking, he took out a large piece of paper and wrote quickly.
After he finished writing, he handed it to King An. “Post it. The Cui Family and their masterminds will be beheaded at noon tomorrow. The rest will be sent to the salt fields and mines.”
“Yes, 1’11 head to it immediately.” King An paused for a moment before nodding.
At the same time, he was puzzled. If the Emperor was so ruthless toward Mrs. Cui and her family, why would he let Yang Shicheng go lightly?
Of course, he didn’t know the Emperor was using the deaths of the Cui Family to warn those officials’ wives to behave.
As for Yang Shicheng, he would keep him around until he collected more evidence of his corruption.
At that time, he would finish him off.
Another thing was that the two secondary consorts he had appointed were both
Yang Shicheng’s daughters, so he wanted to gauge the reactions of his two sons.
When the announcement was posted, the entire capital exploded in surprise.
Of course, the people at the lower levels cheered, especially those who had borrowed money from them. Once the Cui Family perished, they wouldn’t need to pay back their loans anymore.
As for the upper class, especially the officials, they went home in unison at noon to warn the womenfolk that they should behave themselves.
Suddenly, those who had illegal businesses retracted everything, even if they lost money.
When the First Prince received the news, he was nervous. He was afraid that Yang Shicheng would beg him for help.
If he refused, who knew what Yang Shicheng would do next?
On the other hand, the Third Prince did not care about this and just went about his daily business.
As for Yang Wanning, he was fully supportive of her after learning from Gu Chengrui that she wanted to leave the Yang family.
After all, Yang Shicheng was his oldest brother’s aide. He didn’t want to have anything to do with him. Otherwise, it would be troublesome if he was schemed against one day.
At the Yang Family,
Yang Wanyu was panicking because she knew very well that without the protection of her grandmother and mother, her status in the Yang residence might be even worse compared to Yang Wanning.
Just as she was about to go wild with worry, Yang Chenglin and Yang Chengsen rushed back.
Looking at their house, which clearly showed signs of decline, they understood that their families might be finished.
Therefore, they ran anxiously to their sisters.
Yang Chengsen entered Yang Wanyu’s courtyard and saw her worried face.. He quickly went up and asked, “Sister, what is going on? Are Grandmother and Mother really going to be executed?”