hsntnovel Chapter 2159 Change of Face
Chapter 2159 Change of Face
In the hall, the words "I am a member of the Lu clan" were still echoing.
Lu Haoshan, born into a wealthy Lu family, entered the government through family connections and joined the army, where he was promoted to General of the Western Region Army.
He is also a powerful figure in the military.
Because he was born into the Lu family, he had close contacts with the Grand Protector Guo Xiaoke.
He also formed a small group with several other children of aristocratic families and was quite influential in Xizhou.
They come from aristocratic families and do not have the bad habits of being arrogant and domineering. They get along well with their colleagues, but there is a hint of arrogance in them, which makes people feel overbearing.
No one in Anxi Protectorate would offend them, mainly because of the power behind them.
Unexpectedly, Prince Ji did not give the aristocratic family any face at all. He did not even give them a trial and directly dragged them out and killed them.
This frightened everyone present. It was clear that Prince Ji's bad reputation was well-deserved.
"Continue." Just as everyone was shocked, Li Shen's devilish voice sounded again.
Then came Wang Xuance's voice, like a death warrant:
"Cui Zhiheng embezzled more than 6,700 strings of grain and salary, lied about the pensions, and seized more than 3,500 strings of military merit rewards.
The total amount of embezzlement was over 11,000 strings of cash.”
"More than 11,000? You are just a lieutenant in the Protectorate, but you are able to embezzle tens of thousands of taels. I have to admire your ability. You are really a talent."
After hearing this, Li Shen smiled coldly and looked at the person Wang Xuance was pointing at. At this moment, the captain of the Protectorate was shaking like a sieve.
"Cui... Cui... what's that? You come and explain to me how a mere lieutenant of the Protectorate abused your power to embezzle tens of thousands of taels of silver.
You have no more than 2,000 men under your command, and I am really curious."
Looking at this captain of the Protectorate, Li Shen felt a little admiration in his heart. He thought he was such a talented person. Should he recruit him under his command?
How could a captain be so greedy for so much money? If he was assigned to serve his father, wouldn't he easily pocket hundreds of thousands of strings of cash a year?
"I...I didn't do that. I am innocent. I hope Your Majesty will investigate this matter."
Cui Zhiheng was already panicking. He had been a little scared since Lu Haoshan was taken away. He was good friends with Lu Haoshan.
He knew that none of the charges Wang Xuance had just read out were unjust, and there were even some that had not been discovered yet. As long as they confiscated the family property, the truth would come to light.
"Unjust? Do you think I dare to read it out in public? Do you think I dare to kill you if I don't have solid evidence?
Come, give this king...”
"Pfft!"
Before Li Shen finished speaking, Cui Zhiheng had already knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly:
"Your Highness Prince Ji, please spare my life. Your Highness Prince Ji, please spare my life. I am willing to hand over all the stolen money and pay double the fine. Please have mercy on me, Your Highness Prince Ji."
Cui Zhiheng collapsed. Every time he kowtowed, there was a banging sound and blood was flowing from his forehead. He was really scared.
He didn't even dare to shout out that he was from the Cui family of Boling like Lu Haoshan.
Because he knew that Prince Ji and the aristocratic families had a long-standing grudge and a deep hatred. It would not be an exaggeration to say that it was a blood feud.
Especially their aristocratic family, who had attempted to assassinate Prince Ji several times, not to mention that Prince Ji had cheated them of their money. In addition, many officials had been killed or demoted over the years because of Prince Ji.
Dozens of officials who tried to assassinate Prince Ji were killed and more than a hundred officials were exiled, causing their power in the court to change instantly.
The two sides already have an irreconcilable hatred.
This can be seen from the fact that Prince Ji killed Lu Haoshan just now without any hesitation.
He even suspected that King Ji came here just to kill their family, otherwise why didn't King Ji punish so many people who confessed their crimes?
The guards at the door had already stepped forward, waiting for Prince Ji to finish his words, and everyone was waiting for the scene that had just happened to happen.
At this moment, no one expected that Li Shen, who had a cold face, suddenly smiled.
He waved to the guards at the door, and the guards immediately retreated.
"Cui... Cui, you deserve to be put to death for the crimes you committed, but considering that you have guarded the border for the Tang Dynasty for many years, even if you have no merits, you have worked hard. Kneel aside, and I will spare your life for now.
I will punish you later."
"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Ji. Thank you, Your Highness Prince Ji." After surviving the disaster, Cui Zhiheng kowtowed repeatedly. He was sure that Prince Ji just wanted to behead him like Lu Haoshan.
Not killed?
Everyone was terrified at this scene. Prince Ji's emotions were already in place, and they had already thought about what the next scene would be.
As a result, Prince Ji suddenly stopped and let Cui Zhiheng go.
But they understood the whole story in an instant. Could it be that His Royal Highness Prince Ji wanted the double ransom?
Isn't it said that Prince Ji is as rich as a country? He shouldn't take 20,000 strings of cash seriously.
Could it be that Prince Ji is also a greedy person?
"Next." Li Shen returned to his previous cold expression.
"Cui Zhipan, the captain of the Protectorate, lied about the food and wages of 5,730 strings of cash and embezzled 4,300 strings of weapons and armor.
He raped 12 women and killed two. He extorted merchants....”
Wang Xuance began to name the next person, who was also from the Cui family.
"Your Highness, Prince Ji, I am guilty of this. I am willing to surrender all the money I have embezzled and pay double the amount of money. I hope Your Highness will show mercy and spare my life."
Cui Zhipan was also a man who knew how to adapt to the times. As soon as Wang Xuance finished reading, he bowed and apologized. Like Cui Zhiheng, he was rewarded with double the money.
"Kneel down before me!"
At this moment, Li Shen shouted angrily. Damn it, do you think that just giving me money will be enough? Even if I give you money, you have to kneel down and give it to me.
"Plop." Cui Zhipan fell to his knees in fear at Li Shen's domineering roar.
"Your Highness Prince Ji, please have mercy on me. Your Highness Prince Ji, please have mercy on me."
"Hmph, Cui Zhi...whatever, do you think I care about your mere 20,000 strings of cash? A dog in Prince Ji's mansion costs 20,000 strings of cash a year.
Don't take your identity as a member of the Cui family as a basis for pride. Others may be afraid of your Cui family, but I don't care.
Your Cui family is like a chicken or a dog in front of me. Even your clan leader has to be afraid of me. Who do you think you are?
Kneel down beside me and wait for your punishment."
Li Shen snorted coldly, his face full of sarcasm. He was not the Li Shen of ten years ago.
"Thank you, Your Highness Prince Ji, for your kindness."
Although he was scolded by King Ji, at least he saved his life.
Li Shen raised his head and looked at the officials who were still standing. He had lost his patience.
"Do you have anything else to say? I will give you one last chance. Once the chance is over, I will start calling out names.
Perhaps you think that your neck is harder than my steel knife, so why not let us give it a try.
I will only give you ten breaths of time. If anyone does not confess after ten breaths... he will be executed immediately!"
(It’s raining. It’s raining hard. How’s that for an excuse?)