Chapter 127: The Sworn Enemy Is Right in Front of You
Ximen Yourong went to Yizhou without hesitation, and Dongling Yuanyong did not waste any time to step up the steps to stabilize the people of the imperial city.
Among them, the Wen family case was the root cause. Therefore, Dongling Yuanhao, who was responsible for the investigation, was quickly called to Longtai Palace.
Dongling Yuanhao knew that Dongling Yuanyong met him because of Wen's case.
Therefore, after he simply saluted, he said directly without waiting for Dongling Yuanyong to ask:
"Brother Emperor, I have checked all the cases involving Ximen, and I have also asked the civil and military officials who were under the orders of my father at that time. All the witnesses and physical evidence show that Wen is on the execution list, and that he is the father of the emperor.
He personally stamped his seal on the execution list."
Dongling Yuanyong lowered his eyes: "You mean, the Wen family is already on the execution list that the emperor intends to kill?"
"On the surface, it seems like this. However, I think there are still unexplainable issues. The execution order issued by the emperor at that time refers to the Ximen, Shang, and Xia families whose first offenders have the same surname. Although the Wen family's daughter-in-law is Shang
She was born in the Shang family, but she was married to the Wen family. Legally speaking, she was no longer a Shang family, and her children had no relationship with the Shang family. Therefore, the Wen family should not be on the execution list at all.
This is also the reason why Wen Jingyin insisted that the Wen family was innocently killed."
"Where is this person Wu Jiayi?"
"I haven't gone to him to ask anything. If he is really the culprit who framed the Wen family, I think he will definitely take some action. In that case, it will be easier for him to avoid incurring the consequences. But if he did not do anything wrong,
, I think he can also be magnanimous."
"Whether he has done anything wrong, let him explain himself in front of the crowd."
"Brother Emperor, do you want to speak directly?"
"You didn't shy away from investigating Wen's case semi-openly. Wu Jiayi probably knew that I would investigate him. But as you said, if he doesn't have a guilty conscience, he has nothing to fear."
"In this case, why don't I have someone bring Wen Yuyin into the palace and have her and Wu Jiayi confront each other in front of the emperor's brother to see which one of them is telling the truth, so as not to waste time asking questions?
Go."
Dongling Yuanhao's proposal was the simplest and fastest for Dongling Yuanyong who was anxious to solve the problem as soon as possible.
Wu Jiayi was quickly summoned to Longtai Hall. Dongling Yuanyong looked at Wu Jiayi who was kneeling down to salute and asked solemnly:
"General Wu, among the families that the late emperor ordered to kill for serial crimes, you were the one who submitted the final list to the late emperor for his seal, right?"
"Reporting to Your Majesty, yes."
Wu Jiayi's voice was calm, which made it sound like he didn't feel guilty at all. However, just because he couldn't hear it didn't mean that he was really magnanimous and without any guilt.
He was responsible for submitting the final list to the late emperor, but no one knew about it, and he only discovered that Wen was on the list at the last moment.
On the day of the great changes in the imperial city, the late emperor was seriously ill and it was the most stressful day, so the late emperor did not have the extra energy to personally check the families on the list one by one.
It was he who was responsible for reading out the lists one by one for the late emperor to decide. However, before he had finished reading all the lists, the late emperor stopped and refused to listen.
The late emperor used his last energy to stamp the seal himself, and personally ordered the families on the list to be killed immediately.
However, when Wu Jiayi was ordered to take over the list, he was shocked by the last surname on the paper because it was a surname that should not appear on the list.
A strong sense of fear made him kneel down and beg Emperor Hongwen:
"Your Majesty, the Wen family is on the list. I would like to ask your Majesty to check again..."
"Wenshi...cough...what Wenshi..." Emperor Hongwen breathed rapidly, and his energy was about to be exhausted.
"A great Confucian family ~ Wen family."
Emperor Hongwen was silent, as if he was recalling which "Wen family" it was. Maybe he remembered it, and he asked with rapid breathing:
"Why is Mr. Wen on the list...?"
"The legitimate daughter of the Shang family married the Wen family and had three sons. They are related to the Shang family by blood..."
The person who answered Emperor Hongwen on behalf of Wu Jiayi was his father, Wu Xingxu... Then, before Wu Jiayi had time to think about it, Emperor Hongwen had already shouted angrily:
"Kill...kill...all the families on the list will be wiped out by me!"
I don't know if Emperor Hongwen was not sober enough, or because he heard that no one with blood relatives of the Shang family was allowed to be spared. He was completely furious and determined to kill all the families on the list.
At that moment, General Chu Pingyi, who had already arranged everything, also came to Emperor Hongwen to resume his duties.
Emperor Hongwen once again ordered Chu Pingyi to ensure that all families on the list disappeared from this world at the same time.
So, that night, the turmoil in the imperial city continued throughout the night...
Wu Jiayi also carried out the killing operation under the irreversible situation... and he was personally responsible for the Wen family. After he numbly stopped swinging the knife, he gradually realized that Wen family's execution was unreasonable at all!
After the imperial city returned to calm, he was probably the only person who could not restore calm. Because a family that should not have been killed disappeared like that, and it was he who personally raised the butcher knife...!
He carried the guilt of hundreds of innocent lives on his body day after day, until the guilt was deeply buried by him, and he even deceived himself and others into thinking that the annihilation of the Wen clan was God's will... He was in this self-rationalizing despicability.
"Forget" the sins of that night...!
He thought that all that was over, that he could pretend that the evil didn't exist as long as he numbed his perception.
However, now that evil has suddenly reappeared, does it count as the restoration of Skynet...?
"You are the one responsible for killing the Wen family!"
Dongling Yuanyong was not a question, but a confirmation. His calm and powerful voice struck Wu Jiayi's ears and cut off his inner monologue.
Wu Jiayi calmed down his restless mind. He lowered his head and quickly adjusted his unharmed expression to look at Dongling Yuanyong and replied:
"I am responsible."
"The Wen family is not the first of the three serial criminals, but the Wen family is on the execution list. Why is the Wen family included in the list you are responsible for reporting?"
Although Dongling Yuanyong was asking a question, it was actually an accusation. His eyes when he looked at Wu Jiayi were sharp and intimidating.
Wu Jiayi knew that since Dongling Yuanyong had personally intervened in this matter and had obvious intentions of launching an army to investigate, he might not be able to escape from this matter easily.
However, at this time, he still wanted to defend for some reason. He put on his characteristic tough look as a military commander and replied calmly and honestly:
"Because the late emperor has a secret order, any family that is closely related to the three major criminal families must be added to the liquidation list. The last list submitted by the ministers was personally confirmed by the late emperor one by one, so..."
"So, the Wen clan was executed with the permission of the late emperor before you personally killed the Wen clan?"
There was no anger in Donglingyuan Yong's flat tone, but Wu Jiayi felt a strong sense of oppression. He had to work hard to keep his calm and said concisely:
"Wei Chen was the late emperor's close bodyguard at that time, and all his actions only followed the late emperor's instructions."
"From what you're saying, does it mean that the late emperor issued a decree that was inconsistent with his words and deeds and killed innocent people indiscriminately?" Dongling Yuanyong sneered lightly.
"Wei Chen doesn't dare!"
"General Wu..." Dongling Yuanyong's tone suddenly turned serious: "Judging from the records recorded in the palace, the extermination of the Wen clan was indeed ordered by the late emperor. In this case, you personally lead the troops to raid and kill the Wen clan.
It's not your fault. But..."
Dongling Yuanyong paused and took a slow sip of tea:
"The grievances complained by the surviving descendants of the Wen family are completely different from what you said. This is a major matter of whether a great Confucian family has been wronged. Therefore, I have to order a thorough investigation into the matter. If the Wen family is really wronged, I will never
This will let the matter go unanswered...Does General Wu understand what I mean?"
"I understand! Although I am not ashamed, I will obey any decision made by Your Majesty!"
Wu Jiayi was obviously upset when he heard that there were still surviving descendants of the Wen family. But he didn't know where the confidence to strengthen his "clear conscience" came from. He was half numb and half deceiving others to strengthen himself.
A faultless attitude.
Dongling Yuanyong was actually not very familiar with Wu Jiayi. He only knew that Wu Jiayi was recommended by Prime Minister You Zhongru to serve as deputy commander of the Forbidden Army.
When he returned to the imperial city to take over the new dynasty, due to the involvement in the Ximen case, many dignitaries in the dynasty became criminals and were exterminated overnight.
When the old dignitaries disappear, new dignitaries will naturally have to take their place.
Therefore, except for the special position of power and authority, Dongling Yuanyong will personally select suitable people to sit in it. For other official positions, he deliberately allows new powerful ministers to recommend the people they want to promote.
Among them, Wu Jiayi was one of the generals who was recommended by You Zhongru and promoted unusually.
When Wu Jiayi served as deputy commander, people didn't think he was very capable, but it was true that he was dedicated to his responsibilities.
Of course, just this will not cause Dongling Yuanyong to pay attention to him.
If it hadn't been for the "turmoil" caused by the surviving descendants of the Wen family, Wu Jiayi would have been just a general in name only with no outstanding military exploits.
However, regardless of Wu Jiayi's nature, Dongling Yuanyong actually did not dislike Wu Jiayi just by talking to him like this.
However, this does not mean that he will not investigate Wu Jiayi's involvement in the Wen case.
Since Wu Jiayi kept saying that he had a clear conscience, Dongling Yuanyong didn't want to waste any more time, so he asked Dongling Yuanhao to bring Wen Gongyin in.
When Wen Yingyin came in and saw her sworn enemy right in front of her, the anger in her heart rolled rapidly involuntarily, and her eyes seemed eager to shoot thousands of sharp arrows at Wu Jiayi.
Because hatred controlled all his consciousness, Wen Gongyin completely forgot to kneel down and salute Dongling Yuanyong.
Dongling Yuanyong didn't care about this, but he watched Wen gurgling and broke the tight airflow:
"Are you the surviving daughter of the Wen family ~ Wen Yin?"
Dongling Yuanyong had never seen Wen Gongyin, but he could tell that she had a strong scholarly aroma, and she looked like a lady who read poetry and books.
However, unlike Dongling Yuanyong who was indifferent when he saw Wen Ginger for the first time, Wu Jiayi was surprised the moment he saw Wen Gunny.
But what surprised him was not because she was a surviving descendant of the Wen family, but because he knew Wen Yingyin with another identity!