Can I get to the other side?

At the same time that Lu Bu was ordered to lead troops to arrest the entire Zhen family, Zhen Mi's convoy finally arrived in Yecheng.

In the carriage, Zhen Mi gently lifted a corner of the curtain and looked at the towering city in front of her, with a very complicated look and mood.

Although she would soon return to the palace, she was not happy in her heart, but full of sorrow.

Her family had committed such a treasonous act as the imperial envoy of the court. She didn't know how to face Liu Xie, nor did she know whether to plead for her family.

She didn't know whether the emperor would be disappointed with her because of this matter and no longer favor her as before.

All kinds of emotions intertwined, Zhen Mi felt that the Yecheng in front of her was like a whirlpool, and she would be deeply trapped in it once she returned.

But she couldn't escape these things.

Thinking of this, Zhen Mi couldn't help but sigh, and began to think about how to explain to Liu Xie what she Zhen had done after returning to the palace.

The convoy gradually drove into Yecheng and stopped outside the palace.

After getting off the carriage, Zhen Mi was about to enter the palace, but at this moment she noticed the figure of her brother Zhen Yi, who was standing in the snow waiting for the emperor to summon him.

She hesitated for a moment and wanted to go up and say a few words, but Zhen Yi snorted coldly when he saw her gaze and turned his face away from her.

Zhen Mi felt a sense of grievance when she saw this, bit her lips lightly, and boarded the sedan chair to enter the palace.

Outside the Qingli Palace, Liu Xie had already been waiting there.

After seeing Zhen Mi coming in a sedan chair, she immediately stepped forward and said with a smile: "My beloved concubine, you are finally back."

Zhen Mi didn't expect Liu Xie to wait for her here in advance. She bowed nervously and said: "Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."

"Get up quickly."

Liu Xie helped Zhen Mi up, handed her the heater in his hand, and then teased: "It is said that a short separation is better than a new marriage, but my beloved concubine has become estranged from me."

"This is not the beloved concubine I am familiar with."

Seeing Liu Xie's gentle smile and familiar words, Zhen Mi inexplicably felt like crying.

Her eyes were slightly red, and she said to Liu Xie: "Your Majesty, your concubine, your concubine..."

But before she could say anything, tears flowed out first.

Liu Xie took her into his arms and said softly: "My beloved concubine, there is no need to say more. I already know the situation in Wuji County. Zhen's matter has nothing to do with you."

"You are weak to begin with. Now that you are pregnant, you must pay extra attention to your health."

"It's cold outside. Follow me into the palace first."

Liu Xie's voice brought an inexplicable power, which soothed Zhen Mi's guilt, tension and uneasiness, and her tense heartstrings also relaxed.

She said nothing more and followed Liu Xie into the Qingli Palace.

On the way into the palace, she suddenly said: "Your Majesty, although Zhen is a relative of my concubine, she has committed a serious crime this time. Your Majesty will punish her according to the law."

Zhen Mi mustered up the courage to say these words. Although she felt very painful when she said these words, she knew that this was the attitude she had to show.

Zhen's behavior this time was too much. If she could not be severely punished, it would greatly damage the face of the emperor and the court.

If you dare to do something, you have to pay the corresponding price.

Liu Xie held Zhen Mi's hand and said, "My beloved concubine, you don't have to worry about these things. I will handle them properly."

Zhen Mi nodded silently. Although she didn't know how Liu Xie would deal with Zhen, this sentence made her feel very relieved.

After all, Liu Xie had never lied to her.

After sending Zhen Mi back to Qingli Palace, Liu Xie stayed with her for a while, and then went to Tai'an Palace.

In Xuanshi, Fa Zheng was already waiting here.

In addition to him, all the ministers stood here in awe.

Liu Xie walked into the Tai'an Hall, came to the main seat and sat down. Looking at Fa Zheng who had lost a lot of weight below, he said with emotion: "Xiaozhi, you have worked hard this time."

Just a simple concern made Fa Zheng grateful and he knelt down immediately and said: "I am willing to die for your majesty!"

Liu Xie waved his hand and said: "Don't say these unlucky words. If you really die, I will lose an arm, right?"

"I can't do without your assistance to revitalize the Han Dynasty. Besides, the court still has a heavy burden waiting for you to take up. How can you say you will die?"

Fa Zheng kowtowed repeatedly, tears falling like rain.

At this moment, he felt that all the dangers and hardships he had endured on this trip were worth it. The emperor valued him so much, what else could he ask for?

The other ministers in the hall were also quite envious of Fa Zheng, because the emperor's evaluation was of high value.

Fa Zheng fought for a bright future with his life.

After some consolation, Liu Xie asked: "Xiaozhi, what happened on the night when the post house caught fire? Are you sure it was done by Zhen?"

At present, he has no evidence to prove that the fire was caused by Zhen, so he still has to ask Fa Zheng, who experienced it personally.

Facing this question, Fa Zheng did not dare to answer easily. After thinking for a while, he said: "I went to bed early that day, and when I woke up, the fire outside the house was already very big."

"At that time, I wanted to escape with the account book, but I found that the doors and windows were all locked with chains. This shows that the fire was not an accident, but was aimed at me."

"If it weren't for the embroidered envoy arranged by Jia Zhongshu to rescue me in time, I'm afraid I would have died in the sea of ​​fire."

Fa Zheng spoke frankly, without any exaggeration, nor did he directly say that it was Zhen who set the fire, but just said that the fire was not an accident.

The reason was simple. Although he knew in his heart that Zhen was probably responsible for this incident, he had no actual evidence.

You must know that the Zhen family is not a small family, but a Conglong hero who helped the emperor defeat Yuan Shao, and he is also a relative of Zhen Guiren, so he dare not draw any conclusions casually.

"In other words, Aiqing doesn't know who set the fire?"

Liu Xie asked with raised eyebrows.

Fazheng nodded, but after a slight hesitation he added: "But according to what the embroiderer who protected the minister said, he saw someone sneaking into the posthouse that night and pouring tung oil on it."

"Later, he saw the people who poured tung oil on the Zhen family's house... They seemed to be members of the Zhen family."

For a moment, the hall became quiet.

Jia Xu stepped forward and asked, "Your Majesty, do you want to summon the embroidered messenger? He is waiting outside the palace right now."

He had already known what happened that night, so he was not surprised by what Fazheng said.

It was Zhen's fault that the water leak was committed, and Qingzhu was the witness.

Liu Xie looked calm and said calmly: "No need, summon Zhen Yi to the palace to see him. I have something to ask him... Xiaozhi, please step aside."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Of course Fazheng didn't say anything and quietly retreated.

Soon Gao Lan led Zhen Yi into the palace.

As soon as he entered the hall, Zhen Yi knelt down in the center, kowtowed deeply to Liu Xie above him and said, "Zhen Yi, the guilty minister, pays homage to your majesty!"

After hearing this, Liu Xie slightly raised his eyes to look at Zhen Yi. After staring at him for a while, he asked: "Guilty minister? Why did Zhen Aiqing say this?"

Zhen Yi did not dare to raise his head and said in a serious tone: "Your Majesty sent the imperial envoy to Wuji County to check the accounts, but the guilty minister failed to protect the imperial envoy, causing the imperial envoy to be buried in a sea of ​​fire. This is the fault of the imperial envoy."

"I came here just to apologize to His Majesty."

Hearing these words, Liu Xie's eyes flashed with a cold look, and he felt even more disappointed.

But his expression remained unchanged on the surface, and he said calmly: "The flood in the post house was an accident. Xiaozhi died unfortunately. This is not the crime of loving you."

"No, Your Majesty!"

Surprisingly, Zhen Yi directly refuted Liu Xie's words. As if he had made some determination, he raised his head and said, "The death of the imperial envoy was not an accident!"

"The fire in the post house was set by members of my Zhen clan!"

As soon as he said this, the whole palace was shocked.

All the ministers in the palace, including Liu Xie, were shocked by Zhen Yi's sudden self-exposure, and they all cast their eyes in disbelief.

Zhen Yi... took the initiative to plead guilty?

The error-free version is being read! 6=9+Book_Bar debuts this novel.

Liu Xie's eyes changed slightly, he squinted at Zhen Yi and said, "Zhen Aiqing, do you know what you are talking about?"

"Set fire to the post house and murder the imperial envoys. This crime is no different from rebellion!"

"Is this really the fault of your Zhen family?"

Facing Liu Xie's cold questioning, Zhen Yi turned pale and gritted his teeth: "Your Majesty, this matter was indeed done by members of my Zhen clan."

"I, the Zhen family, have won the trust of His Majesty for several years. With the help of God's grace, the family has grown stronger day by day."

"But the guilty minister was also blinded by profit, used power for personal gain, and allowed his tribe to embezzle a lot of money, food and land from the court."

"The same is true for the batch of disaster relief materials not long ago. It was not that they were not fully raised, but that they were misappropriated by the criminal officials."

"Later, His Majesty sent an imperial envoy to inspect the accounts, and the guilty official realized the seriousness of the problem, but it was too late."

"The guilty minister wanted to take the initiative to plead guilty to His Majesty and ask for forgiveness, but he did not expect that the clan members were so crazy that he actually set fire to the post house without telling the guilty minister. He wanted to destroy the imperial envoy and the account books together to escape the crime."

"The guilty minister knows that he has committed a serious crime. Not only has he betrayed His Majesty's trust, but he has also committed a catastrophic disaster. The guilty minister is willing to accept all punishment!"

Zhen Yi said with tears in her eyes, telling the whole story, her tone full of pain and regret.

On the way to Yecheng, he thought a lot about whether to try to hide it or to confess everything to the emperor.

If he concealed the truth and blamed everything on the accident, then he, Mrs. Zhen, might be able to escape this disaster.

If they were honest, the Zhen family would definitely be severely punished by the emperor, because it was impossible to turn a blind eye to something that violated the bottom line.

Even if their Zhen family is a hero from Conglong!

After repeated hesitation, he finally chose to confess everything to the emperor and tell the truth.

Because he was not sure that he could hide it from the emperor.

In other words, it is impossible to hide this matter. Anyone who is not a fool can figure out who set the fire in the post house.

Even if the emperor did not find any evidence that they set fire to the post house this time and allowed them to escape punishment, wouldn't the emperor keep it in mind?

Sooner or later, the Zhen family will be caught, and the emperor's thunderous wrath will be a hundred times greater than it is now!

If he takes the initiative to plead guilty and takes full responsibility for the crime, there may be hope for the Zhen family to leave a way to survive without having their home confiscated and exterminated.

The death of a few people in exchange for the survival of the family.

Moreover, when he confessed, he deliberately concealed the reason for withholding the relief supplies. He only said that it was for corruption, rather than to threaten the emperor and compete for the throne.

In this way, Zhen Mi can be avoided.

This is the only thing he can do right now.

After Zhen Yi finished crying, she closed her eyes and waited for the emperor to punish her, and was ready to die.

"Willing to accept all punishment?"

After hearing what Zhen Yi said, Liu Xie snorted and sneered: "Do you think I will only punish you if you take the initiative to plead guilty?"

"The embezzlement of disaster relief materials has caused countless people to starve, freeze and even die. According to the law, everyone should be executed!"

"Conspiracy to murder an imperial envoy is the same as treason, and according to law, the nine tribes should be punished!"

"Can you bear these sins?"

Liu Xie's tone was full of anger, and his questions pierced Zhen Yi's heart like sharp arrows.

"I remember that you, Mrs. Zhen, helped me when I was in my early days, so I gave you, Mrs. Zhen, one chance after another, and tolerated your greed for money and land."

"But you are getting more and more outrageous, and you even dare to reach out for disaster relief supplies!"

"I sent people to check the accounts to give you a reminder and ask you to take the initiative to hand over the supplies, but you chose to murder the imperial envoy!"

"Tell me, who gave you such courage!"

Liu Xie slapped the case hard and stood up angrily.

Zhen Yi kept kowtowing and cried: "I am guilty of death, I am guilty of death! But I beg your majesty to be merciful and open your eyes..."

"shut up!"

Liu Xie shouted sternly, with anger on his face, "If I open my eyes to you, Zhenshi, then where is the majesty of my man, and where is the law!"

"Since you said before that you are willing to accept all punishments, I will punish you, Zhen, according to the laws of the Han Dynasty!"

"Preach my will——!"

Liu Xie was about to issue a punishment for Zhen.

But at this moment, Zhuge Liang took the initiative to stand up and said: "Your Majesty, wait a moment, I have something to say."

Liu Xie said coldly: "If Kong Ming wants to plead for Mrs. Zhen, then there is no need. Today I must severely punish Mrs. Zhen and bring justice to the law!"

"Your Majesty, please calm down."

Zhuge Liang still did not go back, he raised his hands and said: "Zhen's embezzlement of disaster relief materials and murder of imperial envoys are indeed unforgivable crimes."

"But after all, Mrs. Zhen has made great contributions to our great man, and the head of the Zhen family has taken the initiative to plead guilty to His Majesty. According to the law, the punishment can be reduced as appropriate."

"Therefore, I feel that it is not appropriate to deal with Mrs. Zhen according to the harshest punishment. Your Majesty, please think twice before doing anything to avoid damaging the holy name."

After Zhuge Liang finished speaking, Yang Xiu also followed suit and said: "What Zhuge Shangshu said is absolutely true. Moreover, the Zhen family still manages a huge industry. If the nine tribes are punished, no one can take over these industries."

"If this happens, I'm afraid it will affect the imperial court's plan to go south to conquer Cao's thieves."

Zhuge Liang and Yang Xiu came forward to plead for mercy, and other ministers in the palace, such as Yang Biao, Cui Yan, Fu Wan and others also began to plead for Zhen.

Everyone could see that the emperor didn't really want to punish Zhen Shi severely. It was obvious that the thunder was louder than the rain, so of course they had to play along.

It's a very simple reason. Even a great hero like Zhen who initially followed the emperor could be killed by the nine tribes. What would the other heroes think?

Under the persuasion of the ministers, the angry look on Liu Xie's face slowly disappeared. After all, he still did not issue the decree, but instead coldly ordered: "Come here, put Zhen Yi into the sky prison and wait for his fate!"