Chapter 245： The fish is dead and the net is broken

Chapter 245 The fish is dead and the net is broken

After hearing these words, the emperor's expression finally softened a bit, and at least half of his anger towards Xue Chen was gone. "Get up! You go back first. I will make my own decision on this matter."

Xue Chen was stunned for a moment, then immediately stepped back respectfully when he realized what he was doing.

“Zhang Wen, what do you think?” The emperor glanced at Duke Ding next to him.

Duke Dingguo replied solemnly: "What Prince An Guo said is probably true. It may be a bit exaggerated, but Duke An Guo is indeed getting more and more outrageous. For the sake of a mere bastard, he actually pushed his legitimate son to this point. It is also rare in the world!

These are all the family affairs of An Guo Gong. I don’t want to say more, but An Guo Gong reached out to the dungeon for the sake of his concubine. He is really an old fool! "

"Humph! Is he an old fool? I think he is quite smart, and he knows how to take care of his son like this!" The emperor's words were sarcastic, and he was obviously very angry.

Duke Dingguo did not dare to add fuel to the fire and quickly shut up.

To be honest, he didn't want Anguo's government to fall at all. After all, there were only two major princes in the entire Qi State. If Anguo's government disappeared, the remaining Dingguo government would be really conspicuous. Their family is now extremely careful in their actions. If there was no Duke Anguo to share the attention of others, wouldn't it be like walking on thin ice in the future?

But he had to express his position, and more importantly, he had to show his loyalty. It was inevitable to step on Anguo's mansion, but it was really embarrassing for him.

The emperor returned to the palace angrily. The first thing he did was to listen to the secret guard. The result was not much different from what Xue Chen said. However, during the investigation, the secret guard also found some things that Xue Chen didn't say or even Xue Chen didn't know. things.

The Duke of An Guo not only wanted to use this incident to dethrone Xue Chen as the heir apparent, but also intended to drive the eldest son out of the capital, and let Xue Shaoji be named the Duke of An Guo's wife. After a few years, he would give Xue Shao the title of heir apparent.

This is what An Guo Gong told Cao Zhiheng, the Minister of Punishment, after he was drunk. In order to get Cao Zhiheng to help, An Guo Gong even promised to let Xue Shao marry Cao's daughter in the future. From now on, Cao's daughter will be An Guo Gong's wife.

Such a big temptation was placed in front of him, and Cao Zhiheng was not a mentally resolute person, so he was bribed immediately.

In addition to the Minister of Punishment, several other officials were also involved, and they were all waiting to get Xue Shao out of the dungeon safely.

The emperor laughed angrily when he heard the secret guard, and slammed the table, "I haven't issued the order yet, but An Guogong has made arrangements for me first! It's really good! Come here! Pass the order!"

It was already past noon when Xue Chen returned to Duke Anguo's Mansion. Looking at the familiar door, he suddenly laughed out loud, making the concierge and the guards tremble in their hearts.

Xue Chen laughed for a while and went straight to the main courtyard.

Zhou has been pretending to be sick since last night. Although she is fine, she is still pretending to be lying on the bed. She turned over when she heard some noise and asked, "How is it?"

Xue Chen's eyes were like a pool of stagnant water. He opened his mouth and said in a hoarse voice, "Mother, I did it! Maybe the Anguo Palace will soon be gone in the capital."

Zhou's body seemed to have been drained of strength. She fell down, lost consciousness for a moment, and murmured to herself, "I knew this day would come sooner or later! Haha, I hope the emperor will go online and leave us a message because we took the initiative to expose it. life!"

If Duke An Guo is not exposed, there is only one ending waiting for their mother and son. Now that they are fighting, it may be possible to put them to death and survive.

Xue Chen was about to say something when the housekeeper suddenly rushed into the main courtyard with a panicked expression, "Madam, Your Majesty, there is an imperial edict from the palace!"

Zhou and Xue Chen were heartbroken and quickly packed up and went out to receive the order.

Aunt Chun was not qualified to show up for an occasion like this. I don’t know if An Guogong was out of his mind, but he actually asked Aunt Chun to kneel down with him to receive the order.

When Zhou saw this scene, he felt more and more that his decision was right.

With Xue Chen's help, he slowly walked over, found a place far away from An Guogong and knelt down. Seeing this scene, Dekang's mouth twitched slightly, and he finally understood why the prince Anguo wanted to kill his relatives in such a righteous way.

When everyone was here, he cleared his throat and shouted loudly: "By God, the emperor issued an edict that Duke An Guo, Xue Gang, bribed Cao Zhiheng, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, and disturbed the law. The following committed the crime. It is a heinous crime. Xue Gang is hereby deposed as Duke An. , was demoted to a commoner, exiled to the northwest, and will not be allowed to enter the capital in this life! "

Duke An Guo's eyes were splitting, and he shouted emotionally, "Impossible! There is no way that the emperor can revoke my title. My ancestors, Duke An Guo, died fighting for the Qi State. Countless of them, the emperor will not do this to Duke An Guo!"

The reason why he dared to be so unscrupulous was because of the great contributions made by the ancestors of the Xue family. His grandmother had told him since he was a child that as long as he did not rebel, the emperor would turn a blind eye no matter how big the trouble was. Now he told The emperor wanted to abolish his title, how could he accept it?

Dekang's face darkened, and he stared at Xue Gang with a sinister look, "Xue Gang, is it possible that you want to resist the order?"

Xue Gang was startled, and when he reacted, he immediately argued, "That's not what I meant. You, a eunuch, don't slander me! Aren't you afraid of chilling the hearts of the people in the world by dethroning me as Duke An Guo?"

Dekang chuckled, "Xue Gang, Xue Gang! Who do you think you are? The emperor only said that your position as Duke An Guo would be abolished, but he did not say that he would take away the title of Duke An Guo. Why are you anxious!"

Xue Gang was stunned.

Aunt Chun was panicked and held Xue Gang's sleeve tightly.

Dekang began to read the second imperial edict, "By the fate of heaven, the emperor issued an edict: Xue Chen, the prince of Anguo Gong, has a great heart, filial piety and respect. From now on, Xue Chen will be granted the title of Anguo Gong. I hope that he will restrain himself, observe etiquette, and be careful in his words and deeds." , Revitalize the lintel of Duke Anguo’s Mansion, thank you for this!”

Xue Gang turned around suddenly, staring at Xue Chen with vicious eyes, as if he was not looking at his own son but an sworn enemy, "It's you! It was you who did it, right? Okay! I really gave birth to a good son." !”

Xue Gang clenched his fists, veins popped out on his forehead, and slowly got up from the ground, approaching Zhou's mother and son step by step.

Zhou was frightened and knelt on the ground begging Dekang for help, "Father-in-law, he is crazy. Please save our mother and son!"

Dekang was furious, "Xue Gang! You really want to die, don't you?"

“Hahaha, I’ve lived to this age, so what’s there to be afraid of? I’m just teaching my son a lesson, it has nothing to do with you!”

 Seeing Xue Gang being so stubborn, Dekang took a step back with a gloomy expression, "Xue Gang is disobeying the order, take action!"

A group of imperial guards rushed toward Xue Gang with their spears raised.

Xue Gang, however, was obsessed with killing Xue Chen and had no scruples at all. He was born in the military. Even if he had not wielded a sword or a gun for many years, his skills were not something that Xue Chen could resist.

Just as Xue Gang's fist was about to fall.

Xue Chen shouted: "Xue Shao is dead!"

Xue Gang's fist stopped an inch away from Xue Chen, "What did you say?"