Chapter 463: The Execution of Fang Yuan
Chapter 463
The root cause was that they did not have North Border lamb, let alone enough grassland sheep farming.
If it was said that everything before was to earn a little money, the lone lamb meat was to make big money. Opening a store was to maximize overall profits, and even form a new trademark of Fengjing.
This was the last step in Zheng Ruqian's words.
From the difficult and dangerous one essay to one hundred essays, from one hundred essays to one hundred taels of gradually proficiency, and finally one thousand taels and ten thousand taels of ease.
As Fengjing's temperature reached its peak, the wallets of the siblings were also unprecedentedly abundant.
"Little tigers in late summer and early autumn, the weather is so hot, is autumn coming?" Jiang Sheng raised her head from the stacked account books, and her black eyeballs couldn't focus no matter what.
Zheng Ruqian reached out and patted her on the back of her head, and her vision gradually became clear.
"Second brother." Jiang Sheng yelled angrily.
"I was helping you." Zheng Ruqian shrank back and hid behind Xu Mo.
The weather was too hot. The Imperial Academy thoughtfully relaxed the bath break and did not forget to issue ice allowances.
It’s no wonder that working for the country is great. Others rest and don’t earn money, while he earns money and can rest.
"Okay, stop messing around." Xu Mo put down his pen and paper, "I wrote a reply to third brother, do you want to hear it?"
The siblings who were staring at each other just now nodded in unison.
"Third brother, seeing your letter is like seeing you in person. I have received the news you sent and am very happy to hear that you have been victorious in every battle. Knowing that you have been promoted from Colonel to Major General of Martial Prowess, my elder brother still needs to salute you, which can be described as extremely fortunate."
"General Jiang's words are not empty. Promotions in the army are difficult, but I hope you can let go of your prejudices and accept the help of your relatives and friends. Use your own abilities to assist the common people and make contributions to the peace of the world."
“Fang Yuan was sentenced to beheading for fraud in the imperial examination. You may have already received the news by the time the dust settles, but this is not the end of the matter, nor is it possible for the naked eye to decide."
"Time should not be much left, for you, for me, and for fifth brother too."
Time is running out, this is a signal.
The road between Fengjing and the North Border is long and arduous. I hope this letter can bring unexpected gains.
Xu Mo lowered his head to fold the letter, carefully put it in the envelope, and then sealed the mouth with wax.
Zheng Ruqian took it casually. He didn’t even need to ask the traveling merchants to carry it, but directly let the people who went to Anshui Prefecture to transport sheep take it and hand it over to the long-term workers who were sending meat to Anshui Prefecture.
“What are we going to do next, big brother?" Jiang Sheng asked crisply.
Xu Mo turned his head back. "Wait for the beheading."
With the autumn tiger swarming, the beheading of the imperial examination fraud case, which had been shelved for half a year, was approved for retrial and was executed at the Vegetable Market on the eighth day of the eighth month.
As soon as this news came out, the entire Fengjing was shocked.
There were death row prisoners every year, but this year's was particularly noble.
The eldest son of a prestigious family, who was also one of the top existences in Fengjing, was now shackled, disheveled, and standing in the prisoner's car.
The still angry scholars and students didn't know where to find rotten vegetable leaves and eggs, and they were trying their best to smash them.
The good thing was that it looked very lively.
The bad thing is that it is easy to hurt the innocent.
After dodging the flying rotten vegetable leaves four times, Jiang Sheng decided to stand behind Zheng Ruqian, "Big brother, is the person in the prison car really Fang Yuan?"
Xu Mo stared into the distance, "Yes, and no."
According to previous analysis, Fang Yuan would not give in easily. He must rack his brains to escape.
But the prisoner had to be checked before the execution. With so many eyes watching, it was very easy to pick out flaws.
Xu Mo was not omnipotent, nor did he know how to shed his golden cicada shell before the execution. He only knew that no matter whether the prisoner in front of him was Fang Yuan or not, the one who died was not.
The siblings walked lightly and followed the people of Fengjing to the entrance of the vegetable market.
The prefect of Feng Tian Prefecture had already set up the bench and the executioner's sword. After checking the prisoner's identity, the executioner pushed him to the front door of the vegetable market at noon and waited for the formal beheading at one o’clock.
No one from the Fang family came, only Mrs. Zhu crying and being supported by Wang Yuyao with red eyes.
Some people scolded the Fang family for being cold-blooded and ruthless, while others understood the self-preservation of the big family.
But in any case, in the face of affection, the father seemed to be much less impressive than the mother.
"It's noon." Someone murmured.
The Prefect of Feng Tian Prefecture took out the execution order and slapped it heavily on the ground, "Kill!"
When it was noon, the soul returned to its destiny.
Mrs. Zhu cried and collapsed. Several maids couldn't hold her up.
The executioner raised the long knife high, and the sharp blade reflected the dazzling sunlight, blinding people's eyes for an instant.
It was too late to say, and in an instant, as the white light chopped down, the shabby head rolled down, with wide-open eyes and a confused look.
Mrs. Zhu screamed "my son..." and lost her voice.
Kind-hearted people turned their heads away, and even Jiang Sheng's eyes were covered by a pair of big hands.
"No, no." She pried open her hands. "I'm not afraid."
Fang Yuan had hurt so many innocent students, and the Fang family didn't know how many poor people they had oppressed. Even if he died, he still had crimes left.
She was not only not afraid, but also forced her eyes wide open, watching the head roll three times on the ground before the empty neck finally spurted out blood columns.
High splashing, dripping.
It was like comforting the tireless poor students, and it was also a warning to all opportunists.
Xu Mo sighed aloud, not knowing whether it was for the elegant Fang Gongzi back then, or for the changes in the court afterwards.
In the past six months, the He Family had repeatedly clashes with the Jiang Family and the Dou Family, and they almost fought in the courtroom.
The He Family alone was no match for the Jiang and Dou families, but with the help of the Ju Family beforehand and the estrangement between the Jiang and Dou families afterwards, they gradually formed a tripod.
If the Fang Family was counted, it should have been four feet.
The He Family was the weakest among them, but their attitude was the most arrogant. They didn’t give anyone face and just charged recklessly.
Everyone just thought that the old father was driven mad by his gay son, and did not realize that danger was creeping in quietly.
Three days.
People who were executed had to wait three days before they could collect the corpse.
Xu Mo didn't know how Fang Yuan escaped ascension, nor could he glimpse his figure. He could only take the most stupid but also the most direct approach—check the corpse.
Zheng Ruqian hired Fengjing's most capable funeral workers at a high price. They pretended to be blind men who stumbled by touching the head by chance while groping around, and indeed found the key to the problem.
Although this man's bone age was close to Fang Yuan’s, he was not Fang Yuan, but was wearing an artificially made mask that outlined the facial features to be similar to Fang Yuan. In addition, being disheveled, it was really difficult to distinguish between true and false.
Or the executioner in charge of identification was bought off and deliberately confused the real and fake.
In any case, the dead man was not Fang Yuan, and that was enough.
Xu Mo's eyes lit up. After the Fang family collected and buried the corpse, he filed a petition and Jiang Jichong read it out loud in the Golden Hall:
"I dare to inform His Majesty that I accidentally discovered that Young Master Fang used a death row prisoner to impersonate him and shed his golden cicada shell to escape. This is no different from despising the imperial power and provoking students across the country. I implore His Majesty to uphold imperial authority and restore justice for scholars..."