Listening to Xue Ji's words, Qin Xu's heart was sour.

After a while, I mustered up a lot of energy before I asked, "Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Xue Ji was speechless when he asked this, and told him earlier, wouldn't that be looking for death early.

Qin Xu naturally guessed what he was thinking, but the more he was like this, the more heartbroken he became. If Xue Ji could have told him earlier, he would have his own way to overturn the case for the Jiang family, and he would really send the handle to others!

He couldn't speak, he could only cough hard, a mouthful of old blood pressure in his throat, dizzy, and almost fell backwards with a limp.

"Your Majesty, don't blame the minister for not believing you, when did you really trust the minister."

As soon as these words came out, Qin Xu also froze.

Yes, I don't know when the monarch and the minister have been suspicious of each other.

Qin Xu smiled bitterly and was speechless for a while.

Only today did he feel a little regretful, a little nostalgic, and a little reluctant...... The person he finally pried from King An's side, how could he let people calculate so much, but he could only watch, and he was even subject to others.

There are still three days left before the day of the execution, and he is already terminally ill, and he has to gasp for breath even when he gets out of bed and walks a few steps, so why talk about retaking charge of the government and overturning the case for him?

The overall situation of the DPRK and China has long fallen into the hands of people with good intentions.

Thinking so, he turned around slowly, and his back looked a little lonely.

Xue Ji raised his eyes to see him slowly turn his back and walk out tremblingly, his heart was stabbed suddenly, and he couldn't breathe in pain.

After hesitating for a moment, he bowed his head again and said goodbye in a deep voice: "Your Majesty cherishes it."

After autumn, the city was full of maple red, the dead branches and leaves paved the way, the road was crowded with people, and the sound of wheels rolling by could be heard in the distance, and the noise stopped, and they all rushed to look there...... If you look closely, it's a prisoner car.

The people's various discussions reached Xue Ji's ears, causing a trace of bitterness in his heart. Every day since he joined the company, he is worried that one day he will end up like this.

As a result, it still didn't dodge.

Countless thoughts poured into his mind, starting from Genghe seventeen, and he remembered all the bits and pieces along the way. It was the path he chose himself, step by step to get to where he is today.

The prisoner cart stopped outside the execution ground, and at the same time, the chatter gradually subsided. He saw a pair of black boots appear in front of him, and when he looked up, a familiar and unfamiliar face caught in his eyes.

"Congratulations, Lord Chen."

When Chen Shao heard this congratulations, the corners of his mouth hooked, and his smile grew. "Thank you. Brother Qing, I have offended."

As soon as the words fell, a jailer stepped forward to open the chains on the prisoner car, rudely dragged Xue Ji off the car, and pushed him to the execution ground.

Xue Ji stopped, wearing the heavy iron chain on his wrist, raised his hand with difficulty, hooked his fingers, and gestured towards Chen Shao.

Chen Shao hesitated for a moment, but still approached, looking at him with a sinking face, waiting for him to speak.

Xue Ji smiled, stretched his neck to his ear, and whispered in a suppressed voice, "Do you think that if you drag me into hell, the court will be your world? You are wrong, thirty years in Hedong and thirty years in Hexi, I am dead and liberated, and it will be your turn to live a hard life." As he spoke, he patted him on the shoulder with sympathy on his face and sighed, "Jie'an, I'm waiting for you below."

In the palace

The imperial doctors of the Tai Hospital were already in the palace, leaving the queen to stop the prince's hand and weep outside the palace. The crown prince Qin He comforted his mother softly, but in fact, his heart was also full of anxiety.

"It's going to be fine, my father is a long live lord, don't worry about my mother......

When Xu Yan heard the news and hurried over, he saw this situation, so he stepped forward to salute Queen Xu and say goodbye, and saw a imperial doctor running out of it, and when he saw Xu Yan, he seemed to see a savior.

"Lord Xu is here! Quick, Your Majesty summons you in!"

Xu Yan stepped into the dormitory of Zichen Palace, glanced around, but found that there was a figure missing. "Where's Zhang Yu?"

The Imperial Doctor hesitated for a moment, and quietly made a motion to wipe his neck. When Xu Yan looked at it, he understood everything.

"Minister

Knock on Your Majesty." Seeing Qin Xu's dying appearance, Xu Yan couldn't care about being polite anymore, and without waiting for him to shout flat, he stepped forward and knelt on the edge of the dragon bed. "Your Majesty, Master, what are you ......?"

Qin Xu didn't have the strength to say anything else, he opened his mouth, stretched out his hand and gestured, and barely made two sounds. Xu Yan looked at the lip shape and understood, what was he talking about...... Chen Shao.

I saw that Qin Xu's expression was getting more and more anxious, probably because time was running out. He grabbed Xu Yan's hand and scribbled words on his palm.

Xu Yan silently followed and wrote it again in his heart, and finally suddenly.

My people, it is not his turn to calculate.

"What does Your Majesty mean?"

Qin Xu closed his eyes with hatred, and Xu Yan understood.

"Yes, the lord obeys the holy decree."

Finally, an inaudible sound came from Qin Xu's throat, squeezed out from between his teeth and reached Xu Yan's ears.

"Quick, go."

Xu Yan understood, but he looked at the person in front of him and suddenly froze, as if he was no longer alive.

"Imperial Doctor, Your Majesty?"

The imperial doctor on the side hurriedly stretched out his hand to call the pulse, but froze at the moment when he took the pulse.

"Your Majesty...... It's gone."

Xu Yan was stunned, and shouted at the body on the bed for the first time in such despair.

"Your Majesty, Master!"

With this shout, Empress Xu and the crown prince who were guarding outside the hall hurriedly broke in. Empress Xu was already out of control, and threw herself on the side of the bed and hugged Qin Xu's arm and cried. And the crown prince Qin He stood behind him in a daze, opening his mouth but not making a sound.

Suddenly, Qin He dragged Xu Yan up from the ground and shouted in a deep voice, "Go quickly, go and save the prime minister!"

Xu Yan looked at the time, and secretly said that it was not good in his heart.

Qin He shook his shoulder and said angrily, "Go quickly! Hurry up, it's still too late!"

"Yes."

Execution

Chen Shao sat in the position of the supervisor and beheader, looking at his appearance full of spring breeze, he was obviously in a very happy mood. I saw him wipe the arrow in his hand, and the corners of his mouth rose more and more.

"How much longer?"

The official on the side looked at the time and replied, "There is still half an hour."

The noon sun sprinkled on Xue Ji's body, he stood on the execution ground, looking at the direction of the palace in the distance, and for some reason, his heart ached.

A drop of sweat ran down his forehead and down his nose and dripped on the floor of the execution ground, quickly dried by the hot weather.

Suddenly, a bell rang in my ears.

Xue Ji raised his head violently and stared into the distance in disbelief.

It's the death knell!

"Not good!" When Chen Shao heard the voice, he was immediately shocked, and he didn't care that it was not three o'clock in the afternoon, so he directly threw the arrow in his hand to the ground, and shouted loudly: "Execution! Quick!"

The officials on the side were already stunned when they heard the sound of the death knell, and they were even more panicked when they heard Chen Shao give such a hasty order.

"Lord Chen, the time hasn't come yet......

Chen Shao seemed to have heard the sound of horses' hooves not far away, and he didn't care about any superficial effort, pointing at the official next to him and scolding: "Fuck the hour! The decree was written to kill him! Your Majesty is dead, why don't you send him on a ride?"

The two officials standing behind Xue Ji pressed him to his knees and leaned over, the executioner trembled and raised the knife in his hand, looked at Chen Shao, and then at Xue Ji, and finally poured a sip of spirits, turned his head and sprayed it on the blade.

The hand rises, and the knife falls...... The knife still didn't fall.

"Leave people under the knife, the holy purpose is here!" I saw a fast horse break into the execution ground, Xu Yan took out the saber at his waist and flew quickly and accurately to the knife raised by the executioner, knocking the knife to the ground.

Chen Shao watched as the knife that almost slashed at Xue Ji's waist was knocked out, and he turned his head sharply and glared at Xu Yan: "Lord Xu, what do you mean by this!"

Xu Yan glanced at the sundial on the edge of the execution ground, and asked in a deep voice, "I want to ask Lord Chen what this means, before the three o'clock in the afternoon, you are violating the laws of the Great Zhou!"

Chen Shao was speechless,

He could only stare at the token in his hand, which symbolized the presence of the Holy One, and there was only anger and hatred in his eyes.

Xu Yan glanced at him coldly, turned to face the people watching the execution, and preached loudly: "The first emperor died, and made an edict to pardon Prime Minister Xue Ji, and allow him to return to his hometown, and the Xue family will restore the Jiang family!"

When the words fell, Xu Yan stepped forward and squatted down to untie the chains for Xue Ji, but he raised his hand to stop him.

"It's too late." Xue Ji moved his mouth and spit out four words.

Only then did Xu Yan find that Xue Ji's face was full of pain, but the corners of his mouth were raised, revealing a little relief.

"What are you...... What's wrong?"

I only heard Chen Shao on the side laughing loudly, laughing uncontrollably, just looking at the expression, as if he was close to madness, which made people feel creepy and fearful.

Xue Ji gasped and stabilized his voice, and said with difficulty, "He had expected it a long time ago, he would not let me live past three o'clock in the afternoon." As he spoke, faintly blackened blood snaked down the corners of his mouth.

Xu Yan's hands holding him trembled, and he opened his mouth with a hint of tentativeness: "He was poisoned?"

Xue Ji nodded, already speechless.

He couldn't help laughing at himself in his heart - Your Majesty, the prince, Qin Xu, in the end, I came to accompany you for a ride, you said that you have been suspicious for so many years...... Why bother?

Xu Yan lightly let go of Xue Ji's body, and watched him close his eyes with some unbearable eyes, and slowly fell down. Stunned for a while, it took a while to accept the reality in front of him, Xu Yan took out an object from his sleeve, a burnt faintly blackened, carved golden dragon dagger, and gently placed it beside Xue Ji.

With a sigh of relief, Xu Yan stood up, with a chill in his eyes, he once again raised the token in his hand, and ordered in a deep voice: "Immediately put Chen Shao, the secretary of the Criminal Department, into the prison of the Criminal Department!"

Those stunned officials finally stepped forward to escort Chen Shao as if they had just woken up from a dream, and the high-spirited prison officer was escorted into the prison car in the blink of an eye.

Perhaps, as Xue Ji said, thirty years in Hedong, thirty years in Hexi.

A little frost fell on his hand, Xu Yan was slightly stunned, and raised his head to look at the slightly gloomy sky.

The first snow in Changning's nineteenth year came unusually early.

(End of book)