The officers and soldiers began to escort the Zhao family out, men, women and children huddled together and wept, and the two wives led by the two ladies each held two five or six-year-old children, who were dragged by the officers and soldiers and almost fell to the ground.

Lin Qingwan stood at the window and looked, pointed to one of them and asked, "Is that Mrs. Zhao?" ”

The fourth prince looked at Jiang Tingshi, and Jiang Tingshi immediately said: "Exactly, the child in her arms is Zhao Jie's youngest son." ”

He pointed to the lady next to her and said: "That's Zhao Sheng's wife, the little girl in his arms is his young daughter, and their second son has been missing, the minister interrogated them, and they all said they didn't know." ”

"They are dead," Lin Qingwan said lightly: "Dead in Dingzhou, I think Zhao Jie should have received the letter soon." ”

Jiang Thorn Shi was shocked, Zhao Jie and Zhao Sheng's eldest son had stayed in Lingzhou before, and now it is estimated that they have been detained, Zhao San and Zhao Si will die again, isn't it that there is no one left in the Zhao family except Zhao Jie and Zhao Sheng?

The fourth prince sighed, "Isn't it good enough for his father to treat him, he has been promoted all the way, if there is no father, how can he snatch this part of the military power from Lu Zhen's Lu family?" ”

Lin Qingwan said: "His heart is too big, but he has no loyalty, so he took the wrong path." ”

"What did the third sister say could make him submissive?"

"Your Highness has already found Zhao Sheng's body?"

The fourth prince nodded, "Yes, the guards are sending Jiangnan with great fanfare, and they will arrive in a few days." ”

Lin Qingwan nodded, turned around and walked down the teahouse.

The four princes and Jiang Tingshi hurriedly followed, and the group arrived at the bottom of the teahouse, and the officers and soldiers who escorted the Zhao family had not yet come to the front, and when they saw Lord Tingshi waiting behind the two, they didn't dare to slack off, and pushed people forward to salute.

The family members were pushed and fell to their knees, looking at them in fear.

Mrs. Zhao and Mrs. Zhao were frightened for the past few days, their faces were haggard, and their faces were panicked at this time, and when they saw the four princes, they couldn't help but tense their nerves, and subconsciously hugged the child in their arms.

Lin Qingwan's gaze slid over their hands, walked up to the two of them, and half-squatted to look at Mrs. Zhao, "Mrs. Zhao's surname is Chen?" ”

Mrs. Zhao nodded with a pale face.

Lin Qingwan reached out to help her brush the hair on her face, and said softly, "Does Mrs. Chen know what Zhao Jie did?" ”

Mrs. Zhao shook her head again and again, pleading: "The sinner doesn't know, what the husband does outside never tells us to the woman in the house, not only I don't know, but my brothers and sisters don't know either." ”

She wept and said, "If the sinner woman knew, she would have stopped it even if she fought for her life." ”

Lin Qingwan nodded and said with a smile: "I believe in Mrs. Chen." ”

The fourth prince frowned slightly, and believed it in just one sentence?

"You don't know, but the four eldest sons of the Zhao family definitely know," Seeing that Mrs. Zhao shook her head to defend herself, Lin Qingwan said softly: "Don't talk about the eldest prince and the second prince of Zhao, they followed Zhao Jie to serve in the army, and many things that Zhao Jie did required them to come forward, so it was impossible for them not to know." ”

Mrs. Zhao pursed her lips.

"As for the third prince and the fourth prince," Lin Qingwan said softly: "The two ladies don't know yet, this time Zhao Jie and Liaoguo traded with the two sons in a car, and they happened to run into the Northeast Army patrolling the border and saw through their tricks in one fell swoop." ”

Mrs. Zhao and Mrs. Zhao's eyes widened, and Lin Qingwan said in their disbelief: "You Zhao family's loyal servant has a man named Qu Yong, right?" He escorted the two sons into the Liao Kingdom, but the Northeast Army pursued them and finally shot them on the border of Liang and Liao, and their bodies should have arrived soon. ”

Mrs. Zhao and Mrs. Zhao only felt a dull pain in their hearts, and they almost couldn't breathe.

Second Mrs. Zhao turned around after the pain and slapped Mrs. Zhao in the face, her mouth shouted, but she didn't make a sound, and her eyes were full of resentment and glared at Mrs. Zhao.

The little girl was frightened, and cried out with a "wow", and held her mother tightly.

The little boy was also frightened, and threw himself into his mother's arms and cried.

Second Mrs. Zhao clutched her chest and fell to the ground, Lin Qingwan frowned slightly, stopped the officers and soldiers from kicking her, stretched out her hand to lay her flat, and waited for her to slow down before she looked at Mrs. Zhao who was kneeling on the ground in a daze and said, "Now except for Zhao Jie, who is still on the run, all of your Zhao clan who are alive have been taken into custody." ”

Mrs. Zhao's eyes moved, and she asked with difficulty, "My second uncle ......?"

"He was killed by an arrow in the chase shop, and his body is being sent to Jiangnan."

Mrs. Zhao laughed twice, but tears flowed down her eyes, and she asked in a dumb voice, "What does the county lord want me to do?" ”

She hadn't seen Lin Qingwan, and she hadn't guessed her identity at first, but she recognized Jiang Thorn Shi and the Four Princes behind her, how many women could make the Four Princes stand behind?

And there will be fewer in Jiangdu.

Lin Qingwan smiled slightly, very satisfied with her intelligence.

She glanced at Second Mrs. Zhao and the little girl kneeling beside her, then looked at the little boy in her arms and asked, "Mrs. Chen, has you guessed your future?" ”

"What future? collaborating with the enemy and treason, punishing the three clans," Mrs. Zhao said in a low voice: "I expected this fate when the adults came to the door. ”

"But none of you killed yourself."

Mrs. Zhao's face stiffened and lowered her head.

"It seems that you are waiting, do you think this is a misunderstanding, but you can redress the grievances, or are you waiting for Zhao Jie to come and rescue you? Or do you know that Your Majesty is benevolent and think he will not kill you? ”

Mrs. Zhao lowered her head and didn't speak, Second Mrs. Zhao had already slowly got up, she covered her chest and said, "Just say what the county lord wants us to do." ”

Lin Qingwan reached out and pulled out the only silver hairpin from Mrs. Zhao's head, and pulled out a red rope from the little boy's neck.

There was a longevity lock tied to the rope, and she clicked on the longevity lock and said, "You guessed one thing correctly, Your Majesty is indeed benevolent and willing to give you a chance to live." ”

The four princes were startled and took a step forward.

Mrs. Zhao was in good spirits, but she looked at the four princes, "Can the county lord call the shots?" ”

Lin Qingwan smiled, "As long as Mrs. Zhao can do Daliang a favor, Your Majesty will definitely spare your life." ”

"What's the busy?"

"Let Zhao Jie cut himself and exchange his life for the lives of all of you."

Second Mrs. Zhao's eyes burst into light, she turned around and grabbed Mrs. Zhao, and said hatefully: "Write, sister-in-law, we still have Xiao Wu and Jiu'er, do you really bear to let them go to the guillotine at a young age?" ”

Mrs. Zhao's face turned pale and she glanced down at her youngest son.

She gave birth to a total of three sons in her life, the eldest and the fourth are gone, and the fifth is her middle-aged son, she loves her very much, and she doesn't have a chance, how can she cut off his life if she has the opportunity?

If the fourth child runs out, it will be okay, in order for him to survive in Liao, they will also die.

But now that the fourth child is gone, what's the point of Zhao Jie living alone?

Second Mrs. Zhao is more urgent than her, her sons are all dead, her husband is also dead, and now there is only one biological daughter left, so she naturally hopes that she can live.

Zhao Jie took the second room with him for everything, he put his eldest son in Lingzhou, and left Zhao Sheng's eldest son in Lingzhou, he asked Qu Yong to flee to Liao with his second son, and he also brought Zhao Sheng's second son, just because he was afraid that the second room would abandon him to protect himself if something happened, but who would have thought that Daliang didn't catch him, but blocked all the back roads he arranged for the child.

Second Mrs. Zhao gritted her teeth with hatred for Dafang now, and naturally didn't care about Zhao Jie's life or death.

She looked at Mrs. Zhao with blazing eyes, and Mrs. Zhao didn't hesitate for long, just asked, "If I write to him, he will be able to cut himself?" ”

"It depends on Mrs. Zhao's ability," Lin Qingwan said with a smile: "As long as he dies, I will fulfill my promise." ”

Mrs. Zhao said: "I'm afraid that I believe in the county lord, but he doesn't believe in the county lord." ”

"He doesn't believe me, because he thinks there's nothing to threaten me," Lin Qingwan said: "It's better to spread it all over the world, promising that if he kills himself, I will let you live?" ”

Mrs. Zhao was excited, she mentioned this because she was afraid that Lin Qingwan would not admit it after Zhao Jie's death, and what if they were beheaded at that time?

If she is willing to spread all over the world, she will naturally believe her, and she believes that Lin Qingwan should not dare to be treacherous in front of the world.

Mrs. Zhao took off the longevity lock from her youngest son, took off one of his coats, and handed it to her, saying, "The county lord will take it first, and I will be able to write a letter immediately." ”

Lin Qingwan looked at Jiang Tingshi, and Jiang Tingshi hurriedly sent people to the nearest teahouse and asked people to prepare pen, ink, paper, and inkstones.

The fourth prince was speechless: "Have you asked your father?" Why did you promise to let them live? ”

"Don't worry, I have consulted Your Majesty, Your Majesty said that as long as Zhao Jie can shut up, he is willing to be lenient to these innocent Zhao people."

"Innocent?"

Lin Qingwan nodded to a few children and said, "Do you think they are also involved in collaborating with the enemy and treason?" ”

The fourth prince stopped talking.

"But the death penalty can be avoided, and the living crime cannot be escaped," Lin Qingwan squeezed her eyebrows at the four princes and said: "In order not to let the Shang family be implicated, I still ask the four princes, even if they escape beheading, they can't escape exile." ”

And exile in this era is not much lighter than decapitation.

After traveling for 3,000 miles, you will reach a place of extreme bitter cold, and it may also be a border pass, and it is not certain whether these old and weak women and children can survive to the place of exile, and their lives will not be much better.

It's not always better to live than to die.

Looking at the frightened and ignorant children kneeling on the ground, Lin Qingwan sighed slightly, forcing herself to look away, so that she would not be soft-hearted.

The fourth prince glanced at Lin Qingwan several times, and also glanced at the children, and was silent.

The two stood quietly at the door of the teahouse and waited, and in the teahouse, Mrs. Zhao wrote a letter, and Mrs. Zhao began to revise it after deliberation.

Seeing that there was uncertainty and hope in their eyebrows, the fourth prince asked Lin Qingwan in a low voice, "Are you sure that Zhao Jie will commit suicide?" ”

"Not sure," Lin Qingwan said, "I'm gambling, and they're also gambling." ”

She motioned to the four princes to look at them and said, "If it is done, everyone will be happy, and if it is not, the result will not be worse than now." ”