Infrastructure Throne

In the meeting hall, when the nobles saw Yan Zui appearing, their hearts suddenly turned cold.

This is not a good stubble.

How this batch of food came from is irrelevant, and now the last bargaining chip has lost its effect. Everyone silently looked at the leader, Viscount Boya, with ashen faces, like a defeated rooster.

Viscount Boya still refused to give up, he knew that the mine would definitely be taken back by Yan Zui, and the arrears of taxes could only be filled with bleeding.

But as long as the green hills remain, there is no need to worry about lack of firewood. No matter what, people must be kept. As long as Earl Yan En does not fall, there will always be a day when he will make a comeback!

The humiliation they suffered today, the meat they cut off, will be taken back slowly in the future!

Viscount Boya's face was gloomy, his hands were firmly on the edge of the table, his nails were almost digging out sawdust:

"Master City Lord! Please uphold justice! Although Lord Earl led someone to break into Lord Priest's iron factory, it did not cause irreparable consequences. After all, he is a nobleman and your uncle!"

He paused, staring into Yan Zui's eyes: "The old lady is still alive, do you want the old lady to send the white-haired person to the black-haired person?"

"After the death of the old city lord, the count is the only remaining son of the old lady! You should always think about the old lady!"

Viscount Boya moved out of the old lady's backing, Yan Zui narrowed his eyes slightly, the smile faded from his lips little by little, stared straight at Boya, and did not speak for a long time.

The atmosphere in the meeting hall, along with Yan Zui's face, turned cold.

The nobles secretly exchanged glances with each other. While admiring Boya's dexterity, they couldn't help sweating for him—these words were completely poking the lungs of the city lord!

After a long time, Yan Zui suddenly raised his voice, "Bring everyone in."

The door of the meeting hall was open on both sides, and the guards escorted a group of smugglers in. They seemed to know the miserable fate waiting for them, and they knelt on the ground dejectedly, like walking corpses that had lost their vitality.

One of them, Shen Qingze felt quite familiar, after thinking about it, he realized that it was Boss Mo from Iron Blood and Gift Iron Shop!

It turned out that he was also part of the smuggling chain.In addition to smuggling the ore, the Earl will also intercept some of them, and ask Boss Mo to build armor for him and raise private soldiers.

The nobles in the meeting hall were taken aback. Those who knew the complexion changed drastically, and those who didn't knew were just baffled.

Yan Zui casually dragged a chair, and sat next to Shen Qingze: "Originally, I planned to call you all to hold a public trial meeting. Since everyone is here, choosing a date is worse than hitting the date. Let's do it now. Chief Fan, you Let me introduce you to everyone."

The information that Yan Zui possessed had already been passed back to the City Lord's Mansion by means of pigeons. Now that there are all the certified evidence, the smuggling chain that has been hidden in the shadows for many years has finally surfaced.

Fan Mizhou bowed to Yan Zui, cleared his throat, and made a detailed statement to everyone present about the smuggling case in the mine that he found earlier.

"...The lord of the city arrested the smuggling informants who placed the earl in the mine on the spot. At the same time, they seized a large number of smuggled mines on the spot, and now they have all been transported back to the city."

"In addition, we have also mastered the accounts of the earl's smuggling with Pearl City over the years, the list of participants, and checked them with the accounts of the mine in the hands of the chief officer of Luoxin. Add up and multiply it dozens of times."

"After many interrogations, we found that in addition to smuggling, the mines and salt farms under Berg's management also abused workers and deducted wages. As a result, countless workers died."

"In the last ceremony, Earl Yan En was the real mastermind behind the scenes. The former chief priest, Mo Yun, was just his scapegoat."

"After he was imprisoned, his subordinates were afraid that things would be exposed. Many people revealed his crimes completely, such as occupying the poor's land and distributing spoiled food to the poor. There are so many of them."

"Facing so much evidence, Earl Yan En can't deny it!"

Having said that, Fan Mizhou paused for a while, looked at the expressions of Yan Zui and Shen Qingze, and said in a deep voice: "According to the laws of Yuanliu City, you should be hanged."

hanged...

A deadly silence spread in the chamber.

Confusion, fear, shock, negative emotions one after another, like poisonous snakes, slowly crawled up the spine of everyone, and wherever they passed, the skin became cold and goose bumps fell.

The tea on the table was completely cold, and after an unknown amount of time, someone among the nobles staggered to their feet, and hurriedly knelt down in front of Yan Zui:

"My lord! I know nothing about these crimes of the Earl! I have not participated in them at all! I am willing to pay back the food tax! In the future, I will never default on it!"

The others seemed to have been hit with a dull hammer, and immediately imitated the example and acted accordingly: "My lord! We don't know! We are also willing to pay back!"

Viscount Boya was startled and angry, pointing at their noses and yelling:

"You idiots, you don't know how to unite and resist at this time, and you even tear down the stage! The Earl has fallen, and you will be the next to be cleaned up!"

Yan Zui got up, walked slowly in front of him, and slowly raised the corners of his mouth:

"You don't have to jump in a hurry. Your name ranks third on the roster. Since you are so loyal to Yan En, why not accompany him and suffer the punishment together."

"Come on, take Boya down!"

"You..." Boya's eyes widened, the shadow of death had never been so close to him!

His whole body began to tremble, from the bones of the legs to the jaws, every bone was like a rusted gear, making a teeth-stinging sound.

The guards took him down from left to right, and Boya resisted wildly, shaking his head like crazy:

"You can't kill me—I'm a nobleman—I don't want to die!"

His desperate cries echoed in the chamber until his figure disappeared, and the faces of the other nobles were extremely ugly, as if they saw their next self.

None of them dared to speak, and they all lowered their heads, like quails shrinking their necks, intently studying the carvings on the teacups.

They didn't dare to think about the mine anymore, they paid the food tax with pain, and only begged the city lord and the priest to show mercy and save their lives.

Yan Zui was very satisfied with the well-behaved nobles who had recognized the situation, he tilted his head towards Shen Qingze and asked for his opinion.

Shen Qingze did not intend to seriously force all these feudal nobles to death, that would mean declaring war on the entire feudal lord system.

With the current level of productivity in the world, such an approach does not make sense.

As long as these guys obediently abide by the laws and regulations, use their power on the right path of construction, development and defense of the city, and stop being a stumbling block on their way forward.

After getting rid of the earl's cancer, he didn't mind leaving them a way out. In the future, they would still be useful.

Shen Qingze thought for a while, and then slowly said: "Your Lord City Lord can give you an order."

"Since Priest Shen has no objection."

Yan Zui's deep voice resounded clearly in everyone's ears, "I announce that the title of Earl Yan En will be revoked, I will be hanged, all property will be confiscated, family members will be exiled, and expelled from the city!"

Everyone was stunned, they didn't expect Yan Zui to give his own uncle the heaviest punishment in total disregard of the old lady's affection.

As for Berg, Boya and his like, they will all be judged according to this, and the rest of the people involved will be handed over to the City Lord's Mansion for trial and judgment one by one.

This turmoil that shook the whole city came to an end with the complete downfall of Yan En.

The incident ended here, neither Yan Zui nor Shen Qingze chose to be implicated.

No one among the nobles in the city dared to beat him directly.

Yan Zui personally went to the prison to inform Yan En of the news of the hanging.

At that time, the prison was dark, only a little cool light leaked from the skylight.

Yan En was obliquely cut in half by this beam of light, half of his face was buried in the shadow, and half of his face showed a half-crying, half-smiling expression.

Yan Zui stared at his uncle with a blank expression and said nothing.

"You won." Yan En's voice was hoarse and weak, "Brother defeated me, and you also defeated me."

He didn't cry or scold hysterically, but flattened the folds of his clothes little by little, as if he was trying his best to maintain the last dignity of a great nobleman.

"No..." He shook his head again, "It wasn't you who won me, it was the one named Shen. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have suffered a crushing defeat."

Yan Zui said softly: "There are no ifs in this world, my uncle."

Just like Shen Qingze's appearance, just like he chose to stand with Yan Zui.

Yan En slowly took a jade pendant from his neck and handed it over.

He closed his eyes, and with a choked voice, he said the end of his life: "Take good care of the elderly, mother...you will be the only one left in the future..."

Yan Zui took the jade pendant, the light golden dragon scale jade, carrying the last bit of warmth in the world.

"I will." After that, he stopped looking at Yan En and left the prison without looking back.

※※※

The moonlight is like a handful of gray foam, when it spreads to the feet, it leaves only the coldness after being crushed.

Shen Qingze didn't see Yan Zui all night, took Ya Ya and A Bai back for a walk, and inadvertently passed the old grandmother's bedroom.

There are several pots of Butterfly flowers on the window sill, which are unique plants in the dawn century. The lavender flower vines hang down, and they bloom in winter as before.

Faint voices could be heard in the room, Shen Qingze picked apart the flowering vines silently, and indeed saw Yan Zui's figure.

This time he didn't lie on his grandma's lap, but knelt straight on the carpet, and in a calm tone, he narrated how he decided to hang the old man's only son.

The old woman was still sitting in the broad chair, with a blanket covering her legs, her back was facing her only grandson, she didn't say anything, she didn't ask anything, as if she was asleep, and she didn't hear anything.

The stalemate is silent and oppressive.

After Yan Zui finished speaking, he never got any response, neither blame nor relief.

He lowered his head silently, his long hair drooping on his shoulders, like an abandoned puppy.

After a while, the old woman finally spoke in a trembling voice: "Get up, silly boy, the ground is so cold... Rest early, I'm going to sleep too."

Yan Zui moved his mouth, looked at grandma's gray hair, wanted to say something more, but couldn't.

He dragged his heavy steps and walked slowly towards the door. When he was about to walk out of the room, he suddenly heard the old man behind him whisper:

"I know you are afraid of the cold, so I asked someone to change a thick quilt for you. When burning charcoal at night, don't keep closing the windows too tightly, and make yourself bored..."

With a hoarse throat, Yan Zui nodded slightly: "Got it."

The door opened and closed.

Only the old lady was left sitting alone, she struggled to move the chair, and turned around slowly, Shen Qingze saw a jade in her hand.

With her eyes closed, she didn't seem to be able to see, she just rubbed vigorously with her fingertips.

Finally, when there was no one there, a few tears fell silently from between the skinny fingers, and she gently wiped them away...

※※※

At the other end of the door, Yan Zui stopped in place for a moment.

Until he calmed down his excess emotions silently, when he turned around, he bumped into a pair of calm and peaceful eyes unexpectedly.

This time, Shen Qingze did not choose to turn a blind eye and leave.

He stood quietly under the butterfly flower vine, looking intently at Yan Zui, the silver-white emperor's sacrificial robe fluttered in the moonlight, like a ray of light, brightening Yan Zui's vision.

Ah Bai obediently carried the duck on his back, lying at his master's feet.

Shen Qingze put her right hand firmly on her waist, without saying a word.

He just stood there, but Yan Zui clearly felt a great encouragement, like an eternal rock, firm, steady, not afraid of wind and rain.

This force silently supported him in a continuous and tolerant gesture, which was so warm that it made one's heart ache.

Yan Zui walked involuntarily, step by step towards the other party.