Daming: I really don’t want to be an emperor!

The head of the Qian family was extremely anxious and restless, like an ant trapped on a hot pot.

He kept slapping his thighs with his hands, and kept muttering, "Oh my! What should I do? This is treason. In a blink of an eye, we will face the huge disaster of having our property confiscated and our clan exterminated! At the beginning, I did my best to oppose this matter and repeatedly warned you not to do so. However, you insisted on having your own way and refused to listen to my advice. You insisted on involving me in this dangerous adventure. Now, the truth has been revealed. How should we deal with it?"

His face was filled with deep regret, which seemed to have reached its extreme. He wished he could turn back time and give him a chance to make a new decision.

The head of the Meng family looked quite helpless and said coldly, "Did we put a knife to your neck and force you to participate? It's obvious that you couldn't resist such a huge temptation and were willing to act with us."

At this time, the head of the Liu family was also filled with endless regret. He even wished he had a magic pill of regret in his hand so that he could swallow it to change his past decision.

The head of the Liu family suggested anxiously, "What should we do now? How about we run away quickly?"

However, the head of the Kong family laughed sarcastically and responded with disdain, "Run away? The world is so big, it belongs to the king. Everyone in the four seas is the king's subject. Where can we escape to? Once we run away, wouldn't it be the same as confessing our crimes?"

"Running away is obviously not an option. After all, our family businesses are all rooted here. Are we going to abandon them? Besides, it's far from the point where we need to confiscate the property or even exterminate the clan to solve the problem! In my opinion, it's better to contact General Lan and ask him to ask for help from Duke Liang to cover up this matter. As long as our families work together and raise millions of taels of silver to settle this matter, we may be able to get through this difficult time."

The head of the Meng family behaved quite calmly and composedly, and he had already made plans in his mind to use money to smooth over relationships and resolve the crisis.

After hearing this, the head of the Qian family nodded repeatedly as if he had been enlightened, expressing his strong agreement, "That's right! Duke Liang has a close relationship with the current emperor. He is the emperor's close uncle. His status is extremely respected and his power is at its peak. If we can get the full support and protection of Duke Liang, this matter can certainly be easily resolved and the impact can be minimized. After all, for us, as long as the problem can be settled with money, it is not a problem at all!"

However, at this moment, the head of the Li family, who was sitting next to him, frowned, his face full of worry, and he spoke with concern.

"But the man leading the army this time is the famous Duke of Cao, Li Jinglong! This man has a distinguished background and a very powerful background. His strength should not be underestimated. You know, he is your Majesty's cousin and has an extraordinary and noble status.

If he deliberately makes trouble and obstructs it, I'm afraid this matter will become extremely complicated and difficult to handle. And if I'm not mistaken, according to past practice, he is very likely to be entrusted with the important task of investigating the case.

On the surface, they came to Xuanfu to suppress the Jurchen rebellion, but in fact, they came to Xuanfu secretly to investigate the smuggling of arms and treason. If this is true, the situation will become more confusing and full of variables. "

After hearing this, everyone fell silent again.

The head of the Kong family showed a cruel look on his face, "How about letting this Duke Cao die on the battlefield?"

"You want to collude with the enemy and let them assassinate Duke Cao on the battlefield?" the head of the Liu family said in shock.

The head of the Kong family nodded, "That's right."

"You are crazy. If he really is an imperial envoy, then the nature of the assassination would be completely different. If we collaborate with the enemy for money, it would be nothing more than corruption.

But to kill the imperial envoy, anti-corruption has to become a rebellion! The army will immediately blockade Xuanfu, and all officials, big and small, will be arrested for investigation. Those involved in the case would rather kill the wrong person than let him go.

Even if I run away, I won't assassinate the imperial envoy with you. Isn't that a life-threatening thing? Anti-corruption requires evidence, but the tablet only requires coordinates! I can still tell the difference. "

The head of the Meng family was shocked.

I never expected that this guy would actually have the idea of assassinating the imperial envoy.

Isn't this like lighting a lantern in the toilet?

The heads of the Liu and Qian families also nodded repeatedly and said in unison, "That's right, this can't be done. It can't be done."

Assassinating the imperial envoy is not a good thing to do.

"Then what do you think we should do? Let him investigate everything thoroughly, and then we kill all nine clans? Now there is not only the killing of nine clans, but also the killing of ten clans. What, do you three want to get this benefit?"

The head of the Kong family snorted coldly.

Hmm... Kill all ten clans...

These three words were like a thunderbolt, striking everyone's heart hard, causing them to tremble again, their hearts filled with fear and despair.

Since the current Emperor Zhu Yunhuan ascended the throne, this cruel punishment seems to have become more frequent, and the scope of involvement has become wider and wider.

Originally, killing nine clans was already considered an extremely severe punishment, but now, after Zhu Yunhuan ascended the throne, the cases of killing ten clans were even more frequent than those of killing nine clans.

This makes people sigh that the world has really changed. Tortures that were unimaginable in the past are now commonplace.

"Brother, why don't we just turn ourselves in..."

The head of the Qian family suggested in a trembling voice that perhaps turning himself in could buy a glimmer of hope.

After all, as the saying goes, leniency to those who confess and severity to those who resist. Perhaps by confessing the crime voluntarily, you can also leave a bloodline for the family.

However, the head of the Li family frowned and retorted, "Isn't this the same as courting death? How can you be so naive to think that this will end well? You must know that we have committed the crime of treason and the execution of nine generations of our clan!"