The queen is spoiling the king and madly criticizing him for spoiling her

After hearing this, Xie Qingzhi looked at Gu Jianchu with a confused look on his face.

How could a scumbag have a change of heart?

Zhang Heng knew he had harmed Ruan for half her life, and he couldn't let his own mistakes implicate Ruan's life. So he shouldered all the responsibility, selfishly because of Xiaobao. If he died, Xiaobao would be completely uncared for, and might even be bullied by the Zuo Xiangfu family. After all, Xiaobao carried his bloodline, and he had done so many wrong things.

[Ruan Shi is different. She raised Xiaobao since he was a child. Xiaobao recognizes Ruan Shi as his mother. As long as Ruan Shi is around, she might be able to help take care of Xiaobao.]

Whether Ruan was the one who harmed Zuo Tang or was instructed by Zhang Heng is a matter of no consequence. It all depends on the conscience of the two individuals involved. Ultimately, the main reason Ruan harmed Zuo Tang was because of Zhang Heng. Ruan had done nothing wrong, but was instead harmed by Zhang Heng for her entire life. Since Zhang Heng is willing to take full responsibility, this matter can now be put to rest.

Now that Ruan was deeply moved by Zhang Heng's actions, it was impossible to get anything out of her.

Even if Ruan had not confessed voluntarily, Xie Ci'an already had some evidence in his hands, but the evidence was not sufficient.

Xie Ci'an's hand, which had been tapping the table, suddenly stopped and he glared fiercely at the Imperial Censor not far away. "Besides these, do you have anything else to offer?"

"If you don't remember, I can remind you of Qingzhou, Baitong, Bogu, and Luzhou."

Hearing this, Zhang Heng was no longer as shocked as before.

After what just happened, he has realized that the Emperor and the Empress know far more than he could have guessed, and they have been slowly revealing it bit by bit, like a high-ranking hunter playing with their prey.

I like watching him refute and struggle, and finally crushing him like an ant.

Gu Jianchu also discovered that although Ruan was not asked to confess what Zhang Heng had done, after going through so much, Zhang Heng's mentality had completely collapsed. Even if he was blown up, he would confess on his own initiative.

Zhang Heng sat dejectedly on the ground, staring blankly ahead. "I know everything the Qingzhou County Magistrate and Liang Mo of Qiunan Academy have done. Liang Mo's brother-in-law, who was the then Governor, sent me a large sum of money and asked me to keep an eye on the court. It's not so much about keeping an eye on the court, but rather, in case someone discovers what they're doing and tries to leak it, I can help them intercept the memorial and help them avoid risks in advance."

"I'm the Chief Censor. This kind of thing isn't a big deal for me, especially with so much money on offer. So I agreed to their terms. I actually found out a county magistrate had submitted a memorial impeaching them. I later handed it over to the Chief Secretary, and not long after, I heard the news of the county magistrate's accidental death. I knew it wasn't an accident, but they were afraid the truth would be exposed, so they secretly executed him."

"I know about the letter of accusation that Bogu Academy wrote to the emperor. For me, I made money, and they planned their own position in the academy, so I didn't stop them."

"Besides Bogu, there is also Baitong Academy."

"Similarly, not only the Qingzhou Provincial Administration Commissioner, but also many other ministers, are afraid of being reported, so they gave me money and asked me to help keep an eye on it. This kind of money will not kill or arson, so there is no reason for me to refuse it. Besides, I need to save more money for my son."

"And the son of the Luzhou County Magistrate. That wasn't a payment to read memorials for them. That time, I was paid to be their protective umbrella. The main reason was that the county magistrate gave too much money, a full 30,000 taels of gold. Even if I, the Chief Censor, worked for decades, I might not be able to earn that much money. Although Zuo Tang in the mansion has been running a shop and has some subsidies, it's not my money."

"The son of the Luzhou County Magistrate, along with a group of thugs, raped a young girl. During the rape, they accidentally killed her. Unfortunately, two passing villagers witnessed the incident. When the girl's parents reported the case to the county government, the two villagers came forward to testify. The Luzhou County Magistrate couldn't bear to watch his son get into trouble, so he tried to settle the matter by offering the thugs some money. However, the thugs refused to accept the money and threatened to file a complaint with the emperor."

"Of course the Luzhou County Magistrate was afraid of the emperor filing a complaint. After all, the emperor is upright and incorruptible. If that happened, not only his son but even his position as county magistrate might be in jeopardy. So the Luzhou County Magistrate found me and asked me to help resolve the matter. I didn't want to agree at first, but the Luzhou County Magistrate offered me a lot of money, and I couldn't resist the temptation. So I helped stop them when they came to the capital to file a complaint. As for what happened to the old couple in the end, I don't know, because I handed the old couple over to the Luzhou County Magistrate to handle. I helped suppress this matter, and no one knows about it."

"I just didn't know that the Emperor and the Empress had discovered this matter."

"The law is strict and there is no loophole. Since you want to do it, you must prepare in advance for being exposed." Xie Ci'an's tone was unprecedentedly cold.

The others also sighed, and the ministers dared not say a word, for fear that this matter would implicate themselves.

The Left Prime Minister was even more heartbroken when he looked at Zhang Heng, because he was his most promising student and son-in-law.

In addition, there was regret in Zuo Xiang's eyes. It was because of him that such a demon was promoted. Not only did he not do anything for the people, but he also did so many things that harmed the people.

The Left Prime Minister seemed to have aged ten years overnight. He hunched over before the Emperor and knelt down with a plop. "Your Majesty, it was I who brought Zhang Heng into the government and promoted him to his current position. Unfortunately, I was shortsighted and failed to see how vile his character was. I beg Your Majesty to punish me."

"The evil deeds Zhang Heng committed had little to do with the Left Prime Minister, but the Left Prime Minister didn't know the person well, so he was fined three months' salary as a minor punishment to serve as a warning to others. As for Zhang Heng, his official hat was taken away, he was thrown into death row, and was executed by being torn apart by a chariot in the vegetable market a month later." There was no warmth in Xie Ci'an's tone.

The other ministers couldn't help but sigh. The emperor had killed many people since he ascended the throne, but this was the first time he used the death by chariot, which showed what a big mistake Zhang Heng had made.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." The Left Prime Minister stood up with the support of Cheng Song.

"As for the crimes committed by Zhang Heng, they will all be handed over to the Left Prime Minister for investigation. As for the girls who died because of Zhang Heng, they will all be compensated with the gold and silver confiscated from Zhang Heng's mansion."