Going to Beijing to save his father, all the powerful officials in the city are vying to be his fath

Hearing Wu Bin's shout, Tong Zhongqian could no longer pretend not to hear. He walked over there with a frown.

Zhao Jian also heard it. He was so angry that he pulled out the knife from the yamen runner beside him and slashed at Wu Bin: "You bastard, stop talking nonsense here and disturbing the people."

Tong Zhongqian, who was coming over, saw this and his face darkened and he shouted, "Stop."

Zhao Jian did not stop at all, as if he did not hear anything. Just when he was about to hit Wu Bin, Zhao Liangchen raised his knife to block his father's knife.

Zhao Jian was stopped and angrily scolded Zhao Liangchen: "You bastard, get out of the way."

Zhao Liangchen lowered his voice and said, his expression unchanged, "Father, everyone is watching."

Zhao Jian looked around and saw that everyone was looking at him in shock, including Grand Tutor Yan.

Zhao Liangchen continued, "Father, whether what Wu Bin said is true or not, it has nothing to do with you. But if you kill him in public today, you won't be able to explain yourself."

Zhao Jian just did something stupid because Wu Bin suddenly shouted that the prisoner had been replaced. He was afraid of being discovered and panicked. Now that Zhao Liangchen stopped him, he came to his senses.

He feigned anger and threw the knife to the ground, saying angrily, "We can't just let this kid talk nonsense. If he keeps talking nonsense like this, it will definitely cause public outrage, and then the riots will be very difficult to control."

"Master Zhao, is he talking nonsense? Hasn't this been verified yet? This seems to be a matter for the Ministry of Justice. Is Master Zhao trying to interfere in the Ministry's affairs? Do you want me to recommend you to the Ministry of Justice when I go to court tomorrow?"

Just when Zhao Jian was hesitating, Tong Zhongqian had already walked over. He looked at Zhao Jian with a dark face. If he didn't know that there was a hidden story in the case of embezzling disaster relief funds, he would be a fool.

Zhao Jian had regained his composure. He clasped his fists towards Tong Zhongqian and explained, "Master Tong, I didn't mean to interfere in the Ministry of Justice's affairs. I just saw that Master Tong allowed the prisoners to act recklessly and was unwilling to intervene, so I took action. We can't just let them stir up public resentment. If something really happens, none of us officials present will be able to escape."

Tong Zhongqian raised his eyebrows: "How did Lord Zhao know that I allowed the prisoner to do whatever he wanted?"

Zhao Jian: "Didn't Master Tong just let the prisoner yell as he pleased?"

Tong Zhongqian chuckled, "Lord Zhao has never been to the Ministry of Justice, so he probably doesn't know that all prisoners in the prison will cry out for justice. It would be abnormal if the prisoners didn't cry out for justice. Why did Lord Zhao get so nervous just because of a few cries of justice? Why did he lose his temper and even kill the prisoners with a knife? I seem to remember that executions were done by the executioners. When did it become the turn of the people from the Ministry of War?

Could it be that Master Zhao doesn't want them to say something so guilty that he wants to kill them to silence them?"

Zhao Jian's face was extremely grim. He said with a sullen face, "Master Tong, why do you have to put the blame on me? They are all people that the emperor has ordered to be executed. It is better to kill them sooner rather than later. Since Master Tong is not afraid of anything happening, if the victims can't control themselves and anything happens, Master Tong will be held responsible."

Tong Zhongqian sneered: "Master Zhao has found the wrong person. I am only the Minister of Justice, and I am only in charge of the affairs of the Ministry of Justice. I will be responsible for anything that happens to the prisoner before the execution. Master Zhao should find someone else for other matters."

Zhao Jian was so angry that he couldn't speak: "You..."

Tong Zhongqian didn't waste any more time with him. Instead, he turned to look at Wu Bin and asked, "Did you say the prisoner was replaced?"

Wu Bin nodded vigorously. He raised his bound hand to the replaced imperial guards and said, "Sir, those are not my men. They have been replaced. Zhao Kuo is missing."

Tong Zhongqian walked up to those people and said coldly, "Raise your heads."

Those people still didn't move. Tong Zhongqian gave a look and immediately the yamen runners came forward and pulled up their heads. Tong Zhongqian's heart sank at just one look.

This case was of great importance and he tried it personally. He had tried every single person, so he was very familiar with these people. Although these people looked and had body shapes very similar to the replaced prisoners, it was obvious at a glance that they were not the real prisoners and the prisoners had been replaced.

And the most important thing is that these people are already dead. Looking at their black lips, it can be seen that they were either poisoned or committed suicide by taking poison.

Tong Zhongqian glanced at the yamen runners present. The prisoners had to be identified when they were escorted from the Ministry of Justice prison to the execution ground. Therefore, it was Zhao Kuo and his men who were escorted out of the prison. These people were replaced halfway.

He didn't say anything just now, so the yamen runners didn't dare to stop Madam Su, but as soon as Zhao Jian came over, several yamen runners took action. It seemed that these people had been bribed by Zhao Jian. The people who replaced the prisoners were most likely Zhao Jian and these people. I don't know whether Zhao Jian replaced the prisoners simply to save his own people or for other purposes.

At this time, other officials also came over. Master Yan frowned and asked Tong Zhongqian: "What happened?"

Tong Zhongqian was still very polite to him and whispered, "The prisoner has been replaced, and the replacement is dead."

Master Yan was also shocked. He realized that today's matter could not be resolved peacefully.

He looked at the other prisoners. The Su family was still under control, and the other prisoners were also confused by this situation and were all looking over here.

Master Yan thought for a moment and then said to Tong Zhongqian, "Master Tong, the most important thing right now is to appease the victims. These people still need to be executed. Execute them first. You can send someone to investigate the prisoner substitution later."

Tong Zhongqian's brows knitted tightly together. "There are many doubts about the corruption case of Grand Tutor Yan. Su Jijing is likely to have been wrongly accused. The execution cannot be carried out now."

Isn’t Master Yan aware of this?

He knew it, but now that the situation had reached a point where it was too late to back down. If he took Su Jijing and the others back to reinvestigate the case, the many victims here would definitely not be happy about it.

He advised Tong Zhongqian: "Master Tong, I know that you are always pragmatic in all cases and never handle false cases, but this case is different. Look at the tens of thousands of disaster victims here who are waiting for an explanation from the court, but the relief money has not been found. We can only use these people's lives to appease the victims.

Let's execute him first to get through today. When we get back, Master Tong can investigate however he wants. I promise to have everyone cooperate with you in the investigation, and we will definitely find the real mastermind behind this."

Tong Zhongqian was a little surprised: "Master Yan, regardless of whether Su Jijing and the others were wronged or not, is he going to use their lives to appease the public anger?"

Master Yan sighed and said with some shame, "Master Tong, I don't want to kill good people unjustly. Everything I do is for the country and the people, and it is based on the overall situation. Regardless of whether they are wronged or not, their deaths can prevent more deaths caused by the riots, and they are well-deserved deaths. I think they can understand.

Moreover, there is no evidence to prove that they were wrongly accused. As for the prisoners who were replaced, it may be that their families or others did not want them to die and found a way to replace them, but this does not mean that they are not guilty. "

Tong Zhongqian did not stop Su Jijing and the others from being sent to death early in the court that morning because although he had doubts in his heart, he still believed that Su Jijing was really corrupt.

But now his intuition told him that Su Jijing and Wu Bin were really wronged, and he would feel guilty if he were to send Su Jijing and the others to death.

"Master Yan, please think of another way. Even if we kill them right in front of the victims, it won't necessarily quell their anger. It would be better to wait until I find out the truth and the relief money, and then I can explain it to the victims."

Master Yan shook his head: "I can't wait any longer."

He turned around and looked at the victims: "Look at their current state. If the prisoners had not left the city, I could have reluctantly appeased them and asked them to wait a few more days, but now the arrow is on the string and must be fired.

Lord Tong, I know you have good intentions. You will feel bad if you kill someone by mistake. This is not your fault. I gave the order. It has nothing to do with you. I will take the blame for this sin of killing.

If you find out that Su Jijing and the others were indeed wrongly accused, I will die at that time to atone for my crime, but today they must die. The country is the most important thing for them.”

Tong Zhongqian looked at the huge crowds of disaster victims, all of whom had angry expressions on their faces. If people had nothing and were about to starve to death, they would not care about anything and would be no different from wild beasts. If these disaster victims really rioted, the problem would not be solved by just a few deaths.

Moreover, if someone with ulterior motives takes advantage of the situation and rises up in rebellion, the civil war will destabilize the government and cause great suffering to the people.

At present, using the lives of Su Jijing and others to calm the anger of the victims is indeed the simplest and most appropriate way.