Traveling through the emperor, overthrowing the empress dowager at the beginning

In Taiqian Palace.

As soon as Yang Dechang heard Ye Chen say that Ouyang Yu was going to do something bad to the daughter of a noble family, he realized that something was wrong.

It was not surprising for officials to see a son of a noble family committing evil deeds, but when the daughter of a noble family committed evil deeds, it was like stirring up a hornet's nest.

"Your Majesty, who exactly did Ouyang Yu attack? I hope Your Majesty can explain it clearly."

Yang Dechang calmed himself down and quickly bowed and asked.

"The daughter of the Marquis of Jing'an."

As soon as I heard that she was the daughter of a marquis.

Yang Dechang was instantly silenced.

Ouyang Tai was sweating profusely.

"Prime Minister Yang, are you going to follow my instructions and give Ouyang Yu a lenient sentence?"

Ye Chen asked.

Hearing this, Yang Dechang's eyes darkened, and he cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, I never thought Ouyang Yu would be so cruel and ruthless that he wouldn't even spare the daughter of a marquis. I believe this act must not be tolerated and must be severely punished!"

"But, Your Majesty, do you really have evidence?"

Hearing this, Ye Chen smiled coldly.

"Of course there is. I have many famous witnesses and servants who were bribed by him. Ouyang Yu has done this kind of thing more than once."

"If the Prime Minister wishes to obtain evidence, I will have the witness statements delivered to the Ministry of Justice shortly. I will also have those witnesses sent to the death row for a public interrogation. All officials will be allowed to observe, but they are only allowed to listen and are not allowed to make any comments. Anyone who disobeys this order will be executed."

Hearing this, Yang Dechang was completely speechless.

The evidence was conclusive and he could not protect Ouyang Yu.

Ye Chen then snorted again and said, "Since the Prime Minister said that he must be severely punished, then he should be beheaded."

Hearing this, Ouyang Tai trembled all over and kowtowed quickly, saying, "Your Majesty, this old minister only has this one son."

"Are there any other orphans in the Marquis of Jing'an's Mansion?"

Ye Chen asked rhetorically.

Ouyang Tai was choked for a moment and could only kowtow continuously.

"Ouyang Tai, if you want to save your son's life, you have to tell me something that will interest me."

Ye Chen smiled coldly and said temptingly.

Hearing this, Yang Dechang frowned slightly and immediately stood up and said, "Ouyang Tai, your son has committed such a serious mistake, he can no longer be saved. You are still so stubborn and stubborn, are you trying to implicate your family?"

Hearing this, Ouyang Tai trembled all over. He felt extremely desperate and could only continue to kowtow. His head kowtowed so hard that it made loud noises and even bled out.

"Come here, take Ouyang Tai away and interrogate him. Is he aware of all the bad things Ouyang Yu has done?"

Ye Chen waved his hand. Yang Dechang brought up Ouyang Tai's family right under his nose, which was clearly a threat to Ouyang Tai.

He then ordered his men to take Ouyang Tai away and interrogate him slowly.

"Your Majesty, this matter must have been done by Ouyang Yu personally. It has absolutely nothing to do with Minister Ouyang. I trust Minister Ouyang's character and I can guarantee it."

Yang Dechang continued to plead for Ouyang Tai.

Seeing that he could not save himself, Ouyang Yu could only appease Ouyang Tai and prevent him from giving in.

Although Ouyang Yu is Ouyang Tai's only son, the Ouyang family has more than just one young man like Ouyang Yu.

Therefore, using the Ouyang family to threaten Ouyang Tai would definitely hit Ouyang Tai's soft spot.

"Prime Minister Yang, rest assured. I will not torture Minister Ouyang."

Ye Chen snorted lightly. All the evidence now only showed that this matter was only related to Ouyang Yu and Zeng Hu.

It really has nothing to do with Ouyang Tai.

How could he possibly do something so easy to find evidence against a court official, torturing him for no reason and without any evidence?

"Okay, after dealing with Ouyang Yu, let's deal with Ouyang Yu's accomplices."

Ye Chen then continued.

Upon hearing this, Yang Dechang bowed and said, "Your Majesty, since Ouyang Yu has been convicted, then his accomplices should naturally be convicted as well. Moreover, I suspect that his accomplices may very well be the main culprits."

"After all, Ouyang Yu's talent and character were cultivated by Minister Ouyang, so he shouldn't be too bad."

Yang Dechang narrowed his eyes, but he wanted to excuse Ouyang Yu whenever he got the chance.

Even if Ouyang Yu cannot be saved, he hopes to give Ouyang Yu a chance to be exiled, or at least save his life, and then Ouyang Tai will definitely not turn against him.

"Oh, Prime Minister Yang is right. Ouyang Yu's accomplice is indeed the main culprit."

Ye Chen smiled slightly and said.

Hearing this, Yang Dechang was slightly stunned. He instinctively sensed that something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was. So he said, "Since Ouyang Yu is only an accomplice, I think the principal offender should be severely punished, while the accomplice should be given a slightly lighter punishment."

"After all, law enforcement should be strict, and there should be different sentencing standards for principal offenders and accomplices."

Hearing this, Ye Chen nodded and said, "Prime Minister Yang, you are right. The principal offender and the accomplice cannot be sentenced the same way."

Hearing this, Yang Dechang frowned, and he felt even more uneasy.

The emperor's reaction was totally wrong.

"Your Majesty, I wonder who exactly this Ouyang Yu's accomplice is?"

"Oh, that man's surname is Zeng, and his name is Zeng Hu. Prime Minister Yang, is this name familiar to you?"

Upon hearing this, Yang Dechang was slightly stunned. Although he was busy with many things every day and had seen many names, he couldn't remember who Zeng Hu was for a moment. He just felt that the name seemed familiar.

"Pfft!"

Among the officials, someone suddenly knelt on one knee.

This man's face was covered in cold sweat, and unlike other officials, he was not wearing court robes, but leather armor.

"Zeng Yan, my dear Zeng, you have truly given birth to a wonderful son!"

Ye Chen looked at the person kneeling on the ground, a sneer appeared on his face, and said.

Hearing this, Yang Dechang turned his head sharply and looked at Zeng Yan, who was kneeling in the hall. His brows immediately furrowed. Then, his eyes darkened and he bowed to Ye Chen and asked, "Your Majesty, is the main culprit General Zeng's son?"

Ye Chen ignored Yang Dechang. Was there any need to ask such an obvious question?

"Prime Minister Yang, I have heard what you have said and have decided that the principal offender and the accomplice cannot be sentenced in the same manner."

"Ouyang Yu was originally going to be beheaded, so let's change it to beheading. As for Zeng Hu, draw and quarter his body and let him bleed to death."

Ye Chen looked at Yang Dechang coldly and said.

Yang Dechang trembled all over and his face became extremely ugly. He really didn't expect that Ye Chen would trick him like this.

Ye Chen first picked out Ouyang Yu, and then step by step induced Yang Dechang to speak for Ouyang Yu. He had already dug a trap, and now Yang Dechang had stepped into it.

The deputy general of the Beijing camp is naturally more important than Ouyang Yu and Ouyang Tai. If Ye Chen had directly pointed out the dirty deeds done by Ouyang Yu and Zeng Hu at the beginning, and then put the two of them in death row, then Zeng Yan would only hate Ye Chen.

But now, Yang Dechang's plea for Ouyang Yu seemed to have changed Zeng Hu's fate. He might have just been beheaded, but ended up being torn into four pieces by four horses.

Zeng Yan naturally hated Yang Dechang as well.

Even if Zeng Hu was magnanimous, or saw through Ye Chen's trick and would not blame Yang Dechang, Yang Dechang did not dare to gamble.

A gap has already appeared between the two.

"The little emperor is too scheming."

Yang Dechang gritted his teeth, but in the end, because he couldn't go back on his word, he had to bow to Ye Chen and said, "Your Majesty is wise."