Chapter 236

Forced to Confess (2)

He chuckled softly, his eyes staring at Zhou Gu, “Head of the Zhou Family, someone has accused you of embezzlement, particularly for taking funds from the troops, doing business transactions with official positions, fraudulent class ranking of the imperial exam, and 20 more unstated capital offense! Do you admit to your crimes?!”

Zhou Gu stared blankly. Immediately with fear and trepidation, he fell forward on his knees, “My honorable king, this old official is completely devoted and loyal to you. How could I possibly commit these crimes?”

Although he looked on with terrified eyes, in truth his heart was completely calm and restrained. He wasn’t worried about what Mo Linyuan could do to him, as he had no evidence for the crime.

“You won’t admit to it? Then you’re claiming that you couldn’t have single-handedly achieved this feat. Let us thoroughly calculate all of the accounts in the book.”

“Let see… 3 years ago there was a big drought. I personally calculated down the disaster relief funds, and found you embezzled half of it! You still do not plead guilty for this?”

Zhou Gu stated with a stubborn neck, “I am innocent!”

“Fine!” Mo Linyuan clapped his hand and called out several people, “Zhao Zhuang, Wang Ji, and Mu Guangcai step forward.”

The three of them were those among the 40 that had recently sworn loyalty to the sovereign.

They were frightened and immediately knelt in front of the emperor. They listened to Mo Linyuan’s calm interrogation, “Zhao Zhuang, Wang Ji, when you were sent to accomplish the task of the disaster relief, speak honestly, how much money did you all take?”

At that moment, Mo Linyuan had already calculated around 1 million taels. This was something everyone knew about.

Zhao Zhuang and Wang Ji looked at each other and noticed that they both were covered in cold sweat. Zhou Gu was standing right there, but he was unworried, he didn’t think that these people would betray themselves.

Who would’ve known that in the next second, Zhao Zhuang nodded and exclaimed, “Yes Your Majesty! I confess… Only… O-Only 400,000 taels!”

Every single person gasped. The Zhou family was truly too fierce! Taking advantage of the son who was working at the Ministry of Revenue, they slowly sliced off big chunky pieces with a knife, exploiting the funds layer by layer. In the end, what could be left of the funds intended to arrive in the hands of the refugees?”

“You’re speaking nonsense!” Zhou Gu was in disbelief that this person would betray himself! He abruptly stood up, pointed an accusative finger, and angrily roared, “You are speaking malicious slanders!”

Mo Linyuan ignored his rage and simply asked the next person, “Mu Guangcai, speak up, when I sent you to inspect the relief situation, what did you report back to me?”

Whatever Mu Guangcai had said in the past, the people here were all already well aware of it. He had said that the refugees were thankful for the immense kindness of the powerful emperor. He even brought back a book filled with tens of thousands blood signed fingerprints, stating it was their way of expressing their gratitude.

Mu Guangcai was put on the spot, here it is! The thing he did, he will now face retribution!

He didn’t dare tell the truth. However at this time, he was riding a fine line!

The emperor’s goal right now was to bring down the Zhou family. Although he had done some misdeeds, if he helped the emperor right now, he would be safe. Mu Guangcai might have to sacrifice his status and power but at least he could still save his life!

If he did not cooperate, the emperor could still make a move later on. Mu Guangcai would inevitably be faced with something that could be worse than death itself!

At this critical moment, Mu Guangcai’s mind had never been more set!

From the night hunting to the situation with Zhou Yong, every single incident was going according to the emperor’s plans. That’s to say, Zhou Gu would die tonight! As he stood there, it became clear to him too.

Thus, Mu Guangcai suddenly pressed his forehead onto the ground deeply and loudly yelled, “Your Majesty, this official deserves to die! I confess, during the disturbing disaster in Liangzhou, due to the court relief supplies being excessively sparse, many refugees starved to death. Once this official had arrived, there was a catastrophic plague. It was only by suppressing them with governing forces that we managed to avoid a revolt!”

His words made everyone incessantly apprehensive. Mu Guangcai actually admitted to it? Wasn’t he afraid of death?!

Zhou Gu recoiled in disbelief. He also couldn’t believe that Mu Guangcai would actually admit to lying about the disaster report and deceiving their sovereign. This was a capital offense!