Chapter 572 - 466: Montmorillonite Powder

The Imperial Envoy has arrived.

Ye Shengyuan was transferred from the Xue Family Manor to the prison in Dongshan Prefecture.

There were no privileges to be had here.

Because his fate was sealed, while others might have a slim chance, he definitely had none.

A charge of colluding with the enemy was enough to send him to the executioner’s block, along with his son, daughter-in-law, and his entire family.

Of course, the Ye Family was a large clan, and it wasn’t possible to kill every single member, but his branch had no chance.

This law may seem cruel, but wasn’t it created to deter people from committing crimes?

If you commit a crime, you’ll implicate your relatives and become the sinner of your entire family.

It’s like breaking the pot and letting it shatter.

Ye Shengyuan, clad in a bright red prison robe, his hair filthy, had his collarbone shackled, which rendered his martial arts useless. The reason he was kept alive was to wait for the Imperial Envoy to interrogate him in person, then report to the court for formal justice to be served.

His son, Ye Xiyuan, and his family were also in the cell, Ye Xiyuan had long been married with children, the eldest being twelve years old.

According to Da Li’s law, children over ten, if a family member commits a crime punishable by the destruction of nine clans, would also be sentenced to death.

This child was likely not to survive, while the younger ones had a chance, but they could only remain in a lowly caste for life, unless there was a great pardon or the emperor opened his mouth to grant them a chance to escape that fate.

Ending that way would be the best outcome.

Ye Shengyuan’s branch of the Ye Family was mostly imprisoned, and aside from that branch, many had their family property confiscated, with much of the Ye Family’s assets sealed, and some were even left homeless.

Pei Jian’s actions were naturally ruthless.

It’s the rule and the law; even if he didn’t act, once the Ye Family was convicted, they couldn’t escape the outcome.

There was no way around it; if it were an ordinary charge, it wouldn’t implicate the clan, but this involved smuggling arms and collaborating with the enemy.

It required extermination of three clans, and even if the emperor showed mercy, the Ye Family’s century-old foundation would vanish into thin air.

The case was not complex, the involved parties were mostly apprehended, part of the Green Blade Sect was captured, while others were out of Pei Jian’s jurisdiction, making it impossible to apprehend them, as only the Imperial Envoy had that authority.

Furthermore, the Green Blade Sect wouldn’t surrender easily. Once the news spread, the Green Blade Sect had already disappeared without a trace at the first opportunity.

Their mines and forges vanished overnight.

A large, top-tier sect disappeared from the world in an instant, just like monkeys scattering when a tree falls.

This was a top-tier sect in the martial world, not some small household, and it vanished without a trace. The power of secular imperial authority was no joke.

Even a super-level force might not directly contend with royal power, let alone that the Green Blade Sect brought this on themselves. If they hadn’t been discovered in the secret passage of the Xue Family Manor’s mountain, they might have had a chance to settle the matter.

As long as the Green Blade Sect paid a significant price, they might have managed to barely survive.

The problem was, they also attacked Pei Jian, and it was an ambush, getting caught in a trap, and caught right on the spot.

There was no way to wash away the charge.

If they didn’t run, were they waiting for the court’s army to encircle them?

A sect in the martial world, they also had to be loyal to the monarch and love the country, otherwise, who could tolerate their existence? Even a super-tier sect could follow orders without having to proclaim allegiance, but couldn’t desert their cause for glory by betraying the country.

The Green Blade Sect had cut off its own path.

The Imperial Envoy had been here for three days, he had already visited the darkest part of this death row in Dongshan Prefecture, and the Ministry of Justice’s cruel deputy had also been here.

This was the death row cell in Dongshan Prefecture, and when they came, they were never alone.

Even when someone came alone, every word spoken was known to all three, as the court’s orders were clear. Su Mobai was the Imperial Envoy, but the case discoverer, Dongshan Prefecture’s Prefect Pei Jian, and supervising Ministry of Justice Deputy Cui Xiang were both in power.

For significant matters, the two of them could band together to overturn the Imperial Envoy’s decisions.

So, it was a situation of balance among three parties.

The facts of the case were very clear. The issue was the responsibility among the three main culprits, Marquis Lingyang’s Mansion, the Ye Family, and the Green Blade Sect.

Who was the mastermind, and who were the accomplices, this affected the final conviction and punishment.

This was the key to the game.

And in this game, whose confession was the most important naturally belonged to Ye Shengyuan, as well as the surviving members of the Green Blade Sect.

As for those captured fugitives on the court’s wanted list, they were merely doing work for money, they were considered insignificant, caught and awaiting identification, then as soon as the case concluded, they would be executed without even waiting until after fall.

Even though Pei Jian had guessed the emperor’s intentions, he couldn’t just do nothing. Moreover, his goal was to pin down Marquis Lingyang, severing an arm of King Qi, so he naturally insisted on identifying Marquis Lingyang as the mastermind.

The evidence was hidden in Marquis Lingyang’s estate outside the city, and the butler’s confession also proved that Marquis Lingyang was aware.

Furthermore, smuggling required opening up border inspection routes, something the Green Blade Sect or Ye Shengyuan couldn’t accomplish.

Marquis Lingyang’s deep involvement, even as the mastermind, had a rationale.

However, Cui Xiang disagreed. The Green Blade Sect was now defined by the court as a rebellious sect, its disciples had long dispersed, and its Sect Leader Shen Yidao was missing. Although Marquis Lingyang was in the capital, even if smuggling goods to Beihu, he would never have the audacity to smuggle arms. Marquis Lingyang was driven by profit and fooled. The smuggling crime couldn’t be avoided, but collaborating with the enemy shouldn’t be attributed to Marquis Lingyang.