It was unclear what sort of mess the brocade palace was in, but he did have a headache over how to capture Ma Zi back.

It might have been a turnaround, or an acceleration of the worst possible outcome.

If the empress dowager thought that Mu Changyan had sent people to arrest Ma Ziwei, she would quickly get rid of Chen Zaiyan and the military officials imprisoned in the prison.

An Chengli lowered his head and said, ""Your Majesty"s worried is very reasonable. The empress dowager might indeed be anxious to release Chen Zaiyan.""

""Once Chen Zaiyan is dead, then even if Ma Zi Wei is in our hands, he will have no meaning.""

Mu Changyan thought about it for a while before saying, ""Actually, no matter who captured Ma Ziwei, the empress dowager would think that it was me who captured Ma Ziwei, right?""

""Yes, my lord.""

""In that case, what are you worried about?""

Mu Changyan got up and said, ""Go out now. Even if I send you out, I don"t want you to know what I"m going to do.""

That way, Her Majesty won"t have any doubts about you.

""I will head to the Board of Justice now and take Chen Zeyan and the rest away.""

He took a deep breath. ""No matter what, the empress dowager will feel that it"s a lonely hand, so she might as well be more direct.""

An Chengli quickly said, ""But if this is the case, then the King has no way out.""

Mu Changyan said, ""… Actually, there"s no other way out.""

""Either you live to protect the Mu Clan"s Great Yan, or you die to protect the Mu Clan"s Great Yan. There are only these two options.""

""Serving Gu Ruoyun.""

Mu Changyan looked out of the window and said, ""I"ve never thought that one day, the mountains and rivers of the Mu Clan would fall on my shoulders and be carried by me.""

The river and mountains were simply too heavy, and he didn"t even have time to prepare before he brought the river and mountains over.

""However, since I have already taken over this mountain, then I cannot let this mountain be ruined by me.""

Mu Changyan, who had changed her clothes, strode forward.

Ministry of Justice Chen Zaiyan was on the verge of death.

Even if the empress dowager had not ordered Chen to be executed as soon as possible, the people of the Ministry of Justice did not intend to keep him alive for long.

They had already used torture, so they had no way out.

If Chen Zaiyan got out of this dungeon again, they might not have a good ending.

Guo Wenli, the Minister of Board of Justice, stared at it with flickering eyes.

Of course, he knew that Chen Zaiyan was innocent, and he also knew that Chen Zaiyan"s death had dealt a huge blow to Great Yan.

It was very likely that it would affect the situation at the front line, and the worst case scenario would be that Great Yan would fall into an unprecedented predicament.

But he …

He had no other choice. The pressure he felt from the brocade palace was simply too great.

Guo Wenli waved his hand, ""You can leave.""

The few big men who were torturing him were stunned for a moment before they left the cell.

Guo Wenli walked in front of Chen Zeyan, took out a handkerchief and wiped off the blood on his face, then he went back to get a cup of tea and gave it to Chen.

Chen Zaiyan did not resist and gulped down the cup of tea.

Guo Wenli said, ""Sir Chen … actually, you are a very smart person.""

You and I don"t know much about each other, and we don"t know much about each other, but I want to respect you.

To be honest, I admire people like you, because I"m not like you. ""

""But because you are very smart, you should know that you will die for sure.

Since that was the case, why did he have to suffer so much?

""As long as you admit these things, at least you can die a quick death.""

Chen Zaiyan smiled, blood trickled out of his mouth, ""Of course I know that I"m going to die. I also know that there"s no room for reconciliation, and no miracle will happen.""

But I also knew that if I did, it wouldn"t be me, and my family.

""Treason is a serious crime that involves nine families in a row … I did not let this country down, and I do not want to let down my family.""

Guo Wenli sighed, ""I will try my best to think of ways to protect your family.""

Chen Zaiyan said, ""Mr. Guo, you don"t have to be so pretentious.""

It is not you who want me to die, but Her Majesty.

How could the empress dowager leave any hidden dangers for herself?

One of my family members is still alive, a threat to her, and she won"t stay, even if it"s not a threat at all.

""Chopping up the weeds to remove the roots. The empress dowager"s rather familiar with this sort of thing.""

Guo Wenli put the teacup back, and after a moment of silence, he said: ""I know you"re right, but some things are still man-made.""

You should believe me, though I am not a man to be trusted in your heart.

I can"t protect your family openly, but in the dark, maybe only I can. ""

Guo Wenli said, ""I am from the Board of Justice. As long as I slightly loosen the wound, then it won"t be difficult for your men to suddenly charge in and rescue your family.""

Chen Zaiyan"s expression obviously changed.

Guo Wenli said, ""Right now, your family members are locked in the Ministry of Justice"s prison. I am the only one who knows about these things, how many guards there are and how many people are taking turns changing shifts.""

So you should believe what I say, and you have no one else to believe. ""

He sat down in front of Chen. ""You can tell me who your men outside are.

I"ll take your message to him and arrange for your family to be rescued from the Ministry of Justice. ""

Guo Wenli said, ""Is this the only way?""

""Why?"" Chen asked.

What reason do you have to risk offending Her Majesty to help me?

Everything unfounded, no matter how beautiful, is an illusion and a hoax.

So I don"t believe a word you say.

""If I tell you who I trust, then the experts of your Board of Justice will immediately pounce on me like dogs and tear my men to shreds.""

Chen Zaiyan, who was covered in blood, raised his head and said, ""I do things as a human being, and I can stand up to the heavens and the earth.""

All of my men are men who can support the heavens and the earth.

For people like us, dying is a loss to Great Yan.

People like us die less and less, and people like you get more and more. ""

""I will not harm any swallow who has the heart of this country for his own family.""

""If you want me to beg you, you can... please give me a gla.s.s of wine, let me drink good on the road."" Chen asked.

Guo Wenli"s face kept changing. After being silent for a while, he sighed and said, ""I said, I fear people like you … But I don"t have any other choice, so I can"t change anything.""

""Since you don"t want to admit it, I"ll have to admit it for you.""

He waved his hand. ""Have you written the statement you prepared for Mister Chen?""

A civilian official walked in quickly from outside, ""Reporting to my lord, we are ready.""

Guo Wenli took the statement and took a look at it. It was pretty much the same as what the brocade palace had told him.

He nodded his head, ""Go to the few of you and help Lord Chen put his hand seal on this statement.""

After pressing down the handprint, there was no longer a need to torture Lord Chen anymore … instruct him to give anything that Lord Chen needs.

""Good wine and good dishes, you must give them all.""

After saying that, Guo Wenli turned around and walked to the side.

Several big men rushed over like wolves and tigers, grabbing Chen Zeyan"s hand and pressing it onto his mouth.

At this moment, someone shouted from the outside, ""The King has arrived!""

Guo Wenli quickly waved his hand, ordering his subordinates to retreat to the side.

Then he straightened his clothes and walked quickly out.

When he arrived at the entrance of the prison, King Yan, Mu Changyan, strode in.

""Greetings, King.""

Guo Wenli bowed his head in greeting.

Mu Changyan waved her hands casually, ""Have the traitors confessed yet?""

Guo Wenli, as the Minister of Justice, was best at observing people"s facial expressions.

From Mu Changyan"s expression and tone, he could faintly feel a trace of ill intent.

Although Mu Changyan used the words" traitors", Guo Wenli felt more and more uneasy.

""Not yet, my lord, but it should be soon.""

Mu Changyan replied, ""I want to ask Chen Zaiyan myself. I don"t have anything to do with him.""

After saying that, Mu Changyan strode in.

Guo Wenli lowered his voice and instructed his trusted aides, ""Quickly go to the Embroidery Palace and report to the empress dowager. Tell her that the king has come to the Ministry of Justice"s prison to see Chen Zaiyan.""

The trusted aide turned to leave but was stopped by the two young guards that Mu Changyan brought, ""For the safety of the King, no one is to enter or leave for now.""

The security here will temporarily be handled by the guards of our Heavenly Temple. All of you can return. ""

Guo Wenli said, ""I have something to instruct him to do.""

Mu Changyan turned around and asked, ""What"s the matter?""

Guo Wenli was stunned for a moment, but he could only brace himself and follow Mu Changyan, ""It"s not too important. I just want him to show you the confession statement he"s given over the past two days.""

Mu Changyan replied, ""There"s no need for that. I trust in you.""

Guo Wenli was speechless, he didn"t know what to do for a moment.

Seven or eight Heavenly Temple"s guards had sealed off the pa.s.sageway. No one was allowed to enter or leave.

Even if he was with the empress dowager, he didn"t dare to openly confront the Duke of Yan.

Entering the prison, Mu Changyan was stunned when she saw Chen Zaiyan, who was still in his last piece of health.

""How dare you!""

Mu Changyan snapped, scaring Guo Wenli so much that he fell to his knees, ""My lord …""

Mu Changyan"s eyes were red and moist.

He glanced at Chen Zhiyan, then looked at Guo Wenli kneeling on the floor.

He raised his hand and rubbed his reddened eyes as he shouted angrily at Chen Zhiyan, ""Bold traitor!""

""Gu has such trust in you, but you actually dared to commit such an outrageous act. Gu has come today to hear what your explanation is!""

The weak Chen Zaiyan struggled to raise his head and looked at Mu Changyan with eyes that contained the feelings of a close relative he had seen before he died.

""This subject is guilty … This subject has not been able to help the King revive the Great Yan, this subject"s crime.""

This subject has not been able to complete the war against Youguo as soon as possible, so that the country could now suffer an unprecedented disaster, this subject"s sin.

""This subject doesn"t dare to slack off. I only slept for four hours a day. If I had known about this earlier, this subject wouldn"t have wasted even an hour. This is my sin …""

Mu Changyan replied shakily, ""How dare you! You"re still trying to fool me with flowery words. Do you really think I don"t know the evil deeds you"ve done?""

""I only want to hear what you have to say to me after you"ve committed treason against the nation.""

Chen Zaiyan looked at Mu Changyan and said, ""After this subject dies … Your Majesty will be missing one more helper. Your Majesty, take care.""

Mu Changyan said with her back facing Guo Wenli, ""You traitor, you"re going to die without any regrets. Looks like I"ve really misjudged you.""

He suddenly turned his head and said, ""Guo Wenli, this kind of evil thief, shouldn"t he let everyone in the world see him, so that he can act as a warning?""

Guo Wenli didn"t dare to say no, ""Exactly, the King is absolutely right. A traitor like him should be seen clearly by everyone in the world.""

Mu Changyan said, ""That"s fine. Tomorrow is the Autumn Ceremony. I want these traitorous traitors who wish to subvert our Great Yan Nation to see how prosperous and flourishing we, Great Yan, are.""

Gu took them away today, and tomorrow at the Ascension Ceremony, let them kneel in front of everyone and look at the Embroidered River Mountain under the rule of loneliness.

""I"ll also let all of the students attending the Autumn Festival have a look at the fate of these traitors.""

Mu Changyan waved her hands, ""Take them all away and place them in the Heavenly Temple. No one is allowed to approach them!""

After saying that, Mu Changyan turned around and left.

Guo Wenli opened his mouth but couldn"t say a word.