Quick Transmigration: Underdog Turns out to be Untouchable

Chapter 1209: Chapter 1119: The Female Prime Minister 57

Yin Shuangshuang had been ill for almost half a month, and the matters in court continued to be tumultuous. The Emperor, after this fright, not only did not collapse but recovered much faster, perhaps invigorated by anger.

As soon as the Emperor recovered, he began to deal with the remnants of the Eldest Prince’s faction. This time, the Emperor acted swiftly and decisively, showing no mercy, and thoroughly dealt with the Eldest Prince’s remnants, eliminating most of Xie Wenhao’s followers as well.

Due to the large number of people dealt with, many official positions became vacant, and all the major aristocratic families, including the Second Prince and Third Prince, wanted to insert their people into these positions.

However, this time, the Emperor did not indulge them but instead directly appointed his people, as the Emperor always disliked aristocratic families. Thus, the people appointed were all from poor families or scholarly families.

Yin Shuangshuang waited for almost another half a month before General An, who was the most informed, sent someone to notify her that the Emperor’s decision regarding Wang Zhongxuan had been made, demoting him to a commoner and exiling him from the Capital City.

The Heavenly Prison is a place for imprisoning high-ranking officials, different from ordinary prisons. Although it does not see sunlight, it is clean and tidy, with meals served on time twice a day.

The prisoners in the Heavenly Prison can also bathe and change clothes every few days, and the conditions are better than those of ordinary common people’s families, just because those imprisoned here are all prominent figures, who once dominated the court.

Though the conditions are good, the prisoners all appear lifeless because those who enter the Heavenly Prison are guilty of serious crimes, while the less serious crimes are detained at the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Justice.

Because of their grave crimes, few people survive after entering the Heavenly Prison, and even if they do, their prospects are bleak.

Wang Zhongxuan and his two grandsons, Wang Ruiqi and Wang Ruibo, have been imprisoned in the Heavenly Prison for a long time. Wang Zhongxuan had long given up hope of leaving the Heavenly Prison alive.

Wang Zhongxuan regrets two major things in his life: the first was his excessive love for beauty and favoritism towards a concubine, which made her ambitious, leading to the absurd act of replacing the bride, causing his daughter to wander away with an uncertain fate.

Although he later had the concubine strangled to death and corrected his flaw of loving beauty, it was too late; his daughter could not be found.

That a young lady had to be sold as a servant terrified Wang Zhongxuan; he couldn’t imagine what fate had befallen his daughter or what her outcome would be.

The second thing Wang Zhongxuan regrets is that he was too concerned with court matters and failed to properly discipline his family, leading his brother to commit heinous acts such as buying and selling official positions and killing to silence others.

Due to his failure to manage his family, he deserves this fate and does not feel wronged.

But his son was manipulated by his brother; though not innocent, he didn’t deserve to die, and his two grandsons, both excellent in character and learning, now had to wait with him to die in the Heavenly Prison.

His wife hanged herself upon hearing that their son had been beheaded and that their family was to be confiscated, and her daughter-in-law soon followed suit.

His household fell apart completely, now only his two grandsons remained with him, waiting to die in the Heavenly Prison, leaving Wang Zhongxuan worried since entering the Heavenly Prison.

Wang Zhongxuan constantly prayed to all the gods, begging the Emperor to punish only him and spare his two grandsons.

In this drawn-out wait, at last, the Emperor’s Holy Decree arrived, and Wang Zhongxuan and Wang Ruiqi, and Wang Ruibo were brought to the hall outside the prison gate to hear the eunuch read the decree.

Even after the eunuch finished reading the decree and left, Wang Zhongxuan was still filled with disbelief, having analyzed his situation countless times and always coming to the conclusion of certain death.

His useful followers had either surrendered or been eliminated; those remaining willing to listen to him were powerless to save him.

His greatest hope, the Second Prince, was probably unable to protect himself now, let alone rescue him. So why was he not dead?

He only received the minor punishment of being exiled from the Capital City, without even the three-generation prohibition from taking the imperial examinations.

While Wang Zhongxuan was puzzled, the guard responsible for his custody came and said, ”Hurry, your granddaughter has brought people to take you away.”

Granddaughter, Wang Zhongxuan was stunned. He had several granddaughters but didn’t know which one was here to take him from the Heavenly Prison.

Since he entered the Heavenly Prison, his daughter and grandchildren had never come to see him. Although it chilled his heart, he understood; getting involved with him could lead to implication.

Now, in such circumstances, the fact that a granddaughter came to take him away warmed a cold line in Wang Zhongxuan’s heart.

Wang Zhongxuan, with Wang Ruiqi and Wang Ruibo, carrying feelings of gratitude and the joy of surviving a disaster, walked out of the Heavenly Prison.

To Wang Zhongxuan’s surprise, the girl waiting outside was unfamiliar to him, but her appearance was truly stunning, and describing her as beautiful did not do her justice.

However, there was a frail air between her brows, indicating her health seemed poor.

A very simple carriage waited at the door, with a row of six strong, disciplined-looking men holding tall horses, surrounding the girl, indicating these men were her guards.

This was not a girl from a prominent family, Wang Zhongxuan immediately judged, because no prominent girl would go out without maidservants but be served by a group of male guards.

As Wang Zhongxuan evaluated Yin Shuangshuang, Shuangshuang also assessed Wang Zhongxuan and her two cousins, Wang Ruiqi and Wang Ruibo.

The ancients married and had children early, so although Wang Zhongxuan was her grandfather, he was only about fifty years old.

Despite looking haggard and downcast, he still retained a scholarly demeanor, and the aura a person who held a high rank for many years cultivated remained, making people not dare to underestimate him.

Wang Ruiqi and Wang Ruibo were also handsome young men. Although they experienced drastic changes, they didn’t look too haggard; their eyes clear, Ruiqi had a bookish air, while Ruibo, on the other hand, had a heroic spirit unique to those who practiced martial arts.

Before Wang Zhongxuan could inquire, Yin Shuangshuang stepped forward, saluting Wang Zhongxuan: ”Niece Yin Shuangshuang greets Grandfather, congratulations on escaping the prison, wishing peace and success henceforth.”

”You are...”

Wang Zhongxuan was bewildered by Yin Shuangshuang, certain that he didn’t have a granddaughter named Yin Shuangshuang.

Yet, he was now a downcast man who had just left the Heavenly Prison empty-handed, so why would she pretend to be his granddaughter without any benefit?

His own daughter and granddaughters avoided him like plague; pretending to be his granddaughter could only bring trouble, yielding no other benefit.