The Valued Lady is Truly Dominant

During the New Year, it’s all about feasting from one house to another, visiting back and forth. Song Ci, being advanced in age, with the weather still cold, took advantage of her body’s weakness as an excuse not to go around, instead spending her days at home with her grandchildren, listening to gossip from various families.

One piece of news was from the Qingcheng Marquis Mansion. After their family feast, Yuan Liren managed to convince his parents, separating his branch from the family, establishing separate residences. The mansion split further into West Mansion and East Mansion, with two wives both prominent, and his son Yuan Hao taking on the task of maintaining both branches. When he marries and has children in the future, one will be sent to the Luo family for succession.

This turned out to be a solution that satisfied everyone involved.

Another matter, of course, was the lawsuit involving Prince Min Mansion.

Ever since Prince Min Mansion was raided, with Prince Min poisoned in the Heavenly Prison, Princess Consort Ji had been pleading and hitting her head before the throne, followed by an Imperial Censor dying in protest, a number of scholars were outraged to the extent that some staged a sit-in demonstration outside the palace.

Emperor Chu, ’forced’ by public opinion, quickly made a judgment on the case regarding the Longevity Gift screen. Publicly, he announced that, upon investigation, Prince Min Mansion had been infiltrated by the remnants of the Xia family spies, masterminded by the long-deceased former Cabinet Minister Ning Hongde and the former Crown Prince of Xia’s faction. They intended to use Prince Min to present a harmful screen as a Longevity Gift, aiming to harm the Emperor and create chaos in Great Qing.

As the saying goes, everyone has a right to punish traitors and rebels. The Ning family’s deceit and rebellion deserve punishment; all members of their clan were to be escorted to the capital for processing with full efforts to capture Cabinet Minister Ning and the Xia Crown Prince’s heirs.

Prince Min’s poor judgment didn’t warrant the death penalty, but he could not escape punishment. His princely title was revoked, demoted to Commandery Prince, and his estate required a sixty percent tax contribution yearly. After recovering, he would return to his vassal state, not allowed to return to the capital without a summons.

As for when he would recover, that would depend on Prince Min’s health.

”Actually, it also depends on the Emperor’s mood, right?” Song Ci murmured.

From the books and dramas she had seen, if an emperor didn’t want a vassal king to return to his fiefdom, there would be various excuses to keep him, just like now.

If Emperor Chu didn’t want Prince Min to return, then Prince Min’s illness would have no end.

She also thought that Emperor Chu was very likely not to let Prince Min return to his fiefdom so easily, as long as he stayed back, who could claim authority over the Xuzhou estate?

Moreover, if he left so easily, wouldn’t Empress Dowager Wang’s suffering go in vain?

As for public statements of his wrongful accusations, claiming the screen was the handiwork of Ning Cabinet Minister and the Xia Crown Prince’s heir, those were just to silence outsiders. Does the Emperor truly believe he’s innocent?

Impossible!

Believing that would be naive.

Nanny from the palace said, ”No matter what, this outcome should quiet down Princess Consort Ji and those saintly scholars.”

”And if they don’t quiet down, do they really think the Emperor backed down just because of them?” Song Ci shook her head and said, ”Harming the Emperor is treason; if Prince Min were truly punished, the reasons would stand strong.”

It can only be said that Emperor Chu’s handling was either in consideration of that Death Exemption Token, or there’s another plan.

An emperor’s mind is certainly as winding as the Yellow River.

”Especially those scholars, blindly following without knowing who spurred them, stupidly staging sit-ins, ruining their own futures. They should pack their bags and return to their hometowns to avoid wasting time here.” Doing such things not be noted down by the Emperor would be surprising.