Chapter 222 Farewell

"In addition, their nine generations of relatives within three generations are prohibited from participating in the imperial examinations; those who already hold official positions will be stripped of their titles and ranks, demoted to commoners, and all their family property will be confiscated..."

The Hanyuan Hall fell into a deathly silence.

In the past, the prestige of Grand Tutor Lin was known to every official over the age of forty. Unexpectedly, in just over a decade, the Lin family, who had been living in seclusion in Lancheng, had committed so many heinous crimes deserving of death!

Destroying public mines to turn them into private mines, imprisoning hundreds of soldiers and miners, and privately employing sorcerers to refine elixirs and produce gunpowder... Any one of these crimes would be enough to destroy the Lin family's entire business and leave them with no chance of recovery, let alone being punished for multiple crimes.

Only those involved were executed by slow slicing and being cut in half at the waist; the others were spared. The Emperor still showed consideration for their past relationship—after all, Grand Tutor Lin was once the Imperial Tutor, and no matter what, they could not be exterminated.

Unfilial descendants bring shame upon the ancestors' reputation; no one would feel good about such a thing. It took a long time for someone to recover from the emperor's judgment.

"Your Majesty is wise—"

Qi Yuxuan saw Lin Kuangzheng again half a month after the Emperor's ruling on Longxi and the Lin family.

On the 24th day of the twelfth lunar month, the first snow fell in Beijing.

The snow wasn't heavy, but after waiting a while, it began to fall thickly and evenly, covering the umbrella.

Qi Yuxuan stopped on the only road leading out of the city and stood silently, watching Lin Kuangzheng lead his eldest cousin Lin Chuanlang's family and Lin Chuanxu out, looking dejected.

Their hired mule cart was still being inspected by guards. Lin Chuanlang, with his valuables slung over his shoulder and his daughter in his arms, stood to the side when suddenly his little daughter cried out:

"There's a pretty lady over there!"

The Lin family looked in the direction the little girl was pointing and met Qi Yuxuan's gaze, who was standing not far away.

Lin Kuangzheng wiped his eyes before saying to the younger generation beside him, "The princess has arrived. We'll go see her after the examination."

The guards also spotted the carriage belonging to the Princess's residence not far away, and without wasting any more time, they let it pass.

"This humble subject, Lin Kuangzheng, pays his respects to the Princess—"

Just as the Lin family was about to bow, Qi Yuxuan stepped out from under the umbrella and steadily helped Lin Kuangzheng up.

"My uncle looks much thinner."

In just a few months, Lin Kuangzheng looked almost ten years older. First, he learned that his sister had been deceived by that hypocrite Xiao Su into having a mistress and a mistress, and then the Lin family incident in Lancheng shocked the court and the public... He grew up in the capital and had only returned to Lancheng a handful of times, but he never dared to imagine that those scoundrels in the Lin family of Lancheng would dare to commit such heinous crimes, causing the old patriarch of the Lin family to be ashamed of them if he knew in the afterlife.

In this situation, he couldn't even lift his head in front of Princess Chang Le, his face full of shame and exhaustion.

"Whether you're thin or not, you're already like this. Thanks to His Majesty's favor, at least my family's lives have been spared. Those who are alive can be forgiven, but those who are dead can only go to the deepest hell with their sins."

Without dwelling on the past that was beyond repair, Qi Yuxuan asked:

"I just hope my uncle won't blame me... So, what are your plans for the future, uncle?"

Lin Kuangzheng glanced at his eldest son's family and his youngest son beside him, and gave a bleak smile:

"I plan to go to Qinghe and stay with your cousin's family."

As he spoke, Lin Chuanlang stepped forward with his wife and daughter.

Lin Chuanlang's wife was not within the nine generations of the Lin family's criminals, and according to the Qi State law that dowry did not belong to the husband's family property, she was allowed to stay. However, Lin Kuangzheng was unwilling to spend his daughter-in-law's dowry, so he spent the ten-day grace period copying books and writing for people in the streets and alleys to save up travel expenses before setting off.

To be honest, Qi Yuxuan had never met her cousin Lin Chuanlang and his family in her entire life.

He only returned to Beijing in November to report on his work, and thought he could stay in the capital until the New Year, but he didn't expect such a thing to happen as soon as he arrived.

The Lin family father and son were stripped of their official positions. More than ten years of hard study and several years of diligent service in office were all for naught. An ordinary person would definitely be devastated, or even contemplate suicide. However, Lin Chuanlang showed no resentment at this moment, or rather, he had resigned himself to his fate and calmly accepted everything over the past two weeks.

Dressed in simple clothes, he retained the same refined and modest demeanor as Lin Kuang, embracing his wife and holding his daughter, bowing respectfully: "Princess."

"Hello, cousin-in-law! This is Ying'er?"

She had heard Lin Kuangzheng mention her cousin's daughter, Lin Ying, before, but she never expected that their first meeting would be like this.

"Here, this is a gift from your aunt. Take it."

Qi Yuxuan took off a heavy gold bracelet from her wrist, which was inlaid with several rubies the size of her little finger, and put it in Lin Ying's arms. She then took out a red envelope from her sleeve and handed it to her cousin-in-law, Chen, who was standing next to her.

"Sister-in-law, these are the red envelopes I've given to Ying'er over the past few years. Please don't think it's too late."

Madam Chen's fair face flushed crimson. "No, no, Princess, we can't accept this. It's too precious!"

The red envelope was thick enough to tell that it contained silver notes. Coupled with the gold bracelet, which was not light and could be easily exchanged for silver, how could this family not understand Princess Chang Le's meaning?

Lin Ying was only five years old. Although she liked the golden bracelet very much, she saw that her mother was not very happy. So she raised her fair little chin and looked at her father.

She really wanted the gift from her beautiful, unfamiliar aunt, but considering the expressions on her parents' and uncle's faces, Lin Ying obediently held out the gold bracelet, which was bigger than her two fists.

"Auntie, Ying'er doesn't want it. The bracelet is pretty, and it's beautiful for Auntie to wear..."

Having been used to a life of ease, Lin Chuanxu, now facing reality after falling to rock bottom, also had tears in his eyes and forced himself to turn his head to the side.

Lin Kuangzheng spoke up at this moment: "Take it, this is a token of the princess's affection for Ying'er."

He stopped letting the younger generation refuse the money. In short, unless absolutely necessary, the money would still belong to Ying'er, and he and Lin Chuanlang would never touch it.

But thinking of his mother, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, Lin Kuangzheng's eyes welled up with tears again: "How is Madam Lin's health?"

Qi Yuxuan nodded: "Grandmother is doing well. After the Lin family's incident, I petitioned the Emperor to exempt Grandmother from exile and also arranged a new house for her in Lancheng... Once my uncle's family has settled in Qinghe, I will write to Grandmother and ask her to come to Qinghe to reunite with you."

"Speaking of Qinghe, I have a friend whose family is merchants and their ancestral home is in Qinghe. If you don't mind, Uncle and Cousin, I can ask someone to write a letter to help you settle down as soon as possible."

Hearing her say that, how could Lin Kuangzheng not agree? People laugh at poverty but not prostitution. It's already difficult enough to support a family, so why care about how one makes a living?

The uncle and nephew talked for a while longer before Lin Kuangzheng looked up at the sky and then at the tall and majestic city gate of the capital.

After twenty years of diligent study and thirty years of ups and downs in officialdom, he spent fifty years in this bustling capital city. Now, past the age of fifty, all his previous efforts have suddenly been wasted, and he has gone far away to another place.

Lin Kuangzheng's aged face was filled with sorrow and deep reluctance:

“Princess, I am getting old and do not know if I will have the opportunity to come to the capital again. After today’s farewell, I do not know if we will meet again. Many of the former favorite students of the Imperial Academy are now unwilling to come in order to avoid suspicion. However, I do not blame them. I am only grateful to the Princess for seeing me off in the snow today. I will spend the rest of my life in Qinghe and wish the Princess peace, good health and happiness every year.”