Extra three
Emperor Yan did not offer further advice to Empress Dowager Yan, as they had more important matters to attend to recently.
Empress Dowager Yan understood the tense situation outside, and even though she had many doubts and things she wanted to say, she did not choose to talk to Yan Shujin at this time.
Yan Shujin would come to dine with Empress Dowager Yan every day, and Empress Dowager Yan would also have Yan Shujin's favorite foods prepared. Even Han Jing would take time to come and pay his respects to Empress Dowager Yan.
Both Empress Dowager Yan and Yan Shujin knew perfectly well that they were merely avoiding the issue of succession, not resolving it.
Emperor Yan has entrusted most of the affairs to Yan Shujin, because most of the court officials are still imprisoned. At this time, the capital is in a state of panic. Noble families, regardless of age or gender, have also been imprisoned. Because the prisons cannot hold everyone, Emperor Yan specially ordered an empty courtyard to be prepared and everyone was imprisoned together, regardless of their status, only separated by gender.
At first, some people made a fuss, so Emperor Yan handed these people over to Yan Shujin for care. Yan Shujin was too lazy to deal with these people. If they made a fuss, he would let them go hungry for a few meals. Moreover, he didn't completely deprive them of food, but only gave them very little food and water.
Because there were children among those people, Yan Shujin wouldn't let them starve to death.
Most importantly, at first, the servants of those aristocratic families all rushed to eat from their masters' homes, but as time went on, conflicts arose among them, and there were even a few minor fights over food.
As long as no one was harmed, no one cared. Gradually, the servants realized that Emperor Yan was determined to deal with these aristocratic families, and that some of the family members were indeed spoiled.
The food that Yan Shujin sent would not be enough for everyone to eat; they would barely survive. However, if the food was given to a select few, they would not only be full but also have some left over.
As a result, some aristocratic families took it for granted that they would pick and choose what they wanted to eat and then give the rest to their personal servants, leaving almost nothing for the rest of the family.
Everyone was locked up together, with less than 20% being members of the master's family and the rest being servants. If only one or two servants died, it wouldn't have affected many people. However, when the first servant died of hunger among them, while the scions of noble families were well-fed, the servants could no longer bear it.
Yan Shujin only learned that a fight had broken out after the people had been locked up for six days.
After greeting Emperor Yan, Yan Shujin left the palace to handle these matters.
This fight was different from the previous ones; someone died.
When Yan Shujin arrived, all these people had been dragged out by soldiers and laid on the ground one by one. In fact, being locked up here was worse than being locked up in a prison, because although there were toilets in the rooms, there were only two toilets because there were so many people, and they were only cleaned once a day. As a result, these people all smelled extremely bad.
"Can't even handle this?" Yan Shujin looked at the injuries on these people and said, "Looks like we fed you too much. You still have the energy to fight."
Yan Shujin sneered and said, "Lock them all up. Give them only water for the next three days, and don't bother sending them food."
Upon hearing this, someone couldn't help but point at Yan Shujin and angrily say, "You..."
Before he could even utter a word, a guard swiftly struck him across the face with a scabbard, silencing him completely.
Immediately, someone knelt down and kowtowed, saying, "Princess, Princess, I know where the letters between the Yu family and the remnants of the previous dynasty are hidden."
Yan Shujin stopped and looked over, saying, "Take him to wash up first, and then prepare some soft and easy-to-digest porridge for him. I remember there's some chicken porridge in the kitchen."
"yes."
Someone immediately called out the person who had spoken.
Yan Shujin looked at the remaining people and said, "Anyone else remembering something can speak up, but if it turns out to be false and baseless accusations, it won't just be a matter of going hungry for a few meals."
“Of course, if it turns out to be true,” Yan Shujin said, “you will naturally benefit as well.”
These words caused some people's expressions to change, while others were already tempted.
"But we really know nothing," some servants pleaded, "The princess is so merciful and has given us a way to live. We know nothing..."
Yan Shujin said, "Oh, that's true. After all, some people are in the outer courtyard. It was my oversight. So, as long as you tell me who knows the inside story, that's fine too. For example, who is whose page, who is in charge and what they are in charge of, what estates are there outside, what shops are there, and even what strange guests came on a particular day. All of these count."
These words caused many people's expressions to change.
Yan Shujin, however, had a smiling and easy-going demeanor: "I'm just giving people like the gatekeeper a chance. Of course, once you find out, just let the guards outside know, and they will take you out for questioning. If anyone dares to lie, once it's discovered, their whole family will be buried together."
This was a blatant threat, as if Yan Shujin was speaking the cruelest words in the gentlest tone. This was also her way of preventing these people from falsely accusing others.
Yan Shujin said, "Tell these things to those courtyards where women are imprisoned as well."
"yes."
Yan Shujin thought for a moment and said, "For today, give each of them a bowl of porridge and a steamed bun. Starting tomorrow, we will only provide water."
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