Pei Xuanqing asked Shen Yuanfeng impatiently, "I wonder if you have any other requests?" He was very upset because of Lian Zong's arranged marriage.
Even though he could sense the Dark Forest Guard's deputy commander's impatience, Shen Yuanfeng continued, "Sir, could you please ask the Emperor for mercy on my behalf? My Shen family has committed heinous crimes, and yet the Emperor has spared us because of our ancestors' contributions to Great Yan. Could you then forgive Yu'er for all he has done for the Third Prince?"
"The Emperor has the final say on everything. Just mind your mouth and don't tell anyone else what I just said."
Since the Emperor had instructed him to tell Shen Yuanfeng about Shen Yu's faked death for the Third Prince, and since he had already informed the Emperor of Shen Yu's desire to go to Ningjiang County, the Emperor must have made up his mind. It all depended on how the Emperor would pardon Shen Yu and what he would do with him afterwards. This was not something a minister like him could fathom.
Shen Yuanfeng was tactful. After Pei Xuanqing left, he wrote a thick letter of apology, requesting the emperor to show leniency to the people in the Duke of Ping's mansion. He also "voluntarily" reported that his family suspected of unearthing iron ore while renovating their ancestral tomb, and requested the court to send someone to investigate. He also proposed that if the claim was true, he would lead the entire clan back to their hometown to relocate the ancestral tomb.
Although Lian Zong had known the above for a long time, he still had to go through the motions and find a reasonable excuse to pardon the entire family of the Duke of Ping.
With his confession, Emperor Lianzong ultimately pardoned the Shen family from death. He stripped all of their official positions, demoted them to commoners, and prohibited the Shen family from taking the imperial examinations or serving as officials for five generations. Servants and slaves who could be sent into the army were conscripted, and those who could not were sold.
The case of the Duke of Pingguo's Mansion was a hasty conclusion, much ado about nothing. However, it also foreshadowed the decline of what was once one of the most prominent families in the Great Yan Dynasty.
After bidding farewell to Shen Yuanfeng and his wife, Shunzi, Nanying and Beiwu can finally put everything aside and catch up with Shen Yu, Wan Xueying and others.
Two days later, Pei Xuanqing brought a group of people to the north city gate carrying a coffin.
They didn't rush into the city, but Pei Xuanqing led the two of them to the palace to report. When Pei Xuanqing emerged from the palace, he brought many imperial guards with him, including an ordinary carriage.
Later, Pei Xuanqing ordered people to store the coffin in Qinglong Temple, the only royal temple of this dynasty, and the abbot there was also the imperial teacher of this dynasty.
It was a long time before Pei Xuanqing and his Imperial Guards escorted the ordinary carriage back to the palace. The coffin was still stored at Qinglong Temple. It was said that the monks there would perform rituals for the deceased for 49 days before burial.
In an ordinary house, a father and son have been paying close attention to this matter.
"Father, what does the emperor mean? Doesn't he want to announce the death of the third prince?" The young man was a little confused. He stood up and asked his father for advice.
"Don't you doubt that the person in the coffin is not the third prince?" the young man's father asked back.
"Father, are you saying that the Third Prince is not dead? But our people saw with their own eyes that the Third Prince's carriage fell off the cliff."
"But they didn't verify the Third Prince's life or death on the spot."
"Father still thinks the third prince is not dead?" The son became more and more confused.
"No!" The father shook his head. "At this point, I don't know which one is true anymore."
"What should we do next?"
The corners of his father's mouth curled up slightly, "What else can we do? Of course, we should make this muddy water as dirty as possible."
After returning to the palace, Pei Xuanqing asked Lian Zong in confusion: "Your Majesty, don't you plan to announce the death of the third prince to the public?" Then why go to so much trouble?
Lian Zong smiled and asked, "If I announce this news directly to the public, do you think they will believe that the third brother is dead?"
Pei Xuanqing thought about it and said, "I guess I can't believe it completely." After all, the other party didn't see the body with his own eyes.
"Then if I choose not to announce this news to the public, and instead have someone pretend to be the Third Brother and go to the Emperor's ancestral spirit house to guard the body, what will the other party think?"
"If it is real, it will be empty, and if it is empty, it will be real." Pei Xuanqing smiled, "You may feel a little confused just like me."
"Isn't that right? Should I get seriously ill?"
The next day, Lian Zong really claimed to be ill and did not attend court. His bedroom was surrounded by anxious imperial doctors, and the air was filled with the strong smell of medicine. Empress Pei, the crown prince, Princess Mingxia and others went to visit him but were all turned away and were not even allowed to get close to the bedroom.
"Mother, what happened? Why did father suddenly fall ill?" Ning Tai tried to get information from Queen Pei.
"I don't know either." Empress Pei's face was solemn. She tried to ask Pei Xuanqing, but the eunuchs said that Pei Xuanqing was kneeling outside the emperor's bedroom. She didn't know what crime he had committed.
"I heard it was about the Third Prince." Pei Xuanqing was supposed to be escorting the Third Prince to the Imperial Ancestor's Lair, but instead he was dragging a coffin back to the capital. Father had been out yesterday and had fallen ill upon returning to the palace, so it was inevitable that someone might have speculated about that.
"Since your father doesn't allow us to visit, let's go back." Empress Pei did not forget to remind, "Don't cause any trouble recently, and don't make your father frown." She then looked at Princess Mingxia and gave the same instructions.
"Your sons know." They both answered.
The news that Ning Tai knew spread quickly in the palace and even in the capital. When many people were waiting for the emperor to announce the news, several bombshell news came one after another.
First, the Emperor appointed Gao Luan, Marquis of Dexing, as the new General of Pingnan, replacing the former Ye family in charge of the southern military power. This forced those who had previously had some thoughts to temporarily stop.
Second, the emperor and empress's only legitimate daughter, Princess Mingxia, was married to Dexing Marquis's second legitimate son, Gao Zijin. In addition to the honorary title of the imperial concubine, Gao Zijin was also granted the rank of a captain of the fifth rank. After the wedding, he followed Dexing Marquis into the Pingnan camp.
Third, Pei Xuanqing was removed from his position as the fourth-rank deputy commander of the Yulin Guard and demoted to the fifth-rank commander of the Northern Frontier Reserve Camp.
Fourth, Chen Xin, the former commander of the Northern Frontier Reserve Camp, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General of the Dingbei Army, and he worked with Ji Yun, the former General of the Dingbei Army, to take charge of the Dingbei Army.
Fifth, because Shen Yu persuaded Yuanping Duke Shen Yuanfeng to report the discovery of a "suspected" iron ore mine to the court, and it was confirmed to be an iron mine, he was pardoned for his crime of colluding with the Third Prince for personal gain and was appointed Assistant Commander of the Ningjiang County Reserve Battalion. This was only a seventh-rank military position.
The key point is that although both of them were assigned to the reserve camp, Pei Xuanqing was the head of the entire Northern Frontier Reserve Camp, while Shen Yu was assigned to a deputy position in the most inconspicuous county.
There was also news about a number of official appointments and dismissals that was not discussed as a major topic. As for Pei Xuanqing's marriage, it was not convenient to announce it to the outside world. He couldn't be granted a marriage just because he was demoted for suspected mistakes. However, the imperial edict granting the marriage, along with the dispatch order, had already reached Pei Xuanqing. Empress Pei and the Huai'en Marquis's residence were informed in advance, fearing they would try to arrange Pei Xuanqing's marriage.
The Huai'en Marquisate had no objection to Pei Xuanqing's marriage. However, when Princess Mingxia heard that she was to marry the unknown Gao Zijin, and when people found out that he was dark and ordinary in appearance, she refused to accept it and clamored to see Lian Zong.
Just when Empress Pei was about to give up, Pei Xuanqing, Lian Zong's firefighter, arrived in time to put out the fire.
"Aunt Empress, could you please allow my nephew to have a private chat with my cousin?" After greeting Empress Pei, Pei Xuanqing stated his purpose.
"Okay, I'll give this place to you." Queen Pei felt relieved when she saw him coming, so how could she not cooperate?
"What are you doing here? Are you here to laugh at me?" Princess Mingxia not only did not appreciate it, but also yelled at Pei Xuanqing after Queen Pei and the palace maids left.
Pei Xuanqing smiled bitterly, "Cousin, you don't know that not only you have been granted a marriage, but so have I."
"My cousin was also given a marriage? To whom?" Queen Pei was busy comforting her and did not tell her about Pei Xuanqing's marriage, for fear that she would cause trouble.
"Don't worry about that." Pei Xuanqing knew very little about Ningyang County Magistrate Xue Wanfang, and even less about his eldest daughter, so he didn't want to talk about him. "I came here mainly to discuss your affairs."
Princess Mingxia's eyes lit up. "Can you help me persuade my father to revoke the imperial decree granting the marriage?"
"No!" This man is stupid! If he could, why didn't he ask the emperor to revoke his imperial decree granting the marriage?
"Then what are you doing here?" He immediately felt that this person was of no use at all.
"I'm here to give my cousin a painting." Pei Xuanqing then handed the painting in his hand to Princess Mingxia.
"What is this? I don't even want to get married, so why are you giving me this so early?" Princess Mingxia thought Pei Xuanqing was giving her a dowry, a wedding gift for a woman. She wanted to tear up the painting.
Pei Xuanqing quickly stopped her: "It's not too late to tear it up after you've read it, cousin."
"Okay, I'll take a look first." Princess Mingxia reluctantly unfolded the painting. It showed a man, grimy, skinny, and hideous. Princess Mingxia glanced at it, disgusted, and tossed it aside. She was about to tear it up, but the urge faded.
Pei Xuanqing smiled and said, "Don't you want to ask who is painted on it?"
Princess Mingxia replied angrily, "Who do I care who he is? He has polluted my eyes for no reason." At this moment, she felt that Pei Xuanqing was just teasing her.
"You don't even realize this? Then why are you still thinking about me so much?"
"Who? Shen Yu?" Princess Mingxia picked up the portrait in horror and looked at it carefully. In the end, she could only make out a little bit of Shen Yu's appearance from the pair of eyes.
"Is this really Shen Yu?"
"That's right." Pei Xuanqing nodded. "After all this exile, he looks like this now."
"Impossible?" Princess Mingxia still didn't believe it.
"Why wouldn't you believe it? There are many exiles who have been tortured like him."
Princess Mingxia couldn't describe her feelings at the moment, but she felt that the already vague image of Shen Yu as a nobleman in her mind collapsed in an instant.
"It's nothing, actually. Hasn't the emperor already pardoned Shen Yu? Maybe he'll recover after some rest." Pei Xuanqing paused and continued as if unintentionally, "It's just that I heard that the northern border has strong winds and sand, a harsh climate, and dry air. The locals have very rough and dark skin, and their faces are full of wrinkles, making them look very old and rustic." Then he sighed, "I don't know what Shen Yu and I will be like when we get there. We both have to go to the military camp and train under the scorching sun every day." He almost believed all these things he made up on the spur of the moment.
"Okay, cousin, I know what you mean. You can go back first." Although Princess Mingxia guessed that Pei Xuanqing was trying to deceive her, she still needed to take it slow.
"I haven't finished what I was saying." Pei Xuanqing decided to keep going.
"Do you have anything else to say?" Princess Mingxia showed little interest.
"Cousin, have you ever thought about who you hope will inherit the throne in the future?" Pei Xuanqing deliberately lowered his voice when saying this.
"Of course it's my prince brother!" She has always thought so.
"Have you ever thought that you actually have a chance to sit in that position?"
"Me?" Princess Mingxia shook her head. "How is that possible?"
"How is it impossible?" Pei Xuanqing curled his lips, "You are the emperor's only legitimate child. Other countries have princesses who inherit the throne."
When Pei Xuanqing said this, Princess Mingxia took a deep breath. Yes! Why hadn't she thought about this before?
Pei Xuanqing asked again: "Have you ever thought about what else you need to become the Crown Princess besides being a legitimate daughter?"
"No." Princess Mingxia shook her head stupidly. She had never even thought about becoming the Crown Princess.
"It definitely requires power and support."
"Go on." It was obvious that Princess Mingxia was completely moved.
"Then which house is more suitable than the Dexing Marquis Mansion?"
Pei Xuanqing breathed a sigh of relief. He had finally managed to get his way. He felt Princess Mingxia might not listen if he continued, so he decided to leave it at that. He then said goodbye and turned to leave.
The next day, I heard that Princess Mingxia not only agreed to Lianzong's arranged marriage, but also seemed to be looking forward to getting married as soon as possible.
In short, after all these operations, Lianzong had no intention of announcing the death of the Third Prince. There was still a person in the exile team pretending to be the Third Prince to go to the Emperor's ancestral spirit house.
Lianzong resumed his court session after a two-day break. However, that day, he was dissatisfied with Ning Tai in every way and even seized upon one of his mistakes to punish him by forcing him to reflect on his mistakes behind closed doors.
Lianzong was furious when he received a secret report that Ning Tai had set up various ambushes in Fengyang Ridge to kill the Third Prince. He summoned Ning Tai to the imperial study and severely criticized him, saying that he was cruel and disregarded the relationship between brothers. He even picked up a white jade paperweight and smashed Ning Tai's head, and even threatened to depose him.
If the appointment and removal of a crown prince hadn't been such significant matters, Ning Tai would have long since been deposed. However, rumors subsequently circulated that Ning Tai had deliberately framed the Third Prince. Emperor Lianzong, however, suppressed the matter and didn't retaliate against Ning Tai, leading to further speculation.
As for Wan Xueying and Shen Yu, they were lucky that Pei Xuanqing left two Dark Forest Guards to help run errands and drive the carriage. If Wan Xueying was the only one left, it would be hard to say how she would take Shen Yu to catch up with the exile team.
Before catching up with the exiles, Wan Xueying first sent Shen Yu to a clinic to have a professional doctor treat him. During this treatment, in addition to the unhealed injuries to his internal organs, the doctor also discovered that Shen Yu had been poisoned, a poison that even the doctor couldn't identify.
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