Jiang Yushu held her breath, listened carefully, and grasped a few key points from the rather long imperial edict: exempting from the death penalty, stripping of the title and confiscation of property, and exiling to Xicang to serve as a soldier and cultivate land.
Where is Xicang? What kind of place is it?
She knew nothing about it and had never even heard of it in her memory. Girls in the boudoir were often ignorant of worldly affairs and usually enjoyed needlework, playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting.
But when it comes to military farming, Jiang Yushu is not very afraid.
In her previous life, she was a key technician at the Agricultural Science Research Institute. When she was a student, she majored in agricultural and forestry economics and management and minored in animal science.
Whether it's farming or animal husbandry, the fundamentals remain the same. Just be patient, there's always a way out!
The eunuch closed the imperial edict and said slowly, "Guo Yuanming, I accept your order and thank you."
"Yes, yes." Marquis Jingyang's face was ashen, and he kowtowed dejectedly, raising his hands high and saying with tears in his eyes, "I, the guilty man, accept your command. I thank Your Majesty for sparing my life."
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Jiang Yushu awkwardly followed everyone in bowing.
Strangely, after she understood the imperial edict, her originally anxious heart inexplicably calmed down.
It was as if I had finally waited for a result, and I felt a great sense of relief.
The eunuch let go, and Marquis Jingyang trembled like a sieve, holding the bright yellow imperial edict tightly.
"Father, Mother, get up quickly." Guo Honglei supported them on both sides, his face as gloomy as water and his eyes deep.
Jiang Yushu helped her father up and said, "Slow down."
"Fortunately, Your Majesty has shown mercy." Jiang Shisen saw the dejected look of the great marquis, and with mixed feelings, he sighed, "At least his life is safe. Let's be more positive."
Marquis Jingyang coughed so much that he couldn't even straighten his back.
"How on earth did it come to this? What are we going to do from now on?" Wang burst into tears, lost and helpless, crying until she collapsed. Guo Honglei tried every way to comfort his mother.
A cloud of gloom and sorrow enveloped the Marquis of Jingyang's Mansion, with suppressed sobs and sighs rising one after another and whispers being heard everywhere.
After the eunuch finished reading the imperial edict, he stood there, seemingly waiting. The officials in charge of confiscating the property did not act immediately, but instead discussed the matter in whispers.
After her anxiety was relieved, Jiang Yushu became more alert and perceptive. She looked at the eunuch delivering the decree and was about to ask for the details herself, but after thinking for a moment, she tugged at her husband's sleeve and whispered, "Your Majesty exiled us, but the decree didn't mention when we're leaving. Why don't you go and ask?"
"That's exactly what I meant. Come, support mother." Guo Honglei pulled his arm out of his mother's hand, took a deep breath, and strode towards the eunuch and the imperial envoy in charge of the confiscation of property.
"Eunuch." Guo Honglei bowed and asked politely, "I wonder when His Majesty has ordered the criminals and others to depart?"
The eunuch was not arrogant. He bowed slightly and replied, "Three days later. He will be released in three days. The court will send someone to escort him then."
"Okay." Guo Honglei, a son of a noble family, gritted his teeth and tried to endure it. After a moment's thought, he bowed and said, "Sir, there are over 200 people in the criminal's household, but not all of them are enslaved. Some are hired. Can you allow unrelated outsiders to leave?"
Concerned about the complex network of family connections and in-laws among the nobles, the imperial envoy had no intention of putting on airs. He accepted the household register from his attendant and replied in a formal manner, "Our emperor is wise and benevolent. According to the law, if ordinary people are employed here to make a living, they can leave after verifying their identity with the register."
Guo Honglei breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you, sir."
"In that case, you should first clear out the irrelevant people, and I will personally verify the list later."
"yes."
The imperial envoy frowned, surveying the sobbing men, women, and children. A headache gripped his head. He cleared his throat and spoke sternly, "I am here on a mission ordered by the emperor. I dare not delay. Where are the accountants? Stand out immediately. The rest of you, stay where you are. It is strictly forbidden to leave without permission. Those who violate this will be punished for disobeying the emperor's order." With a wave of his hand, he shouted:
"I have received an order to confiscate the property of the Marquis of Jingyang's mansion. Action!"
"yes!"
In an instant, the imperial envoy took the lead, and the officials, accompanied by the accountant, quickly rushed into each courtyard and room, rummaged through the boxes and cabinets, recorded the confiscated items in detail, and put seals on them.
Boxes of gold, silver, jewelry, antiques, jade and other items were carried away, shipped out of the mansion and returned to the national treasury.
Witnessing his house being raided, Guo Honglei's eyes burned and he clenched his fists so hard that his knuckles turned white.
The place was in chaos. Jiang Yushu supported her mother-in-law and turned to remind her father and father-in-law to be careful of the crowd and fall. After a busy moment, several loyal servants struggled to squeeze in. She handed her mother-in-law to the people who came and said, "Take good care of the old lady. I'll be back soon!"
Jiang Yushu hurried to her husband in two steps. Unexpectedly, the crowd was so crowded that someone stepped on her skirt. She staggered and cried out in panic, "Ah..."
"careful!"
In the chaos, Guo Honglei was quick to act and hugged his wife and took her into the corner.
Jiang Yushu fell headfirst into the man's broad chest, pressed against his firm, warm body. Embarrassed, she quickly stood firm and asked nervously, "Are you sure? When are we leaving?"
"It's settled." Guo Honglei slowly let go of her soft waist, which was so thin that he could only hold it in his hand. "We'll set off in three days."
Jiang Yushu, feeling apprehensive, breathed a sigh of relief and whispered, "It's okay, it's okay. At least no one was ordered to leave tomorrow morning."
Is this good? What's good about it? Guo Honglei was stunned, staring at his wife in surprise, wanting to say something but stopping himself before finally saying, "We'll talk later." Immediately, he pulled himself together, quickly suppressing his grief. After speaking to his father and the steward, he leaped onto the rockery, faced the vast crowd, and shouted in a deep voice, "Everyone! Be quiet."
The panicked crowd looked at each other in complete silence.
Guo Honglei looked down from above, slowly scanning the crowd. His tone was sonorous and solemn as he spoke: "The ancestors of the Guo family followed and served the Taizu loyally, fighting in battles across the country and earning the Jingyang Marquisate through untold hardships. They have protected their descendants for over 150 years. Everyone present has relied on their ancestors' merits to live a peaceful life. Now, the descendants of the Guo family have foolishly made a serious mistake, betraying the emperor's great grace, and they deserve to be punished." After a pause, he gave a solemn order:
"Your Majesty has decreed that we, the criminals, must march north to Xicang in three days. Listen, men and women present who have not been sold into slavery, please stand over there." He raised his hand and pointed westward. "If you have not been sold into slavery, you are not considered part of the Guo family and will not be subject to exile."
In an instant, some people were happy and some were stamping their feet: those who were laughing ran to the west side, and those who were crying cried even more sadly.
Guo Honglei warned bluntly, "Whoever they are, they are. Do not mix them up. Please know that the government has a slave register, and the imperial envoy will verify it personally later. If anyone is found to be untrue, the crime will be considered deceiving the emperor."
After these words were spoken, the servants who wanted to escape exile no longer dared to move and wiped away their tears.
Jiang Yushu was wiping her sweat when she suddenly heard a child crying behind her, mixed with the shouts of the maids and servants: "Madam, what's wrong with you?"
"Someone come quickly, the Crown Prince's wife has fainted!"
"Mother? Mother?" The child's voice was childish and confused.
Jiang Yushu went to investigate, but was nearly knocked down by her anxious mother-in-law. Fortunately, she was grabbed in time by the maid Xiaotao.
Wang was being carried by her youngest son, stumbling and calling out anxiously, "Yu'er? Where is Yu'er? What happened to my grandson? Alas, the people following him are complete losers, they can't even take care of a child!"
After a moment, Jiang Yushu stopped and found a haggard young woman sitting on the ground. She was dressed in white and had messy hair. She had been woken up by the maid. She squatted down and asked, "Sister-in-law, what's wrong with you?"
"It's over, it's all over." The Guo family's eldest daughter-in-law was named Qiaozhen, a niece of her mother-in-law, Wang. She was tall and plump, with a black mole on her cheek. With a long face and dull eyes, Wang Qiaozhen let her son cry beside her, muttering to herself, "The prince is gone, and so is our family."
As a woman, Jiang Yushu felt sympathy and tried to persuade them, "Although our house was raided, His Majesty has pardoned our death penalty. As long as we are still alive, we still have hope."
Wang Qiaozhen glanced at him and sneered, "Humph, you say that so easily. Do you even know where Xi Cang is?"
Jiang Yushu shook her head and asked, "Where is it? Is it far?"
"Three thousand miles away, Xicang is a frontier, desolate and barren. It's right next to Yongzhou, which has been occupied by the Northern Qi, and is often plagued by war. The prince mentioned it many times when he was alive." Wang Qiaozhen smiled miserably, tears rolling down her cheeks. "Well, there's no need to fear war, because countless exiles died along the way, never making it to the frontier alive."
"Three thousand miles?" Jiang Yushu was stunned, calculating: Three thousand miles north on foot was indeed too far, trekking through mountains and rivers, exposed to the sun and rain, and bound to be full of dangers. But no matter what, it was better than being tortured to death or beheaded. Life was more precious than anything else.
Wang Qiaozhen felt extremely aggrieved. She raised her hand and beat her chest, crying, "God, what sin did I commit in my past life? I have to suffer such torture in this life! First, the prince passed away, leaving behind Yu'er and me. The child is only three years old. How can we live as an orphan and a widow? Before we can sort out this, unexpectedly, our house is raided again! Not only is our property raided, but we are also exiled. How can I live? Why is my life so miserable?"
Guo Yu, the eldest grandson of the Guo family, was only three years old. He was chubby and had a red face and was gasping for breath from crying.
"Qiaozhen, calm down. Be careful not to scare the child." Even so, Wang couldn't help but burst into tears. Holding her grandson, she said worriedly, "Poor Yu'er, you've never suffered hardship since you were born. In three days, our whole family will be exiled. What will you do?"
Wang Qiaozhen had been crying in the mourning hall all morning after her husband's death, her eyes swollen like walnuts. She wailed for a while, then suddenly grabbed Jiang Yushu and asked in grief, "Why is our life so miserable?"
Jiang Yushu's bruises hadn't healed yet, and her throat burned with pain. She swallowed hard, patted the man's arm, and said helplessly, "The imperial decree has been issued. We can only obey it and take it one step at a time. Sister-in-law, please accept my condolences. The ground is cold. You should get up first."
The search lasted until the afternoon, when the imperial envoy waved his hand, led his subordinates to transport the confiscated property to the national treasury, and returned to the palace to report.
After this group of people left, another group of officials who were ordered to escort the exiled prisoners guarded the gates tightly to prevent anyone from the Guo family from escaping.
The dust has settled.
It's a warm spring afternoon.
Marquis Jingyang, who had been silent for a long time, was hunched over, his face frail and old. He narrowed his eyes and blankly scanned the devastation on the ground. Then he looked up, lost in thought, at the upturned eaves on the roofs of the pavilions and towers, and trembled as he said, "I never expected that the family business passed down for over a hundred years would be destroyed before my eyes."
"I feel ashamed of my ancestors—"
Before he finished speaking, the old man closed his eyes, blood foam continued to flow out of his mouth, he gasped, spread his hands, and fell straight back -
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