After careful consideration, Emperor Cheng'an realized that what he said made sense.
If Xue Shen and the Shen family father and son could conceal the truth, Qi Zhong, having gone to someone else's territory and lacking manpower, would naturally find nothing.
He calmed his anger and said to Qi Zhong, "Take the men from the Military Command to the Shen family and arrest the father and son."
Qi Zhong wiped away a cold sweat with relief and hurriedly went to the Palace Guard to send people to the Shen family to arrest the person.
Shen Mingjiang and Shen Xiuyi first escorted Shen Youying back to the Prince of Qin's residence.
In fact, if things were peaceful in the Shen family, the father and son would definitely prefer Shen Youying to stay with them for a while. However, they have already caused a huge uproar since their return to the capital, and it seems that something will come up to them soon. If Shen Youying stays in the Shen family, her life will not be peaceful.
Therefore, the father and son reached a tacit agreement with Xue Shen to send Shen Youying back to the Prince of Qin's residence.
As it turned out, their guess was correct. The two had just returned from the Prince of Qin's residence, and Shen Mingjiang had only exchanged a few words with Madam Fang when Qi Zhong arrived at their door with the Imperial Guards.
Qi Zhong, with his hands tucked in his pockets, sized up Shen Mingjiang and his son Shen Xiuyi, and said in a sarcastic tone, "Since General Shen and Young General Shen were in Xizhou, why didn't you show yourselves then? Perhaps I could have put in a good word for you two in front of the Emperor."
Shen Mingjiang, with his fiery temper and straightforward nature, had no patience for his sarcastic remarks and bluntly said, "Stop with the sarcastic talk. After finding Xiuyi, I returned to the capital to meet the Emperor. I only met Prince Qin on the way back. Besides, you're just a eunuch; do you think you can make decisions for His Majesty?"
Qi Zhong was so choked by his words that his face turned red. He flicked his sleeves and said angrily, "Since that's the case, then you two will come with me."
Without even looking at the two men, he ordered the Imperial Guards to escort the father and son to the prison.
Shen Mingjiang and Shen Xiuyi had anticipated this, so they were neither alarmed nor struggled. Instead, they cooperated fully by putting on the shackles and leaving with Qi Zhong.
Madam Fang chased after them, wiping away her tears, and said, "Master, eldest son, you've finally come back..."
Shen Mingjiang couldn't bear to see her crying, so he said to Shen Huaizhou beside him, "Help your mother back. Don't worry too much. The Emperor is wise; once the matter is investigated, he will let us go home."
Shen Huaizhou exclaimed "Eh!" and quickly helped Fang Shi up, persuading her to return to the mansion.
*
The return of Shen Mingjiang and his son caused a great uproar both in the imperial court and in the harem.
The news that Emperor Cheng'an knew was naturally also known to Empress Zhou and the Zhou family.
Empress Zhou, who was now pregnant and resting peacefully in the palace, was shocked to hear the news from the Zhou family and stood up abruptly: "What? Consort Shen is not dead?"
She slammed her fist on the table, gritting her teeth, and glared angrily at the Zhou family's trusted confidant who had come to deliver the news: "Didn't my elder brother say he was sure the person was dead? How come he's back now, perfectly fine?"
The confidant flinched and whispered, "The patriarch doesn't know what's going on either and is trying to figure something out. I've only come today to let Your Highness know that you, the matriarch of the family, must not harm your pregnancy and should rest assured. He will handle the matter of the Shen family father and son and will not involve Your Highness."
Empress Zhou sat back down upon hearing this, lowered her head and touched her belly, saying calmly, "Brother is still too soft-hearted. I told you long ago, if you're going to do something, you should do it thoroughly. Only by eliminating the root of the problem can you ensure that nothing goes wrong."
She sighed softly, "The Zhou family is my maternal family. If anything were to happen to us, how would my son and I survive in the palace? Go back and tell my elder brother that extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. There's no point in bringing up the past now. Since he's back alive, we should find a way to make them unable to bring themselves to say it."
Zhen Huan's face revealed a hint of malice: "That day in the prison, there were so many ways to kill someone without anyone noticing."
The messenger's expression changed slightly upon hearing his words, then he bowed and said, "I understand, I will go back and relay it to the head of the family."
After everyone left, Empress Zhou got up and paced back and forth in the palace.
Seeing her anxious expression, the trusted female official comforted her, saying, "Your Majesty is currently pregnant, so please do not be anxious and upset. The affairs of the court are being taken care of by the head of the family, so why should Your Majesty worry so much?"
Then she lowered her voice again: "Moreover, Your Majesty has the child in your belly as a protective charm, so no matter what, the Emperor will not implicate Your Majesty."
Empress Zhou touched her belly and sneered: "He hopes that the child in my belly will keep the Crown Prince in check. Of course, he won't implicate me, but he might take the opportunity to get rid of the Zhou family, leaving me isolated and helpless, and only able to be controlled by him."
As she laughed, her expression turned grim: "This palace is a place that devours people. If I just wait to be eaten instead of eating people myself, I'll be the one who gets eaten sooner or later."
Empress Zhou gripped her handkerchief tightly, as if she had made up her mind, and said, "I absolutely cannot sit idly by and wait for my death."
*
While Empress Zhou and her family were secretly plotting, the court was also embroiled in a heated debate over how to deal with the father and son.
Nowadays, the number of officials supporting the King of Qin's faction is increasing. The Shen family father and son are the King of Qin's father-in-law and brother-in-law, so demanding a thorough reinvestigation of what happened back then naturally has the upper hand in dealing with them.
An official said, "The Shen family army guarded the border and had made great achievements. When news of General Shen's defection to the enemy before the war spread, there were many doubts and strange things. However, at that time, General Shen's whereabouts were unknown, and the conviction was hasty, so there was no time to thoroughly investigate. Now that the two have returned, we should thoroughly investigate what happened back then."
As soon as these words were spoken, many people stepped forward to second them: "We urge Your Majesty to thoroughly investigate the events of that year."
Emperor Cheng'an looked at the officials lying on the ground with a grim expression. He glanced at the remaining officials who had not yet stepped forward and asked in a voice as heavy as a thousand pounds, "What are the opinions of the other ministers?"
An official, sensing his thoughts, stepped forward to object, speaking passionately: "Shen Xiuyi's crimes of treason and collusion with the enemy are irrefutable. Shen Mingjiang disobeyed the imperial decree and led his troops away without authorization, which is no different from rebellion. Although this father and son have military achievements, they have also committed unforgivable crimes. Even if their merits and demerits offset each other, they will still be sentenced to death!"
"Your Majesty, we request that you punish the Shen family father and son according to the law."
Once someone started, officials who supported the Crown Prince and the Emperor immediately chimed in, and the court was instantly divided into two distinct factions.
Emperor Cheng'an's expression softened slightly, and he spoke calmly: "The Shen family has achieved numerous military exploits over the years, and I am deeply moved. However, a ruler cannot act on emotion; the crimes committed by the Shen family are unforgivable—"
"Your Majesty, please hear me out."
He was interrupted by Xue Shen halfway through his sentence.
Xue Shen stepped forward with his hands clasped and said loudly, "If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext. When General Shen was convicted, there were only witnesses and no physical evidence. And that person has already been silenced. This shows that Qi Zhong is suspicious."
Seeing Emperor Cheng'an's face growing increasingly grim, Xue Shen quickly said, "Fortunately, hard work pays off. To put the Princess's mind at ease, I have been secretly investigating the events of that year for the past year or two. I didn't expect that I would actually find some evidence that is enough to prove that General Shen was wronged."
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