"You are accusing the Shen family of five crimes, do you have any evidence?"
Emperor Wenyuan, sitting on the high platform, looked down majestically at Yang Zhao, who was standing with his back straight and reciting the five sins of the Shen family loudly. His eyes were deep and intimidating.
Like an invisible cauldron.
It was as if he wanted to crush her straight back.
A woman!
She should have stayed at home to take care of her husband and children, but today she made such a fuss over a concubine. Emperor Wenyuan was unhappy and felt that Yang Zhao was relying on his power as Marquis of Zhenbei to make such a fuss.
She regarded this drum-shaped report as her inner chamber method.
He really doesn't take the imperial power seriously!
Yang Zhao naturally felt the oppressive intimidation of Emperor Wenyuan, and even guessed the thoughts and unhappiness of this petty-minded emperor.
A hint of sarcasm flashed in Yang Zhao's eyes.
She straightened her back even more, with a look of fearlessness on her face, and looked up at Emperor Wenyuan on the high platform:
"Your Majesty, when the male members of the Shen family were exiled, Madam Shen brought the women of the family to ask for my hand in marriage. She publicly declared that the Shen family was pure and honest, and would never insult me, otherwise she would allow me to divorce. Shen Li even promised me a lifelong vow of love, but when Shen Li returned, he brought back a concubine and a fifteen-year-old child."
"After I learned the truth, I invited the elders of the clan to discuss a divorce. However, the Shen family flatly denied their words and humiliated me. They even had their servants give false testimony to smear my reputation. This is... a marriage fraud."
"The members of the Shen and Yang families, as well as the slaves present at the time, were all witnesses."
“Nonsense!”
When Old Lady Shen saw Emperor Wenyuan, she was terrified. But after hearing Yang Zhao's words, she quickly retorted, "Back then, our Shen and Yang families had a marriage certificate. How could there be any talk of marriage fraud? We don't agree to a divorce because you violated the seven grounds for divorce, so..."
"Seven Reasons for Divorce?"
Yang Huaijin was furious at this moment. "Shen Li returned from exile, and he despised my sister for having been so out in the public eye for the Shen family for six years, staying with the concubines every day, but never setting foot in my sister's courtyard. How could she have a child alone? And yet you, the Shen family, claim that she has committed one of the seven grounds for divorce because she hasn't had any children in six years."
"Everyone knows that Madam Shen married into the Shen family with a rooster in her arms and has been guarding the Shen family for six years..."
"How can a person give birth to a child? How shameless!"
"How could the Shen family say such shameless words?"
"The Shen family is simply shameless..."
When the people around heard this, they were all shocked by the shamelessness.
There were also many scholars and literati gathered at the scene, and they all felt embarrassed when they heard these words.
The Shen family is the cornerstone of many scholars' hearts. They are their role models, their goals, and their aspirations...
But at this moment, they only felt that something in their hearts had been broken...
Emperor Wenyuan also frowned slightly.
Old Madam Shen's face turned pale as she was pointed at. She gritted her teeth and said, "She is barren. Even if Li'er goes to her room, she still won't be able to have a child. There are three kinds of unfilial behavior, and having no descendants is the worst. What's wrong with what I said?"
"His Majesty."
Yang Zhao kowtowed lightly towards the platform, and when he stood up straight, his eyes were red. "This is the second crime I want to accuse the Shen family of: favoring a concubine over the wife!"
"The Shen family was afraid that I would know that Shen Li had a concubine and a son, so they would have lied to me. But to give their son a future, they fabricated a beggar's identity for him. They had me thrown into a cold lake, drugged me to sterilize me, and forced me to adopt a legitimate son by claiming I couldn't have children."
"And the concubine, disguised as a slave, entered the mansion secretly, and took advantage of the old lady's birthday to make a fuss, and became Shen Li's concubine."
"A concubine becomes a maid, and a concubine's son becomes a legitimate son."
"The Shen family has been scheming and plotting every step of the way for a concubine and her son, even going so far as to harm me. Isn't this favoring a concubine over my wife?"
Just after Yang Zhao finished speaking, Doctor Li was brought up.
Doctor Li knelt on the ground, his body trembling like a sieve, and told the story of the Shen family asking him to take Yang Zhao's pulse and prescribe a very cold medicine.
The people gasped after hearing this.
But that’s not all.
At this time, Xiao Cui was supported by a maid and walked out from the crowd. She knelt on the ground, holding her bulging belly. "I am Xiao Cui, a maidservant of the eldest aunt Shen Jialan. It was the eldest aunt Shen Jialan who teamed up with the second wife of the Shen family and had the sixth daughter of the family trick the wife to the lake and push her into the water..."
"You little bitch, what nonsense are you talking about..."
Xiao Cui was kneeling right next to Old Madam Shen.
When Mrs. Shen heard what Xiao Cui said, she was so angry that she slapped her hard.
Xiao Cui fell down, holding her stomach tightly, her face pale, biting her lips and crying out in pain.
Lord Pei was afraid that someone would die, so he had Xiao Cui taken away.
The people around were in an uproar.
"He dared to hit someone in front of His Majesty and the adults. How arrogant must he be on a normal day?"
"For the sake of a concubine's son, they actually dared to push the mistress into the lake and drug her, rendering her infertile. This Shen family must be mentally ill!"
"That's right, he's just a concubine's son. If you really can't bear to let him go, you can just take him home and make him a bastard. Why would you have to murder the mistress and give the concubine a legitimate son..."
"Is it just for a good reputation?"
"You can't distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate children, you disregard etiquette and laws, and yet you still call yourself a scholar. Ugh!"
The people looked at the Shen family as if they were idiots, with contempt and disgust...
Patriarch Shen and other elders had burning faces.
They were extremely angry because they knew nothing about this, but the blame was put on their Shen family. They were so angry that they wanted to slap those people in the main courtyard.
Old Madam Shen blushed with anger and tried to quibble.
But then Yang Zhao's voice rang out again: "When His Majesty issued the decree to exile the male members of the Shen family, it included all male members, including those in swaddling clothes and those in the womb, including the sons of concubines."
"But the Shen family deliberately concealed his identity as a concubine's son, allowing him to escape the responsibility of being a criminal. This is disobeying the imperial order."
"Later, in order to conceal his identity as a concubine's son, he bribed the officials to fabricate a false identity and tried to deceive the public. Isn't this deceiving the emperor?"
"The Shen family defied the emperor first, and then deceived him."
"How could the Shen family dare to allow such a concubine's son to return to the Shen family as a bastard?"
"hiss……"
This time, all the members of the Shen family were frightened and took a deep breath.
Disobeying the order and deceiving the emperor.
That is a capital crime!!!
Shen Li clenched his hands and his face turned pale.
Old Madam Shen felt like she couldn't breathe and almost fainted on the spot.
"Nonsense!"
Old Madam Shen stared at Yang Zhao intently, her eyes almost murderous: "Even if you hate me for not agreeing to your divorce, you can't slander our Shen family with such sweet words and white teeth, and we are deceiving the emperor. That will result in the death of our clan..."
Yang Zhao looked at Old Madam Shen from a distance.
When Old Madam Shen saw the smile in her eyes, a sense of panic rose in her heart...
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