Chapter 14 Finalization
Early in the morning, Xie Hui went straight to the palace to meet the emperor. The emperor had just woken up and had not even had breakfast. He was quite surprised to hear that his nephew had come.
"Why are you here so early? Just in time to have breakfast with uncle."
Xie Hui readily followed suit. After the emperor sat down, he also sat down and started eating. His movements were graceful but not slow at all. Most of the breakfast went into his stomach.
The emperor watched his nephew eat happily, and after he put down his chopsticks, he asked, "Are you full? Would you like some more?"
Xie Hui stood up and bowed, "I am full."
"Okay, stop giving your uncle this shit. Tell me what's the matter." The emperor knew that every time his nephew called him "Your Majesty" in a serious manner and called himself "Your humble servant", it meant that he had something serious to say.
"Last night, Lord Shen and I closed down a brothel and unexpectedly ran into Lord Zhao, the Imperial Academy's chief academician."
The emperor's eyes widened. "Zhao Ruming?! That old guy is still going to a brothel?"
After Zhao Ruming passed the imperial examination and became one of the top three candidates in the imperial examination, more than one or two high-ranking officials in the capital wanted to marry him off the list, but he refused them all, saying that his family already had a wife and that he would not take a concubine.
There were many people waiting to see him make a fool of himself at that time, and few believed that he could stay with his wife for the rest of his life after he became successful. However, over the years, he really did not take a concubine or remarry.
Many writers even wrote poems and essays for him, praising his noble character.
After the shock, the emperor said, "There will be a time. It's not a big deal to visit a brothel. Maybe Lord Zhao just has a confidante. It's understandable that he wants to drink and write poetry with her."
The emperor thought that his nephew was ashamed of Zhao Ruming's visit to brothels. After all, his nephew was already an adult and still kept himself clean, and the princess and the prince consort were a loving couple and no one else cared.
"As for men, there are men like your father, and naturally there are also men like Zhao Ruming." The emperor spoke with the tone of an experienced person.
"Your Majesty, when Lord Shen and I found Lord Zhao yesterday, he was whipping a girl. I have handed the girl over to the care of the female doctor of the Dali Temple. After asking, I learned that the girl is not yet twelve years old."
At the age of twelve, she can be said to be still a young girl, still a child.
This cannot be simply explained by the word "lust". The emperor felt that the breakfast he had just eaten was churning in his stomach.
"Your Majesty, how to deal with Zhao Jijiu is still up to you to decide."
The emperor frowned in disgust. "Abuse of a young girl, the law is written as it is. You are the Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, you know better than me."
Xie Hui wanted to hear the emperor say, "I understand. I will take my leave."
The emperor shook his head. "That brat is up to it again."
Zhao Ruming had already been thrown into the Dali Temple's prison, but he still felt lucky, thinking that he was just visiting brothels and that all talented men were romantic. He thought that if he wrote a few poems and a few articles, the literati would still praise him.
but--
"According to the Dazhao law, Zhao Rumingling abused a young girl and was sentenced to fifty strokes of the cane and exile for three thousand miles."
No matter how Zhao Ruming defended himself, the verdict was still made. No one in the court argued for him.
He directly asked the Dali Temple to catch him in the act. The evidence was solid and there was no way to defend himself. Another thing was that people who pleaded for him in such a matter were afraid that they would be considered to have some special hobbies. Scholars are best at keeping their reputations, and when they encounter such a thing, it is too late to avoid it.
No one could have expected that the Lord Chief Academician, who used to be a role model for thousands of scholars, would become a villain that everyone hated in just a few days.
The three girls rescued from Chunfang Lodge had been sold by their families and they did not want to return home, so the court decided to send them to a charity in the capital.
As for the girl who was rescued from Zhao Ruming, she was seriously injured and had to recuperate in the Dali Temple for a long time. Coincidentally, Granny Ge from the kitchen of the Dali Temple felt sorry for her and often set a small stove for her. After she recovered, Granny Ge adopted her as her adopted daughter and stayed in the Dali Temple to help.
Shen Yun originally just wanted to take advantage of the inspection to expose Zhao Ruming's visit to brothels and let everyone know that his reputation as a model of integrity was fake. He didn't expect it to lead to such a big incident. However, he also saved a lot of people, which can be considered a good deed.
After this incident, the emperor personally ordered the Imperial City Bureau to thoroughly investigate all brothels, big and small, in the capital. Suddenly, the men in the capital became much more obedient. When Shen Yuan followed his sister-in-law to a banquet, he could hear some ladies saying that their husbands went home after work these days and did not go out anymore.
"When has my husband ever been so timid as he is now? Last month he even argued with me about marrying a prostitute from a brothel. This time he dare not mention it again." A lady said while waving a fan. She did not look unhappy at all when talking about her husband's plan to take a concubine, and she did not avoid people when she spoke about it.
It was the time of spring when the flowers were in full bloom. Everyone took off their winter clothes and put on bright spring clothes. Today they were admiring flowers, tomorrow they were having a banquet. In the past few days, Shen Yuan had attended many banquets with her sister-in-law. Neither of them liked to stand out in such occasions. They just listened quietly.
"In that case, we have to thank the emperor."
When Shen Yuan heard this, he thought that the person you should thank the most is my father.
"I'm different from you. I've been married for more than ten years and I'm tired of it. I wish he could go out every day." This lady was older than the first two who spoke. She said as if she had just seen Shen Yuan. "There's a little girl here! The child can't bear to hear these things. She will be scared later."
As soon as these words came out, all the ladies looked at Shen Yuan. The host of the recent flower viewing banquet, Mrs. Si Nanbo, even asked someone to call her daughter back, "Shu'er, you take the little girl of the Shen family to play. Little girls should be with little girls."
Shen Yuan bowed obediently, said something to her sister-in-law, and left with Lu Shuyan. She knew that it was inappropriate for an unmarried girl like her to stay here all the time. She had just arrived and heard those ladies discussing something about brothels, so she listened for a while longer.
Lu Shuyan is sixteen years old this year. She is the youngest daughter of Si Nanbo and the only legitimate daughter of Si Nanbo's mansion. At this moment, she is holding Shen Yuan's hand affectionately and telling her which girls are coming today.
Before He Ying married into the Shen family, the Shen family did not have a woman to manage the household, and many families would not think of inviting a young girl like Shen Yuan to banquets.
"This is the girl from the Shen family." Lu Shuyan introduced Shen Yuan to everyone.
Before Shen Yuan could say anything, a girl in a green silk dress came forward and held Shen Yuan's hand: "What a beautiful sister, what's your name?"
"You naughty ghost, be careful not to scare others." Lu Shuyan glanced at the girl in a reproachful manner and said to Shen Yuan, "Her name is Yan Siyu, she is used to being naughty, sister, don't be afraid."
Shen Yuan was not afraid, and instead thought the girl was quite interesting. "My name is Shen Yuan, the Yuan in Yuanzhi Xianglan."
Yan Siyu immediately said, "What a nice name! I will call you Yuanyuan from now on." After that, she took Shen Yuan's hand and introduced her to several other girls.
"Yuanyuan, I heard that Zhao Jijiu was caught by your father in a brothel? Did your father tell you what happened at that time?"
As soon as these words came out, everyone looked at Shen Yuan, their eyes flickering with "curiosity for knowledge".