Chapter 335 Except for Yuan Xu, no male member of the Shen family is allowed to participate in the imperial examination!
After hearing this, Shen Congli burst into tears again, though a little less than before.
"Wait!" Shen Lanxi shouted to stop them.
Wei Jie wondered to himself, "Could it be that he punished me too severely?"
Shen Lanxi: "The Shen family's failure to educate their son has led to Shen Yuanzhan abusing his power. I will petition His Majesty to ban all Shen family sons except Shen Yuanxu from participating in the imperial examinations. Shen Yuanzhan himself will never be allowed to hold office!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Congwen jumped up and pointed at Shen Lanxi, cursing her.
"Shen Lanxi, how can you, a woman, represent your elders and sentence the Shen family's son to such a severe punishment? What difference is there between your actions and murdering your own blood relatives? You are utterly heartless and insane!"
Inside the Dali Temple, there was complete silence!
Shen Congwen was furious and continued to shout breathlessly, "You wretched child, you not only courted death, but you also wanted to destroy the foundation of my Shen family. Take back what you said before, or don't even think about stepping into the Shen family again!"
Shen Lanxi looked at her father, who was jumping up and down and pointing at her, and said coldly, "Does Father want to be scorned by the whole world?"
Shen Congwen was choked up and couldn't utter a single word.
"As the chief examiner of the imperial examinations, I must set an example for all the scholars in the land. I will petition His Majesty that any scholar who harasses a woman will have his academic title revoked and be permanently barred from the examinations. Those without academic titles will have their entire family banned from taking the imperial examinations for three generations!"
The room erupted in uproar!
Wei Jie, who came from a criminal investigation background, felt that if His Majesty could really pass this proposal, there would be far fewer criminals in the future!
"Lord Wei, Shen Yuanzhan is now in your hands for punishment. I'll go to the palace to see His Majesty immediately!"
Wei Jie nodded.
When Shen Congwen saw Shen Lanxi's posture, he knew she really wanted to go to the palace to discuss punishments with His Majesty.
"You are not allowed to go. The sons of the Shen family must take the imperial examinations. Shen Lanxi, as a woman, you are ruining the careers of your family's sons. Aren't you afraid of being ostracized by the family?"
Shen Lanxi didn't even stop, and in the blink of an eye, she was out of Dali Temple!
...
"To punish harassment with castration? Isn't that too harsh a punishment?"
"So you weren't just harassing your daughter?"
"Shen Lanxi is indeed ruthless. He only teased him a couple of times, so why did he hit his own brother so hard?"
"He would also cut off the official careers of three generations of his family. If she were a man, she would definitely be a notorious cruel official throughout history."
"She's a woman, and women are more ruthless and vicious. Haven't you heard the saying, 'The stinger of a wasp is the most venomous thing a woman can do'? We men are generally broad-minded and never petty, but women, over the smallest things, will argue endlessly."
While the students and the common people were having various opinions, Shen Lanxi entered the palace.
"Lanxi, isn't this too harsh on the Shen family's second sons?" Emperor Renxiao asked, his face full of reluctance.
Shen Lanxi: "No, none of them are good at either literature or martial arts. Even if they take the imperial examination, it would be a waste of their spots. It would be better to stop here and save good teachers from being wasted."
Emperor Renxiao knew that Mr. Ruohua had been invited by Shen Congwen to teach him, but he still felt that the judgment was somewhat unbelievable.
Could it be that Shen Lanxi really has no selfish motives at all?
"Lanxi, they also call me uncle. I really can't bear to cut off their careers!" Emperor Renxiao had seen the writings of every son in the Shen family's study.
He looked at it every day at first, but after ten days, the crooked characters hadn't improved at all, and it hurt his eyes. So he put it aside and handed it over to Wang Bao.
Every day, I would hear the same thing: the men of the Shen family are not cut out for studying. At best, they will be able to read and write, but as for anything else, they shouldn't think about it.
But what if?
Shen Lanxi was both the chief examiner and a woman; what woman wouldn't be soft-hearted and side with her mother's family?
“Uncle, I have already made a promise at the Dali Temple. At that time, there were common people and students outside the gate. I can’t go back on my word and make people think that I am two-faced and pleading for the Shen family in front of you.”
Emperor Renxiao's eyes flickered, and after a moment's thought, he decided to leave no future troubles.
"Lanxi, do you know that once I've spoken, my words cannot be changed!"
Shen Lanxi then mentioned another promise she had made at the Dali Temple: "Your Majesty, I believe this matter serves as a timely warning. From now on, anyone who dares to harass a woman shall be stripped of their official rank and never be employed again. Those without official rank shall have their entire family barred from taking the imperial examinations for three generations!"
Emperor Renxiao has truly witnessed Shen Lanxi's ruthlessness this time.
What he lacked was an incredibly sharp knife like that.
"Lanxi, as your uncle, I'll ask you one last time: are you really sure about this?" Emperor Renxiao admitted that even his own uncle couldn't do this.
Shen Lanxi said impatiently, "Uncle, why are you so nagging?"
Wang Bao stepped forward and angrily rebuked: "How dare you..."
Emperor Renxiao glared at Wang Bao and waved him away.
"With your temper, only I can tolerate you. If it were anyone else, you would have been beheaded by now."
Shen Lanxi laughed and said, "Uncle, then you must live to be two hundred years old and support Lanxi!"
Emperor Renxiao laughed in anger and waved for Shen Lanxi to leave.
No sooner had she left the palace than an imperial edict came into the Shen family's gates, forbidding all male members of the Shen family, except for Shen Yuanxu, from participating in the imperial examinations.
At the same time, the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice each received an imperial edict to add the punishments for harassing women, as mentioned by Shen Lanxi, to the criminal law.
Upon receiving the imperial edict, Shen Congwen fainted immediately. The Shen family, fearing that His Majesty would misunderstand, did not dare to call a doctor.
For a time, Shen Lanxi's actions successfully overshadowed the romantic affairs of Zhou Ru'an and Zhou Qiwu's children, becoming the most talked-about topic in the capital!
...
"Shen Lanxi actually cut off her own escape route. Did her head get trampled by a horse while she was fighting?" Zhou Qiwu was incredulous when he heard the news.
"Mother, I don't care, just have someone kill Shen Lanxi right now!" Wang Xiangrong said impatiently, throwing a tantrum.
Zhou Xiwu had a headache from the noise.
"I know, but now is not the time!"
Wang Xiangrong wished he could have Shen Lanxi kidnapped right now to vent his anger.
“Mother, you always say it’s not the right time, then when will it be the right time?” Wang Xiangrong shouted.
Even though Zhou Xiwu loved her son dearly, she lost patience every day when she heard him being so disrespectful to his elders and yelling at her.
“Shut up. I’ve already told you, I will avenge you. If you keep yelling at your mother like this, don’t blame me for having you sent back to Tianjin.”
This was the first time Wang Xiangrong had ever seen his mother scold him. After his initial fear subsided, he realized that his mother wouldn't do anything to him, so he snorted and ran out.
Since his mother wouldn't intervene, he hired someone to deal with Shen Lanxi himself.
It was all because of Shen Lanxi that his mother scolded him. It was all because of Shen Lanxi that what happened that day was made public.
He was determined to kill Shen Lanxi.
...
For several days, there was no movement from the Princess's residence where Zhou Qiwu lived. Finally, just as Shen Lanxi decided to take action, a group of men in black arrived at the Zhenbei Marquis's residence.
"Whoever kills Shen Lanxi will receive ten thousand taels of gold. Cut off one of her arms, and you'll receive a thousand taels of gold; cut off one of her legs, and you'll receive two thousand taels of gold!"
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