Chapter 610: Two Choices for the Shen Family!
Wu Yanzhi, far away in the Northwest, was still looking forward to the honors and favors he would receive upon returning to the capital, but little did he know that the capital had already undergone earth-shattering changes.
The Wu family went from being sued to having their property confiscated and being imprisoned in less than two days.
The carrier pigeons sent to the Northwest by Wu Yanzhi's faction were shot down before they even left the capital.
There wasn't even anyone to seek justice for the Wu family, because Shen Lanxi immediately ordered that their entire extended family be implicated.
The prison, which had been emptied for some time, was suddenly overflowing with people.
No one was spared, not even infants from the nine generations of the Wu family; they were all brought in.
The prison was filled with insults directed at Wu Yanzhi, the cries of women and children, and shouts of injustice.
The next day at court, the Grand Tutor stepped forward to present his memorial.
“Your Majesty, I feel that implicating nine generations of relatives is too harsh. Many of the Wu family’s neighbors, relatives, and classmates have no contact with the Wu family. They are innocent people who are being implicated.”
"Your Majesty, the Grand Tutor is right."
"The only one to blame is Wu Yanzhi for his numerous evil deeds. The punishment should only be for those who benefited from him; the others are innocent."
"I think this is wrong. Only by using severe punishment will people dare not commit the offense again."
"In the past six months, our capital has reached a point where doors are left unlocked at night and lost items are not picked up on the road. This is all thanks to the Great Zhou Law promoted by His Majesty."
“If we do not deal with them severely, some people may take chances and dare to extend their evil hands.”
"I reiterate that severe punishment should be used."
There are two distinct factions regarding how to handle this matter.
However, there was one unanimous consensus: the Wu family should be severely punished.
Wu Yanzhi is related to the eldest branch of the Shen family by marriage, but it is unknown whether His Majesty will show leniency.
After a moment of contemplation, Shen Lanxi said, "I am continuing the previous practice. My beloved ministers have many objections, which shows that the laws of the Great Zhou still need to be improved."
Half of the court officials were stunned.
They just don't approve of punishing nine generations of a family, so why are they bringing up the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty again?
The laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty are already being revised to an extreme degree, and they still want to be revised?
Grand Tutor: "Your Majesty is wise!"
The court officials all looked at the Grand Tutor, wondering whose side he was on.
Shen Lanxi: "Then abolish the punishment of implicating nine generations of relatives and change it to punishing those who profit from it."
The officials fell silent.
"Of course, within the three clans of the Wu family, if anyone benefits from the Wu family, even if it's just for the sake of reputation, they cannot be let off the hook."
"My minimum requirement is to punish three generations of their families."
Dali Temple: "Your Majesty is wise!"
Ministry of Justice: "Your Majesty, Wu Yanzhi's daughter is engaged to the eldest branch of the Shen family. We don't know how to handle this matter."
If they had already married into the family, they could have divorced. The key issue is that Wu Qingyu has not actually married into the Shen family; she is only nominally married with half a leg on the title.
Shen Lanxi pondered for a moment and said, "I am the emperor, and the Shen family is the Shen family. I cannot make decisions for the Shen family. I will let the Shen family make a decision later."
"yes!"
Many people are watching this matter closely, as it relates to His Majesty's attitude towards Wu Yanzhi's life or death.
After the court session, a letter was delivered to the Shen family.
At this time, the Shen family was discussing breaking off the engagement with the Wu family.
The entire Wu family is in prison, so if they want to break off the engagement, all they need to do is say a simple word.
“This marriage must be called off; my grandson cannot marry the daughter of a disgraced official.”
When the Wu family was safe and sound, Liu fawned over them; but as soon as the Wu family ran into trouble, Liu immediately changed her attitude.
Shen Congwen: "No, some people will say that our Shen family is opportunistic and forgets its principles."
Liu gave Shen Conglian a wink.
“Brother, you can’t say that. The Wu family are criminals. If our Shen family’s children and grandchildren really marry criminals, how will we ever be able to hold our heads high again?”
Liu: "Even if it is, it is." It's not because your grandson married the daughter of a disgraced official that you can make such sarcastic remarks.
Shen Congwen: "Back when the late emperor was alive, we were attached to the Wu family. The Wu family didn't look down on us for having been exiled to Dongchuan. Now that the Wu family has fallen, if our family quickly breaks off the engagement, it might damage our reputation."
Shen Congli: "Then let's postpone the annulment. Maybe we won't even need to annul it; the Wu family will be wiped out. At worst, we can just collect their corpses and still have a good reputation."
"It's also the Wu family's fault; they're the ones who do dirty things."
Miao: "Master is right."
"Wu Yanzhi is definitely going to die. With so many crimes, the Wu family will definitely not escape punishment." Madam Liu now wishes she could settle things with the Wu family as soon as possible, so as not to tarnish her grandson's reputation.
Just as they were discussing this, someone from the palace arrived.
"His Majesty has specially ordered me to deliver a letter from home."
That's what they said, but it was the imperial eunuch who came to deliver the decree.
Ordinary letters were usually delivered by the Imperial Guards.
"Brother, hurry up and open it to see what's written inside."
Everyone urged them on.
Shen Congwen opened the document and read aloud: "This is merely a suggestion; your family may adopt it or not!"
“Since Wu Qingyu was betrothed to my Shen family, she has been of great merit and kindness to my Shen family.”
"I will strip Wu Qingyu of her title. The Shen family may send someone to the prison to fetch her."
"We can also leave this matter alone, and the engagement will naturally become invalid."
"I urge my family to carefully consider this!"
"It's gone."
Shen Congwen put the letter aside. Since it concerned the eldest son's family, Liu quickly took it and showed it to Shen Conglian.
"It's really gone." Shen Conglian read the beginning and the end; it was exactly what his elder brother had mentioned.
"Big brother, what should we do?"
Shen Congwen slammed his fist on the table in anger: "It's not like we're given a choice; there's clearly only one path to choose from."
The Shen family fell silent.
The second wife's family stopped pressuring her.
Still unconvinced, Liu muttered under her breath, "What if we chose the second one?"
The men of the Shen family all stared at Liu, which frightened her and made her feel guilty.
Why are you looking at her? She was just saying it casually.
"Why don't we ask the princess?" Shen Conglian didn't know what to do.
If they choose option one, their grandson's future will be ruined. If they choose option two... His Majesty is clearly telling them to choose one.
If they disobey, the consequences could be severe; they can't afford to gamble, and they dare not gamble.
"Brother, let's ask the princess!"
“Yes, elder brother, the princess’s ideas are more effective than ours.”
If His Majesty blames them then, they can simply say it was the princess's idea. Even if he does blame them, it won't be their fault.
Unless absolutely necessary, Shen Congwen would not want to trouble the princess.
"Brother, this concerns Chengfeng's entire life, I'm begging you, brother," Shen Conglian pleaded, abandoning all pretense of dignity.
“Brother, Chengfeng is also your family, your grandson, and he calls you great-grandfather. Can you bear to see him marry the daughter of a disgraced official and ruin his future?” Liu Shi covered her face with her handkerchief and began to cry.
Shen Congwen thought that in the end he still had to handle this matter. If the second branch of the family asked his mother for help, his mother would be troubled if she found out. So, after going around in circles, he decided to go to the princess.
"Alright, you all wait here, I'll go ask." Shen Congwen took the letter from the palace and left slowly.
~
"Second brother, it's never wrong to go to the princess!" Shen Congli offered words of comfort on the surface, but secretly he was gloating.
Previously, I envied the second branch of the family for forming a marriage alliance with the Prime Minister's family and for receiving the Prime Minister's support.
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