Long Xuanmo’s brows didn’t furrow in the slightest as he elegantly sipped from his teacup.
Meanwhile, Yang Mengchen, knowing that Ma Tiankun had taken away Long Fengying, was aware that the fate awaiting Long Fengying was self-explanatory. Therefore, he did not take it to heart but merely instructed Lv Luo to keep a close watch on Ma Tiankun to prevent further chaos.
On the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, the Emperor commenced his governance by writing policy, which also marked the first grand assembly of the New Year.
The censors impeached the Changxing Marquis Mansion for numerous crimes, including harming members of the royal family, graft, and bribery, and oppressing the good. They also presented irrefutable evidence.
Right then and there, the Emperor issued a decree stripping the mansion of its noble title, ordering that all males be beheaded and displayed publicly, all females be consigned to slavery in impoverished border regions, and all properties be confiscated.
Given the commencement of the New Year, coupled with the Emperor’s compassion, he did not implicate the Nine Clans.
The followers of Long Yisi had already received orders to watch with cold indifference.
Because of Long Fengying, Changxing Marquis Mansion outwardly belonged to Long Yisi’s faction, but in reality had secretly pledged allegiance to Prince Duan. Therefore, when Prince Duan returned to the capital and learned that the Changxing Marquis Mansion was under custody, he convened with his staff officers, seeking to exonerate the mansion.
However, since the Emperor was about to "seal the brush" (As per Dong Chu’s legal practice, barring special circumstances, policy discussions were not held from the 28th of the twelfth lunar month until the 15th of the first lunar month, nor could blood be spilled), they could only wait until the sixteenth day to discuss policy.
They did not anticipate that as soon as the policy discussion began, the censors would unanimously bombard the Changxing Marquis Mansion with irrefutable evidence. Even more unexpectedly, the Emperor pronounced the Marquis Mansion guilty on the spot, making the verdict final. Prince Duan and his allies had no choice but to give up on the Changxing Marquis Mansion. ƒгeewebnovёl_com
Soon after, Prince Ning was dispatched by imperial decree with the Imperial Army to seize the assets of the Changxing Marquis Mansion.
The soldiers stormed into the mansion, lifting any chest they saw, opening every cupboard they passed, piling all the objects into boxes, and then transporting them to a designated courtyard. Anyone who dared to obstruct them was not directly killed but brutally beaten—leaving the others too frightened to move.
A cacophony of women’s cries, pleas, and the soldiers’ loud and coarse shouting echoed above the Hou Mansion.
In the women’s section of the Sky Prison.
Upon hearing the imperial edict, Madam Shang immediately fainted, and when she woke up again, she saw her daughters-in-law and concubines around her, all crying, shivering, and looking utterly disheveled. Madam Shang’s complexion turned pale, her eyes hollow.
She had gone to great lengths to maintain the glory of the Hou Mansion, not only meticulously seeking powerful Yue families for her sons and daughters but also marrying off her daughters and granddaughters into noble aristocratic families (With the Marquis Mansion’s decline, these noble families certainly had no regard for it; therefore, the in-laws she gained were through abnormal means. Of course, she did not consider the process but only the results), and had her youngest son marry Princess Fengying.
Contrary to expectations, marrying Princess Fengying did not bring any wealth or honor. Instead, Madam Shang was constantly vexed by her, as Princess Fengying would often cause turmoil in the mansion, necessitating scheming to suppress her influence.
Upon hearing that Princess Fengying was involved with another man, while initially infuriated, Madam Shang quickly became pleased. With this leverage, she looked forward to seeing how Princess Fengying would dare to be arrogant before her.
When her younger son mentioned that Magistrate Jiayang was the illegitimate child of Princess Fengying and another man, and that he intended to kill Magistrate Jiayang, Madam Shang was taken aback. However, thinking that Jiayang’s death would reduce Princess Fengying to a paper tiger and that, after adopting a grandson under Princess Fengying’s name and then plotting her death, the Marquis Mansion would remain a royal relative entitled to Princess Fengying’s substantial dowry, thereby enjoying wealth and glory forever, she consented to her son’s actions, even helping him plan and cover up the deed.
It was only after being imprisoned for plotting against Magistrate Jiayang that she panicked—her plan seemed flawless, so how did Princess Fengying find out? Wasn’t the Emperor disfavorable towards Princess Fengying and Magistrate Jiayang? Then why would he take up for Jiayang?
At the same time, her eldest daughter-in-law informed her that according to Dong Chu’s laws, upon the death of a woman, her dowry—regardless of its size—was to be inherited entirely by her biological children. If there were no children, the entire dowry was to be returned to her parental family. Adopted children (those who were adopted posthumously) had no inheritance rights.
If the husband forcefully retains or embezzles his deceased wife’s dowry, an official should be demoted to a commoner, punished with forty lashes, and exiled to a distance of three thousand li. All illicit gains were to be returned to the deceased wife’s children, or if there were none, to her parental family. For commoners, the punishment was sixty lashes and three years in prison, with family property being handled accordingly.
Madam Shang, being a concubine, later contrived to have an affair with the Marquis Changxing (who was the Princely Heir at the time) which led to her becoming his consort. It was only after causing the death of his main wife that she was promoted. Being barely literate and certainly lacking a proper education, Madam Shang, of course, was unaware of this legal provision.
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