Morning Court at the Temple
Eunuch Guo stood in front of the emperor on the left, flicked the whisk in his hand, and said sharply, "If you have something to say, please report it. If not, please dismiss the court!"
Qi Yu, the Minister of Rites, stepped forward and said, "I have a report to make. Yesterday, the Duke of Zhenguo, Jiang Wangmo, filed a report in the government office, stating that his wife is seriously ill and that he wants to demote her to a concubine. This is illogical. Our dynasty is a nation of propriety, and such actions are contrary to the code of conduct. Your Majesty, please examine this carefully."
The emperor sat upright on the dragon throne, his brows slightly furrowed. He glanced coldly at Jiang Zhixu standing beside him and said slowly, "Lord Jiang, is what the Minister of Rites said true?"
Jiang Zhixu stepped out of the group unhurriedly, clasped his fists, and bowed, saying, "Your Majesty, this is indeed true. My stepmother's illness is quite unique and contagious, and the doctors are unable to explain its cause. This action by my father is truly out of consideration for the family."
Qi Yu snorted coldly, took a step forward, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, this is really inappropriate. There is no precedent in our dynasty for a wife to be demoted to a concubine. The wife is Qi, how can you be so careless."
Lu Cifu also stepped out and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, the Minister of Rites is quite right. If this precedent is set, it may lead to many imitating it and shake the foundation of the family's moral principles."
Jiang Zhixu's face was as gloomy as water. He bowed and said, "Lu Cifu, my father did not intend to violate moral principles. It was simply because my stepmother's illness was extremely troublesome. If not, I'm afraid that the whole family would be infected. If that happened, the family would be in danger of surviving, and how could we talk about moral principles?"
The court was immediately filled with mixed opinions. The emperor raised his hand to signal for silence, and looked at them with a deep gaze. "This matter concerns the moral principles and the safety of our family. My dear ministers, please feel free to share your opinions."
At this point, the Minister of Personnel, who had remained silent until then, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, this matter has indeed caused our family great anxiety, but for a woman, having her wife become a concubine is also a humiliation."
Su Cifu pondered for a moment and said, "Your Majesty, whether a wife demotes a concubine or a concubine becomes a wife, it is against etiquette."
Su Cifu paused and said:
"Your Majesty, just give them a divorce letter. This will prevent the wife from being demoted to a concubine, and it will also help to keep the people in the Zhenguo Mansion from being in a state of panic."
The emperor nodded and said, "I grant you my request. As it is, I grant you a divorce. Zhuang will be allowed to return to her parents' home, and her dowry will be left to her children."
Eunuch Guo shouted in a shrill voice: "Court dismissed!" Everyone bowed and left.
Jiang Zhixu thought to himself, the emperor doesn't want me to kill Zhuang and wants her to go back to her parents' home. Could it be that her parents' home also has dealings with Dong Jinguo?
After the morning court session, all the officials were whispering to each other. Those who were thinking of turning their wives into concubines and those who were thinking of promoting concubines to be wives stopped their activities. If the Ministry of Rites found out about this, the Emperor would definitely punish them.
Zhenguogong Mansion
When Zhuang heard that the Duke of Zhenguo wanted to demote her to a concubine, she was shocked and angry at first.
In a moment of desperation, she broke through the blockade of the main courtyard, her hair disheveled, and headed straight for the front yard of the Duke of Zhenguo. Seeing the Duke's wife approach, the maids and servants in the mansion were all terrified and retreated a few steps, kneeling and kowtowed.
Everyone was worried about the disease spreading, and they just hoped that the Duke's wife would stay away. Zhuang ignored all this and ran straight to the front yard.
As if he had known she would come, the Duke of Zhenguo stood at the door and stared at her:
"What are you doing here?"
Zhuang Shi was deeply resigned to the fact that she had painstakingly built her fortune for years, only to have it destroyed in an instant by the Duke of Zhenguo. Reduced to a concubine, what power did she possess? She would also find it difficult to explain herself to her superiors, who, seeing she was no longer of any use, feared she would be silenced.
"We have been married for many years, and I gave birth to a son and a daughter for you. Why do you treat me like this? My illness will be cured soon."
The Duke of Zhenguo nodded to A, but A remained indifferent and quietly retreated.
The Duke of Zhenguo came to Zhuang and said:
"I know there's a maid disguised as a woman beside you. Is that your adulterer?"
Upon hearing this, Zhuang suddenly raised her head, her eyes flickering, as if she wanted to kill the Duke of Zhenguo as soon as possible. The two maids behind her instantly subdued her and forced her to kneel on the ground.
"What do you already know?"
He sat upright in his seat and glanced at Zhuang:
"What else could you possibly know? You're parading around town with a man disguised as a maid. What else could you possibly know?"
Zhuang breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that he didn't know that he was Dong Jinguo's spy.
The Duke of Zhenguo raised his eyebrows:
"Adulterer and adulteress, are you treating our mansion as your stage?"
"Master, I have no relationship with him. He is my relative."
The Duke of Zhenguo walked up to her, grabbed her chin and said with gritted teeth:
"How long have you been with him? Those children are his, right?"
When Zhuang heard this, she suddenly grabbed his feet and said:
"Master, the child is yours, really yours. You must believe me. The child is only one year old. No matter what I, as a mother, have done, the child is innocent." Zhuang was so scared that she burst into tears. She looked so miserable.
The Duke of Zhenguo looked down at Zhuang and shook his head coldly:
"Zhuang, I just want the truth. You know I have plenty of ways to verify whether they are my children."
Zhuang knew in her heart that if she admitted that the child was not hers, she would be dead, so she refused to admit that the child was someone else's.
The Duke of Zhenguo was also speechless. He waved his hand and asked the maid to throw the man back to the main courtyard.
Zhuang was terrified. After returning to the main courtyard, she slowly walked into the inner room. She saw her Min Lang lying on the ground with his neck slashed by a knife. He was still holding his neck with his eyes wide open, as if he died with his eyes open!
Zhuang was so frightened that she almost jumped up. She wondered how she had come to this point.
The Duke of Zhenguo was sitting in his study. Jiayi came back and knelt down with a plop, saying loudly, "Master, it's resolved."
"Well, back off!" The Duke of Zhenguo looked disdainful, thinking: The Emperor wants to use Zhuang, and I can't touch her, but can I also touch the adulterer? How dare he cheat on me? I can't get rid of the hatred in my heart unless I kill him!
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