When Ren Guiwang saw his only legitimate son burned to death and his home destroyed, a wave of despair and grief washed over him. He sat on the ground, buried his head in his hands, and wailed uncontrollably, unable to breathe properly. He simply could not accept this cruel reality.
After he had a good cry, he knew that now was not the time to wallow in grief. He had to take action as soon as possible to clean up the mess and find a way to appease the people behind him.
“I will send my second son to marry Lin Daoyan’s daughter as his concubine, and that palace maid as my principal wife.”
Upon realizing this, Ren Guiwang immediately instructed his servants, "Quickly, go and call Chuanhu back!" His voice revealed a deep sense of urgency.
Steward Ren hurriedly stepped forward and respectfully reported, "Master, we have already sent people to look for the Second Master, but the gatekeeper of the Princess's residence said that yesterday morning, our Second Master was arranged by the Princess and the Prince Consort to leave the city to deliver medicine to His Highness Prince Song at the Royal Villa."
Ren Guiwang's expression grew increasingly grave; he hadn't expected his second son to be absent from the city.
Without the slightest hesitation, he ordered, "Quickly ride off to inform him to return!"
The burning down of the Ren family mansion and the tragic death of his eldest son dealt a heavy blow to Ren Guiwang. Now, his second son had become his last hope. He wanted Ren Chuanhu to return to the Ren family mansion as soon as possible so that they could face this sudden disaster together and find a way to salvage the dire situation.
He also wanted his second son to handle the funeral arrangements for his eldest son, Ren Chuanhe.
Half an hour later, a commotion suddenly arose in front of the Ren residence. It turned out that Chief Constable Lin from the prefectural government had arrived with a group of constables.
Lin, the head constable, walked solemnly and hurried to the front of the Ren residence. A strong smell of smoke wafted into his nostrils. At this moment, the main gate and side gates of the Ren residence were all tightly closed, and there was not a single servant waiting outside.
He arrived at the door, raised his hand without hesitation, and forcefully pounded on the heavy door. Each pounding was like a heavy hammer, making the door vibrate and hum.
"Open the door! Open the door now!" Constable Lin's voice was loud and stern, echoing over the Ren residence.
After a while, the door opened a crack, and a figure darted out from behind it. The Ren family's steward, pale-faced and with a hint of fear in his eyes, cautiously came out to greet him.
Upon seeing Constable Lin, the steward quickly bowed and said, "Constable Lin, you've arrived. Please come in."
Lin, the head constable, glanced at the steward, and without exchanging many pleasantries, strode directly into the Ren residence.
As he walked, he said, "I heard that the Ren residence caught fire last night and people died. My superiors sent me to come and check on the situation."
Upon entering the mansion, Constable Lin's gaze was drawn to the backyard. What had once been an exquisite courtyard was now reduced to ruins and rubble.
Lin, the head constable, thought to himself: This fire seems to be huge; how come it didn't burn down the entire Ren residence!
He turned to the butler and asked directly, "How exactly did your mansion catch fire last night?"
The steward stammered, "This humble servant...this humble servant doesn't know either..."
Upon seeing this, Constable Lin frowned. He glanced at the people from the Ren family around him and saw that they all had their heads down and remained silent, seemingly unaware of the cause of the fire, and not one of them revealed a single word.
Lin, the head constable, thought to himself, "These people are definitely suspicious. They must know something, but they just don't want to say it."
"If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it. It saves me the trouble." He decided not to press the matter further and turned to leave the Ren residence with his constables.
Upon returning to the government office, Constable Lin immediately reported the situation to Lord Wu.
"My lord, I just went to the Ren residence to inquire about the fire. However, the people there knew nothing and refused to say anything. In my opinion, the fire was most likely caused by the eldest son of the Ren family setting himself on fire because he didn't want to live anymore after his wife's death."
Upon hearing Lin the constable's words, Lord Wu waved his hand and said, "Then we don't need to worry about it." A mocking smile appeared on his lips.
Lin, the head constable, quickly replied, "Yes, sir." He was eager to avoid getting involved in the affairs of the Ren family.
Lin, the head constable, harbored resentment towards the Ren family's arrangement of a marriage exchange with the second branch of the family. This incident triggered a series of unforeseen events, leading to a falling out with his elder brother, being kicked out of the mansion by his eldest niece, and being forced to buy a house out of his own pocket.
His mother was also seriously ill and could die at any time, so he had to resign and observe three years of mourning. Therefore, he hated the Ren family to the core and wished that all members of the Ren family would die.
Not long after, Vice Minister Wei of the Ministry of War arrived at the Ren residence with several attendants. He saw Ren Guiwang, who was crouching on the ground like a lost dog, looking dejected.
With a solemn expression, Vice Minister Wei directly told Ren Guiwang his purpose: "According to the report from your subordinates, you have been embezzling salaries without working and selling grain, fodder and horses for a long time, accumulating huge wealth. Furthermore, you have framed Lin Daoyan and used your official position to demote him to the position of gatekeeper."
Upon hearing these accusations, Ren Guiwang's face turned deathly pale. He cried out in terror, "No, I didn't... Someone must be framing me!"
The officials in the Ministry of War showed no interest in his explanations. They coldly announced, "After deliberation, the Ministry of War has decided to first remove you from your post, and then proceed with your conviction."
"No!" Ren Guiwang screamed in agony, his body collapsing to the ground as if it had lost its support, turning into a puddle of mud.
He knew in his heart that the person behind him had abandoned him and treated him as a pawn.
When the Ministry of War investigated Ren Guiwang, Prime Minister Xiao also stood up to distance himself from him. His most favored concubine, Lady Ren, was Ren Guiwang's younger sister, and had given birth to a daughter and a son for him.
Xiao Yue, the eldest daughter of Prime Minister Xiao, is the emperor's concubine. If Consort Xiao can give birth to a son for the emperor, she will definitely be promoted to the rank of Imperial Concubine, and may even eventually replace the empress, because Empress Hu has only given birth to a daughter and has not yet given birth to a son.
Prime Minister Xiao made a special trip to the Imperial Study to meet the Emperor, and said righteously, "Your Majesty, people like Ren Guiwang must be severely punished."
The Prime Minister is demonstrating to the Emperor through his actions that he did not participate in Ren Guiwang's schemes of selling grain and embezzling salaries.
The Ministry of War quickly reported the findings of the investigation to the Emperor.
As the emperor read the memorial, he frowned when his gaze fell on one line of text.
The text read: "After Lin Daoyan discovered that Ren Guiwang was receiving a salary without working, he wanted to break off the engagement. In order to get revenge on him, Ren Guiwang demoted him to guard the city gate."
After reading it, the Emperor wrote a single, forceful character on the memorial without hesitation: "Kill!"
Subsequently, a group of imperial guards rushed to the Ren residence with the emperor's decree, arrested Ren Guiwang and his wife, and then ransacked the residence. Although there was not much wealth in the residence, Ren Guiwang had several estates and shops, all of which were confiscated.
Upon receiving the news, Lin Daoyan's family exclaimed in unison, "Retribution!"
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