RWNEFE -Chapter 304 Shen Yuanxu Seeks to Marry a Wu Family Child

When Emperor Renxiao ordered Shen Yuanxu to be summoned, anyone perceptive could already see what was going on.

Officials who secretly supported Zhou Ruyuan began to grow anxious.

Shen Yuanxu entered the court holding the imperial edict. No one dared find fault with him, and Emperor Renxiao even exempted him from kneeling in greeting at once.

“Yuanxu, tell your uncle—who has wronged you?” the emperor asked.

Shen Yuanxu, still holding the edict, knelt on the ground. A grown man nearing thirty now looked as aggrieved as a newly married young wife, complaining pitifully.

“Uncle, I wish to accuse Left Prime Minister Wu Yanzhi.”

Poor Wu Yanzhi had entered the palace early that day because of Zhou Ruyuan’s return and knew nothing of what had happened at home, yet a heavy accusation was suddenly placed upon him.

A glint flashed in Emperor Renxiao’s eyes, and his expression became noticeably gentler than before.

“Tell me what happened.”

Shen Yuanxu said, “Uncle, I’ve been wronged!”

Shen Lanxi watched with a smiling expression. She had never expected that the usually serious Shen Yuanxu could act like this.

“Today I went to the Wu residence to deliver the betrothal gifts, but the Wu family showed no regard for the imperial edict. They actually brought out a group of concubine-born daughters, trying to pass one off as a legitimate daughter to marry me. I want to ask what intentions Prime Minister Wu harbors—does he think our emperor is so easily deceived?”

Another heavy charge landed on Wu Yanzhi’s head, leaving him stunned.

Shen Yuanxu went to propose marriage? Who had told him to do that? As for passing off a concubine-born daughter as legitimate—he hadn’t even had the chance to arrange such a thing yet!

Shen Yuanxu looked utterly dejected. If he had been capable of crying, he probably would have been in tears already.

“Uncle, you must uphold justice for me! I’m not saying concubine-born daughters are bad—I’m angry at Prime Minister Wu’s attitude. Clearly the Wu family was in the wrong, and this marriage was meant as compensation for me. Yet Prime Minister Wu went behind the emperor’s back, deceiving those above and concealing things below.”

Wu Yanzhi was so angry he felt he might cough up blood.

He had always thought Shen Yuanxu was quiet and honest, but now he realized he was like a dog that never barked—once it barked, it bit hard.

“Your Majesty, I am wronged!” Wu Yanzhi pleaded. “When the palace gates opened this morning, I came straight here and have not returned home. I know nothing of what happened in my residence!”

Emperor Renxiao understood. At the root of it, Shen Yuanxu was dissatisfied that Wu Yanzhi had tried to substitute a concubine-born daughter for a legitimate one, and he felt cheated.

With a mind like that, the imperial examinations would probably be nothing more than an experience for him.

“Wang Bao, personally go to the prime minister’s residence and find out what actually happened.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” Wang Bao hurried off with several guards.

Naturally, Emperor Renxiao did not wish to see the Shen and Wu families allied by marriage. Without any intervention from him, Shen Yuanxu was already steering events in a direction that pleased him, and at last something that day had lifted his mood.

“Yuanxu, I’ve heard that Prime Minister Wu’s household no longer has any legitimate daughters. Perhaps you should reconsider this marriage?”

He still appreciated Shen Yuanxu’s earlier words about serving the country.

Shen Yuanxu replied, “How could there be none? There is one.”

Wu Yanzhi, furious and embarrassed, said, “My youngest daughter is already betrothed, and we are discussing the wedding date. She will be married by the end of the year at the latest. I will absolutely not allow her to break off her engagement to marry you.”

Shen Yuanxu gave a faint laugh. “Prime Minister Wu, have you forgotten? Your youngest daughter is only a few months old. How could she be betrothed, and how could she be married by the end of the year? You simply don’t want to compensate me and are deliberately defying the imperial edict!”

After a brief silence, the entire court erupted in an uproar.

“Did I hear that correctly?”

“You did—Shen Yuanxu’s move is ruthless, cutting off the firewood from under the cauldron.”

“Prime Minister Wu has finally met his match.”

“Shen Yuanxu must really have been kicked in the head by a horse—he actually wants to marry a baby?”

“Even robbing the cradle has limits. If he had married a few years earlier, his granddaughter could be as old as that child.”

Whispers spread throughout the court.

Wu Yanzhi’s face flushed red, and the veins in his eyes seemed ready to burst.

“Absurd! Utterly absurd! Shen Yuanxu, you go too far!”

“Your Majesty, you must uphold justice for this old minister…”

Emperor Renxiao remained silent, allowing the murmuring to swell like the noise of a marketplace. Only when Wang Bao returned, panting, and reported the sequence of events at the Wu residence did the emperor sternly order the court to be silent.

“Minister Wu…” Emperor Renxiao looked at Wu Yanzhi with an unreadable expression.

Wu Yanzhi shuddered, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

“This concerns your household. It would not be proper for me to intervene too deeply. Go with Wang Bao to the side hall and listen.”

Wu Yanzhi knew the emperor too well. Hearing this, his heart sank to the bottom.

He did not even need to hear the details—he already understood the emperor’s decision.

Still, the formalities had to be observed. Thunder and rain alike were the emperor’s grace, and the main reason he had risen to his current position was his ability to read the times.

“This old minister thanks Your Majesty for your consideration.”

Not long afterward, Wu Yanzhi returned.

As soon as he came back, he knelt directly on the ground.

“Your Majesty, I am guilty. I failed to restrain my household and allowed them to act recklessly. I was negligent.”

Emperor Renxiao sighed. “Every family has its own difficulties. You are busy daily with affairs of state and cannot always attend to the inner quarters. Oversights are inevitable. I am not without understanding.”

Wu Yanzhi’s heart went cold.

“Thank you, Your Majesty, for your leniency.”

Emperor Renxiao turned to Shen Yuanxu. “Yuanxu, this is merely a misunderstanding. As for seeking a Wu family legitimate daughter in marriage, I permit you to reconsider.”

Shen Yuanxu, as if speaking in anger, said stubbornly, “Uncle, the Wu family treated me like this—I cannot swallow this grievance. I insist on marrying a legitimate daughter of the Wu family. Whether she is eighty years old, eighteen years old, or only a few months old—so long as she is legitimate, I will marry her.”

Emperor Renxiao fell silent. The outcome was favorable, but morally it was difficult to justify.

Shen Yuanxu was a tall, imposing man, yet his temper was small. Wu Yanzhi’s daughter had cuckolded him, and now he demanded that Wu Yanzhi compensate him with another daughter.

On one side was a long-serving minister; on the other, Shen Yuanxu had already spoken—truly a difficult situation.

“Your Majesty, I support Shen Yuanxu in seeking marriage with a legitimate daughter of the Wu family,” Shen Lanxi said with a smile, stepping forward.

Wei Dongzhu added, “Your Majesty, Prime Minister Wu indeed owes Shen Yuanxu. This marriage was meant as compensation, and the prime minister had previously agreed.”

Zhou Ruyuan frowned, glancing between Shen Lanxi and Wei Dongzhu.

Emperor Renxiao remained silent. The court officials dared not speak.

Wu Yanzhi closed his eyes in resignation. When he opened them again, he had already made his decision.

“Your Majesty, this old minister is willing to carry out the imperial edict—but I have one request.”

Emperor Renxiao lifted his eyelids. “Speak.”

A flash of ruthlessness and calculation passed through Wu Yanzhi’s eyes. “Since Shen Yuanxu sincerely seeks this marriage, my request is that the wedding be held as soon as possible.”

The entire court was speechless.

Shen Yuanxu was mad—but Wu Yanzhi was even madder.

The two of them truly deserved to be father-in-law and son-in-law.

Wu Yanzhi quickly continued, “I beg Your Majesty, for the sake of this old minister’s years of devoted service to Great Zhou, to grant this request.”

Although the situation was unfolding in a way that should have pleased him, Emperor Renxiao found himself caught in an awkward position, neither able to advance nor retreat.