RWNEFE -Chapter 645 The Verdict!

“Liar! Shen Lanxi, you’ve deceived us so bitterly!”

“Just as expected—you weren’t raised by the Shen family, so of course you never truly became one of us!”

“You’re just like the people in the palace. They raised you, yet you turn your face the moment it suits you. You never treated us as family!”

“Shen Lanxi, don’t forget your surname is Shen. If you dare lay a hand on us, the sons of the Shen family will never let you go!”

“Yuanxu, Yuanjing, Yuankun, Yuanjun, Yuanqing, Yuanpeng, Yuanhao… they all command heavy troops!”

Old Madam Shen seemed to have finally found a bargaining chip. She glared at Shen Lanxi in defiance.

“If you dare touch us, every one of those Shen sons will resent you. The Great Zhou you fought so hard to establish will fall into chaos!”

“Let us leave now. I’ll take Fourth Son’s family back to Dongchuan. We’ll never return to the capital again!”

Shen Lanxi watched quietly as Old Madam Shen exhausted her bargaining chips one by one. Her face was expressionless, cold as frost.

“You may return to Dongchuan. As for Shen Congyi’s family—don’t even think about it.”

Old Madam Shen stared at her viciously. “You dare? Aren’t you afraid of angering the Shen sons?”

Shen Lanxi let out a mocking laugh. “Since I could raise them up, I can just as easily pull them down.”

Threaten her?

No one had ever succeeded in threatening her.

“Shen Lanxi, spare your Fourth Uncle’s family. Consider it a grandmother’s plea!”

Shen Lanxi turned away. “Grandmother, take a good look at this palace. Tomorrow, I will have someone escort you back to Dongchuan.”

With that, she left without looking back.

“Shen Lanxi, stop! You’re not allowed to leave!”

“Shen Lanxi, how dare you—”

Her hoarse screams echoed within the Hall of Benevolent Tranquility as Shen Lanxi, back turned, walked step by step out of the inner palace.

That night, news came from the Hall of Benevolent Tranquility.

“Your Majesty, Old Madam Shen has hanged herself inside the hall. Before her death, she left behind a blood-written letter.”

A eunuch presented the letter.

“Read it.”

“With my life, I exchange for my son’s family’s lives.”

Just one short sentence. The blood had not yet dried.

“Send it to the Shen family.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Soon, the entire capital knew that Old Madam Shen had taken her own life to preserve her son’s family.

When Shen Congwen received the blood letter, he fainted on the spot.

Shen Conglian and Shen Congli fared no better. Pale-faced, they murmured,

“Wasn’t the verdict not yet decided? Why couldn’t Mother wait?”

“Lanxi isn’t a heartless person. Why couldn’t Mother wait just a little longer?”

The family had already been preparing to enter the palace to plead.

---

In the Golden Hall

“Previously, Shen Congyi placed all blame on Old Madam Shen, claiming he was incited by her into wrongdoing.”

“I have investigated thoroughly. That is untrue. The truth is Shen Congyi sought power of his own accord. He incited the old madam and secretly summoned Shen Yuankang and others back from their border posts.”

“Shen Congyi is the principal offender. According to Great Zhou law—extermination of the entire family!”

“For forcing entry into the palace and committing treason—there can be no forgiveness!”

“I concur!”

“We concur!”

After much consideration, the Grand Tutor spoke:

“Your Majesty, when we amended Great Zhou law earlier, one clause states that those under fifteen years of age may be exiled to harsh frontier lands, to atone through labor.”

After all, the Emperor was born of the Shen family. If she followed the law without exception, she might have no way to account to the Shen men stationed outside the capital.

Master Ruohua added, “I agree with the Grand Tutor. The young are innocent. They merely suffer from the crimes of their elders. Great Zhou has vast frontier lands—exile them there to serve the nation.”

Liu Mingxin said, “I concur!”

Many officials from the Ministries of Revenue and Rites echoed agreement.

Shen Lanxi made her decision swiftly.

“Those under fifteen in Shen Congyi’s household—exile.”

“Members of the Shen family in the capital who did not participate are innocent.”

“Officials who sided with Shen Congyi shall be investigated by the Court of Judicial Review, with the Ministries of Justice and Personnel assisting.”

“I give you five days. After five days, I do not wish to hear any further talk in the capital about forced entry and treason.”

“We obey the decree!”

When the Son of Heaven speaks, ministers run themselves ragged.

The speed was astonishing. Before the Shen family had even emerged from grief over the old madam’s death, Shen Congyi’s household had already been executed and dealt with.

So swift that the wider Shen family was scarcely aware.

Those guilty of treason did not even deserve whole bodies for burial.

By the time Shen Congwen rose from his sickbed, the conspirators lay buried beneath thin soil in a mass grave.

The imperial decree did not even inform the family of the burial site.

Five days later, news of victory in the eastern campaign flooded the capital.

Few commoners cared how Shen Congyi had died.

They cared far more about how Zhou Ruyuan had died.

In teahouses, storytellers vividly recounted the battle at Jinmen, speaking with such certainty one would think they had witnessed it themselves.

“Our Emperor wielded the Twin-Star Crescent Blade, charging alone into enemy ranks, cutting through them thrice in and thrice out. Wherever she passed, rivers of blood flowed—”

“Zhou Ruyuan was struck from his horse with a single blow, immediately kneeling and begging, crying ‘Spare me, Your Majesty!’—”

“What does it matter if he could call for water three times a night? Our Emperor could split him in two with one stroke! She is a war god descended, the true dragon returned to his throne. With her own strength she unified the thirteen provinces!”

…

“Really killed?” Zhou Xinrou smiled, unable to suppress her delight.

“Killed. This servant saw the execution with her own eyes. Afterward, I sent men to confirm at the mass grave. It is certain.”

Zhou Xinrou’s face brimmed with schadenfreude. “Quick, send word to Yuanjing and the others—tell them Shen Lanxi killed Fourth Uncle’s entire family!”

The nanny replied with a smile, “I’ll have someone draft the letter at once—make it vivid. Not just Shen Congyi’s family, but Old Madam Shen as well.”

“Old Madam Shen died in the palace. Who knows how she truly died? Our Great Zhou governs by filial piety. Shen Lanxi’s actions are practically digging her own grave.”

Zhou Xinrou hadn’t expected Old Madam Shen’s death to help her even in death.

“Add that to the letter.”

“Yes.”

But upon reflection, though she was pleased by the Shen family’s calamity, there was also something displeasing.

Shen Lanxi’s prestige had grown even higher. Officials and commoners alike had fully accepted a woman upon the throne.

That part was good.

But Shen Lanxi should not hold so much military power.

Nor should all those generals obey her alone.

“The person we sent to Song Daoxi—has he used her?”

The matron replied, “Thanks to Shen Congyi’s coup attempt, the Imperial Guards loosened palace security. We sent such a beautiful woman. Even if he hasn’t used her yet, sooner or later he will.”

Zhou Xinrou nodded in satisfaction. Her current task was to divide the military commanders and win over the Ghost Valley faction.

Who would have thought that the Ghost Valley successor, Song Daoxi, would be a man greedy for wealth and lust?

Hmph—men.

They can never escape money, power, and beauty.