After Emperor Wen Hui finished speaking, he waved his hand in frustration and said, “Court dismissed!” He turned around and left. With this, it would probably not be long before Shen Xin, his wife, and Shen Qiu, who were detained, were released from the palace. However, at that time, Shen Xin and his wife would be deprived of their military power.
Emperor Wen Hui left, leaving the court officials looking at each other.
No one expected such a sensational matter to be handled so simply.
Su Yu patted the dirt off his knees and stood up. Seeing that Xie Ding had also stood up, he walked over to Xie Ding and whispered, “What was going on? Why did you suddenly speak?”
Although Su Yu agreed to impeach Shen Xin, he did not want to get his good friend involved in this mess. The situation the Xie family was facing was also dangerous. If he was not careful and implicated the Xie family, Su Yu would live the rest of his life in guilt. Therefore, Su Yu told his colleagues about this but did not tell Xie Ding. He did not expect Xie Ding to go along with him today and almost angered Emperor Wen Hui.
Xie Ding shook his head. “As soon as you said that, I knew what you were up to. Since you wanted to help Shen Xin, I didn’t mind giving a hand. However, I’m just doing this for you.” Xie Ding was an old fox who had been in the imperial court for many decades. Compared to Shen Xin who only knew how to fight wars, Xie Ding was better at dealing with the interests of the imperial court. He could tell that Su Yu was trying to help Shen Xin out by impeaching him, so he offered help.
Hearing this, Su Yu shook his head helplessly. He felt that his good friend’s personality was exactly the same as Xie Jingxing. Thinking of Xie Jingxing, Su Yu suddenly remembered something and asked, “By the way, I heard from Mingfeng that Jingxing requested to go to war. Is that true?”
Xie Ding shook his head and sighed. “Yes, it’s true.”
“Is Jingxing crazy?” Su Yu said in disbelief, “The northern border is not a place to play… Old Xie, are you really not worried?”
“What’s the point of me being worried? What’s the point of me not being worried?” Xie Ding was very helpless. “I’ve never been able to control what he decides. Now, I only want him to be safe. This is all my fault. I’m the only one who should pay for my mistake.”
“Actually… this is not your fault.” Su Yu felt a little sad when he heard that. All these years, Xie Ding had been tortured by what happened in the past. His conscience was uneasy, and his son was not close to him. As an outsider, Su Yu felt sad, and Xie Ding felt even worse. He changed the topic. “I heard that the evidence against Shen Xin was submitted by the Ninth Prince, Prince Ding. Why don’t I see him today?”
“I think His Majesty sent him to the Ministry of Works to inspect.” Xie Ding frowned and said, “I wonder what he will think when he finds out about the result.”
“What else can he think?” Su Yu sneered. “The royal family has taken back the military power, which is what they wanted the most. Whether or not the Shen family dies makes no difference.”
This was the first time Xie Ding had seen Su Yu like this. He was a little surprised and asked, “By the way, you haven’t told me why you wanted to help Shen Xin. When did you become friends with the Shen family?”
At this moment, there was no one around. Su Yu sighed and said, “It’s not me. It’s my son, Mingfeng. He told me last night that the Shen family is just the first target of the royal family. When the Shen family is gone, it will inevitably be the Su family…”
…
The news of what happened in the imperial court quickly spread throughout the capital. Emperor Wen Hui spared Shen Xin and his family’s lives, but he took back the military power. This made the commoners praise the royal family for being benevolent.
The commoners couldn’t grasp the whole picture, but the officials could. The Shen family, which had lost its military power, was like a toothless tiger. It was no longer as powerful as before.
In the Shen family, Shen Gui and Shen Wan were discussing this matter. Although Shen Xin was not punished as severely as they thought, the two of them were very satisfied with the emperor taking back Shen Xin’s military power. This meant that Shen Xin’s influence and power were now far inferior to theirs.
In the west courtyard, when Jingzhe told Shen Miao this news, Shen Miao had just finished lunch.
“Miss.” Jingzhe looked at Shen Miao’s relaxed expression and asked, “Miss, you don’t look worried at all. Is it… because the situation is not as bad as the rumors say?”
Shen Miao wiped her mouth with a handkerchief and said, “Don’t be afraid. What’s yours will always be yours. What’s not yours will eventually be taken away.”
