669 Going to Prison (2)
If that was all, it would be fine. What was worse was that he divorced Chen Ruoqiu and even became enemies with the Chen family because of Chang Zaiqing. If word got out now, people would look down on him. Shen Wan already felt a little regretful. Although his child was in Chang Zaiqing’s stomach, he was afraid that his career would be ruined because of Chang Zaiqing. Between power and love, he would choose power without batting an eye. Moreover, at the thought that the woman sleeping beside him was someone else’s wife, Shen Wan could not get over it.
He thought for a while and was about to give the order when he saw his assistant rush in and shout, “Master, emergency!”
Shen Wan frowned and said angrily, “Why are you so flustered?!”
The man handed a letter to Shen Wan with a trembling hand. For some reason, his gaze was evasive.
Shen Wan looked at his assistant suspiciously. This assistant was his long-time subordinate who usually helped him deliver words to other colleagues..
After reading two lines, Shen Wan’s face immediately turned ashen. If one looked carefully at his face, they would be able to see fear.
…
In the imperial study, Emperor Wen Hui was in a fit of rage.
Emperor Wen Hui threw the memorial in his hand to the ground and sneered. The eunuchs beside him did not even dare to breathe loudly.
The memorial listed all the things that Shen Wan had done since a few years ago. The things he did actually weren’t a big deal. However, Emperor Wen Hui was someone who had survived the bloodbath of brothers fighting for the throne. The memorial was extremely well-written with every line describing in detail the unusual relationship between Shen Wan and Fu Xiuyi.
Among Emperor Wen Hui’s nine sons, the ones he was most at ease with were the crown prince and Prince Ding. After all, the crown prince was the rightful heir to the throne and was weak, so Emperor Wen Hui was not so on guard against him. On the other hand, although Prince Ding was outstanding, he did not participate in the affairs of the imperial court. In addition, Consort Dong was a person who did not compete with others, which pleased Emperor Wen Hui. Emperor Wen Hui saw the open and secret strife between the princes, but he turned a blind eye to it. As long as they did not go too far, he would be happy to see such a balanced situation. Once people had power, they would not be willing to let go. Seeing his sons grow up one by one, Emperor Wen Hui would also be wary.
What he hated the most was that the princes and officials got too close, although this was an unavoidable outcome, for example, his nine sons each had a group of supporters. However, when he learned that the son who was most indifferent was also involved in the power struggle, Emperor Wen Hui couldn’t accept it. On the contrary, he was even angrier than usual.
Emperor Wen Hui slowly realized Fu Xiuyi had been pretending to be neutral and unconcerned about the throne.
“Make an example of Shen Gui,” Emperor Wen Hui said with a dark expression, “All of them think I’m easy to fool. In that case, I’ll show them who the emperor is.”
…
The situation in the imperial court was always unstable. If one committed a crime, they would fall to the bottom rock from the top in the blink of an eye. It would be considered lucky if they could get away without losing their heads. However, in most cases, not only would they lose their heads, but even their families would be implicated.
Shen Wan was among the unlucky ones.
After the lawsuit between the Shen and Chen families a few days ago, people of the Shen family thought that life would return to normal. Unexpectedly, a group of officials suddenly came to the Shen family to arrest them. Some curious commoners asked around and learned that Shen Wan failed to do his job well in the court and implicated the entire Shen family. They did not know what the crime was, but the commoners were easy to fool. However, some smart people could tell that this matter was unusual. What crime was so serious as to anger the emperor to the point of wiping out the entire Shen family?
