Chapter 502 The Yang Family Has Really Fallen This Time!

Chapter 502: The Yang Family Has Truly Taken a Hard Fall This Time!

Yang Ruyuan cried out in anger, "She's just a Township Lady—back when I had conflicts with other commandery princesses, His Majesty and Her Majesty never punished me like this! What right does a mere Township Lady have?!"

Yang Jujing's face turned ashen. "Do you want to ruin our whole family?!"

In the end, even Yang Ruyuan’s indulgent mother tearfully pleaded with her, "...At least think of your sister. Because of you, she knelt—heavy with child—to beg for mercy, only to be demoted! What harm is there in just apologizing?"

Grudgingly, Yang Ruyuan followed her mother and several other prominent Yang matrons to the residence of the General of the Western Garrison to offer a formal apology.

Yet, the gates of the General of the Western Garrison’s residence remained firmly shut.

The message was clear—they refused to accept it!

Did they think a simple apology would erase everything?

No way!

In response to the General of the Western Garrison’s stance, the palace made its position known—Empress Nie sent two chests of jewels to the Lady of Blessed Peace.

Even the Eastern Palace, in the name of the Crown Princess, expressed sympathy for the Lady of Blessed Peace and sent another chest of jewels.

This was the clear message from Great Xia’s two most powerful couples.

How could the Yang family act high and mighty now? Immediately, the entire Yang clan made a decision—under the guise of spiritual retreat, they sent Yang Ruyuan to a secluded mountain nunnery.

Yang Ruyuan threw a tantrum, declaring that this so-called "spiritual retreat" was nothing but dumping her in the middle of nowhere! She claimed the elderly nuns there would surely take the chance to mistreat her—better to die now than suffer such humiliation!

In a bustling marketplace, she waved a knife around, screaming she’d cut her own throat, causing a huge uproar. Little did she know that her vilification of "spiritual retreat" hit a sore spot with Emperor Jiazheng, Empress Nie, and Crown Prince Wei Shiqing.

Their second son, Wei Shiyan, had been born bearing the fate of Great Xia’s fortune, marked by divine wrath, carrying calamity wherever he went. Anyone near him risked disaster—ranging from bad luck to outright death.

Later, Emperor Jiazheng and Empress Nie each sacrificed ten years of their lifespans to secure a sliver of hope for Wei Shiyan—as long as he secluded himself in the mountains, far from people, and survived until eighteen, he could return to court unscathed.

And now Yang Ruyuan dared to mock such sacrifice?

This was nothing less than twisting the knife in Emperor Jiazheng and Empress Nie’s hearts!

Even Crown Prince Wei Shiqing, who had always been composed, turned cold with fury. While the Emperor and Empress might still care about the Minister of Rites, he was not yet emperor—just an older brother seeking justice for his younger sibling!

On the day Yu Yongliu emerged from the imperial examinations, Wei Shiqing dug up every shady deal of the Yang family’s second household—land seizures, embezzlement—and shoved the proof in Minister Yang’s face. The entire second household was thrown into prison.

Even Yang Jujing himself was implicated and suspended from office.

The Yang family’s turmoil left even Commandery Princess Qing’an utterly bewildered.

What the hell was going on???

Well, not that she minded—she had been preparing her own petition to the palace, only to find the imperial reprisals against the Yangs unfolding with lightning speed!

Still, Commandery Princess Qing’an felt no sympathy for the Yangs. She happily sat back to enjoy the show—they had brought this upon themselves!

Meanwhile, Beauty Yang in the palace was in complete panic. At seven months, she went into premature labor, giving birth to a frail seventh prince, no bigger than a kitten.

For the sake of the seventh prince, Empress Nie showed some mercy.

However, Beauty Yang suffered severe hemorrhaging during childbirth, leaving her body dangerously weak. While Empress Nie refused to raise the child, Emperor Jiazheng gave the seventh prince to Noble Consort Rou to raise.

Noble Consort Rou's previous injuries had left her infertile. Despite prolonged recuperation, she remained childless. Now, suddenly, a sickly prince fell into her lap—born from Beauty Yang, whom she had always looked down upon... Noble Consort Rou's emotions were... complicated.

Yet, the tiny infant in her arms looked like a tiny monkey. Gritting her teeth, Noble Consort Rou decided to raise him carefully anyway.

Nannies and palace maids were all vetted thoroughly.

Three wet nurses were prepared, one of whom was handpicked by her own family.

With such a prince by her side, as long as Noble Consort Rou didn’t screw it up herself, she would be set for life.

Her family, the Lü Clan, understood clearly—this was Emperor Jiazheng’s reward for their years of staying in line.

When the Lü family sent the wet nurse into the palace, Noble Consort Rou specifically instructed her relatives—though His Majesty had awarded the residence in Wuyi Alley to the Yu family, and her bandit-suppressing younger brother might give the Yus the stink eye, from this day forward, no matter what happened, even if just for the sake of the Seventh Prince, they must treat the Yu family with courtesy!

Under no circumstances should they bully the Yus, relying solely on Noble Consort Rou and the Seventh Prince’s presence in the palace.

The Lü family, well aware of the stakes, hurriedly agreed.

The Yang family was kicking themselves.

Their own flesh-and-blood prince had fallen into someone else’s hands!

This time, even Yang Ruyuan’s mother couldn't defend her anymore—after all, she had other children besides Yang Ruyuan. The entire Yang family had suffered severe losses due to Yang Ruyuan’s willfulness. How could she still spare any concern for her?

No matter how much Yang Ruyuan threw tantrums, the Yang family bound her tightly and sent her to a remote mountain convent. She likely wouldn’t return for at least three to five years.

When news of this reached the Duke of Xinguo’s residence, Jiao Shi, the wife of the heir, was speechless for a long while.

She had thought Xingxing’s stubbornness would get her in trouble.

She had even prepared herself to mediate if the Yang family tried to make things difficult for Xingxing.

Yet, with the imperial family’s sudden and overwhelming intervention, she found no opportunity to act...

Jiao Shi couldn’t help but feel down.

When Yu Mingzhu heard the news, she was in a bad mood for days.

Only when Fengran, who had been handling things for her, returned quietly with good news did Yu Mingzhu’s mood improve slightly, a smile finally reappearing on her face.

The Jiping Commandery Prince’s household had also heard about the drama between Yang Ruyuan and Xingxing from Wei Shuangyan. Wei Zihang, who had been unable to accompany his second sister to the hot springs estate due to urgent matters, regretted it deeply upon hearing what happened. He pleaded with his parents that if the Yang family targeted Xingxing, they must step in to help.

However, before they could intervene, the Jiping Commandery Prince’s family was completely floored by the imperial family’s swift and decisive actions.

Everyone understood—the Yang family had gotten wrecked this time!

Losing two daughters, even if one was a favored imperial consort, was the least of their troubles.

—The most critical loss was that the prince of Yang blood had been assigned to Noble Consort Rou by the emperor. From now on, he would be Noble Consort Rou’s own son—meaning the Yang family had essentially gifted their prince to the Lü family for nothing!

The Lü family probably sat up in the middle of the night, laughing their heads off!