Chapter 189: Mei Family

Chapter 189: The Mei Family

In the Nine Heavens Palace Complex and along the Imperial Street of Chang'an, numerous swift horses bearing yellow flags galloped past, raising clouds of dust as they delivered the new ruler's commands to all corners.

Wu Shen stationed troops within the city to maintain order, while the Azure Phoenix Lord stabilized the noble class. Du Yunse temporarily took over all administrative affairs, ensuring that the Yu Dynasty remained peaceful before the new emperor's ascension. Qiu Huanian was tasked with comforting the citizens frightened by the atmosphere in the capital.

Although some remnants still sought to stir trouble, the process of dynastic change continued to advance steadily without significant upheaval.

Before the formal enthronement, the new emperor had many urgent matters to address first.

The first official edict issued with the imperial seal was the punishment of the traitors involved in the palace coup.

Prince Pingxian, Jia Heyan, and Prince Jin, Jia Honghan, though deceased, their grave crimes remained unforgiven. They were stripped of their princely titles, and their families were demoted to commoners, sent to guard the imperial mausoleum, forbidden to leave for generations.

Prince Shen, Jia Hongyi, misled by Prince Pingxian, abandoned his post and led troops to the capital. The new emperor, valuing fraternal bonds, stripped him of his title but spared his life, confining him to his residence. Hanlin Scholars were assigned to take turns lecturing him day and night, teaching him the principles of benevolence, filial piety, and loyalty.

Noble Consort Wen, having exposed the rebellion of Prince Pingxian and Prince Shen, was spared the punishment of the Nine Clan Extermination for the Bi family due to her plea. The Bi family was demoted to commoners, their property confiscated, and they were exiled to a distant land three thousand miles away.

The Chi Clan from Jiangnan, with their numerous crimes and irrefutable evidence, had their leaders executed publicly. The rest were to be thoroughly investigated, and all those involved in crimes were to be severely punished...

...

The empty Hall of Prudence was silent, with no trace of life except for the person sitting behind the desk.

Jia Hongyuan held his brush suspended for a long time before silently placing it back on the brush holder.

Having truly reached this position, where the entire world moved according to his commands, Jia Hongyuan became even more cautious.

Many issues could not be resolved by killing one person, a group, or even an entire clan. The more he killed, the faster chaos would ensue.

If he were to deal a fatal blow to several prominent families simultaneously, leaving them no way out, those deeply rooted local families, once cornered, would only bring suffering to the local populace and harm the Great Yu's national stability.

However, Jia Hongyuan had long anticipated this situation and prepared for a patient strategy of gradual encroachment.

Jia Hongyuan personally unrolled a new sheet of yellow tribute paper and continued to meticulously arrange the fates of countless people.

Commoner Jia Honghan, having failed and been executed, saw his mother, Consort Ying, commit suicide in the palace out of guilt. His maternal clan, the Xie Clan from Jinzhou, could not escape their heavy crimes. Their assets were seized, and the entire clan was demoted to state slaves.

Yu Wen, the Minister of the Imperial Banquet Office, who had used his position to aid Prince Jin's faction, was sentenced to death. The Yu Clan of Liaozhou, all officials among them, were stripped of their positions, and all their possessions, save for ancestral lands, were confiscated.

Beyond these three families, others had taken advantage of the succession struggle and disregarded the law, but these three stood out the most, with irrefutable evidence of their crimes.

The new emperor adopted three different levels of punishment for these families: the main branch of the Chi Clan faced execution, the Xie Clan was enslaved, and the Yu Clan had their property and positions confiscated. This was to give the aristocratic families "a moment to breathe."

Jia Hongyuan understood clearly that if a group of people were trapped in a completely sealed room, they would unite and resist fiercely. But if a small opening, barely wide enough for one person to squeeze through, was opened in the room, they would vie fiercely to be the one to escape, turning against each other internally.

The aristocratic families, with their vast inheritances and long-standing comfort, were already reluctant to risk everything. Once they saw the possibility of the new emperor's leniency, their fragile alliances would immediately crumble, and they might even attack each other to secure better treatment.

Thus, through gradual measures, the targeted families would, like frogs in gradually heating water, unknowingly walk the path to their demise as planned by the new emperor.

After finishing all the punishments for the traitors, the sun was already high in the sky. Jia Hongyuan coughed a few times. He had only consumed half a bowl of red glutinous rice porridge in the morning, yet he felt no hunger now.

His gaze swept around the empty hall, and he suddenly spoke, "Where is Sixteen?"

A guard silently appeared, "Your Majesty, Sixteen sent a message a few days ago saying he had successfully entered the Chi Clan from Jiangnan. He will return after meeting with the confiscation squad."

Jia Hongyuan said nothing. He naturally knew Sixteen's whereabouts, but he felt time dragging on.

A new identity, new power, a new abode—everything seemed so alien, leaving Jia Hongyuan disoriented amid his hectic duties.

He desperately needed someone familiar by his side to help him understand his identity, and that person could only be sixteen.

Jia Hongyuan let out a soft sigh, retrieving all the records related to Prince Fen's rebellion and the confidential materials newly discovered from Prince Pingxian's residence.

His pale, slender fingers with prominent knuckles brushed over the stacks of documents, hesitating to delve into them.

Over twenty years ago, Prince Fen, stationed at the northeastern border, amassed military strength and plotted rebellion. To weaken Prince Fen's military influence, the Yuanhua Emperor began frequently transferring and replacing mid- to low-ranking generals at the northeastern border.

The father and son of the Mei Family from Guzhu, deliberately transferred from the south to the northern border by the Yuanhua Emperor to suppress Prince Fen, were initially considered meritorious officials.

However, during Prince Fen's rebellion, the intelligence network overseen by the Mei Family was repeatedly compromised, leading to significant losses for the imperial forces. Before the court could investigate and assign blame, Fengshan County, where the Mei Family was stationed, was breached by foreign enemies, and the entire Mei Family, numbering over a dozen, perished, except for a young lad who survived by being hidden beneath the bodies of his family.

Once the rebellion was suppressed, the Yuanhua Emperor ordered Prince Pingxian to investigate the incident and manage the fallout at the border. Based on confessions from several spies apprehended by Prince Pingxian, the Mei Family had already conspired with Prince Fen's rebels prior to the incident, resulting in the leakage of intelligence.

At that time, the principal figures from both sides had already perished, and confessions from the Mei Family and Prince Fen were unobtainable. However, Prince Pingxian not only located witnesses but also discovered substantial physical evidence of communication between the two parties.

With this evidence, Prince Pingxian recommended the extermination of the Mei Family's nine clans. Later, during the review of Prince Fen-related cases by the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Punishments, it was determined that the evidence of the Mei Family's collusion with the rebels was inconsistent. Furthermore, as the father and son of the Mei Family had perished defending the city against the Tatars, they were regarded as meritorious officials. Consequently, the punishment was mitigated to the enslavement or exile of relatives within the five degrees of mourning.

Later, he came to have sixteen.

Jia Hongyuan lowered his long lashes. When the Mei Family incident occurred, sixteen was still young and knew nothing about family affairs. Over time, he could no longer be certain whether his elders had indeed colluded with the rebels.

This was why sixteen had never dared to ask him to investigate the matter deeply; he feared the truth would be unbearable.

Fortunately, during the raid on Prince Pingxian's residence, Jia Hongyuan specifically instructed Wu Shen, who was in charge of the raid, to pay attention to confidential materials related to Prince Fen's rebellion. They uncovered evidence that Prince Pingxian had framed several loyal generals to cover up his own crimes, including the Mei Family.

Although the exiled relatives of the Mei Family were eradicated by Prince Pingxian within a couple of years, knowing that his family was innocent would at least bring some comfort to sixteen.

Additionally, sixteen might still have a few relatives alive. If he exerted the full force of the emperor's command to search, they should be able to find them.

Jia Hongyuan's hand on the documents unconsciously clenched. This was the matter he had been most conflicted about in recent days and had not yet resolved.

If sixteen found his relatives and restored his identity, would he still be willing to stay in the palace and remain by his side?

No, Jia Hongyuan thought to himself, whether it was sixteen to him or him to sixteen, they were the most unique to each other. Sixteen had personally said that he wanted to be nowhere else but by his side.

Once again, Jia Hongyuan pushed all the documents aside and did not order anyone to search for sixteen's relatives.

If he ordered the search and they were found, he would have to tell sixteen. It was better to delay and wait for sixteen to ask personally before he would search.

If sixteen never brought it up...

Jia Hongyuan clutched his chest and coughed violently. He smelled the familiar scent of medicine. Unfortunately, in this vast imperial city, no one but sixteen dared to bring the medicine and urge him to drink it.

"Someone, bring the medicine."

Five days had passed since the shocking palace coup. Numerous high-walled mansions in the capital had been raided, and the blood on the ground at the execution site had been scraped away layer after layer. Countless treasures were sealed and stored in the treasury, and soldiers with the scent of blood walked through the long streets, casting a solemn atmosphere over the carved beams and painted rafters on both sides.

But life had to go on. Whether commoners or nobles, as long as their heads remained on their shoulders, they had to dutifully think about their daily meals, clothing, and shelter.

Thanks to the efforts of Qiu Huanian and others, life in the capital had mostly returned to normal. Street vendors and shops gradually reappeared, and bold citizens ventured out to buy goods, greeting acquaintances with wishes of peace and health, and chanting a few new "long live the emperor."

One of Qiu Huanian's major tasks was to stabilize the farmers around the capital. The population of the Yu Dynasty's capital, including the inner and outer cities, was close to a million. The daily consumption of food, vegetables, fruits, meat, and firewood by this population was immense and difficult to quantify.

As the people's livelihood depends on food, once the farmers supplying the capital were disrupted, prices in the capital would soar, and shortages would inevitably lead to chaos.

At the end of the fifth and beginning of the sixth lunar month, when many fruits were just ripening, Qiu Huanian decided to spread the word that he was offering high prices for various fruits at his estate outside the city, attracting farmers to come and sell their produce.

As long as Qishu County Princess continues to do business in the capital, her goods can still be sold safely and profitably, and everyone will remain calm.

In the simple worldview of farmers, there are only two things: farming and eating. As long as they’re fed and clothed, and life goes on, why should they care how often the emperor and nobles change?

As evening approached, Qiu Huanian traveled by carriage, returning to the city under the fiery red sunset.

In these critical times, all nine gates of the capital were under strict control, with only the Zhengyang Gate open for entry and exit.

The coachman showed Qishu County Princess’s token, and the guards, who were carefully checking everyone entering and leaving the city, quickly made way. The nearby locals, knowing that it was Qishu County Princess in the carriage, bowed and greeted her.

Qiu Huanian opened the carriage curtains and chatted briefly with the crowd. Not far away, an acquaintance heard the commotion and stepped forward to greet her.

"Has the County Princess been to the estate to collect fruits again today?"

"Greetings, Marquis. Today, I collected several carts of crisp and sweet melons. I will have a cart sent to your residence later."

Marquis Kang Zhong of Taiping smiled, "My sister and I thank you, County Princess."

When the Yuanhua Emperor moved into the Kunning Palace, he left orders to dismiss the entire harem, and the new emperor took over the subsequent arrangements.

Dowager consorts who wanted to go home could be taken in by their families, enjoying family life while still receiving their stipends and allowances; those who did not wish to return home or had no close family could also remain in the palace, all relocated to the Cining Palace.

With this decree, almost all the dowager consorts who had the means to return home requested to leave the palace, and the complaints about the dismissal of the harem immediately vanished.

For these consorts, who’d spent half their lives trapped in the palace, living outside meant freedom and a steady income—a perfect outcome.

Marquis Kang Zhong of Taiping brought his sister, the Grand Dowager Consort Kang, out of the palace, and the siblings lived together in the marquis's residence. Qiu Huanian did not know when they had aligned with the Crown Prince, but there were likely many secrets behind it.

Currently, only a few dowager consorts stayed in the palace, including Noble Consort Wen, whose family was exiled and son stripped of his title and confined to house arrest.

Some people whispered behind her back, saying that Noble Consort Wen was too ruthless, having betrayed her son and her maternal clan, and in the end, she met a grim fate.

But Noble Consort Wen seemed unbothered. The new emperor let her stay in Changle Palace, where she passed her days reading and relaxing as if nothing had changed.

After saying goodbye to Marquis Kang Zhong of Taiping, Qiu Huanian sat in the carriage, her mind wandering to the lives of the dowager consorts in the palace.

The Yuanhua Emperor also left behind a few young princes and princesses. After abdicating to become the retired emperor, he no longer cared for these children. According to Du Yunse, the Crown Prince's intention was to establish residences for these younger siblings and have them live outside the palace with their mothers.

For royal children to grow up far from the fight for the throne—what a blessing that would be.