Chapter 460 (1/2)

Chapter 460 – Seizing power (1)

It wasn't a good thing for the court officials to be too unified. Because of this, Zhao Zhe didn't sleep well for several nights. He tried to think of ways that would create conflicts between the officials in the Six Ministries and cause them to split into different groups.

The recent defeat at the borderlands was also quite problematic for him. Clearly, it should have been easy for Great Song's army to defeat Yuzhen. Why had they lost at the last juncture? The military report sent by the border station hadn't clearly described the situation. The report only listed out the number of soldiers that had died or were injured and requested for additional reinforcement troops and army provisions.

As for the important subordinates that were loyal to Zhao Zhe and placed in the army, they had all inexplicably died in battle.

In the following days, the imperial harem was plagued by disaster after disaster. There had been several almost successful attempts on Erxin's life. Furious, the emperor ordered the death of many people in the palace. While the empress unsuccessfully tried to compete for the emperor's favor, she somehow accidentally ate saffron. It wasn't known how she could have drunk more than half a bowl of saffron soup without noticing. However, once she found out, she went crazy. Not even caring about the palace's curfew, she returned to her maiden home and broke into hysterical sobbing.

(T/N: Saffron can stimulate uterine contractions if too much is eaten and cause miscarriage.)

Zhao Zhe was already preoccupied with a basket of troublesome work issues. And yet, the empress had been unable to see the larger issues and dared to return to her maiden home. Was the empress someone that could casually return to her maiden home? Wasn't this asking the entire world to laugh at her conduct?

And so, since Zhao Zhe didn't come to bring Shen Youqing back to the palace, the Shen Clan was in a very awkward situation.

Shen Youqing had lost her unborn child, and then, she had accidentally drunk saffron soup. She felt that the possibility of her giving birth to a heir was absolutely hopeless.  How could she not feel horribly wronged? It had always been her bullying other people. She would have never expected that there would be a day when someone would bully her and to such an extent too. And so, how could she take this lying down? However, the emperor favored Erxin over her. Even when she knelt down outside Zichen Hall and tearfully complained, the emperor hadn't been moved. It was only because she was out of other options that she returned to her maiden home in order to pressure the emperor.

However, she didn't know that the emperor was already exhausted by the plague of political matters. A clever woman would avoid doing anything problematic during this time. She didn't have to silently support him by bringing over tea or sending over other beverages, but she absolutely couldn't cause trouble at this time. Since Shen Youqing hadn't paid attention, she ended up jumping into the trap that someone had dug for her.

If she returned home, what was the value of her status as the empress in the imperial harem?

During the next court session, Grand Secretary Shen offered words of advice; don't abandon the wife that had suffered hards.h.i.+p with you for a new woman once you obtain success. Before Grand Secretary Shen could continue further, next to him, the Minister of Justice presented a pet.i.tion to emperor. The pet.i.tion accused Grand Secretary Shen of profligacy, loitering in brothels during his work hours, accepting bribes, and exchanging numerous secret letters.

Grand Secretary Shen was the father-in-law of the reigning emperor. It was shocking that he would be accused of such things. Not only was this humiliating for the members of Shen Clan, it was humiliating for the emperor too. With a grave expression, the emperor said a few word of rebuke before ordering him to leave the imperial court and go home.

It was an extremely humiliating thing for a court official to be dismissed early and ordered to return home. Grand Secretary Shen was advanced in age. Although he had become less respectable in his old age, he still remembered the importance of moral integrity, so his breath stopped short once Zhao Zhe issued his order. Just like that, Grand Secretary Shen pa.s.sed away.

—

Shen Clan held a funeral. The emperor had originally intended to pursue the matter of Grand Secretary Shen accepting bribes. However, the person had already died. What was there for him to pursue? Since this person was his father-in-law, the emperor even bestowed him a posthumously t.i.tle.