The Eldest Daughter Is Beautiful and Saucy
Chapter 1308: life-threatening
Chapter 1308 Losing Your Life is a Big Deal
Bai Qingyan deliberately added Sima Rudan at the end of the imperial edict, as a nod to Sima Yan and Xue Renyi.
If Xue Renyi cared about his fiancée, he would have to think twice when he saw the name Sima Ruodan. After all, Sima Ruodan… this name is not common.
If Xue Renyi thinks that who his wife is doesn’t matter, that’s fine too. She also sees that Aqi seems to be very caring towards Sima Ruodan.
No matter what, the truth must be known to the people at that time.
Moreover, Bai Qingyan had already learned about the unjust case of Sima Ruodan’s mother’s family. It was just like the censor Jian Congwen, who was removed because he blocked Concubine Tong’s way.
Therefore, regardless of whether Aqi and Sima Ruodan will succeed in the end, the contribution Sima Ruodan made at Xiaye City Pass is enough for Bai Qingyan to clear her mother’s name and Sima Ruodan’s name.
After Bai Qingyan issued the imperial decree, many people came to congratulate Sima Yan. Everyone knew that Sima Yan had an adopted daughter named Sima Ruodan. During the morning court session, Bai Qingyan was concerned about the marriage between Sima Yan’s adopted daughter and the newly crowned number one scholar Xue Renyi. Then he issued an imperial decree to confer the title of Princess Xiangxie on Sima Ruodan. The court officials who were unaware of the situation thought that… this Princess Xiangxie Sima Ruodan was Sima Yan’s adopted daughter Sima Ruodan.
However, many people were curious about how Sima Yan’s adopted daughter, who was clearly in the capital city, helped the Zhou army capture Yecheng Pass and won the title of a princess for her contribution.
Sima Yan, who had been uneasy in recent days, was almost shocked to death when he learned that the emperor had conferred the title of Princess Xiangxie on Sima Ruodan. He forced himself to attend the social event and sent his colleagues away, only vaguely saying that it might be a case of duplicate names and that Princess Xiangxie was indeed not their adopted daughter.
As soon as his colleagues left, Sima Yan had a pale face, held the armrests of the chair, and sat down tremblingly on the chair. There was still something he didn’t understand in his mind.
Sima Yan’s wife got the news in the backyard and was so shocked that she fell on the couch. Without saying a word, she asked the maid to help her to the front yard. She saw her husband sitting on the chair with an ugly face, but she didn’t show any panic. She felt more at ease. She waved her hand and asked the maid beside Eleven to leave. She held up her skirt and stepped over the threshold of the front door: “Husband, what’s going on?”
“Mother has gotten into big trouble this time!” Sima Yan was still calm. He looked up at his wife and said, “His Majesty has ordered a re-investigation of the case of Sima Ruodan’s mother, Cai’s family. Who do you think this Princess Xiangxie is?”
Sima Yan’s wife’s throat was churning, remembering what her husband said that day when he came back, that the emperor asked about the marriage between Xue Renyi and his adopted daughter in the court. Originally, Sima Yan’s wife thought that the emperor was just concerned about the new number one scholar, but now it seems that it is not the emperor who is concerned about the new number one scholar, but the emperor is clearly testing him.
Sima Yan’s wife also held the armrest of the chair and sat down, her voice trembling: “No wonder… No wonder Your Majesty asked about Xue Renyi’s marriage that day! Your Majesty… You know everything! My husband, what can I do?”
Sima Yan closed his eyes and smashed the cup beside him in anger: “Since I, Sima Yan, entered the Censorate and worked my way up to become the Chief Censor, I have never made any mistakes. I have always been reporting others. Now, it’s too bad that I am being reported on myself!”
He shouldn’t have been soft-hearted and condoned this matter just because his mother wanted to commit suicide…
When doing something, either don’t do it at all! If you do it… you have to make sure it is foolproof. This is the truth he has known since he was a child.
But his mother said that Sima Rudan had been killed by the people she sent, so he believed it. As a result, Sima Rudan suddenly appeared in Yechengguan and became the first person to help the Great Zhou army capture Yechengguan.
Sima Yan kept his composure, knowing that now was not the time to get angry, but instead he should find a way to solve the problem.
First of all, I have to apologize to His Majesty. This is a matter of urgency. Secondly… I also have to give an explanation to Xue Renyi. Although Xue Renyi has not been assigned an official position yet, he is a man of real talent, otherwise he would not have been chosen as the top scholar this time. Young people like Xue Renyi will be reused by His Majesty in the future. This can be seen from the “Outline of the Assessment of Officials of the Great Zhou” written by Dong Tingzhen, who was chosen as the number one scholar. His Majesty will boldly use young people in the next step.
Thinking of this, Sima Yan did not dare to delay. He said something to his wife, then changed into official uniform and went to the palace to see Bai Qingyan to apologize.
Sima Yan’s wife, Li, was not as calm as Sima Yan. She was so angry that she hated Sima Yan’s foolish mother in her heart. She sent Sima Yan away and walked towards the courtyard of Sima Lao Taijun.
Li told the whole story to the old lady Sima. The old lady of the Sima family turned pale with shock and collapsed on the couch. She looked at Li in disbelief and raised her voice uncontrollably: “You said… that Sima Ruodan is not dead! He became a great hero in breaking through the Yecheng Pass and was named a princess?! Are you sure it was that Sima Ruodan?”
Li sat on the embroidery chair, folded her hands in front of her belly, and spoke with the usual respect to her mother-in-law: “That’s right, His Majesty also ordered a re-investigation of the original case of Sima Ruodan’s mother, Cai’s mother’s family. Mother thinks about it… This is to clear Sima Ruodan’s background and clear his name.”
Old Lady Sima almost fainted. She forced herself to sit still and asked, “Where’s A-Yan?”
“Mother, my husband has changed into his official uniform and gone to the palace to plead guilty.” Li gritted her teeth and whispered, “But if he, as the Chief Censor, admits to doing such a thing, he will definitely lose his position. It’s still unclear whether he can live for murdering someone…”
Li looked up and resentfully looked at the old lady Sima: “Mother, for the sake of a concubine’s daughter, ignored the advice of my husband and daughter-in-law and insisted on doing this marriage exchange. Now… the family is broken up and the people are dead. Mother… are you satisfied?”
Sima looked at her daughter-in-law in surprise, as her always respectful daughter-in-law suddenly spoke to her like this. However, she also understood the anger in her daughter-in-law’s heart.
Old Lady Sima, who was always strict with her daughter-in-law, was unusually silent this time and just sat there, thinking about how to make amends.
“I heard that the concubine has gone out just now, and she is going to meet her fiancée in the mansion. You should know why Xue Renyi asked her out to meet him at this time!” After saying this, Li stood up and saluted her mother-in-law. “My husband is my only child and the father of my child. I know him! He will definitely take all the responsibility for me in front of His Majesty. Losing his job is a small matter, but losing his life is a big matter! Whether my husband can be saved depends on me!”