When Ji Mingjin heard his despicable thoughts being spoken out, his face twisted for a moment, and then he stared at Shen Wanqing, as if he wanted to stare a hole in her.

Seeing his look, Shen Wanqing didn't take him seriously at all. Instead, she laughed like a madman. She didn't know how long she laughed before she stopped. She slowly walked towards Ji Mingjin, lifted his chin on the tiptoes, and said to him, "So, people should accept their fate. A pheasant is a pheasant and can never become a phoenix." After that, she turned and walked towards the bed.

As early as when he found out that Ji Mingjin instigated Shen Wanqing to attack Jiang Rou, Ji Huaian had already presented all his crimes to Cui Jingyu.

Ji Mingjin is a member of the Ji family no matter what, but this matter was exposed by Ji Huaian himself, which was an act of sacrificing one's own family for the sake of justice. Cui Jingyu recalled their past merits and fined Wu'an Hou and Ji Huaian two years' salary, and issued an order to remove Ji Mingjin and his wife from the family, which made this matter come to an end.

Those who wanted to use this incident to bring down the Ji family had to give up after seeing Cui Jingyu's behavior. The second month of the following year was the date of Ji Mingjin and his wife's death.

Mrs. Shen, who heard the news, burst into tears in the mansion. Prime Minister Shen could only try to stay away from her as she had been pestering him these past few days. There was no other way. Compared to his beloved daughter, he loved himself and the black hat on his head more.

He sighed to himself and thought to himself, it’s not that he didn’t love his daughter, but the imperial decree had been issued and he couldn’t disobey.

Unlike him, Madam Shen truly loved Shen Wanqing, who was her only daughter. Seeing Prime Minister Shen acting like this, thinking that he would not save her daughter, Madam Shen went all out and directly pulled out the hairpin on her head and pointed it at her neck.

Seeing that no one dared to stop her, she walked all the way to the door of the study and knocked hard on the closed door.

She totally disregarded her own image and just shouted hysterically towards the closed study room, "Shen Ziming, Qing'er is your biological daughter, how could you be so cold-hearted that you watched her die."

The servants in the yard almost bowed their heads to the ground, and they only wished they had ears.

Mrs. Shen cursed without caring about her image, and she made Prime Minister Shen humiliated to the point that he had no face at all. Finally, Prime Minister Shen angrily opened the door, looked at the woman in the courtyard and yelled at her, "Have you had enough?"

Seeing him looking so upset, Madam Shen put down the hairpin in her hand and said to Prime Minister Shen, "If you make a fuss, my Qing'er will die. How can I not make a fuss?"

Hearing her say this, Prime Minister Shen's attitude seemed to soften suddenly, and he said to her, "Madam, Qing'er is also my daughter. How can I not be heartbroken now? But the imperial edict has been issued, and the emperor's order is hard to disobey. I have no choice."

How could Mrs. Shen, who only wanted her daughter to live, listen to his words? She felt that he was hypocritical. She gritted her teeth and suddenly said, "Qing'er is my life. I can't live without her."

While speaking, he looked at Prime Minister Shen and continued, "Even if I die, I will take a few people with me to the underworld." Then his voice suddenly changed and became gentle, "But I heard that the Empress Dowager is in power nowadays. If she knew about buying an official position..."

Before Madam Shen could finish her words, Prime Minister Shen interrupted her and said "Shut up". He looked at Madam Shen with a fierce look. Madam Shen shrank back, then straightened her back and looked back at Prime Minister Shen.

Mrs. Shen said, "I have written down what the master did privately in a letter. As long as I pass away unexpectedly, this letter will appear on the Empress Dowager's desk no matter what."

The murderous intent in Prime Minister Shen's eyes could hardly be hidden when he looked at her, but the next second he smiled slightly, walked towards Madam Shen, put his arm around her and said, "What are you talking about, Madam? Qing'er is my daughter, and I can't let anything happen to her no matter what."

As the sun sets, Cui Jingyu finished reviewing today's memorials. A young eunuch walked in and said, "Empress Dowager, the Prime Minister has been kneeling outside all day. It's time to summon him in."

Hearing this, Cui Jingyu picked up the memorial in her hand and hummed indifferently. After Prime Minister Shen came in, he saluted Cui Jingyu and said, "Greetings to the Empress Dowager." However, he did not hear the voice from the superior, so Prime Minister Shen could only maintain the gesture of greeting.

It was unknown how long it had been before Cui Jingyu seemed to see him, and said in a faint voice, "Get up," and then she fell silent again.

Seeing that Cui Jingyu didn't ask him, Prime Minister Shen could only shamelessly issue an order himself. Listening to his high-sounding words, if Cui Jingyu didn't know what had happened in the Prime Minister's Mansion before, she would almost believe what the man in front of her said.

After listening to him wipe away his tears hypocritically, Cui Jingyu said lightly, "The Prime Minister said this because he thinks the decree I issued is wrong." The voice was light and without ripples, but it made Prime Minister Shen feel a pressure on his head.

He knelt down and said that he didn't dare. Seeing his look, Cui Jingyu suddenly attacked, "You dare not? What else can you not dare to do? As the prime minister of this dynasty and the guardian of all officials, you colluded with traitors and villains, sold official positions and granted titles privately, and committed fraud in imperial examinations. What else can you not dare to do?"

Cui Jingyu's words echoed in the hall. Prime Minister Shen lay on the ground, not daring to raise his head, and he couldn't even speak to defend himself, because everything Cui Jingyu said was true, and he knew that he was completely finished.

Seeing him huddled on the ground, Cui Jingyu's disgust increased a little more, and she said to the eunuch, "Send me an imperial decree. Shen Ziming sold official positions and granted titles for personal gain and was demoted to a commoner. His original wife, Song, was poisoned by him. I hereby order them to divorce, confiscate the Shen family mansion, and send them back to their former residence. No man in the Shen family within three generations is allowed to take the imperial examinations."

After hearing the imperial edict, Shen Ziming felt even weaker. It took him thirty years to rise from a country boy to the top of the official ranks, but now all his efforts had come to nothing.

When the imperial edict was issued, everyone in the court was shocked, but after seeing the content, everyone could only sigh that Cui Jingyu was too soft-hearted. In this regard, Cui Jingyu just wanted to say that it was not a pleasant feeling to climb from the bottom of the valley to the top of the mountain, and then fall down heavily. Moreover, all the property of the Shen family was confiscated, and the Shen family was penniless. Three generations of the family had to squeeze into a shabby house in a small village, with only one acre and three mu of land in front of the door.

As the head of all officials, Shen Ziming naturally had many followers, but no matter what, they could not find an excuse for Cui Jingyu's punishment. They could only keep quiet and look for another way out.

Shen Wanqing knew nothing about what was happening outside. When she was being led out, she turned back and taunted Ji Mingjin, "You'd better stay here and rot and stink." After she went out and listened to her mother crying and telling her everything, she suddenly felt like the sky was falling.

The new emperor ascends the throne, the enemy is eyeing him covetously, the war is about to break out, and the atmosphere of tension permeates the palace.

Inside the Cining Palace, Jiawen knelt on the ground without saying a word. The Empress Dowager looked at the stubborn figure on the ground with red eyes. Jiang Rou came in and saw this scene.

She walked forward and helped up Jiawen who was kneeling on the ground. When he saw Jiang Rou, Jiawen's eyes instantly turned red and he called out "A Rou" in a low voice with aggrieved tone.

Jiang Rou patted her hands, gave her a soothing smile, and walked towards the upper seat, while bowing, "Greetings, Grandma."

Upon seeing this, the Empress Dowager took her hand, exempted her from the formalities, and asked her about her health, "My dear, why are you here? You are not even three months old yet, it's very dangerous."

Jiang Rou followed her force and sat next to the Empress Dowager. Hearing her words, she moved closer to her arms and said coquettishly, "As expected, grandma is the best to me."

Hearing her coquettish words, the Empress Dowager also laughed and said softly, "Arou is so obedient that grandma naturally loves you the most." Then she changed the subject and snorted coldly, glancing at Jiawen who was drinking tea and said, "Unlike some people who are always trying to make me angry."

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