The Legend of the Concubine in the Harem

For the death of my mother.

Liu Shuyi only knew.

First, it was because she had let Concubine Xu replace the name of her family servant Liu Jindie to enter the palace.

The second reason was that she committed treason in the palace and beat Concubine Xu, who was already the emperor's concubine.

In Liu Shuyi's opinion, the two mistakes committed by Hong were far from enough to warrant her being hastily executed without even having a chance to defend herself.

For the powerful and wealthy, there is always some room for "leniency" outside the law for those rules and regulations written in the Dasheng Law Book. Moreover, compared with the death of Hong, the biggest punishment for the Liu family in this matter is actually the revocation of the fiefdom and the reduction of the title.

Of course, these two were the emperor's most important goals. What Hong did was just a fuse, giving him an excuse to control Marquis Shunyi.

In fact... Hong had a chance to survive.

Even if she lost the imperial edict from Lady Shunyi, even if she had to kneel down and apologize to Concubine Xu and her daughter, or even if she became a criminal and a slave...she could survive.

Because her life was not the most important part of this incident. The emperor had achieved his goal, recovered Jing County, and abolished the hereditary title of the founding marquis. The life of Hong was insignificant at all, not to mention that she was Shuyi's biological mother and the princess's grandmother.

However, the result was that she died in prison.

Later, Liu Shuyi carefully sorted out the information she knew that day. At that time, Concubine Xu was not favored at all. It was only after this incident that she was suddenly noticed by the emperor. After receiving this information, Liu Shuyi subconsciously thought that Concubine Xu had slandered the emperor and she had to take Hong's life to vent her anger.

"My mother was ignorant and arrogant, and offended the royal family. She was indeed guilty of a crime that could not be forgiven, but... she was just a woman in a secluded house, and her actions were inevitably short-sighted and ignorant. She did not have bad intentions to deliberately plot against the royal family..." Liu Shuyi choked with pain. Hong died with a stigma, and as a daughter, she just learned about it from her stepmother Miao.

Not only did his mother die in an embarrassing way, she was also divorced and abandoned after her death. She was not even given a proper funeral. Her body was only wrapped in a thin coffin and buried somewhere unknown by someone in Shunyi Marquis's mansion...

"She just didn't know how serious the matter was. She just...she was used to being the mistress of the inner house, so she thought that the royal palace was just like any other inner house...I know that I have committed a grave sin, but I still...I still want to ask Your Majesty to forgive my mother for the many years of service I have given to you and the birth of your heir. I don't ask that you clear her name, but I only ask that she not go to the netherworld alone as an unforgivable sinner. I also ask that you allow...and allow your descendants to wear mourning for her and offer incense to her..."

She pleaded humbly.

The weaker the attitude, the stronger the inexplicable hatred in the heart grows.

The emperor frowned.

The frequency of his frowning seemed to have increased greatly during this period.

"Did you know that in addition to beating up the imperial concubines and pretending to be in the imperial selection, Hong also deliberately imprisoned decent women and even interfered with the secret business of forcing good women into prostitution in the suburbs of Beijing?" The emperor looked at the surprise gradually revealed on Liu Shuyi's face and sighed, "Those people in the secret business included concubines of officials, decent women, boys and girls abducted by traffickers, and even toddlers who were just learning to walk."

"The laws of our dynasty stipulate that, except for those who have been granted permission by the government to do human trafficking without signing death contracts, all others who have abducted and sold innocent people into slavery, causing the separation of civilians from their families, shall be sentenced to death."

The Great Sheng Dynasty did not prohibit parents from selling their children, or people from selling themselves, but there was a rule that good people could not be sold as slaves. In the previous dynasties, people were often bought for their entire lives, but in the Great Sheng Dynasty, the longest contract was a twenty-year living contract. Once the contract expired, the person could become free again.

Of course, the children raised by aristocratic families for generations are not subject to this rule.

After gaining status and wealth, the nobles gradually learned from the aristocratic families to raise the sons of low birth, and used them attentively from generation to generation. Unless it was necessary, they rarely bought servants from outside. Even if they did, they would deliberately look for those whose families had no background or power, and preferred orphans without parents.

The rich and luxurious life of the noble families always dazzles those who originally signed a living contract to enter the mansion, making them feel that instead of going back to the outside world to work hard to make a living after the contract ends, it is better to live in the master's house for the rest of their lives and become a seventh-rank official in the prime minister's office.

Such people would usually be completely transformed into slaves under the management of their master's family, marry the original servants of the family, and integrate into the family.

Liu Shuyi, who had lived in a world of luxury since childhood and had servants at her disposal, didn't care where those servants came from and could be replaced at any time.

She had never read the relevant laws - she, the daughter of a marquis, had never read them, let alone Hong, who came from a poor family. The mother committed a serious crime that she herself was not aware of, and the daughter did not receive any teaching from her mother, and only thought that it was just a common tactic used in internal house struggles.

Not a big deal.

"Mother would never do such a thing..." Liu Shuyi blinked her eyes quickly, "She just...just sent Xu's mother there, and didn't ask her to do...do that kind of business. She just wanted to scare them so that they would be obedient. Although my mother is not a good person, she is definitely not someone who would do such a heinous thing as trafficking innocent people. Please understand, Your Majesty!"

"Yes." The emperor nodded. He looked at the hope that gradually emerged in Liu Shuyi's eyes because of his action, and couldn't help but feel a little soft-hearted.

But when he thought of the troubles brought to the mother and daughter, he couldn't help but get anxious: "Your mother is indeed not the leader of the evil, and the leaders were all executed after their property was confiscated. In fact, I have also thought about sparing your mother's life for Baohui's sake, but..."

Liu Shuyi couldn't help but clutch the hem of her skirt and looked up at the emperor eagerly.

The emperor waved to the eunuch who was accompanying him and asked him to bring Shunyi Bo's confession.

During the time when the eunuch went to get the confession letter, Liu Shuyi became increasingly uneasy.

The emperor said, "Don't mention Baohui anymore. She is your daughter. Although I am not a woman, I know how difficult it is for women to give birth. You didn't show much love for the child you gave birth to after risking so much pain. Instead, you humiliated her again and again for a sinner."

Liu Shuyi was speechless and didn't know what to say.

Hong is not a good person.

But in her heart she is a wonderful mother.

The most beloved, closest, and most missed biological mother.

She created everything for Liu Shuyi, and Liu Shuyi also applied everything she learned from her mother to her daughter.

As children, when you have many brothers and sisters, of course you have to work harder to win the attention of your parents. For this, what does it matter if you suffer a little?

Don't suffer.

How to stand out?

Just as Mrs. Hong cursed herself before her death, thinking that she had done everything for her daughter's good but did not get the reward she deserved, Liu Shuyi still insists that she did it for Lu Baohui's good, which is why she let her suffer...but now her idea of ​​"suffering is for the good of the child" is not as firm as Mrs. Hong's.