As Yu Pin Yan led his army through the streets, many members from the Yu clan saw him. Previously, when the clan members were bribed by the third branch of the (Yu) family, they helped them seize the title and bully the elderly and children. Yu Pin Yan retaliated one by one after gaining power, and the remaining indifferent bystanders were not given a slightest advantage by Yu Pin Yan.
Therefore, the clan members held a rather veiled criticism of him. If he did not possess a vast amount of power, he would have been removed from the clan a long time ago.
Previously when Yu Pin Yan ran into misfortune, the third branch of the (Yu) family was expected to rise to power. The clan members were very happy to hear about it and helped them establish connections, hoping that they would also get a share of the pie when the third branch of the (Yu) family rose to great heights. Now, when they saw that Yu Pin Yan was not dead, but he had even led millions of troops to victory, their shock was hard to describe into mere words.
Something needs to be done to appease Yu Pin Yan ‒ This was the collective thought of all the clan members. Thus, when the Old Madam sent someone around with the request, the clan elders rushed to the ancestral hall.
“Yan’er has always been loyal to His Majesty, so he would never do anything to conspire with foreign enemies to usurp the throne. Now that he has exterminated the Western Barbarians and pacified the war in the west, the Emperor has noted his merits. Ten days ago, he issued a decree to return Marquis Yongle manor to Yan’er. Fellow clan elders, please have a look.” The Old Madam spread out the bright yellow brocade and placed it on the desk.
The clan elders hurriedly knelt down and said, ‘Long live’. [1]
“Although I have no definite proof who was the culprit that placed the secret letter in Yan’er’s study, I know it very well in my heart.” The Old Madam coldly glanced at Yu Miao Qi and continued, “The Marquis family was in dire straits. As a family member, we should be helping one another. However, our family is unfortunate enough to have two creatures that are more inferior than beasts. They helped outsiders to slander and frame Yan’er. At that time, the news of Yan’er’s defeat and death hadalready been spread wide and far. Moreover, it was said that the deceased should be the most important and deserving of more respect. Both of them, one as Yan’er biological younger sister and the other as Yan’er biological mother, had trampled on Yan’er’s corpse for the sake of glory and wealth. There is no excuse for what they have done! Let me ask all of you, in all the years of history, have you ever seen such a thing with the heart of a wolf and lungs of a dog?[2]”
The clan elders who were present were questioned until they could not raise their heads. Even though Lin Shi and Yu Miao Qi were helping the third branch of (Yu) family, it was true that Yu Jun Wei and the others were worse than beasts. They were already thrown into a state of confusion by the news of Yu Pin Yan’s return to the capital. All they wanted to do was to quickly adjourn this clan meeting; then, packing up their things and fleeing back to Shu. However, they were detained on the ground by the soldiers brought by the Old Madam and could not make a move. They felt the kind of anxious feeling that could not be experienced by ordinary people.
Yu Miao Qi and Lin Shi knelt at the hall. One with a stoic expression and the other crying so hard that she was about to faint.
After taking a sip of her ginger tea, the Old Madam continued, “I have been thinking about it and decided that such a cruel and unscrupulous thing cannot stay in the Yu family. Sooner or later, she will cause the destruction of our family. Hence, I have summoned all the elders of the clan to be witnesses and to sever all ties with them from now on. If you do not agree, when the Emperor starts to purge the court, he will inevitably investigate them and the third branch of the (Yu) family. All of you have been on intimate terms with them recently. You may be implicated and end up with decapitation.”
The last sentence was like a thunderbolt, striking at the heads of the clan members. Before the clan elder could say anything, someone shouted, “Sever all ties! Quickly sever all ties! Not only with these two, but also with the third branch of the family. We have to purge them from the clan. We definitely have to get rid of them from the clan! If not, when the emperor pursues this matter, it will be a great crime and all of us will be executed!”
The clan elders were drenched in cold sweat and quickly nodded their heads.
The third branch of the (Yu) family fell to the ground like mud, except for Lu Shi who broke free from the soldiers and shouted at the top of her lungs, “I want to divorce Yu Pin Hong! He-He wants to abandon his wife and marry again, so I want to divorce! Please allow me to do so, Old Madam!”
Although she was uncouth, she had good discernment and knelt at the Old Madam, who had the most authority. The Old Madam shut her eyes and did not bother with her, while Yu Xiang laughed in amusement, “Fine, I’ll let you divorce. Get up.”
“This is my family matter, who are you to decide?” Yu Pin Hong questioned furiously.
Yu Xiang stroked her newly painted nail art and her tone was light and unhurried. “By virtue of me being the chopping block and you being the fish; by virtue of me sitting here and you lying there; by virtue of me being Xiang Jun while you are a sinner. Are those enough?”
Yu Pin Hong was rendered speechless. His arms were wrenched so hard by the soldiers that he couldn’t even scream in pain.
Lu Shi was overjoyed and kowtowed to Yu Xiang several times. When she secretly hid in the crowd, the clan elders already wrote a letter of severance of ties and ordered all the clan members to imprint their fingerprints on it and send it to the magistrate for examination. If the magistrate approved and filed it, it would be posted on the notice board for all the people of the capital to see.
From then on, Yu Miao Qi, Lin Shi and the third branch of the Yu family no longer had any ties to their clan.
Yu Pin Yan had no way of knowing what was going on at home. At this moment, he was kneeling in the palace hall and reporting to Emperor Cheng Kang. Emperor Cheng Kang praised the generals and he waited for them to get up and stepped to the side. He suddenly spoke with a cold expression slowly, “Collaborating with foreign enemies, conspiring to usurp the throne and committing treason… Where did all these charges come from? What a bunch of nonsense! Someone come, invite the Crown Prince, Prime Minister and the officials that have been suspended to the palace hall. I*[3] want to purge this utterly filthy court in one go.”
The strong killing intent surged forth from his pitch-black pupils.