After the emperor read her mind, the salted fish concubine effortlessly won the title of empress.

Chapter 265 If we don't rebel now, when will we?

Shen Shixi remained unmoved. "Hasn't the Emperor given Li Yuanyin a chance? Haven't I been good enough to Li Yuanyin? If he hadn't been tempted by others, had worked diligently and made contributions, wouldn't the Emperor have noticed?"

"It's one thing to still have ties with your sister-in-law, but how did Zheng die? And what happened today? You make it sound so easy. Do you think secrets stay hidden forever? Are you really going to keep such a sordid affair a secret, letting it fester and rot in the future?"

The Empress Dowager was so angry that the veins on her forehead throbbed. Li Yuanke cried out, "I was framed! Instead of finding out who framed me, you want the whole court to know!"

"Mother, if that's really the case, how can your son live?"

The Empress Dowager held her youngest son and wept bitterly, "The Emperor has just left, and you treat us, mother and son, like this? Shen Shixi, how dare you be so unfilial!"

Li Yuanyin cried, "Mother, I know I have done wrong. I have no face to face heaven and earth, and I am ashamed to be human. I will die now to wash away the shame I have brought upon my elder brother! I did not do it on purpose!"

He pretended to break free from the Empress Dowager's embrace, which terrified her, and she held on tightly to him.

"Someone come here!"

As the guards entered, Shen Shixi said, "Pull Prince Chang Le away. If he wants to die, see how you want it done. Give him a white silk ribbon, poison, or a dagger. If he wants to drown, and the water in Taiye Pool isn't enough, open the sluice gates and fill it up!"

The Empress Dowager and Li Yuanyin were both dumbfounded.

Shen Shixi said, "I'm not joking with you. The Emperor entrusted the entire court and harem to me. He just left, and Li Yuanyin did such a shameless thing. To be honest, even I, an outsider, can't stand by and watch!"

Anyone with a conscience cannot turn a blind eye! As human beings, we are all prone to making mistakes, but to lack conscience, to err without reflection, and to knowingly repeat the same mistakes time and again is not just foolishness, but malice.

Li Yuanyin was furious. They actually accused him of being malicious. How was he malicious? He was clearly trying to be kind.

Since being confined, Consort Zhen has had a very difficult time. In winter, there wasn't enough charcoal, so she had to ask someone to pay the Imperial Household Department to buy more. Her meals were either cold or spoiled, making them almost inedible.

Hearing that Li Yuanyin had returned, she finally found an opportunity to send him a letter through someone.

When Li Yuanyin heard that Xie's life was not going well, he was greatly shocked. Having grown up in the palace, he understood the intricacies of the place very well, so he came as soon as he heard about it. Little did he know that a trap awaited him.

The tea was tampered with, and the incense had aphrodisiac properties.

He and Xie couldn't control their feelings and had no choice but to taste the forbidden fruit.

Lady Xie cried, "This is my fault, I had no choice. Your Highness the Imperial Noble Consort is so high and mighty, and the Emperor cherishes you. How could you know the suffering we have endured?"

Since I was confined to my quarters, who in this palace hasn't trampled on me? The food I'm given is worse than that of pigs and dogs; in winter, there's not enough charcoal, and my hands and feet are covered in chilblains. I didn't ask the Prince for help; I just wanted him to put in a good word for me, so that I could live with some semblance of human dignity!

The Empress Dowager couldn't feel any sympathy, but Li Yuanyin looked at her with eyes full of heartache.

If he hadn't taken a liking to her and wanted to marry her, how could she have ended up like this?

"Although the Xie family cannot compare to the Shen family, they are still a prominent family in the north. I was pampered and spoiled since childhood. Everyone says that the capital is the richest place in the world, but since I came here, I have been starving and can't even afford a piece of charcoal in winter!"

Shen Shixi said, "You should have been living in the Cold Palace, do you know that? The palace is strictly guarded, how could you do such a shameless thing and still have the nerve to call yourself a noble lady! Guards, drag her away!"

Several rough-looking old women came in and dragged Xie out.

Naturally, Lady Xie didn't want to die, and cried out, "Your Highness, save me!"

Li Yuanyin lunged forward, but Shen Shixi gestured, and guards stepped forward to restrain him. Li Yuanyin struggled desperately, shouting, "Shen Shixi, how dare you!"

Shen Shixi slapped him across the face, left and right, symmetrically. She pinched his chin and met his astonished and foolish eyes.

"Li Yuanyin, if you were my own brother, I would have castrated you long ago! If I were you, I would have killed myself by now. I admire your courage to still live!"

After saying that, she said, "Drag it away!"

The Empress Dowager was furious. "Shen, have you gone mad?"

Shen Shixi said, "The Empress Dowager is seriously ill. Send her back to the palace and ask the imperial physicians to provide diligent treatment and recuperation. During her convalescence, no one is allowed to visit her, and there is no need for anyone, whether inside or outside the palace, to pay their respects!"

"yes!"

The Empress Dowager never imagined she would one day be imprisoned. She was incredulous and terrified. "You, you, you… do you intend to harm me?"

Shen Shixi took two steps forward, and she was so frightened that she stepped back.

"Empress Dowager, you're not senile yet! The Emperor is your own son, but I am not! At a time of life and death, you still managed to cause such trouble. Do you have any conscience at all?"

"What the Emperor does with you after he returns is none of my concern. But right now, I have the final say in the affairs of the court and the harem. If you behave yourselves and don't cause me any trouble, everything will be fine. If not, I wouldn't mind permanently eliminating these two problems for the Emperor!"

The Empress Dowager was so frightened she almost lost her soul!

"Very well, very well, I misjudged you. No wonder the Emperor trusted you!"

As Shen Shixi had predicted, it was later discovered that it was Que Meiren who had done it, namely Su Fuying.

Shen Shixi had intentionally stirred up this conflict.

Sure enough, there was no one easy to deal with in the harem. Of course, flies don't land on eggs without cracks, and she wouldn't hand over Consort Que. As for whether Consort Que could escape from the Empress Dowager's clutches, that was none of her business.

When Xie's body was returned to the Xie family, the whole city knew about it, and the Xie family's matriarch and first wife fainted on the spot.

Xie Zhiwen, the head of the Xie family and a fourth-rank official, hurriedly changed into his official robes and went to the palace to plead guilty. Shen Shixi met him at Qian Yuan Palace, saying, "I don't need to say anything; I'm sure Lord Xie already knows what your daughter has been doing in the palace!"

Having already given birth to a second princess, she should not, by any measure, be sent back to her parents' home, no matter how serious her mistake.

Besides, it was a corpse.

"Your Majesty, I am foolish and ignorant!" Xie Zhiwen closed his eyes. It wasn't that he couldn't guess, nor that he wouldn't shed tears until he saw the coffin; he simply couldn't believe it!

Shen Shixi didn't give him any face either, "When His Majesty personally led the expedition, I went out of the city to see him off. Xie and Li Yuanyin were having an affair in the harem. When I arrived with my people, the two were still making love, oblivious to the world around them!"

Xie Zhiwen felt a metallic taste rise in his throat, and kowtowed, "I have failed in my duty to raise my daughter, and have raised such a shameless child. I beg Your Majesty to punish me!"

"Adultery within the palace is an unforgivable crime! However, this matter concerns the Emperor's reputation, and I do not wish to implicate many others. Lord Xie, please take heed!"

Xie Zhiwen knew that the Imperial Noble Consort was a very honest person. "Your Majesty, I am very grateful for your leniency. I am willing to follow your lead. Please enlighten me!"

Shen Shixi said, "The Xie family once migrated south in their gentry, and after the country was recovered, they returned to their homeland. Although it has always been difficult to leave one's homeland, the Xie family is clearly not in harmony with the feng shui of the north. People's eyes are discerning. This incident is a disgrace to the Xie family. How will the Xie family ever be able to leave their home in the future?"

"I suggest you return to the south. The former noble families, once powerful, have ultimately become commoners. All the Xie family's lands in the north will be purchased back by the Ministry of Revenue, and from then on, these lands will belong to the imperial court!"

"Your Majesty, I thank you for your kindness and understanding. I obey your decree! I will now present my resignation petition!"

"Xie Wensheng is a promising talent, and the Xie family has a bright future! However, the way the Xie family raises their daughter needs to be reconsidered!" Shen Shixi said.

"Your Majesty, I have no face to stand in the court, and the Xie family has no face to remain in the capital. Within a month, the entire Xie family will relocate to Jiangnan. For the rest of our lives, the Xie family will follow Your Majesty's lead!"

After Xie Zhiwen returned, he sent over a letter requesting to resign. Shen Shixi was too lazy to play the trick of three resignations and three retentions with his ministers. Didn't he find it annoying?

She summoned Meng Shishui, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, and asked him to oversee the acquisition of the Xie family's land. She instructed him, "After the land is acquired, it will belong to the imperial court. It can only be rented to landless people for cultivation. No deposit will be required, and taxes will only be levied at the current tax rate."

Furthermore, once the price is agreed upon with the Xie family, it must be a straightforward transaction; no interference, bullying, or extortion is allowed! The price must not exceed the market price.

"Your Majesty, I understand. I will certainly handle it well!"

Meng Shishui is a very honest person, otherwise Shen Shixi wouldn't have asked her to do it.

She wants to break the current system of private land ownership and operate it according to the state ownership system of later generations. Of course, she cannot openly provoke the current system. What can be taken over will be owned by the imperial court, and what cannot be taken over will be taken over by other means.

The downfall of any dynasty is always due to one unavoidable common factor: land annexation, leaving the people destitute.

The next day, Shen Shixi attended court and sat on the high imperial steps next to the dragon throne. She ordered Li Fude to read out the imperial decree stripping Li Yuanyin of his title, which caused a shock in the court and among the people, and aroused suspicion.

His past affair with Lady Xie was already widely known thanks to the machinations of certain individuals. Coupled with this recent incident, although the palace didn't explicitly state it, it was widely believed that various versions of the story were circulating.

Without exception, when the emperor personally led the expedition to protect the borders and the people, his younger brother, a prince, instead of thinking about doing something beneficial for the country, the people, and the court, actually engaged in debauchery in the harem.

Li Yuanyin's reputation was ruined.

In the Pei family's study, Prime Minister Pei was discussing matters with several trusted confidants, including Gao Shizhong and his sister.

Prime Minister Pei said, "As you have all seen, ordinary men don't possess her iron-fisted methods. Although the Emperor is not in the capital, with her here, she is even more difficult to deal with than if the Emperor were present! It's not too late to back down now!"

After a moment of silence, Pei Gao asked, "Even if we stop, will she stop?"

Gao Shizhong said, "Brother-in-law, you yourself said that the position of Grand Secretary has been vacant for half a year, not because there is no suitable candidate, but because the Emperor has other plans in mind."

It's not clear now, but the Emperor not only can't tolerate the Pei and Gao families, he wants absolute power and wants to abolish the millennia-old system of prime ministers. If such a foolish ruler doesn't rebel now, when will he?

Prime Minister Pei said, "This cannot be said in a short time; it is merely a conjecture on my part. After all, we now have the Grand Secretary!"

He looked around and said, "Today's decision is final; there's no going back. Failure means certain death, but success will ensure that the new emperor will never forget your contributions!"