Chapter 370: Demotion

Gu Shijie lifted the white cloth; beneath it lay the corpse of his eldest son, Gu Cheng.

It was horrifying to behold; not a single intact piece of good flesh remained on his body.

Everywhere were puncture wounds from stabbing, the blood had dried and congealed into a dark brown.

Especially his eyes, wide open even in death, unable to close.

"Cheng... Cheng'er!" Gu Shijie gasped, his breath caught, and he fainted.

Xin Xiuyu panicked and ordered people to help the fainted Gu Shijie up.

But as they rubbed his chest to comfort him,

Upon hearing the news, Lin Qingxue from the rear courtyard rushed wailing to the front hall, threw herself before Gu Cheng's corpse, and burst into loud weeping.

For a moment, the entire Gu Minister's Residence fell into a gloom of sorrow; everyone inside panicked, thrown into chaos.

The eldest son was the backbone of the Gu family; now that backbone has been brutally snapped, gone.

The heavens of the Gu family have also collapsed.

Yet the palace eunuchs waiting outside gave him no time to grieve, not even a moment.

Gu Shijie had no choice but to compose himself, enduring the immense pain of losing his son, and followed the palace eunuchs inside.

To the common folk of Shang Jing, Gu Cheng's affair was nothing but a peach‑blossom tribulation sparked by a romantic scandal.

Princess Changping and the Prime Minister's son were deeply in love, yet a single marriage alliance order tore them apart, sending them to opposite ends.

The worst part was that their illicit liaison was caught red‑handed by the Third Prince, and in the end they met death, separated between yin and yang.

At first some pitied Gu Cheng, while others blamed him for secretly ruining the princess's purity.

In short, the people's debate remained confined to matters of love.

At that moment, the atmosphere in the Hall of Nurturing Heart was far from such gossip and ease.

Emperor Longqing was furiously enraged; do they think one or two of them can escape his notice?

First, his own imperial consorts dug a secret tunnel in the Venerable Literature Pavilion to meet with outside officials in private.

Now his own daughter shamelessly carries on, despite the marriage edict already issued, secretly meeting her lover and causing such a huge uproar.

The Third Prince, Xiao Wei, is likewise arrogant and domineering, actually beating a person to death outright.

He had already borne a deep hatred for Consort Duan, and now even her two children, whom she bore and raised, have become objects of his loathing.

Just as he was about to severely punish Xiao Wei, Duke Duan Guo instead captured several of Gu Cheng's close aides attending him—unfortunately, the most important one got away.

They also subjected the proprietor of the Reflection Pavilion to harsh torture, only then extracting the truth.

At this point, Princess Changping, in order to protect her elder brother, revealed that she had drugged Gu Cheng, forced herself on him, and framed the Duan family—she confessed it all.

Moreover, the Duan family are not pushovers; they directly arrested the wandering doctor who sold medicines in the martial world and also pointed the finger at Gu Cheng.

Emperor Longqing was so angry he felt faint; how dare a lowly eldest son of the Prime Minister's residence plot against his princess—has the Gu clan grown tired of living?

He immediately sent Princess Changping to the Peach Blossom Hermitage in the suburbs to live as a tonsured nun.

After all, involving the imperial face, not demoting this princess to commoner status was already Emperor Longqing's greatest mercy.

The Peach Blossom Hermitage confines aristocratic young ladies from Shang Jing who have committed offenses; once locked in, they hardly ever have any future prospects.

Immediately thereafter, the Third Prince Xiao Wei was confined in the Imperial Clan Office, for manslaughter is still killing.

The Third Prince, having become a eunuch, was gradually neglected by his father, harboring resentment; now, in a fit of rage, he beat a person to death, causing such a commotion.

This prince sorely needs strict discipline.

This is out of consideration for Duke Duan Guo's face; Emperor Longqing knows that, under his former holy wrath, he forced the duke's biological daughter, Consort Duan, to death.

He also beheaded Chen Fu'an, who held the second‑highest seat in the Duan household; were he to treat Xiao Wei similarly now, the Duan family would rebel at once.

For now, Emperor Longqing has not decided how to deal with the Duan family; it is not yet the moment to break openly, so confining Xiao Wei is the greatest favor he can show him.

At the very least, he was not reduced to commoner status, retaining his title of Third Prince.

Merely, his freedom of movement was restricted, and he was directly confined within Shang Jing, also serving as a check on the Duan family.

For Gu Shijie, it was not so fortunate.

Lately, the Gu Minister's Residence has been plagued by frequent incidents, provoking the imperial authority.

Gu Cheng actually did this because he resented Emperor Longqing's demotion of him from the Hanlin Academy; he went on to ruin the princess.

Although he forced Princess Changping, the blow was aimed at Emperor Longqing's face, at the imperial face; this time Longqing could not tolerate the Gu family.

Emperor Longqing issued a single decree demoting Gu Shijie to Western Fujian on grounds of failing to educate his son, corruption, dereliction of duty, and so on.

Western Fujian is the farthest southwest of Southern Qi; it is said to be rife with poisonous snakes, insects, and malarial mist, so thick that even an ordinary person never sees the locals there—only natives.

This time, Gu Shijie fell straight from the lofty post of Prime Minister to several lower ranks, ending up as a prefect of River Prefecture.

That was tantamount to sending Gu Shijie to his death; he collapsed with a thump in the Hall of Nurturing Heart, then slowly kowtowed to receive the order.

Emperor Longqing no longer wished to glance at Gu Shijie; he ordered him to set out three days later.

Gu Shijie, once a lofty Prime Minister, has fallen to this state.

After receiving the edict, he did not even know how he left the Imperial City; along the way, officials who once fawned over him now kept their distance, feeling he was like a plague—whoever got near him suffered misfortune.

Gu Shijie nearly dozed off, gripping the cold palace wall, he slowly lifted his head to gaze upon the towering Imperial City ahead.

This is imperial authority: the sovereign commands death, and the subject cannot but obey.

He rose from a rustic scholar to the power center of the Southern Qi dynasty, from a vigorous youth to his present twilight years.

By now his temples are streaked with white, yet he does not wish to face such humiliation at the end of his life.

The journey from Shang Jing to Western Fujian would take three months on foot; whether his frail body can endure it remains unknown.

Now the emperor is clearly intent on killing him!

Gu Shijie suddenly coughed violently, spitting a mouthful of blood from his throat.

He covered his mouth, looked at his palm, and saw a few specks of blood.

Suddenly a profound regret welled up in his heart: if, when his father‑in‑law ran into trouble earlier, he had bravely stepped forward to lend a hand, things would not have come to this pass.

He never imagined Emperor Longqing would discard him after using him.

He suddenly wanted to laugh, but the sound that came out was hoarse and rough; he wanted to cry but didn't dare to cry, so he just stumbled into the carriage and returned to the Gu Minister's Residence.

He had just gotten off the carriage when he saw a large crowd of commoners blocking the entrance to the Gu Minister's Residence.

Gu Shijie's heart leapt uncontrollably, and those commoners were still pointing and gossiping at the gate of his Gu Minister's Residence.

The eldest son's corpse had just been brought back to the Gu Minister's Residence, and they hadn't even had time to set up the spirit hall before the emperor demoted him.

He never imagined that returning home would still be in such chaos; the inner quarters he depended on lacked even a single steward capable of managing such a large household in an orderly fashion.

He suddenly thought of Du Qingning, who had been dead for many years.

Back then he resented Du Qingning for exerting too much control over him, and also resented Gu Qingnian's arrogant attitude.

But when Du Qingning was present, his inner quarters remained very peaceful.

Now it has come to this, and he doesn't even know what's happening anymore; he strode toward the gate.