[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s":3,"chapter-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-970":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Immortal Through Martial Path, I Who Cannot Die Shall Ultimately Be Invincible",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2326188,4549,"Chapter 970: On the Importance of a Mother-in-Law","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-970",970,"\u003Cp>“Does His Majesty truly have such a preference?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Jinming seemed unable to believe it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou lowered his eyes slightly and said nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lai Eunuch is a man from the palace; there’s no need to speak too freely in front of palace insiders. Who better understands the unpredictability of human hearts than those within the palace?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lai Eunuch smiled sweetly, “His Majesty has many preferences. When your daughter arrives in the capital, I shall personally instruct her, so she learns the depths of palace life. As long as your daughter has a good figure, a beautiful face, and a sharp mind, favor is merely a matter of time. When that happens, your Zhao family’s revival will be effortless. Perhaps even your case may be overturned!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Hahaha… Really?” Zhao Jinming, overjoyed, clutched the prison bars and leaned his entire body outward!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“All I’ve said is merely a word from His Majesty. He is always exceptionally generous to his favored concubines. Look at the Xiao family—thanks to Consort Xiao, they rose from ruin to wealth in just a few years.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, yes… The Xiao family’s wealth is plain for all to see; I am deeply envious.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Jinming began to fantasize about his daughter gaining favor in the palace, his Zhao family rising as a new aristocracy in the capital, everyone fawning over them—even his own case overturned. If the authorities moved slowly enough, perhaps he wouldn’t even die; he might live to see His Majesty issue a decree clearing his name.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The more he thought about it, the more delightful it became, until he burst into joyful laughter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lai Eunuch raised an eyebrow slightly, a flicker of mockery and contempt in his eyes, urging Zhao Jinming to get on with the matter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After reaching a preliminary agreement, Chen Guanlou escorted Lai Eunuch out of the Imperial Prison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Before I came, Her Ladyship instructed me: if Prison Warden Chen has any demands, he should speak freely. Her Ladyship would rather shatter into a thousand pieces than fail to ease the Warden’s burdens!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Chen Guanlou sneered, feeling a pang of distaste, “Tell your Ladyship I have no demands, and I don’t need her to shatter into a thousand pieces. Just don’t bother me again.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Does Prison Warden Chen harbor dissatisfaction toward my Ladyship?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Dare I? We walk different paths; we cannot work together. Lai Eunuch, handle future matters with the Zhao family yourself.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Prison Warden Chen, rest assured—I know you’re busy with official duties and will avoid disturbing you as much as possible.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s perfect!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After seeing him off, Chen Guanlou returned to his office and drank tea.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Imperial Prison began to see deaths.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The bribery case, though seemingly clear on the surface, concealed many hidden truths. Yet, by unspoken agreement, several departments seemed unwilling to pursue it further.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even those who wished to exploit it were forcibly silenced by an invisible hand, unable to move.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, ready-made charges, ready-made officials—kill them!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It began in the Imperial Prison: officials detained there over the bribery case, regardless of rank, were swiftly killed—none even reached the execution ground for public sentencing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is truly…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Censorate must impeach; they must make the Embroidered Uniform Guard suffer!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>These were all officials—only those who held official status could be called “offending officials”; how could they be killed at will?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Unthinkable!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Insolent beyond endurance!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet when their impeachment memorials reached the Political Council, they were suppressed—never even reaching Emperor Jian Shi before being rejected.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Clearly, this was all Xie Changling’s doing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Changling had made his intentions plain: cut the Gordian knot swiftly, resolve the bribery case quickly, and avoid expansion. His sole goal now was the Chu Prince in the south.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As long as the Chu Prince lived, his heart would remain suspended.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Counterattacking the Chu Prince was his plan—throughout, he had personally overseen its execution, allocating resources, making promises, conceding interests.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He would not permit anyone or any case to obstruct his plan.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the Pingjiang Marquis’s matter could be shelved; the bribery case could be swiftly resolved with thunderous force to prevent expansion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was precisely what many officials in court wished to see.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though some hoped for expansion to strike down political rivals,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>most officials longed for the case to end quickly, fearing any connection to themselves. After all, in this age, every official had a pile of dirt beneath their seat.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once the case expanded and began dragging in the innocent, everyone would suffer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Who doesn’t have sons studying the classics? Who doesn’t have grandchildren preparing for the imperial examinations?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If it expanded, what chaos would follow?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Once expanded, no one could control the consequences—fearful indeed. What if, one day, the executioner’s blade fell upon one’s own head? How unjust!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>End it! End it quickly!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That bunch of dead men in the Ministry of Rites—let them all die. Those troublemaking students—strip their degrees, expel them from the capital, make them retake the exams…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cut the Gordian knot swiftly—though unjust, it won broad approval, even from the candidates in this year’s imperial examinations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They feared the case dragging on, fearing their own innocence would be dragged into it, costing them their degrees, their futures, even their lives.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone knew: the longer the case dragged, the more people would be ensnared. No one was certain they wouldn’t be arrested, tortured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fear!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This fear made everyone accept the unjust swift execution, seeking only a return to normal life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for those dead, those unfortunate, all one could say: bad luck!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xie Changling overruled all opposition, insisting the Three Judicial Offices cooperate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Huaimin, as Vice Minister of Rites, deserved to die—he should be executed on the execution ground. Whether he was involved or not.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But he was lucky—he had Princess Xiangyin fighting fiercely for him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Princess Xiangyin, unwilling to let her young grandson lose his father, went to the palace and wept before the Emperor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Emperor Jian Shi, driven mad by her, finally snapped: “Death may be spared, but punishment cannot be avoided.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Huaimin was to be exiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Princess Xiangyin refused.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If Wang Huaimin is exiled, what of my grandson? Must he follow? Your Majesty, for the sake of my old age and my only grandson, show mercy. Otherwise, I won’t live.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The child need not follow into exile.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still no. My grandson must take the examinations, earn degrees. If Wang Huaimin is exiled, the Wang family’s future is destroyed.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This won’t do, that won’t do—what do you want, Aunt?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Simply pardon Wang Huaimin’s crime—dismiss him from office, nothing more.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Absurd! Can state law be treated as a joke!” Emperor Jian Shi was furious.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Princess Xiangyin wept again, finally offering several favors, until the Emperor relented: “Banish the Wang man from the capital. From now on, I never wish to see him again, and you must never mention him to me. As for your grandson, he may remain in the capital.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, Wang Huaimin escaped unscathed, his life preserved.\u003C\u002Fp>",1157,"2026-06-20T17:40:00.288Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","7c61b36002938e90768af5c549326fb6b6d43a48bdd8e8ffdc69dc6848ae4758","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-971","immortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-chapter-969",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fimmortal-through-martial-path-i-who-cannot-die-s-cover.jpg"]