amaotonovel Chapter 226: Abolition of Women's Prison
Chapter 226: Abolition of Women's Prison
Immediately afterwards, Zhou Qihuai's seventh brother, who had not been favored by his mother since childhood, was recalled to the imperial city. His seventh brother had made unprecedented military achievements on the border, discussed important state affairs with the Grand Tutor, and his martial arts were outstanding... He watched Zhou Xuheng quickly gain a foothold in the court. As long as he, Zhou Xuheng, stood in the court, all the attention of the civil and military officials in the court would be on Zhou Xuheng. As long as he, Zhou Xuheng, stood in the Qianzheng Hall, the other princes would be eclipsed by his dazzling brilliance. In his father's eyes, he could only see this one son. His father was becoming more and more satisfied with the seventh prince and paying more and more attention to him.
Finally, half a year later, the youngest son Zhou Xuheng was named Crown Prince and succeeded to the throne.
In prison, Zhou Qihuai recalled his reckless life, the fawning and flattery of those around him, his cruelty, his indifference, and his indifference...
In extreme pain, he thought, this is all going to be over soon!
An ordinary small courtyard in the outer city of the imperial city welcomed an unexpected guest that day.
Baolu, the young eunuch of Suowu Palace, brought a message to this small courtyard.
Baolu signaled the palace servants behind him to present gold and silver. Mulan's husband, Wei Baozhu, grabbed both hands full. He was so excited that he didn't know why. He bowed and said in return, "Sir, are these all for me?"
Upon hearing this, Wei Baozhu's mother held the entire tray in her arms: "Isn't this obvious? Smoke must be coming out of my Wei family's ancestral tomb... Ouch! Let me touch it."
Wei Baozhu's excitement had barely subsided when Baolu replied, "This is all a reward from my master to the Wei family, enough to keep them well fed for the rest of their lives. Your wife, Mulan, saved the nobleman's son, but she and the child...died in the mountains behind Guo'an Temple! My master arranged for mother and child to be buried there, and he also asked my young master to take Mulan as his wet nurse. The annual memorial rites and the Qingming Festival cleaning will never cease!"
The smile on Wei Baozhu's face froze. He seemed afraid he had misheard: "What did you say? What happened to Mulan and my son?"
Wei Baozhu's mother reacted first and sat on the ground crying and rolling around: "My grandson, my grandson..." But her hands were still holding the tray without loosening.
Wei Baozhu slumped to the ground in a daze: "No... Wait! I don't want all this gold and silver! I just want Mulan to come back, just her and the child! Don't joke... I just want her to come back..."
Wei Baozhu's mother held the tray tightly.
Bao Lu couldn't bear to watch any longer, so he just gave another instruction: "Mulan has another daughter. I hope you can treat her well. Our master will also give her a good future in the future."
Wei Baozhu listened stupidly, only his mother was still yelling.
In the Cining Palace, Empress Dowager Li stood up anxiously. She heard that Huai'er had been captured, and she wanted to see Emperor Shenwu!
But after arriving at the Qianzheng Hall, Emperor Shenwu was unexpectedly easy to talk to. He spoke lightly about the treatment of Zhou Qihuai, demoting him to a commoner and imprisoning him for life.
Empress Dowager Li breathed a sigh of relief, then hesitated, "I wonder... where he is imprisoned? Can you, Your Majesty, go visit him?"
The Shenwu Emperor's phoenix eyes were deep and unfathomable. "There's no need for a meeting! Mother, you must know that some things only happen after a meeting! I have made it clear to the world, and I will not go back on my word!"
Empress Dowager Li hesitated, then remembered Xiao Qi who had been implicated. "Xiao Qi is very blessed. I'm so glad he's alright."
The Shenwu Emperor replied calmly, "Xiao Qi's life was saved by another innocent child. It wasn't that Zhou Qihuai was merciful! He even caused another mother to die! Mother, do you really want to continue discussing Zhou Qihuai's affairs with me?"
Sensing the Emperor Shenwu's hatred and impatience towards Zhou Qihuai, Empress Dowager Li was stunned. She paused for a moment, as if all her energy had been drained away. Empress Dowager Li walked towards the door of Qianzheng Hall, but after only two steps she stopped again: "Emperor, whether you believe it or not, I really don't want to see you brothers killing and hurting each other! This outcome is fine, we can just not meet. At least I know you're all still alive. That's good! That's good!"
Empress Dowager Li slowly walked out of the gate of Qianzheng Hall. Emperor Shenwu looked at her desolate back and couldn't help but think, people talk about a mother's heart and mother's love, Empress Dowager Li's motherly heart was to let her brothers live well, but her motherly love was only given to her other children. At least Emperor Shenwu didn't feel it much.
Comparing Mulan's attitude towards her children and Lan Qingwu's attitude towards his children, Emperor Shenwu couldn't help but laugh at himself, thinking that he would never be able to get this thing in his entire life.
The matter of the abandoned Prince Zhou Qihuai of Wangshen finally came to an end. However, in the previous dynasty, a bloody storm without the smoke of gunpowder began again over whether the laws of Dasheng would be revised regarding the official prisons for women.
Imperial City Prefect Lin Suzhi spearheaded the charge from the throne room. He detailed the pros and cons of the women's prison over the years, "Your Majesty, I've learned my lesson, but I still have to mention it. After the incident involving the abandoned Prince Zhou Qihuai, doesn't that make the issue clear? The cons of the women's prison now outweigh the pros. I believe it's time to abolish it."
Some ministers agreed and some opposed.
"If the women's prison is abolished, how can we control those women who commit crimes?"
"What's so difficult about that? They were locked up in dungeons, forced to do hard labor, exiled, banished, and beaten just like men... They want to abolish official prisons for women, but they don't want to abolish the punishments for female prisoners!"
"What did the Abandoned King do in Jiazhou City? If there were no official women's prison, how could he have thought of locking innocent women in wooden cages? How many innocent women and children were indirectly harmed by this? Do I need to describe them in detail?"
"Every year, the highest number of wrongful convictions involves women. This is due to conflicts between women and their mothers-in-law, or a preference for sons over daughters... It's truly a headache!"
"No! How can the laws of our ancestors be changed so easily? No, no!"
"The women's prison was created because of the treacherous concubine incident... If the law were changed..."
Various opinions and voices followed one after another, but Emperor Shenwu sat calmly on the dragon throne. Lin Suzhi was right about one thing: the time was ripe to abolish the official prison for women.
In the harem, Concubine Wen gradually gained power. She allied with the daughters of some civil officials, and these concubines implicitly followed her as their leader. In this incident of the women's official prison, Concubine Wen secretly allied with the concubines in the harem to prevent the abolition of the women's official prison!
In Suowu Palace, Lan Qingwu held the seventh prince in her arms and sang nursery rhymes softly to coax him to sleep.
After a while, a wet nurse came forward and gently took the seventh prince over, then bowed and left.
Ru Ping stepped forward and bowed slightly: "Master, the matter has been settled."
When Ruping mentioned Wei Baozhu's reaction, Lan Qingwu couldn't help but remain silent.
"The calls for abolishing women's official prisons have been growing louder in the past dynasty, and Young Master Lan has contributed significantly to this effort. He has joined forces with his teacher, Mr. Shi Binyuan, who has many students all over the world. The influence and role of these scholars cannot be underestimated!"
Lan Qingwu nodded. "Don't look at Concubine Wen's active obstruction. It's useless! The crimes committed by the abandoned prince Zhou Qihuai in Jiazhou City this time are numerous and have an extremely bad impact. His abuse of wooden and iron cages has made the people frightened. With his promotion, the women's official prison will definitely be abolished this time!"
"Go and pack up the children's accessories and give them to Nian Nian, Xiao Guai, and Yu Er."
Ruping was very smart and immediately understood what Lan Qingwu meant, and nodded in agreement.