Fortunate Life of the Rural Beauty
Chapter 266 - 265: Miscarriage of Justice

Chapter 266: Chapter 265: Miscarriage of Justice

Chen Afu didn’t want to hear any more, she didn’t want to know too much. Knowing too many other people’s secrets was not good, knowing too much about intrigue in a large mansion was even worse, it could even be life-threatening.

She quickly shook her head and said, "No, don’t say anymore. Even your third aunt doesn’t know, it must be a shocking secret. I’m still an outsider now, I don’t want to know too much."

Chu Lingxuan saw her nervous expression, chuckled softly, and said, "Look how scared you are. The only reason I can tell you this is because it was agreed upon after careful consideration by our elders, because you are also involved. I believe that I am not wrong in my judgment of you, and the elders in the family believe that Master Wu Zhi is not wrong in his judgment of you. We all believe in you, what are you afraid of?"

"I’m involved?" Chen Afu was somewhat surprised. She hadn’t married into the Chu family, how could there be such deep entanglement. She said, "In that case, go ahead. I’m listening."

Chu Lingxuan pondered for a while, his expression became serious, and he held her hand even tighter, so tight that it hurt her a little, causing her to lightly furrow her brow. He didn’t seem to notice, and said softly, "Afu, there was once a person I admired the most in this world."

"Ah?" Chen Afu was a bit puzzled. Admiration, it should be more profound than worship, respect, and honor. This topic did not seem quite appropriate for the current situation. She raised her head and asked, "The person you admire the most, is it your grandfather?" Seeing him shake his head, she asked again, "Then is it your third uncle?"

"No, my grandfather and my third uncle are the people I respect the most." said Chu Lingxuan.

"Then it must be the emperor." said Chen Afu. She felt that most people in ancient times admired the emperor.

Chu Lingxuan shook his head and said, "No, the emperor is the person that I am loyal to."

"Who is it then, it can’t be your imperial father, can it?" Chen Afu asked in surprise. She remembered that he harbored some grudges against his imperial father.

Chu Lingxuan still shook his head and said, "No, it’s not him. The person I admire the most, is also the person my grandfather, my father, my third uncle, and many warriors and scholars admire the most. He is the "God of War" from decades ago - Mr. Yuan, Marshal Yuan."

Chen Afu was stunned, how was this great person connected to her? She shook her head, indicating that she hadn’t heard of him and she didn’t know about this great figure in history.

Chu Lingxuan sighed, his voice grew duller as he continued, "Twenty-seven years ago, during the reign of the late emperor, a great injustice occurred in our court. Marshal Yuan, who led his troops like a god, was on the border fighting against the Northern Liao Kingdom. However, he suffered a major defeat, inexplicably lost several cities, and his food supplies were all burned by the enemy, resulting in more than half of his soldiers being killed or injured. The late emperor listened to those advocating peace, signed a ceasefire agreement, paid millions of taels of silver, and countless livestock as reparations. When Mr. Yuan returned to the court, he was arrested and accused of treason. All three generations of the Yuan family were killed, including women and children. Mr. Yuan was sentenced to death by lingchi. It was said that Mr. Yuan was given three hundred cuts to ensure his death, he gritted his steel teeth and did not utter a scream."

Sorrow flickered in Chu Lingxuan’s eyes as he glanced at her and emphasized, "Mr. Yuan was the father of the crown princess at the time, and the crown prince is the current emperor."

What a ruthless emperor!

Chen Afu looked at Chu Lingxuan in surprise and said, "Since Mr. Yuan was a war god, and also the father of the crown princess, it’s impossible that he betrayed the country."

Chu Lingxuan said without hesitation, "Of course he wouldn’t betray the country. Even if everyone else betrayed the country, Mr. Yuan wouldn’t! In his life, he led armies into battle four times, expanded the territory for Dashun, resisted foreign enemies, and was invincible, making his enemies fearful. How could such a stalwart man betray his country! Ahem, he was framed by wicked officials."

Due to his agitation, Chu Lingxuan’s voice involuntarily raised, and he started to cough towards the end.

Chen Afu couldn’t help but feel admiration for Mr. Yuan. She said, "Since Mr. Yuan was so loyal and contributed significantly to the Dashun dynasty. Even if someone framed him, the late emperor shouldn’t have believed it, or he should have investigated it thoroughly. Moreover, he exterminated the entire Yuan family, and sentenced Mr. Yuan to... that kind of punishment."

She didn’t dare to say the word "lingchi", it was too cruel and brutal.

Chu Lingxuan said, "When the late emperor was young, he was very wise, and he ruled Dashun in a way that brought peace and prosperity. But as he got older, he became increasingly suspicious and paranoid, always thinking that someone was going to rebel and snatch the Li Family’s world. At that time, the late emperor’s health was very poor. When he exterminated the Yuan family, one possible explanation was that he really believed that Mr. Yuan had betrayed the country and intended to usurp the Li family’s reign. Another reason could be that he wanted to kill Mr. Yuan for precautions, regardless of whether Mr. Yuan had betrayed the country or not. This was to prevent Mr. Yuan from becoming too powerful after he married into the nobility, which might threaten the stability of the Li Dynasty."

What a loathsome emperor! Chen Afu cursed in her mind. She said, "Since the late emperor feared Mr. Yuan’s rise to power, he shouldn’t have allowed the Yuan family’s daughter to become the crown princess. After all, the crown prince’s wife was for him to decide."

Chu Lingxuan sighed, "When the current emperor was still the young crown prince, he fell in love with the former crown princess at first sight. The late emperor loved him dearly, and after the crown prince’s repeated requests, he bestowed marriage. It’s said that Mr. Yuan wasn’t quite willing at first, and wanted to postpone the marriage on the grounds that the crown princess had a hidden illness, with the aim of letting a young lady from his clan become the crown prince’s secondary wife. But at that time, the crown princess also secretly loved the crown prince and insisted on marrying the crown prince, and would not marry anyone else. Mr. Yuan had no choice but to respect the crown princess’s wishes. After Mr. Yuan was killed, the crown princess felt responsible for the extermination of the Yuan family and committed suicide..."

Half a year later, the late emperor died, and with the strong support of Queen Wang’s family and Consort Zhou’s family, the current emperor smoothly succeeded to the throne.

The first thing the emperor did when he ascended the throne was to thoroughly investigate the "Yuan’s Treason Case". In the end, it was found that the emperor’s brother, the treasonous Prince Li, in order to usurp the throne, colluded with the Northern Liao Kingdom and framed Mr. Yuan for treason. He thought he could overthrow the crown prince as well, but he didn’t expect the late emperor to simply take the opportunity to exterminate the Yuan family, but still passed the throne to the crown prince. Even a coup d’etat later did not bring down the emperor.

The emperor redressed Mr. Yuan’s grievances, and also posthumously granted the former crown princess the title of Empress Dowager Yuan. The crown princess’s biological son, who is also the emperor’s eldest son, was made the crown prince. But the crown prince had only been titled for two days when he fell into water and died; he was only seven years old at that time. People thought that with this, the last trace of Yuan family’s blood had disappeared from this world.

After finishing the story, Chu Lingxuan’s eyes were red and his expression was somber.

Chen Afu felt an unbearable sorrow, it was the same in the history of her previous life, most of the national heroes did not meet a good end.

Heaven is so unfair!

They were given the mission to save the suffering people, but they were not allowed to end well, even their families could not escape.

But, what does the Yuan family, which was gone more than twenty years ago, have to do with her, Chen Afu?