To be a Virtuous Wife

Chapter 104

Chapter One Hundred and Four
This Was Good

The temperature of winter mornings were especially cold. The Imperial Guards guarding the palace doors drew in a cold breath but didn't dare stomp their feet to warm themselves. Watching the officials who usually preferred to ride a horse, sit on the sedan, the guards whose faces were paralyzed from the cold felt envious.

"Hey brother, did you hear that Ning Wang is coming back to court?" The two Imperial Guardsmen that were changing shifts walked out of the palace gates, one of the brawny men said in a low voice as he looked at the surroundings, "I heard yesterday many people had sent up a memorandum to the Emperor about such a matter."

The slightly thinner and taller one gave a superior expression: "It is certain that Ning Wang would return to court. Xiandi was partial to Rui Wang so he locked Ning Wang on the outside. Now that it's cold, the Emperor is kind and honest, it's natural that he would summon Ning Wang back. Just watch, in three days, Ning Wang will be summoned back to court by the Emperor."

The brawnier one rubbed his head, laughing honestly: "You're right. Rui Wang did such large mistakes, but the Emperor didn't take his life due to fraternal love. So it should be the same for His Highness Ning Wang." If he had a say, Ning Wang was really mistakenly accused and locked up. Maybe the assassination had been done by Rui Wang. It was just that xiandi was partial and used Ning Wang as a shield.

The thinner and taller one saw his mentality and didn't speak further, sighing inside. The twists and turns of the thoughts of those in the Imperial Family, whether it was fraternal friendship or anything else, it had nothing to do with them guards. Now that Ning Wang was returning to court, Rui Wang had become a powerless jun wang. These two had been at odds from the beginning. Rui Wang had been arrogant and offended countless people. One of those victims had been Ning Wang. There would be a reckoning for Rui Wang now.

On the court, all the officials were discussing the matter of Ning Wang's return to the court. Some said since that Ning Wang had been locked under xiandi's orders, the Emperor shouldn't change it. Some said that Ning Wang now knew his mistake and was brothers with the Emperor, it was right for him to return to court to help shoulder the burden for the Emperor, and that was all the reason to summon him to court.

In reality, everyone knew that it was suspicious that Ning Wang had been locked up by xiandi. Some suspected that Ning Wang had been a scapegoat pushed out by xiandi for Rui Wang. But now, no one dared to mention that thought,  and only fought over whether Ning Wang should return to court or not.

Those that were at odds with Ning Wang naturally didn’t want Ning Wang to return but there were people who supported Ning Wang's return. Those of keen eyes found that among those that supported Ning Wang's return were many of the conservative faction. So these people started to think about the Emperor's intentions.

By now, Ning Wang's power base had been swept clean. Those officials that had been close to Ning Wang were suppressed completely by the officials that the Emperor favored, and some became part of the conservative faction. Was the Emperor trying to show the world he had fraternal love?

The Duke of Zhong Yi who had once proved Ning Wang's guilt in front of xiandi suddenly changed his stance. The main idea was that Ning Wang had repented and changed for the better, he could make up for his offenses by returning to the court and working for the Emperor etc etc.

The Duke of Zhong Yi and Luo Chang Qing, a pair of sly father and son-in-law, always followed the Emperor. Now that the two of them expressed their outlook, everyone understood the Emperor's position. As morning court progressed, no one dared to oppose this matter.