Reborn Before My Husband Ascends the Throne

This shock in Deng Prefecture quieted down the entire Tang Prefecture.

Why was it Deng Prefecture that was shaken?

Because the Ye family clan was large in number. In truth, only the main household and some relatives with positions and connections had moved to Biyang. The vast majority of clansmen, along with many relatives and old friends, still lived in Deng Prefecture.

Moreover, Ye Suijin was stationed in Biyang, with the main household all present, so no one else dared to make trouble recklessly.

Thus Deng Prefecture became the epicenter of this shock.

Among the implicated Ye family members, the one with the highest status was Fourth Uncle Ye Silang, father and son.

Ye Silang's father-in-law was not directly involved in the killings, so he was sentenced to death by strangulation, leaving his corpse intact.

But Ye Silang's wife and daughters had all perished due to this incident, which was truly lamentable.

His cousin had goaded his sister to threaten her husband to rescue her father-in-law, holding her niece's life hostage. But unexpectedly, the niece drowned.

Although Ye Silang was not as infamous as Ye Lang with the nickname Yanluo Vajra, he was still a known killer. His cousin was afraid and took the opportunity to flee when Ye Silang's family was in chaos.

At that time, Ye Silang decided to divorce his wife and went to Ye Suijin.

Fifth Uncle was furious and sent people to capture Ye Silang's cousin. Fifth Aunt wept in anguish over her drowned granddaughter.

The servants could only sympathize with the innocent death of the young girl. Tong Yuening had become someone everyone shunned and avoided.

Soon after, she was found to have hanged herself from the rafters.

The cousin knew he could not save his father-in-law and had caused great disaster, deeply offending the Fifth Uncle's family. He hurriedly fled and never dared to show himself again.

Later, in the river along the border of Deng and Tang Prefectures, a bloated corpse was found. Based on the nameplate carried on his person, it was confirmed to be him.

No one knew how or when he had died. With the character of his father, it was unsurprising the son would come to no good end.

No one felt sympathy.

The other implicated elite Ye family member was the current master of Zhongyuan Hall.

He had truly ruined the centuries-old reputation of integrity that the Ye family had in the region.

Ye Jingyi sentenced him to death by decapitation.

Decapitation would sever the corpse, which was considered worse than death by strangulation to people at that time, as it did not leave an intact body. Hence, decapitation was considered a harsher sentence than strangulation.

His two sons who were accomplices were sentenced to death by strangulation and exile, respectively.

He still had a younger son who was not involved. But the entire family was stripped of their clan status and banished.

Ye Jingyi supported another relative from a different branch of the family to take over as the new master of Zhongyuan Hall.

It wasn't that he didn't want to support his own father or uncle. It was just that in his family, there were no seniors capable of taking on the position. It must be known that placing incapable or unvirtuous people in positions they should not occupy often led to calamity.

Of the rest, one was decapitated, one strangled, and five others exiled from among those related to Ye Family Fort and Ye Suijin's side of the clan.

In addition to the former master's family, seven others from Zhongyuan Hall were also exiled, with several receiving canings. One died from the caning.

Shengan Hall fared slightly better, with one exile and several canings.

Heguang Hall had no one who warranted capital punishment either. One was exiled and several were caned.

Of course the heaviest among in-laws was Ye Silang's father-in-law.

The rest amounted to over ten exiles and several dozen canings.

Although it sounds like a lot, compared to the Ye clan's nearly one thousand clansmen, it wasn't actually that many. After all, with one daughter married off, the entire family on the other side instantly became your in-laws.

By this calculation, in-laws could easily number ten thousand.

What the common people most approved of this time was that no reductions were permitted for all those convicted.

Reductions were actually an option written into the legal commentaries and codes. Criminals could use money to reduce their sentences, and it was legal.

The only catch was that this option involved flexibility, with the decision to permit reductions at the discretion of the official in charge. If a case caused particularly severe harm, the official could also reject requests from the criminal to reduce sentences.

This time, Ye Suijin's instructions to Yuan Ling were: Follow the heavy side allowed by the law, no reductions permitted.

Was Ye Suijin angry?

No one knew. No one could discern this woman's joy or anger nowadays. No one knew whether she considered this earth-shattering fury.

They only knew she had an iron will and ruthless methods.

Not a single commuted sentence.

Commuted sentences meant serving the sentence locally in jail. None - either heavy enough for direct exile, or lighter misdeeds punished with canings and then over.

Ye Suijin did not allow anyone to serve sentences locally.

In the past, when Wei was unified north to south, exile had varying degrees - five hundred li, one thousand li, two thousand li.

Now, with the north and south severed, various warlords vying for power, where could one be exiled to?

Ye Suijin's instructions were: "His Majesty is building a new imperial capital and imperial tombs over there, and lacks manpower. Send them over."

Thus Deng Prefecture dispatched guards to escort several dozen convicted to the capital.

It had been many years since so many people were exiled at once. The common people of the capital all turned out to watch the spectacle.

The Eldest Princess had kept a low profile for some time after the embezzlement case and hadn't dared to enter the palace. After this happened, she hurriedly went to the palace and nonchalantly related the events to the Emperor as an amusing anecdote.

"Half of them surnamed Ye," the Eldest Princess clicked her tongue, "She really doesn't hold back."

The Emperor indifferently replied: "Take a look at how she does things."

The Eldest Princess awkwardly tugged at the Emperor's sleeve, apologizing: "Father, your child knows her mistake."

Although already over ten years old, the Eldest Princess wheedled like a young girl when acting coquettish.

And so the Emperor's heart softened.

He shook his finger sharply at her, indicating the matter was settled.

In the teahouses of Deng Prefecture's cities, discussions naturally turned to the shockwaves time and again.

Those who were astute and well-read rapped their knuckles on the tea tables, saying: "All within the bounds of the law."

Although the sentences were heavy, everything was still within the allowable scope of the law, with each conviction and punishment having a basis.

Those who should be strangled were not decapitated, and those who should be decapitated were not strangled.

Although exile was harsher than serving sentences locally, having to leave one's hometown and travel afar, right now there was nowhere far they could be exiled to. People were sent to the capital, which was not actually that far when it came down to it.

However, sending these clansmen and relatives away to serve their sentences avoided potential future interference during imprisonment over the next few years. Many future troubles were preempted.

Everyone knew Ye Suijin was ruthless. She would kill without batting an eye.

Yet this time, there were no private judgments, no vengeful torture and killings. Everything could be found to have a basis in Wei law and statutes for convictions and sentencing.

Although Wei was no more, its laws remained.

Under Ye Suijin's rule was an orderly place, not one where those in power could act on a whim.

Today, those in power could kill a clan member who harmed the common people based on personal judgment instead of the law.

Tomorrow, if her mood changed, she could also shelter someone else harming the common people based on personal judgment.

Comparatively, order could better protect the common people and give them peace of mind.

Perhaps not every commoner was knowledgeable enough to fully understand this principle. But everyone could intuitively sense it.

This purge seemed to instantly cleanse the air of Deng Prefecture.

With the rot cut out, the Ye clansmen and relatives uniformly became gentle, law-abiding, and amiable.

Twelfth Sister and Yuan Ling returned to Biyang.

Yuan Ling kept a low profile after this trip to Deng Prefecture and continued as the Prefect of Biyang.

Even Fourth Uncle Ye was slightly more courteous to him than before.

His administration's orders were implemented more swiftly and efficiently.

Twelfth Sister watched Yuan Ling return to his daily life, eating normally, working normally.

But Twelfth Sister could not return to her past.

Fourth Uncle Ye said: "Don't tell your mother what you went to Deng Prefecture for. She doesn't dare scold Suijin, so she will certainly come scold me instead."

Twelfth Sister agreed.

Fourth Uncle Ye also asked: "Nothing happened in Deng Prefecture, right?"

Twelfth Sister thought of the belligerent people who had blocked their way, their vicious eyes.

In the end, it really was the Ye clan's matrilineal relatives, and even the oldest aunt was still living.

But they were only distantly related to the Ye clan through marriage alliances.

Relying on this connection, the village had built dams to occupy the water source, denying downstream villages access to water, causing injuries, even daring to resist arrest.

Power made them so arrogant.

Although the powerful hadn't actually shared any power with them, yet this was how they acted.

Twelfth Sister also recalled the family harmed by Fourth Brother-in-Law's father-in-law, their tears flowing ceaselessly as they wept.

At that time, she felt like her blood vessels would explode from rage.

Now, Twelfth Sister slowly shook her head and calmly said: "Nothing happened."

"That's right," Fourth Uncle Ye nodded in relief. "I reckoned that with Yuan Ling present, and Second Treasure, Jingyi from Zhongyuan Hall, Ronglin from Shengan Hall, and Genzhi from Heguang Hall all in Deng Prefecture, nothing would happen to you."

"Then again, if something really happened, you're no fool. You should have reported your name,"

Twelfth Sister said with a nod. "Reporting your father's, elder brother's, or Sixth Sister's name would have scared them to death."

Fourth Uncle Ye felt something was off. "What's the matter? What illness has befallen you? Why are you so listless?"

Twelfth Sister was silent for a long time before looking up and examining her father.

Her father and elder brothers were all very sturdy in build.

By comparison, Sixth Sister was quite tall for a woman, but still far more delicate than them.

"Father," she asked, "Why couldn't you seize Ye Family Fort from Sixth Sister?"

The pleasant, cozy father-daughter conversation came to an abrupt halt.

Fourth Uncle Ye grew awkward.

"Well," he struggled to salvage his dignity, "I let her win."

"Second Uncle's family has no more sons. Ours is the main branch. Ye Family Fort is ancestral property that should have gone to you, as my inheritance," said Twelfth Sister. "Even I understand this much. How could you let Sixth Sister snatch it away?"

Fourth Uncle Ye said, "It's all in the past now."

But Twelfth Sister said, "What I want to know is, how did Sixth Sister manage to defeat you back then?"

When she was little, she didn't understand and thought Sixth Sister was amazing to win everything as a matter of course. As she grew older and saw more of the world, she realized how bizarre it was.

Orphaned girls or widowed daughters losing everything to their male elders was commonplace.

But Fourth Uncle Ye, as the proper and lawful successor to Ye Family Fort according to rites and laws, had the ancestral property seized from him by his niece. That was what was truly bizarre.

When Fourth Uncle Ye and Ye Suijin fought back then, it wasn't over Ye Suijin's private assets. What they fought over was the position of family head, ownership of Ye Family Fort.

Seniority, gender, legitimacy.

Fourth Uncle Ye should have inherited Ye Family Fort without dispute.

Yet he lost.

How bizarre is that?

What could empower a girl to usurp the position?

Twelfth Sister had to get to the bottom of this now.

It was very important to her.

She must know!