Chapter 237: Will You Sell Your Daughter?

Shi Junhe walked out of the imperial study and left the other officials’ whispers behind. Then he went back to the mansion directly.

Even so, the news spread much faster than he had guessed.

When he entered the gate of the East House, before he went back to his bedroom, somebody from the Shou’an Hall came to send a message that the Princess Royal asked him to see her.

Shi Junhe met Shi Qingxue’s doubtful eyes and sighed helplessly with a bitter smile. “Mother got the news so soon.”

“Father, what happened?” Shi Qingxue felt nervous after seeing Shi Junhe’s smile and thought that something bad would happen.

“Nothing.” Shi Junhe shook his head slowly and pushed Qingxue back into the study.

He patted her head and comforted her. “Be good and wait here for me. I will tell you after I come back.”

With that, he followed the maid from the Shou’an Hall to leave.

Shi Qingxue stood at the door and had a stronger bad feeling.

She wouldn’t listen to anybody obediently. As soon as Shi Junhe walked out of the gate of the East House, she ran out of the mansion.

When Shi Junhe came to the Shou’an Hall, he saw that Mo Shujun was sitting in the reception room and anxiety could hardly be concealed on her dignified face for the first time, so he felt restless involuntarily.

But he quickly calmed down and touched his sleeves, coming up to greet her. “Mother, why did you ask me to come?”

Even before Shi Junhe saluted her, Mo Shujun waved her hand at once. “What on earth happened? Why did His Majesty depose your official position? What did you do? You must have done something wrong and made him angry. Otherwise, with our family’s fame and position…”

She asked three questions successively, and Shi Junhe didn’t even have a chance to cut in. Then Mo Shujun started to answer herself.

Shi Junhe had to patiently wait for Mo Shujun to finish her mutter. Then he comforted her. “The Imperial Censor impeached me in front of His Majesty as he doubts that our family colludes with the rebel army. Although His Majesty didn’t believe his words, he still told me to rest at home temporarily. Mother, don’t worry. His Majesty doesn’t have the plan to depose me. I just have a rest at home, and…”

“You have lost your official position. How would you save Juncai?” Mo Shujun showed her concern about Shi Juncai when she started to speak.

As soon as she finished her words, both of them were stunned.

Shi Junhe thought that Mo Shujun cared about him at least, even though it was related to the Shi family’s honor and disgrace. He was moved, but he didn’t expect that…from beginning to end, Mo Shujun was most worried about and cared about Shi Juncai most.

Shi Junhe lowered his head and concealed the disappointment in his eyes, but he couldn’t speak more.

The air was full of embarrassment and silence.

Logically, Mo Shujun just revealed that she was partial, so she should figure out a way to win back her eldest son’s heart.

But she didn’t think she was wrong. She admitted that she was partial to her youngest son, but he was younger than her eldest son and inferior to the latter in the position and ability, so shouldn’t he get more love?

Shi Junhe was an elder brother and should protect his younger brother.

While thinking, Mo Shujun was more dissatisfied with Shi Junhe.

However, she didn’t express it on her face but showed that she was concerned about Shi Junhe. She advised patiently, “Junhe, even if you don’t do it for your younger brother, you can’t just stand by and watch as you are suspended and your title of nobility are deprived. The position of Duke Shi is a title of nobility left to you by Shi Lei, and it was the medal he won after he was on the battlefield for most of his life. If it is deprived by His Majesty, how would I face your father after I die? How would you explain to him in the future?”

The second generation of an official Shi Junhe kept silent for a long time and then smiled at Mo Shujun, saying indifferently, “Now the situation at the imperial court changes strangely and can hardly be foreseen. It’s common to rise and fall, and my father won’t blame me.”

Mo Shujun was speechless.

The Princess Royal mentioned Shi Lei just to arouse Shi Junhe’s aspiration. After all, if he lost something left by his ancestor, anybody would be too ashamed to face his ancestor after he died.

Unexpectedly, Shi Junhe was strange, or he knew well about his father. He knew that Shi Lei went to the battlefield and wanted to protect the country because he thought that they started a war, which made the people in the Mo Country who were in trouble suffer the disaster caused by the war and get separated from their relatives, so he always wanted to give the common people a peaceful world.

As for the title of nobility, Shi Lei refused from the beginning when he could be a king even though he was not from the royal family, which could show that he never cared about the status and identity. If the late emperor didn’t insist on making him the duke, Shi Lei might would rather be an ordinary general in the military camp than get involved in the mess of the officialdom.

As Shi Lei’s son, Shi Junhe grew up under his instructions, and even if he didn’t learn all from his father in the aspects of temperament, temper and ability, he learnt most of them.

Since he came back with the soldiers after they defeated the army from the Liang Country, Shi Junhe expected that something like this would happen.

And he started to make a plan since then. Now Mo Xiangbin didn’t have any convincing evidence against the Shi family, and at most he made groundless accusations like today, so he wouldn’t do anything to Shi Junhe.

But it didn’t mean that Shi Junhe couldn’t choose to retreat at this time.

After hearing Shi Junhe’s plan, Mo Shujun got furious and didn’t care about her identity. She just pointed at him and cursed, “Are you kidding? The Shi family has the honor and status because Shi Lei and I built and accumulated it step by step. I have managed for so many years with effort and finally made the Shi family have a foothold in the capital, on a par with any other noble family.

“But you are unwilling to do anything now and will watch the Shi family decline. Is this what you should do as a son?”

Shi Junhe didn’t want to make Mo Shujun angry and repeatedly shouted at once, “Mother, please don’t get mad.”

After Mo Shujun calmed down a little, he sighed helplessly. “It’s not that I am unwilling to fight for it. The rules in our family are always to exercise strict self-discipline, respect justice and abide by the laws, and be a pure official of His Majesty, never join the fight among the factions.

And because of this, I didn’t want Qingxue to marry Mo Junyang in the past because I was afraid that our family would be regarded as the crown prince’s follower. It’s just that I want to be quiet but the wind doesn’t stop. Even though the Shi family is low-key and doesn’t fight against anybody, the people who like to meddle still don’t want to let us go.”

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“We won’t let them go,” Mo Shujun responded forcefully because she was not satisfied with Shi Junhe as he was a coward.

It appeared that anybody who dared to be unconvinced would be retorted to death.

Shi Junhe stated, “…Mother, His Majesty fears our family because we are powerful with a high position. If we cause trouble again, probably our family can’t be protected in the future.”

Mo Shujun finally realized that she said that under the impulsion, so she smiled awkwardly and explained in a hurry, “I just said it casually. What’s the most important now is to win back His Majesty’s trust in our family.

“When your father was alive, our family’s position at the imperial court was more powerful than now, but we still won His Majesty’s trust. Who dared to have any objection? But after Shi Lei left the title of nobility to you, the Shi Army’s influence was reduced by one fourth, and you are always completely unknown at the imperial court, so I am worried for you after seeing that!”

Mo Shujun spoke generously and showed her resentment as Shi Junhe didn’t live up to her expectations.

She spoke relaxed but didn’t think of something.

Shi Lei helped the late emperor establish the country, and the two shared hardships together, so their friendship was unusual. The late emperor took Shi Lei as his brother and certainly wouldn’t suspect him.

Later Mo Shujun married Shi Lei.

Shi Lei married the emperor’s sister. Even if he didn’t do anything but be the emperor’s brother-in-law at leisure, perhaps nobody dared to show disrespect to him, not to mention that he had an inconvincible Shi Army.

With all the conditions together, of course, Shi Lei could be inferior to only one person, and the late emperor wouldn’t be alert to him.

After Shi Junhe became the duke, the closeness and trust between the emperor and official became less, and they were just the monarch and his subject.

Mo Shujun didn’t ask about the situation in the country or care about the imperial court and the royal family, so their influence reduced a lot.

Shi Junhe always followed his father’s instructions and hid his capabilities in order to make the Shi family get rid of people’s attention and protect them.

But now he was in the center of people’s watchful eyes again, and he felt that he disappointed his father.

“Mother, you were born in the royal family, but don’t you know this principle? His Majesty never needed an official who might threaten his throne and would give up that official no matter how capable and obedient he was.” Shi Junhe sighed helplessly and didn’t know how to explain to Mo Shujun about this simple principle.

If he didn’t retreat, he would wait for others to drag him down.

It was the same.

Mo Shujun still didn’t give up the idea but expressed, “In this case, you can just win back His Majesty’s trust. I have seen him grow up and know his character. As long as he is willing to trust you, he would protect you even if you are denounced by the public.”

Shi Junhe opened his mouth and suddenly didn’t know what to say. He had to ask Mo Shujun modestly, “Mother, what good idea do you have to make our family win back His Majesty’s trust?”

“It depends on what you would do.” Mo Shujun kept him in suspense.

Seeing Mo Shujun’s expression, Shi Junhe guessed that she must have a good idea and want him to pay a price.

Even though he didn’t believe that she had a good way, who didn’t want himself to be in a better situation?

He hurriedly bowed to Mo Shujun and said respectfully, “Of course I hope that our family would be prosperous forever. If you have a way which won’t break the heavenly principles but can make our family have a solid foothold at the unstable imperial court, please tell me, Mother. I will do anything I can and won’t refuse.”

Mo Shujun was satisfied with Shi Junhe who was sensible, so she nodded and stated with a smile, “You don’t need to do anything dangerous. To be exact, this time, the one who needs to do something is somebody else.”

“Who?” Shi Junhe frowned and suddenly had a bad feeling.

“Qingxue!”

Shi Junhe asked expressionlessly, “Qingxue is just a weak girl. What solution can she have?”

Mo Shujun rolled her eyes almost inelegantly and disdained Shi Junhe’s thoughtlessness, but the smile on her face was more excited. “Why can’t she have a solution? We can marry her to the fourth prince. As long as she becomes his wife, the Shi family would be related to the royal family by marriage once more, and the Shi Army would be His Majesty’s most loyal army. How would His Majesty doubt the Shi family’s loyalty?

“And in this way, the Shi family would be always prosperous, and both the first master and the third master’s families would gain a lot. You don’t need to be unable to sleep every night out of fear of the emperor’s power like now…”

“Mother!” Since Mo Shujun suggested marrying Shi Qingxue to Mo Junhao, Shi Junhe was stunned and couldn’t react after a long while.

As Mo Shujun was more absurd while speaking, Shi Junhe finally couldn’t stand it and interrupted her. “Mother, you know that Qingxue is my daughter, not something for sell. And she loves somebody else and won’t agree to marry him.”

But Mo Shujun looked cold and rebuked, “What are you talking about? Qingxue is a young lady in the Shi family and a good girl our family has raised with a lot of money. Now the family is in danger, and shouldn’t she do something for us?

“Moreover, a child’s marriage is decided by the parents. Even if she has objections, she needs to listen to me and marry the man I choose for her.”

Shi Junhe’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets because of Mo Shujun’s shocking words. After he controlled himself for quite a while, he finally swallowed what he wanted to say.

His face was stiff, and he said coldly, “I know that you want to do good to the family, but I would never sell my daughter to seek interests and give her happiness in exchange for the whole family’s glory and wealth. Please forgive me, Mother.”

Perhaps it was Mo Shujun’s first time to be refused so straightforwardly by Shi Junhe. It made her frozen on the spot, like a basin of cold water poured to her head.

Before she said more, Shi Junhe lowered his head and continued slowly, “And this is Father’s will before his death. If he knows that we bully his most loved granddaughter after he died, wouldn’t we break his heart?”

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