The love of parents for their children is deep and far-sighted, but the love of the Gao parents is utterly repulsive. While they love their own son, they should not have schemed to take the life of another family's child.
Moreover, this person was their daughter-in-law, Mrs. Han, who had provided them with a more affluent life. In the end, the whole family were nothing but selfish and ungrateful wolves!
Mrs. Gao might have acted out of maternal love, but Mr. Gao was undoubtedly motivated by a desire to preserve the Gao family line, fantasizing that Gao Ming could still escape unscathed and return to being his esteemed official.
Regarding this point, Elder Master Bao said only one thing to Mr. Gao: "Your son's murder of his classmate Qu Zheng has been exposed."
This alone terrified Mr. Gao out of his wits. Under severe torture, he confessed everything: how Gao Ming bought the poison, how he mixed it into Mrs. Han's medicine while she was ill, and how they buried the body after she was poisoned, leaving no detail untold.
The verdict for the three members of the Gao family came swiftly: execution in the autumn.
With the sudden downfall of the Gao family, the three daughters Mrs. Han had borne for Gao Ming were taken away by the Han family. At the request of the eldest daughter, ten-year-old Gao Min, the three girls ultimately took their mother's surname.
As for Gao Ming's sisters, apart from the third sister who had been tormented to death two years prior, none of the other three sisters went to the prison to visit their parents or their brother, Gao Ming.
Upon learning this, Yue Fuguang once remarked with a sigh, "It's fortunate they weren't blindly filial. This is good for them; they can finally live their own lives."
When their brother was prosperous, these sisters, whom he had once parasitized and drained, received no benefits. There was no reason for them to remember these poor relatives only after the family had fallen into disgrace.
[Perhaps they wanted to come but couldn't afford the travel expenses to the capital.]
"Whatever the reason, it's good they didn't come."
The shockwaves from the Gao Ming case continued. Bao Yuanjun, reflecting on the case, thought of the numerous reports of disappearances and alleged elopements in recent years.
During a morning court session, he petitioned Emperor Mingxi for the Dali Temple and the Ministry of Justice to jointly review the missing persons cases in the Great Yan Dynasty in recent years.
Emperor Mingxi agreed without much hesitation.
In less than two months, the case review results reported from various regions were horrifying, shocking the entire Great Yan court.
Among those reported missing, seventy percent were attributed to wives eloping with lovers or young women running off with their sweethearts. Astonishingly, ninety percent of these individuals had actually been beaten to death and buried by their own parents or in-laws.
Bao Yuanjun also discovered two consistent patterns: the husbands of the "eloping" wives were uniformly drunkards, gamblers, or incompetent men who beat their wives. For the "eloping" young women, their parents uniformly reported that the girl had run off with a peddler!
All those involved in the cases were sentenced to execution in the autumn. This action by the court also served as a major deterrent to the rural clan powers where imperial authority often failed to reach and clan power superseded the emperor's law.
Henceforth, when considering arbitrarily disposing of their wives or daughters, they would have to think twice about whether their necks were strong enough.
However, all that was yet to come.
At this point in the story, events had only progressed to the Han family accusing Gao Ming of murdering his wife, and the Gao parents confessing their guilt. Gao Ming, that foolishly filial white lotus, had not participated in the murder.
Therefore, he had not yet been imprisoned.
But Gao Ming had already sensed the danger. Gritting his teeth, he went to his study, retrieved a unique jade pendant he had once taken from Qu Zheng from a hidden compartment in a bookshelf.
Donning a cloak, he secretly slipped out of the Gao residence's back door with only one trusted follower.
The two cautiously avoided the patrolling guards and night watchmen along the way. After walking for the time it takes two incense sticks to burn, they arrived at the back door of a certain residence.
Gao Ming knocked and entered. As their figures disappeared inside, three people slowly emerged from the shadows behind.
One of them said, "Ping Wu, you go back and report the situation. Ping San and I will sneak in to see what's happening."
The man called Ping Wu nodded and said, "Be careful, Captain. This residence doesn't seem simple."
After the two figures disappeared over the courtyard wall, Ping Wu quickly ran toward the direction of the imperial palace.
...
Yue Fuguang looked at her slowly increasing points and asked her system, "The mission points for Gao Ming actually rival those from the Xu Changyue case."
[Perhaps it's because the nature of the case he represents is exceptionally heinous?]
Yue Fuguang then remembered a video she had come across in her previous life, which was very similar to this. A blogger had said that most women said to have run off were actually killed by their own husbands.
The comments section even had people sharing their own or their acquaintances' experiences. At that time, still young, she had remained skeptical.
After the Gao Ming case, she felt that despite the separation of time and space, the evil in human nature is the same. Perhaps what those people said was true!
Yue Fuguang's mood dipped for a moment, but she quickly adjusted her mindset.
Whether it was true or not, there was nothing she could do about it now. She was currently a penniless wretch without even a body of her own!
In the streets and alleys, gossip about the Gao family had not yet died down; it remained a topic of conversation for the common people.
But soon their attention was captured by another major event: the Great Yan's peace marriage alliance with the Western Qiang. The day had arrived for Pingning County Princess Xie Zhiyao to depart for her marriage.
Yawning, Yue Fuguang stood with the assembled court officials following Emperor Mingxi on the jade steps of the Chengtian Hall.
Just after the Yin hour (3-5 AM), the main gate of the imperial city, the Chengtian Gate, slowly swung open with a heavy creak, breaking the silence of dawn.
That heavy sound of the gate opening even gave the still somewhat drowsy Yue Fuguang a sense of solemnity and gravity.
The view from the jade steps was excellent; even someone as short as her could see the scene outside the gate.
There, a massive honor guard was already lined up and waiting. The dark mass of the Imperial Forest Guards stood in solemn silence, their armor gleaming and halberds held upright, like a silent forest of iron.
[Host, the armor and weapons of these Imperial Forest Guards, were they forged using the latest iron-smelting techniques you provided?]
Yue Fuguang looked carefully before replying, "It should be. I just mentioned ancient Xia Kingdom iron-smelting techniques to my grandfather a few times. I didn't expect them to achieve results so quickly."
[This shows the ancients were quite clever. With just a little guidance from you, they could extrapolate and innovate on their own.]
"Exactly. It also shows the Ministry of Works truly harbors many talented individuals. From stir-frying steel, repeated forging of steel, to decarburized cast iron steel, it only took a few months. Grandfather says they're almost on the verge of mastering the co-fusion method as well.
In the Xia Kingdom, this technology didn't mature until the Tang Dynasty."
[With improved technology and increased production, the Ministry of Works' demand for iron will surely rise significantly.]
"Naturally. Haven't you noticed Lu Qi visiting my house frequently lately? He's trying to pry information about the Great Yan's mineral veins from you.
I just wonder if they've set their sights on the vein in the Savage Mountain. My points!"
[Host, I forgot to tell you. Emperor Mingxi sent people there long ago; Huo Ying is in charge of this matter.
They can't exploit that iron ore deposit for now, but they don't want such a large reserve of high-quality iron ore to fall into their rivals' hands either.
So, Huo Ying had people disguised as another bandit group eliminate the Savage Mountain bandits and take their place.]
