“Such a good girl, what a pity.” Sun Old Madam sighed again.
“Grandmother, this is regretting every time you see?” Sun Yi Jia helplessly laughed, “The first time when little sister Wan got engaged, I already felt sorry for fifth brother, but afterwards, when they got engaged, I actually directly told little sister Wan, if possible, have the engagement cancelled. The longer I stay in the Luo family, the more I feel the Ding Duke Manor isn’t a place for humans to stay. Since even I came out, then how can I bear to watch her enter? Just like how it’s easy to go from frugal to extravagant, but going from extravagant to frugal is hard. Inside here isn’t just the matter of my mother.”
Which family was ‘extravagant’, and which family was ‘frugal’, wasn’t determined by wealth and honor.
“For men, missing a marriage fate, they can still have a next one, but for girls, they can’t. That’s why, I would rather see fifth brother in pain, than to let little sister Wan sink deep into the mud.”
How could Sun Old Madam not understand. However, she still reached out and tapped Sun Yi Jia, “This is ‘to talk standing without hurting the waist’[1]? And even a little heartless one, extending the elbow outward.”
“Worth it.”
Indeed, it was worth it. An ‘outsider’ was worth her doing this, yet that person, as her mother, thoroughly broke her heart.
Sun Old Madam had the thing carried on her taken out, “This thing, properly store away.”
“What is it?” Sun Yi Jia curiously asked. Looking through the brocade pouch, it appears to be a piece of plaque. Sun Yi Jia opened it, peeking a little bit of it out. It was gold colored, “Gold plaque? What’s it for? Grandmother, how come you’re giving me this?”
Sun Old Madam just looked to her without a word.
However, once Sun Yi Jia saw the words in the middle, her pupils violently shrunk, hurriedly having the gold plaque shoved back again. She looked to Sun Old Madam in shock, her lips somewhat trembling, “Grandmother, this thing, really is what I think it is?”
Sun Old Madam nodded, slightly opening her mouth and spitting out four words, “Death pardoning gold plaque.”
“No, grandmother, how come there’s this thing now? If I remembered correctly, only when the Great Ancestor established Qi Yuan…………..” Sun Yi Jia suddenly thought of something, revealing a somewhat dumbstruck expression, “For the founding four dukes and nine marquis, the Great Ancestor not only bestowed the Dan Shu Metal Scroll, but also a death pardoning plaque for each family, and said, even if the great crime of treacherous treason, can still use this gold plaque to avoid a death penalty. And the amount of people pardoned for the crime vary from one to nine, and for those whose crime does not amount to death, they can even relieve their entire clan’s offense.”
(T/N: The Dan Shu Metal Scroll as well as background on the founding of Qi Yuan, and four dukes and nine marquis are all explained in detail in chapter 5.)
Thus, for crimes that implicate up to the ninth relation, either chose to save a few key offenders’ lives and all be sent to exile, or let those that should die die, while the rest get pardoned of their crimes, becoming commoners. As long as they have this gold plaque in hand, then for the most part, won’t be sentenced an execution of the entire family, because at that time, using the gold plaque to pardon their crimes will definitely be those main offenders that ought to be killed, so the rest are actually irrelevant.
Moreover, each gold plaque all can be used three times, and the most important thing is that as long as Qi Yuan doesn’t perish, the gold plaque will forever be effective.
This death pardoning gold plaque’s power was truly a bit too big. When the Great Ancestor Emperor sent them out, he was rather carefree, yet never considered how much trouble it would leave behind for the later generations. Four dukes and nine marquis, that was thirteen gold plaque, and perhaps able to pardon the great crime of treason thirty-nine times. Of course, this is just the most ‘ideal’ situation. The reality definitely won’t be like this.
The death pardoning gold plaque, in a certain sense, actually became ‘death pressing talisman’.
In order to eliminate and reduce the death pardoning gold plaque’s effect, as the later emperors, they didn’t use any less sinister methods, for example, letting the important outstanding descendants of certain clans ‘commit’ a capital offense. This was actually still a relatively gentle method. After all, there were also those that would cling to the death, and would rather abandon an outstanding descendant. For the four dukes and nine marquis families to decline that fast, this plaque perhaps occupied a very large factor.
And for the Ding Duke Manor to be able to stand tall to this day, reportedly, one of the secret reasons was that Sun Yi Jia’s grandfather’s grandfather had voluntarily handed over the death pardoning gold plaque, obtaining in exchange something else for the Ding Duke Manor.
The thirteen death pardoning gold plaques got taken back one after another, with just one piece left, and moreover, just had one chance remaining. The influence practically can be overlooked and disregarded. And it has long been lost, with its whereabouts unknown, so there wasn’t an effort to search for it either.
Sun Yi Jia never expected that this thing was actually in her grandmother’s hands and was even given to her. Sun Yi Jia felt there was something wrong, her emotions seemingly somewhat overly intense. She quickly took in two deep breaths, letting herself calm down.
“Right now this thing isn’t that regarded as taboo anymore, so just accept it. It’s best if you don’t need to use it, but if by chance there’s a day you need to use it, then just use it.”
Sun Yi Jia held the death pardoning gold plaque. This thing right now was no longer a hot potato, but a true and honest life saving talisman. Because of her selfish motives, she naturally wanted to keep it, but, “Grandmother, the Ding Duke Manor should need it even more, right?” In reality, she also more or less knew about the Ding Duke Manor’s current state.
Sun Old Madam shook her head, “When the Ding Duke Manor truly is about the perish, it’s not something a piece of death pardoning gold plaque can save. Moreover, this gold plaque isn’t mine, so naturally isn’t the Ding Duke Manor’s either.”
Sun Yi Jia was confused, then where did it come from? An outsider would even casually have this kind of thing given away? Sun Old Madam just looked to her, silent without a word. Sun Yi Jia suddenly jumped inside, carefully asking, “My mother’s?”
Sun Old Madam nodded, “Indeed your mother’s.”
“Grandmother, this is having snatched it over from her? This kind of good thing, if need to give, still needs to be given to fifth brother.” The first half of Sun Yi Jia’s words carried a lighthearted laughter, while the latter half was extremely calm. It can be seen, her mother’s matter indeed won’t have an influence on her anymore.
“It’s what she owes you.” Not just because of her child, but also her engagement with Jin Qinwang. She clearly could’ve used the plaque to let his Majesty take back his decree. Although for this death pardoning gold plaque, even if known whose hand it’s in, he might not necessarily want to take back, but who let his father and grandfather all have an ‘obsession’ with regaining the plaque. If one really were to use it to get rid of the engagement, Le Cheng Emperor won’t not agree.
“Since that’s the case, I’ll just accept it.” Little sister Wan had given her such a big present, yet she felt she had no way of paying her back. Although this thing is far from enough, for better or worse, it can still be a small token of her feelings, so she’ll just give it to her.
“Yi Jia, this is wanting to give it to someone?” Sun Old Madam had discerning eyes, while Sun Yi Jia’s expression was too obvious.
“En, want to give to little sister Wan.” Sun Yi Jia also didn’t deny.
“If you want to give, then just give. In any case, it’s already yours, you can deal with it however you see fit.” Towards this, Sun Old Madam was very much unconcerned. The Luo family were all very honorable people, if something really were to happen, regardless of whose hand this gold plaque is in, they probably all won’t watch from the sidelines with folded arms.
When Li Hong Yuan received the news, he was also rather surprised. The death pardoning gold plaque, in his past life, till his death, was something that never once appeared. Turns out it was in the Ding Duchess’s hands. When the Ding Duke Manor got destroyed, her not taking it out actually can be understandable, but why didn’t she take it out to save Sun Yi Jia and her child? One has to know, at that time, Sun Yi Jia had married Li Hong Yi. Setting aside whether or not she was living well in the Kang Qinwang Manor, the relationship between the mother and daughter pair definitely wasn’t like this now, practically having their relationship severed. Moreover, according to Sun Yi Lin’s personality, if he knew this thing existed, he definitely would have forced his mother to take it out.
Then, in other words, saying the Ding Duchess’s true nature was selfish really wasn’t wronging her at all.
[1] Idiom meaning ‘all very well to say, but getting things done is another matter’.
