[Severing family ties + imperial examinations + political intrigue + no forgiveness + rise of a poor family]
The day Shen Qingchan was driven out of the Shen family, his legitimate elder brother, Shen Hong, tore up his household registration in front of him. “From this day on, you are no longer a Shen.”
Three years later, the results of the metropolitan examination were posted in the capital. The top candidate was Shen Qingchan. When the news reached Jiangnan, the main branch of the Shen family sent people to the capital that very night. On the day of the palace examination, Shen Qingchan walked out of the golden hall, and the Shen matriarch herself knelt outside the palace gates. “Chan'er, come home.”
Shen Qingchan looked down at the old woman kneeling before him and quietly asked, “May I ask who you are?”
Passing the highest examinations, entering the cabinet and becoming prime minister, enacting reforms and expanding the borders: Shen Qingchan spent his life proving that the Shen family did not give him his name. He was the one who put the surname “Shen” into the history books.
