Chapter 300 - Chapter 111: Asking for Help_4

Of course, these small courtyards were not shabby at the beginning—they were all well arranged. However, after a scion of a powerful family brought a woman to live in one of these small courtyards, an Imperial Censor learned about it and reported the matter. At that time, the Empress Dowager was a devout Buddhist and, upon hearing the news, became enraged. She said that this person had desecrated the Buddha and directly exiled him three thousand miles away, issuing an imperial decree that he was never to be pardoned. Furthermore, the Empress Dowager reprimanded all those who had made their small courtyards opulent and luxurious with her decrees. Her actions led to the present simplicity of these courtyards.