Tianliangyuan

Chapter 455: An Idea Emerges

Xu Han did not hide any of his actions from Emperor Yong'an; he even went to the palace to request an imperial decree.

Emperor Yong'an had been considering how to settle the wounded and injured soldiers. Now that Xu Han had made a suggestion, Emperor Yong'an naturally agreed. After all, the imperial decree did not specify how much resettlement allowance His Majesty would provide, but in practice, he knew that Xu Han would definitely consider the dignity of the emperor.

As expected, in actual operation, the Ministry of Revenue provided a limited amount of silver, money, and grain, with some coming from the Duke of Xin's mansion. However, Xu Han specifically stated that this was His Majesty's decree. Although these rewards seemed to come from his hands, he was actually only responsible for helping His Majesty with the statistics and distribution, because at that time he was the commander-in-chief and he knew the actual situation below best.

No one disagreed with this statement.

After the awards ceremony concluded, everyone was in high spirits. Some held banquets, while others treated guests to drinks at restaurants outside. In short, the entire capital was immersed in an excited and joyful atmosphere.

The atmosphere at the Liu residence was rather somber.

Because of Sun Qian's death, the matter of Miss Qi Er, who was implicated, has not yet been fully resolved by the Liu family.

Although the concubine was punished, Young Master Liu did indeed favor his concubine over his wife, and his future prospects are not promising for the next two or three years.

His Majesty is not such a forgetful person.

Besides, Young Master Liu's legal wife is still living at her parents' home.

This shows what?

If this matter is not handled properly, the entire Liu family will be looked down upon by the aristocratic circles.

The distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children is not just a matter of words.

Think about it, even though he was born into the royal family as the eldest son of a concubine, because he was not the legitimate son, he had very few supporters in the court. The one with the most support was still Prince An, Li Jin.

As the saying goes, what goes up leads to results.

Even the royal family values ​​legitimate and illegitimate children so much, yet you, a mere subject, are doing things like favoring your concubine over your wife. Aren't you just asking for trouble?

Besides the Liu family, the Jiang family is also having a hard time.

As long as the Liu family doesn't resolve this matter, the Jiang family can forget about having any peace.

Therefore, whether Jiang Yanping was willing or not, he had to help find a solution.

The final result was that the Jiang family lost money again and voluntarily gave up a medium-sized estate, which was then handed over to Miss Qi. Of course, the Liu family paid an even greater price.

The Qi family thus gained a great deal of benefits, but what made the Qi family feel most honored was that after Miss Qi returned to her husband's family, she would gradually take over the power held by her mother-in-law. This was the most important point.

For these powerful families, whoever holds power has the final say.

Moreover, when the Liu family invited her back this time, they also noticed that the eldest young mistress of the Liu family had several more shrewd stewardesses by her side.

Now, the Liu family really behaved themselves.

The Qi family was satisfied, and the Liu family quelled the matter. They still needed to find a way to push their young master Liu into the imperial court, and they also received a promise from the Jiang family. So, although they lost some material possessions, the Liu family was basically satisfied.

Only the Jiang family.

Not only did he pay the price, but he also had to find a way to use his political resources to help the Liu family. Do you think he felt resentful?

Don't assume that just because the Jiang family helped Young Master Liu make connections, the Liu family will be grateful to the Jiang family, and don't assume that the Liu family will follow the Jiang family's lead in the future.

Because of this incident, the Jiang family was at fault from the very beginning.

Besides, matters in the imperial court are not so simple.

You can't expect people to follow you just by giving them one or two benefits.

If it were that simple, why would we need to use strategies and scheming?

Why not just give away silver to the people?

That's why the Jiang family felt aggrieved and angry.

Jiang Ning had just helped the Prince Zhong's mansion earn a lot of money, but because of this incident, his reputation with the Prince Zhong has plummeted again.

All the previous efforts have been wasted!

Jiang Ning was so angry that she cried for several days, but what could she do?

Everyone is now waiting for Cui Xuanming's return, because all they know is that Cui Xuanming took people out, but very few people know exactly where they went.

After Cui Xuanming sent back a secret letter, His Majesty summoned Xu Han, Xie Xiaolin, and Cui Xuanzheng. After making some arrangements, he revealed Cui Xuanming's whereabouts.

Because of the time lag in information dissemination, by the time Li Ye's spies started sending messages out, Li Ye's territory was already surrounded.

Overnight, six more officials and more than ten minor officials in the capital were imprisoned.

Without anyone noticing, more than twenty families were about to suffer misfortune.

Faced with irrefutable evidence, these people naturally had no way to refute it. Even if they surrendered now, the superior would no longer trust them.

Fortunately, this time His Majesty was merciful and did not carry out a direct killing, but instead exiled these people and their families to Xuzhou.

They just happen to need someone to herd sheep over there, let's go and do the work!

As for Li Ye, he was killed by a hail of arrows. Cui Xuanming promptly ordered his men to behead him and then put his head in a box to prepare for his return to the capital to claim credit.

Xu Zhaozhao listened to Xu Zhuzi talk about things outside, occasionally tapping the table lightly with her fingers. Her face was expressionless and her eyes were cold; no one knew what she was thinking.

"My lord, the latest news is that Lady Jiang of the Prince Zhong's mansion is pregnant again, but the pregnancy is still in its early stages, and she has temporarily kept the news a secret. I wonder if she has other plans."

Xu Zhaozhao's eyes lit up when she heard the news.

After Jiang Ning behaved herself for a while, she really started to get bored.

"Besides Madam Jiang, who is the most favored person in the Prince Zhong's mansion now?"

"There are two. One of them is of low status. I heard that she was presented by an official below her. She came from a brothel, but when she entered the Prince's mansion, she was still a virgin, so she was just a concubine. The other one was sent by a wealthy merchant from Jiangnan. Although she is of low status, her family is very wealthy and she is highly regarded by Prince Zhong."

Xu Zhaozhao nodded; the opportunity had arrived!

Since I'm just killing time anyway, I might as well watch Jiang Ning's show.

Xu Zhaozhao's eyes darted around as she pondered who she should use Jiang Ning to frame this time!

The concubines favored by the Loyal King, unless sent by someone from the Jiang family faction, are Jiang Ning's enemies, and therefore are essentially his allies.

It wouldn't be appropriate to frame these people, and I also feel a bit guilty about it.

Women have it tough, so we shouldn't pin the blame on them if they don't deserve it.

Then attack the Jiang family directly?

Xu Zhaozhao's lips curled slightly. She seemed to have an idea. If she did it well, it might really deal a heavy blow to the Jiang family.

"Zhu Zi, go and do something for me. If you do it well, you'll be richly rewarded!"

"Please give your orders, Master, and I will certainly carry them out."

Xu Zhaozhao chuckled: "Come closer!"