"I heard you spent half the day at the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion playing with the children yesterday?" After finishing breakfast and dismissing the palace servants, the emperor asked Ye Jingchen.

"Yes, because those two kids are so cute," Ye Jingchen replied.

"No matter how cute someone else's child is, it's useless; it can't compare to a single strand of your own hair!" the emperor said with displeasure.

Ye Jingchen wore a bitter expression and said resentfully, "Your subject loves children so much, and naturally wants to give birth to one himself, but unfortunately, your subject cannot give birth!"

He wasn't exactly lying to his father, because he genuinely couldn't have given birth on his own.

The old father felt a sharp pang in his heart.

"I have already ordered Imperial Physician Li to prepare the medicine. Once it is ready, take it and see if it works," the Emperor said.

Ye Jingchen: He knew the emperor wouldn't give up easily.

"Father, it's not that I'm not cooperating, but most of these potent medicines are harmful to the body. What if I get sick from taking them?" Ye Jingchen said with a troubled expression.

"If Imperial Physician Li can't concoct a medicine that won't harm the body, then his position as Imperial Physician is over!" the emperor said coldly.

Ye Jingchen immediately dared not say anything more.

"I've seen all the evidence of collusion between the major families and the Northern Barbarians, so why aren't the Ji and Gu families mentioned?" the emperor asked, changing the subject.

"Isn't it a good thing that the Ji family isn't around?" Ye Jingchen retorted.

Does the emperor intend to confront the Ji family?

It's not that the imperial army of 600,000 couldn't deal with the Ji family, but what would be the benefit?

Ye Jingchen doesn't have the idea that he has to be the only one who matters in the world. As long as the people of Yongzhou are doing well, that's all that matters.

On the surface, Yongzhou was subservient to Dayuan, and the annual taxes were paid on time and in full, although they might not be exactly the same. But the most important thing was that the people of Yongzhou lived in peace and prosperity. Who cared who the local emperor of Yongzhou was?

Although he is now Ye Jingchen, the crown prince of Dayuan, he doesn't have the ridiculous idea that 'Dayuan belongs to the Ye family'.

"And what about the Gu family?" the emperor asked again.

He didn't believe the Gu family would be so well-behaved!

"I've given the evidence against the Gu family to Jingyu. She's about to marry Gu Beichen, so consider it a wedding gift from your older brother!" Ye Jingchen said.

"You seem to care quite a bit about this younger sister, sending her such a generous gift!" the emperor sneered.

"This was my own doing, Your Majesty, please punish me!" Ye Jingchen could tell from the emperor's expression that he was unhappy, so he knelt down and begged for forgiveness.

"You still know that you acted on your own initiative?" the emperor deliberately nitpicked.

“Jingyu married into the Gu family for the sake of taking over the family business. Gu Beichen, the heir to the family head, also intends to reorganize the Gu family. In that case, why can’t we give them a chance?” Ye Jingchen said.

"You trust them so much? What if they don't share your views?" the emperor continued, his face stern.

“One of them is my younger sister, and the other is my study companion. We grew up together, took the same classes, and shared the same values. Why wouldn’t we be of one mind?” Ye Jingchen said calmly.

Of course, what he didn't say was that he could bear the risk of disagreement, but that he was willing to trust Ye Jingyu and Gu Beichen.

"You can't judge a book by its cover, don't assume things!" the emperor continued, uttering unpleasant words.

"Father, which family do you plan to attack first? Will you take them down one by one, or wipe them out in one fell swoop?" Ye Jingchen was completely unaffected by his words. The emperor did not tell him to get up, but he stood up on his own and asked with a smile.

"You think you can wipe them all out in one fell swoop? Have you gotten too cocky after you dealt with the threat from the Northern Barbarians? Do you think the aristocratic families are so easy to deal with?!" The emperor felt he had finally found fault with Ye Jingchen and launched into a tirade of abuse.

Ye Jingchen listened quietly, without even frowning.

Xie Chang'an has secretly replaced many of the powerful families who have placed their influence in the court over the years. If they cooperate with the 200,000-strong guard battalion, wiping them all out in one fell swoop is not a problem at all.

However, these things could not be told to the emperor, otherwise, he would definitely not deal with the aristocratic families first, but would instead try to destroy the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion first.

"I'm just asking, which family does Father Emperor intend to target first?" Ye Jingchen asked with a smile.

"Doesn't the Wang family like to use marriages to consolidate their power? Then let's start with the Wang family's married-out daughters." As the emperor spoke, he pulled out a letter. The letter was signed by one of the Wang family's sons-in-law, a famous merchant in Qingzhou, whose wealth was immense and could rival that of a country.

Although no one in their family held official positions, they bribed many local officials with money to protect and support them.

The emperor's idea coincided with Ye Jingchen's previous plan.

But wouldn't the emperor be able to quickly realize that something was wrong?

After all, over the years, they have dealt with many of the families of the Wang family's daughters who married out.

Just like the owner of the letter in the emperor's hand, who was one of the families they dealt with. In recent years, their family business has not been as good as before, especially in recent years, when Ye Jingshu's Chamber of Commerce took advantage of the situation and swallowed up a lot of their businesses.

Otherwise, Ye Jingshu and her team wouldn't have been able to expand their business empire so rapidly.

If all else fails, we can just let Ye Jingshu take the blame. She's a beneficiary, so it's understandable that she'd go against the powerful families for money.

"Father is wise and mighty!" Ye Jingchen complimented as he thought to himself.

"Once the Imperial Astronomical Bureau calculates the auspicious time for the coming-of-age ceremony, this matter will be entrusted to you!" the emperor said.

Ye Jingchen's calm expression instantly changed.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!