"All weapons, equipment and ammunition have also been checked and there are no discrepancies."

Xia Chujian nodded: "I believe you, Major Li. Thank you for your hard work. Take a seat."

Li Fengqing sat down in front of her and then he visibly relaxed.

She picked up the bottle of water in front of her and took a sip, then said, "Captain, when do we leave?"

Xia Chujian sat on the single sofa with his legs crossed and said leisurely, "No rush, when it's time to leave, we'll leave."

Then he looked at Li Fengqing and said, "Major Li, you are from the Li family. When was the Li family canonized as one of the four great dukes?"

Xia Chujian remembered that the four great dukes in history, Zong, Quan, Su and Li, were said to have been conferred the title of duke when the empire was first established.

Moreover, the founding emperor Tan Tai Lin announced that the four dukes would inherit the throne without interruption. Even if they committed treason, only the ringleaders would be executed, and their entire clans would not be exterminated.

However, there are still fixed restrictions on the clans that can enjoy noble treatment.

Although the title is hereditary, there is only one person who inherits the title in each generation.

The title and treatment of nobility only revolve around the person who inherits the title.

Basically, they are relatives within five generations of this person, and they can be considered aristocrats.

Those beyond the Five Generations were automatically demoted to citizens.

There was an unbridgeable gap between citizens and civilians in the early days.

This is because the early citizens were actually the descendants of those who lost in the struggle for power between the nobles and the royal family.

Only the relatives of the successful person within five generations can enjoy the title and treatment of nobility, and of course there are also the titles and treatment of the royal family and clan members.

Therefore, there were many citizens with the surname Tan Tai in later generations. They were no longer treated as royal or clan members, but were just ordinary people.

When Xia Chujian was in the first level of "Empire Dawn", he gave surnames to Su, Zong, Quan and Li respectively.

But before she could confer them a knighthood, she was judged to have passed the game by the game system and was kicked out.

Now, Xia Chujian wants to know more about the direction of the game plot after she was kicked out.

As expected, Li Fengqing told her, “The Su, Zong, and Quan families were all granted the title of Duke a hundred years after the founding of the empire.”

"Our Li family is one hundred years behind those three families."

Of course, this degree of "lateness" is nothing in the entire course of history.

Xia Chujian nodded and said, "Then your family is also the last noble family to be conferred the title of Duke, right?"

Li Fengqing nodded. "Yes, when the country was founded, it was stipulated that there could only be four dukes. It is the grace of His Majesty the Emperor that allows us to enjoy this honor."

However, she hesitated for a moment, then lowered her head and said softly, "...Major General Qisha, I... I am actually the illegitimate daughter of a noble of the Li family."

"My mother was his mistress."

"Originally, I couldn't have the surname Li, but because I had good grades, I was able to get into the Imperial Military Academy."

"But because I wasn't a noble at the time, I couldn't enroll. The military academy only accepted nobles above the rank of earl."

"My mother went to my biological father and asked him for help."

"The Li family had no legitimate descendants capable of passing the entrance exam to the Imperial Military Academy. Therefore, after the head of the Li family, who was also the Duke of this generation, learned about this, he asked my father to take me in, granting me the status of a daughter of the Li family and making me a noble, so that I could enter the Imperial Military Academy."

Xia Chujian knew that the Imperial Military Academy was the predecessor of the Imperial Royal First Military University where she was studying.

At that time, the Imperial Military Academy was not open to the common people, not even citizens or children of nobles below the rank of earl.

Only children of royal family, dukes, marquises and earls could go there to study.

It is an aristocratic institution through and through.

Xia Chujian thought that this was probably the reason why the Duke of Li really changed his mind about Li Fengqing and decided to give her a chance.

Li Fengqing added, "As for me, I am just taking advantage of this opportunity to enter the Imperial Military Academy and learn some skills."

"That Li family never invited me back to celebrate the New Year."

"So they never really acknowledged me."

Xia Chujian asked calmly, "Are you angry? Are you complaining? Do you feel like they're taking advantage of you?"

Li Fengqing also said calmly: "No, I'm not angry, and I have nothing to complain about."

"I didn't grow up in the Li family. I changed my last name when I became an adult, that's all."

"I don't think that just because the old man of the Li family asked me to change my surname and gave me noble status, I have to regard the Li family as my home."

"That's impossible. They know it, and I know it too, so I won't go to their house to annoy them."

Xia Chujian said, "Just think it through. I don't care what my men's backgrounds are, because people can't choose their own backgrounds."

"But we can choose who we want to be."

This is what my aunt Xia Yuanfang often said when she was a child.

Xia Chujian didn't agree with this statement before, but now, he agrees with it more and more.