In addition to taxes, the imperial court also had to help them build mansions, which was another huge expense.

Later, the Ministry of Revenue suggested that half of the annual salary be converted into rice and the other half into paper money, and that the household be made to produce the money themselves, which finally solved the problem.

Because the Daliang Treasure Notes had no purchasing power, they were no different from waste paper.

This is equivalent to halving the annual salary.

In fact, during the reign of Emperor Xianzong, the court had already adopted the most direct method to control the size of the imperial clan—directly reducing the number of people receiving imperial stipends.

The method was that when the various princes requested to submit their names to the imperial edict, the Imperial Clan Court would find a reason to directly refuse.

For members of the imperial family of the Great Liang Dynasty to enjoy the privileges of imperial relatives, they had to be included in the imperial register and go through a certain process.

This process is called "naming request," which includes four steps: the Prince's Palace submits a memorial, the Imperial Clan Court reviews the application, the Ministry of Rites proposes a name, and the Emperor bestows the name.

There were two reasons for making it so complicated.

First, the names of members of the royal family were standardized to highlight the majesty and nobility of the royal family.

Secondly, it was to prevent people who were not of the Lu family bloodline from impersonating members of the royal family.

Starting from the reign of Emperor Xianzong, the court would not interfere with the imperial relatives taking concubines, but it would no longer approve their applications for naming their concubines' children.

During the reign of the late emperor, restrictions and clarifications were further made on the practice of imperial relatives taking concubines.

A prince has ten concubines, selected once, and cannot be replaced after his death or exile.

The heir apparent and the prince had four concubines.

Generals of all ranks who have no children by the age of thirty may take two concubines.

A lieutenant who is thirty years old and has no son may take a concubine.

Children born to concubines other than these concubines can only be considered illegitimate children, and have no chance of being listed in the imperial register, so naturally they cannot receive imperial stipends.

Finding this "young prince" proved difficult, as there was no immediate clue as to how to proceed.

Su Wanwan did not have the imperial edict from the Imperial Clan Court, but only the congratulatory messages from members of the imperial clan from various regions when she was made empress.

She asked the eunuchs to help her organize the congratulatory messages, and the only clue they had was the three characters "Wu Qijun".

She hesitated whether to go to Cai Zhen to inquire about the imperial edicts from the Imperial Clan Court.

But this will leave traces.

Cai Zhen and the Grand Princess of Chun'an were not on good terms with her, which could easily alert her.

Just when we were completely clueless, a handsome young eunuch suddenly spoke:

"Your Majesty, the wife of Lu Zhongbing, the deposed Prince of Ninghua of Jin, is surnamed Wu."

These words immediately lifted everyone's spirits.

The character “奇” is even more special, as it was a character used in the naming of a certain generation of descendants of the Prince of Jin.

Soon it was discovered that Lu Zhongbing's sixth son was named Lu Qijun.

Su Wanwan couldn't help but marvel at how wise the decision was to select eunuchs from the Inner Study Hall.

Although these young eunuchs were young, they were exceptionally intelligent.

It should be noted that the Ninghua King's lineage had been reduced to commoners, and there were no congratulatory messages from the Ninghua King's lineage among these messages, making them easy to overlook.

However, the congratulatory message from the stepmother of the Prince of Ninghua did include the names of the descendants of the Prince of Ninghua's lineage.

Lu Qijun was listed among the commoners.

Su Wanwan went straight back to Xiaoyuan to find Lu Xingjian.

Lu Xingjian was not surprised; instead, he made a joke with a half-smile:

"My wife is truly a reincarnation of Zhuge Liang; she can find all of this."

Su Wanwan sensed the teasing in his words and paused, "You knew all along?"

No, not exactly.

Lu Xingjian absentmindedly stroked the jade thumb ring on his thumb, his interest not high.

"The Eastern Depot was only investigated and clarified today."

Su Wanwan greatly admired the efficiency of the Eastern Depot.

Unfortunately, she didn't have such a capable person at her disposal.

Seeing her curious expression, Lu Xingjian didn't hide anything and asked:

"Would you like to come with me to see him?"

Su Wanwan clenched her fists and nodded.

She wanted to see just who this audacious "little prince" really was.

She wanted to confirm whether the child in Maggie's belly was this "little prince's".

However.

Ma Yongcheng, the supervisor of the Eastern Depot, knelt down and bowed with a face full of shame.

"Your Majesty, please forgive me! The criminal Lu Qijun has fled, and we have only captured his accomplice Wang He."

Lu Xingjian did not answer, but calmly sat down, though his expression was quite cold and gloomy.

Su Wanwan quietly sat down beside him.

Ma Yongcheng's pupils constricted slightly.

Unexpectedly, the Emperor brought the Empress with him.

The fact that the Empress was a member of the Su family still made him quite wary.

Back then, Su Jian had angrily rebuked Ma Yongcheng to his face, saying that if he were to present the emperor with hawks, hounds, and archery guides, and if the emperor were to be harmed, his crime would be unforgivable, and even death would not be enough to atone for it.

This terrified Ma Yongcheng.

He had always kept his distance from Empress Su Wanwan.

“Should be announced.” Lu Xingjian’s voice was chilling.

Wang He was dragged in.

He had already experienced the tortures inflicted by the Eastern Depot and knew all too well the feeling of being worse off than dead.

He also knew that this audience with the emperor was a crucial moment of life and death for him. One wrong answer would likely mean certain death.

"Your Majesty, spare my life! Your Majesty, spare my life!"

"I only persuaded Lu Qijun to spend money to buy a way in, because I heard that my distant relative, Wang Deqing, a centurion, had connections to enter the palace and meet the emperor. I know nothing else about it!"

Su Wanwan paused for a moment. She had heard He Jin mention Wang Deqing before; he was a collateral branch of the Empress Dowager Wang family.

The Hami envoy, Xie Yihuxian, obtained an audience with Lu Xingjian through his connections and the introduction of Ma Ji.

It turns out that the Wang family was also involved in this matter.

Lu Xingjian ignored him, only glancing at Ma Yongcheng indifferently.

Ma Yongcheng questioned, "If you know nothing about it, why are you panicking?"

Wang He shuddered: "It's that Lu Qijun. He said he's committed a terrible crime and needs to leave the city to avoid trouble. He also told me to hide for a while..."

Do you know Lu Qijun's identity?

“Yes, I know. He said he was the young prince of the Ninghua Prince’s Mansion. Last year, his uncle was pardoned and his title was restored. He also went to the capital to meet the emperor, hoping to seek the restoration of the title of the Ninghua Prince’s Mansion.”

"It was Wang Deqing who used his connections in the palace to lead him into the palace as an eunuch to seek an audience with the emperor. As for the rest, I know nothing about it."

Su Wanwan sat there motionless, feeling a chill run down her spine.

At this point, all the clues connect and make sense.

The Wang family.

It's the Wang family again.

It seems like they've made a series of blunders.

It encourages people to lower their guard.

Their meticulousness in action and their unpredictable motives are truly outrageous.

If Lu Xingjian couldn't control himself and favored Ma Ji...

Even if it's only once.

Regardless of who the real father of Ma Ji's child is, it will definitely be attributed to Lu Xingjian.

The royal bloodline was thus secretly replaced.

Lu Qijun was also a member of the royal family.

Even if the matter were accidentally exposed, it would be suppressed to save face for the royal family and would not be discussed openly.

Ma Ji's child can only be considered Lu Xingjian's eldest son.

Does Lu Xingjian want to deny it?

hehe.

Her words as empress, "Congratulations, Your Majesty, on the birth of your heir," had already set the tone.

Lu Xingjian did not deny it on the spot, so the matter was confirmed.

Su Wanwan's mind is a mess right now.

Who said Wang was stupid?

He had her completely under his control and took full advantage of her feigned generosity and virtuousness.

But why didn't Lu Xingjian directly refute it at the time?