Duke Ping was speechless, as he really had no way to refute what Marquis Ping said. Su Juan was indeed being condemned by everyone.

He pulled Ping Bohou and pushed him back to his chair, "Brother Liu, don't be anxious. Is there anything that can't be discussed properly?"

Pingbo Hou snorted coldly and looked at Pingguo Gong, with six big words almost written on his face: Let me see how you make it up.

"Think about it. Su Juan is actually not as unpopular as you think in the court. She is favored by His Majesty. If His Majesty knew her background and that she is his only child, how much would she love him?"

"Think about it again. Doesn't Minister of Revenue Mo Youqian think highly of her?"

Ping Bohou retorted, "That's because he was recommended by Su Juan when he was still a minister!"

Duke Ping: "No matter what the reason is, he values ​​Su Juan. Think about it again. Is the Minister of the Central Secretariat also polite to her?"

Ping Bohou was amused by the Duke of Pingguo's joke, "Isn't it because the daughter of the Minister of the Central Secretariat is on good terms with her?"

As he said this, he asked Duke Pingguo, "Think about it yourself, has she offended all the ministers except the Minister of Revenue?"

"Even if what you said is part of your future plans, and I want to help, her inability to hide her thoughts will harm everyone sooner or later!"

If it were someone else, he would have agreed to this.

But if it's related to Su Juan, then this is not a simple matter. If there is any mistake, everything will be lost, and all the people involved will suffer.

Duke Ping immediately assured him, "Brother Liu, rest assured. I will never disclose her identity to the public in the short term. The child will naturally not reveal her identity. I will not let her know about your Liu family, so naturally I will not expose the Liu family."

"Besides, think about it, if Your Majesty really wanted to choose someone from the royal family to be adopted, why would he hesitate for more than ten years without any definite news?"

Isn't it because he still has a glimmer of hope that he can find his daughter?

Pingbo Hou also understood what Duke Ping meant. He wanted his Liu family to help secretly. If His Majesty wanted to train her, he should help the Crown Princess ascend the throne. If His Majesty did not want to train her, he should just protect himself as is.

He sighed helplessly, "Why do you have to be so persistent about this? It's fine for her to be a minor official now. Even if she is dismissed from office and leaves the court in the future, the Su family's wealth will allow her to live comfortably. Even if the Su family cannot protect her, she will naturally be protected by your Xie family. Why bother getting involved in this mess?"

Why must we force Su Juan down that path? It's hard to predict whether she will live or die in the future, so won't we regret it?

Hearing this, Duke Ping sighed, "I thought so too. If I knew it was Su Juan, I would definitely not investigate further. But His Majesty is already investigating, and it is only a matter of time before Su Juan's background is exposed..."

"Brother Liu, you know this child's character. She has no bad intentions. Do you really want me to watch my own niece and granddaughter being forced to die in the future?"

Pingbo Hou hesitated. Although that was the case, it was dangerous to get involved in a party struggle. If he were alone, there would be nothing to worry about, but how many people were there in his Liu family...

Seeing that Pingbo Hou began to hesitate, Pingguo Gong began to attack his heart, "Brother Liu, think about your son, think about your nephews in the Liu family, each of them is talented and full of ambitions, but they have been hesitant to enter the government for the past ten years. Even the few who have entered the government have been sent out. Why are they so hesitant?"

"Isn't it because the selection of the crown prince has not been decided yet, and they are afraid that they will be wooed by King Han or King Heng after they enter the government, which will implicate the entire Liu family?"

Duke Ping's tone became increasingly high. "Let me ask you, can you really bear to see them, young people, full of ambitions but unable to realize them?"

The words of Duke Pingguo immediately touched the softest spot in Marquis Pingbo's heart, reminding him of his nephews in the clan. They had been delayed for as many years as the King of Han and the King of Heng had been fighting.

Three years ago, my son was old enough to enter officialdom, but he could only go to places like Jingyuan to relax every day.

If I delay further this year, it will be another three years. I have so much talent, if I keep delaying like this, when will it end?

Especially in the past few years, in order to protect themselves, the Liu family claimed to be neutral, but in fact they offended both sides, neither the King of Han nor the Prince of Jing.

After all, his Liu family is not the Xie family. They don't have a queen in charge, and they don't have the military power to protect themselves. No matter whether it is King Han or King Jing who ascends the throne, if they attack his Liu family in the future, the younger generation of the Liu family will never have a chance to make a name for themselves. If they encounter a narrow-minded king, it will be difficult for them to protect themselves.

Should we fight for another path in the current chaos, or bet that the future king will be tolerant?

"Thank you, brother. I already know what you mean, but this is really not a trivial matter. Please allow me to go back home and think about it for a few days before giving you a reply."

Having said this, Duke Pingguo could not persuade him any further, "I will wait for Brother Liu's reply."

What the two people in the study didn't know was that Xie Xun was outside the door and heard everything. Supporting the Su family was expected, but winning over Pingbo Hou was unexpected.

After all, the Liu family has always been neutral and does not lean towards either side. If the Xie family were not Su's relatives, they would not easily join the game.

Especially Su Juan...he is really difficult to assist.

It’s not that she has no ability. She is indeed smart. The fact that she is valued in the Ministry of Revenue shows that she has real ability. But her problem of showing her true feelings is her biggest pain point.

...

At this time, Su Juan did not know that the Duke of Ping was already making plans for her. She was in Liu's mansion, following Liu Miaoqing to listen to the Minister of the Central Secretariat talk about Zhongzheng Dingpin.

Every three years, the imperial court would appoint Zhongzheng officials to go to various places to assess the grades of local talents, which were divided into nine grades. The Ministry of Personnel would eventually grant official positions of corresponding grades based on this. The Zhongzheng officials would focus on family background and conduct in their assessments.

In recent years, due to the quarrel between King Han and King Heng, there have been many disputes in the Zhongzheng evaluation for the benefit of their respective masters. Both of them place more emphasis on family background, so that people from humble backgrounds can only be rated as lower grade no matter how high their adverbial status is.

Su Juan frowned, "So, if we want to avoid this kind of unhealthy trend, the selection of Zhongzheng officials is very important. They must be honest and loyal, without any selfish thoughts. They must also have the ability to evaluate the scholars of the world, and their rank and position cannot be low."

The Minister of the Central Secretariat nodded, "Not only that, but also one's birth, family background, old friends, and in-laws must be considered. Any slight involvement will affect the final assessment."

Liu Miaoqing understood immediately, "Then the selection of the Zhongzheng official is really difficult. In addition to the Zhongzheng official, there are 18 deputy Zhongzheng officials."

Seeing that the two were so curious, the Minister of the Central Secretariat said more, "Your Majesty has decided that Wu Yuanhou will be the Zhongzheng official, and the other 18 candidates for deputy Zhongzheng have also been decided one after another."

[Wu Yuanhou? Why does this name sound so familiar? ]

The Minister of the Central Secretariat glanced at Su Juan. How could he not be familiar with her?

Because of the crazy words you said during the morning court session, the grandson with a lame leg has to copy scriptures for a whole year to pray for the soul of Li family's dead son, and he is still copying now.

Su Juan thought for a long time but couldn't remember having seen this person at the court meeting.

Liu Miaoqing asked, "Father, but Lord Li, whose son died, has brought the case to the capital and has been punished."

This incident caused quite a bit of controversy in Beijing and caused quite a stir.

When Liu Miaoqing asked this, Su Juan suddenly remembered, "It turned out to be him!"

[I remember this incident. Lord Li's son was hit in the eye by Wu Yuanhou. On his way home, he was knocked crippled by Bian Jiazi who was riding a horse. In the end, he committed suicide before the imperial physician arrived.]

[All three families were convicted. This Minister of Justice Lou is really bold. It's exciting! ]

"......" The Minister of the Central Secretariat discovered that Su Juan was just going crazy and didn't care about what happened after she went crazy. It seemed like he didn't care about the life and death of others.