There have only been three generations of Daliang from its founding to the present day. At the end of the previous dynasty, heavy taxes were levied and corruption was rampant among officials, who did not care about the lives of civilians at all.
The emperor's grandfather rose up in rebellion and led a group of talented people emerging from the common people. After more than 20 years, he defeated the previous dynasty and established the new dynasty, Daliang. The first generation of Changping Hou was one of the heroes who followed the emperor's grandfather to fight for the country.
When the emperor's grandfather ascended the throne, he bestowed titles on his right-hand men and capable generals. There were twelve marquises and earls, three dukes, and even more generals.
Not only was he bestowed with a title, but because the ancestor emperor was born into a commoner family, he lacked the ability to govern the country or the method of ruling his subjects as an emperor. With a sense of righteousness and loyalty, he almost divided the country. Even now, a portion of the national wealth still has to be distributed to those nobles every year.
The second generation of the emperor, that is, the current emperor's father, did receive some imperial education, but after all, his foundation was poor and he started learning late, so he could barely maintain it. By the time of the current Qin Minghao, he had received such a situation of internal and external troubles and the loss of power.
The national treasury has been empty for years, the remnants of the previous dynasty are secretly coveting it, and there are many noble families who are fighting for power and profits. Qin Minghao has been taught authentic imperial skills since he was a child, and has been committed to solving these problems, wanting to bring power back to the royal family.
The first major thing he had to do was to strip the title. He had originally targeted the Marquis of Changping and wanted to start with him, but he promised Bai Zhiyue to leave the title to his son, so he turned to other nobles.
Before the matter even began, the remnants of the previous dynasty were brought up again. The key point was that they had already infiltrated his court, which made him break out in a cold sweat. If he discovered it too late, how many trustworthy officials would be left in this court?
With the truth potion given by Bai Zhiyue in hand, I must dig deep this time and dig out everything I can.
Unfortunately, the Rong family didn't know much information. They only revealed one contact and another official who had infiltrated the Ministry of Personnel. Like him, he was a descendant of the old guard. They were in the same line of work, and there was another contact hidden in the stronghold in the mountains.
However, when the emperor sent troops to encircle and suppress the rebellion, he only captured some small fry, while the main person in charge escaped.
The imperial court has issued a nationwide wanted order and is determined to capture the contact person. Catching him will definitely reveal more strongholds and the people hiding in them.
Ever since Marquis Changping learned that the Rong family were the remnants of the previous dynasty, he ran to the emperor in fear and worry and cried.
"Your Majesty, I was almost killed by them. The Rong family is so ambitious that they actually plotted to wipe out the heirs of my mansion and created a wicked son who tried to take over my mansion."
He put all the responsibilities on the Rong family, trying to choose his own
"I have absolutely no ties with them. I am solely loyal to the Emperor. I wish their entire family would be annihilated. They have caused me so much harm!"
He was afraid that the Rong family's affairs would bring trouble to the Marquis' Mansion, so he would rather expose the scandal, just to ask the emperor to believe that he had nothing to do with the Rong family and that he was also a victim.
"Hmph, even if you were plotted against, it's a fact that you helped him get promoted and transferred over the years. You are also responsible for the Rong family's actions during his time abroad and for embezzling these properties. You are temporarily dismissed from your post and sent back home to reflect on your mistakes. You will be fined for one year and are not allowed to enter the palace without being summoned."
Think about how to punish
"I accept your command and thank you!"
Although he was dismissed from his post and fined, he managed to keep his title of Marquis. It seemed that the emperor did not want to punish him severely. He was already very satisfied and happily went home to express his gratitude.
However, all the civil and military officials in the court now knew everything that was going on in his mansion, and the way they looked at him was full of color.
"No wonder he did that to Rong Jinghe. Turns out he's the adulterer who gave birth to this bastard!"
"The Marquis of Changping probably never imagined that his brother would be his sister's adulterer. The Rong family is really good at this."
"It's really a shame that a bastard almost became the heir to the Marquis' Mansion."
"It was also the evildoers' good plan. Who could have thought that the Rong family would be the descendants of the previous dynasty?"
"Tsk, flies don't bite cracked eggs. It's obvious that he is greedy and evil, otherwise who would have the opportunity to plot against him."
“Maybe this is retribution.”
"Yes, all these recent scandals are related to his family. Each one is so bizarre. I've never heard of such things happening in any other family before."
"Last time, Rong Yang said that he was infertile. Now it's confirmed."
"When Rong Yang said this, so many people heard it that someone even set up a bet on whether he could still have a baby. Now the result is out. I have to go get the money. I bet 100 taels that he couldn't. How did I win?"
These people are so idle that they can gamble on anything.
Su Chen just saved his title, but lost his man's face. He always felt that everyone was pointing fingers at him and laughing at him. He almost killed his only son for the sake of a bastard, became a green-headed turtle, and helped the Rong family get promoted.
Every word and every sentence was like a knife, cutting open the things he had buried in his heart and didn't want to think about.
If I tell him that the title was not secured by him exposing his scandal, and that he was only spared temporarily, I wonder if he would go crazy.
From then on, Su Chengang was unwilling to go out. Every day he was either drunk or fooling around with his concubines in the backyard, trying to find a little dignity from them.
The concubines could not hear about what was happening outside and Su Chengang's problems, and no one would tell them, so they were happy that the Marquis had started to linger in the backyard again. They each used their own methods to try their best to serve the Marquis well.
Now the lady only gives them the usual monthly allowance, and the prices for food, clothing and other necessities are much lower than before. If they want to eat something new and delicious, they have to spend their own money. How can they afford that much money?
They only hope to please the Marquis and win his favor so that they can get some silver and money as rewards from him. Don't even think about the Madam's things. The whole mansion was confiscated before, and everything that belonged to the Madam was taken back. How could they dare to ask the Marquis for anything?
Moreover, the Marquis went into the backyard every day, and the lady didn't give him any contraceptive soup, so maybe one day she could get pregnant, which would be a step to heaven. After all, there was only one son in the mansion, and if she could give birth to another, no matter the gender, it would be precious.
Bai Zhiyue naturally didn't care about what happened in the backyard. Su Chengang's behavior made it easier for her to take action. It was normal for him to drink too much or die by a woman one day.
She needed to clear out the people in the mansion first. Doudou was probably kidnapped because someone secretly sent a letter to the Rong family. Otherwise, how could she have been targeted as soon as she left the mansion, and she didn't find anyone following her that day.
Last time, Su Chen had just cleared out so many people planted by the Rong family, but there were still some who had not been exposed.
"Qinglian, go and call all the servants in the mansion to the courtyard and bring their indenture books. We don't need too many people in the mansion right now, so we need to reduce the number of people."
"That's good. The old lady and the servants in the Rong family's courtyard had no place to stay before, so it was a waste to keep them there."
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