Traveling through ancient times, the empress insisted on having a child with me

In fact, Ling Chuan was too slow to close the net at this moment. What he didn't know was that the rumor had already spread to the court. An imperial censor narrated the whole story from beginning to end during the court meeting.

The rumor had already involved the Xu family of Ruyin. All the civil and military officials looked at them in awe. Lord Xu was even more stunned. He fell down with his eyes going dark. Fortunately, someone supported him.

Soon, Lord Xu woke up faintly. Seeing that all the civil and military officials in the court were looking at him, he quickly turned over and knelt on the ground: "Your Majesty, I am innocent. I am innocent."

Lu Xi sat on the dragon throne and looked at Lord Xu coldly. She knew of course that Lord Xu was wronged. During this period, she had been to San Tiao Lane twice, mainly to visit Ling Chuan, but she found that Ling Chuan was alive and well and was still planning to cheat people.

At first, she thought Ling Chuan just wanted justice, so she didn't ask any more questions. But two days ago, the Left Prime Minister asked for a private meeting and said he wanted to make something of this matter. Lu Xi immediately became interested.

Ling Chuan took the lead, with An Changqing helping secretly, and the whole incident developed to its current point in an instant.

"Don't worry, Lord Xu. I trust you."

Lu Xi comforted him with gentle words, and Lord Xu finally came to his senses. Although the censor just now only mentioned the spread of the plague, this was almost the same as treason, and Lord Xu could not help but panic.

"Thank you for your trust, Your Majesty."

Lord Xu was already in tears at this moment, but Lu Xi's next words almost plunged him into the abyss.

"But there is no smoke without fire. Lord Xu, you may want to investigate this matter when you return. I await your news."

Lord Xu was stunned again. Doesn't this mean he still doesn't trust me?

Some folk rumors, to put it mildly, may be treated as a joke by officials, but if the emperor says he wants to investigate, everyone will understand what is going on.

Just after the court session ended, a piece of information spread among the officials, which might be that the emperor was going to take action against the aristocratic factions.

Lord Xu originally wanted to pull together several other cabinet ministers to discuss the matter, but His Majesty simply took everyone away and went to the Qianqing Palace for a meeting.

Xu Ge Lao, who was supposed to attend the noon court, was stopped by Wei Dongxian at the gate of the Qianqing Palace: "Your Majesty said, please check the rumors first."

He was even denied entry to the noon court. Lord Xu was dazed for a while and finally left the palace in disgrace.

Along the way, Lord Xu, who was sitting in the carriage, realized that the Yunfu Ji shop assistants who occasionally appeared on the street were so eye-catching.

He was carrying a large box with two white flags on it. Naturally, Lord Xu had noticed it a long time ago, but he did not expect that it was related to the Xu family.

It was a coincidence that Xu Heng caught a cold last night and had a headache, so he did not go to court today. As a result, this incident happened. When the butler of Lord Xu's mansion came to invite Xu Heng, Xu Heng didn't know what was going on.

However, the chief steward still revealed to him that Lord Xu came back a little early from court today and looked very unhappy.

When Xu Heng entered the study, he knew something was wrong as soon as he saw Lord Xu's face, and greeted him tremblingly.

But Lord Xu just looked at him, his expression changing constantly, and finally he sighed: "When your father passed away, he asked me to take good care of you. I think I did my best to teach you. I watched you grow up and become an official in the court, but I didn't expect you to do such a thing."

Xu Heng immediately knew that Xu Ping's affairs had been exposed, and he did not dare to hide anything in front of Elder Xu: "Uncle, please listen to my explanation."

"Shut up." When Lord Xu saw Xu Heng's reaction, he knew that he had done it. He slammed the table and interrupted Xu Heng who was still trying to explain: "What else is there to explain? This matter has already been reported to the court. His Majesty is now asking me to investigate myself. Tell me, how should I investigate?"

Looking at the gloomy expression on Lord Xu's face, Xu Heng knelt down with a plop.

"Uncle, I was wrong, please save me."

"Save you? How?" Elder Xu snorted angrily, "It's being rumored that Xu from Ruyin is spreading the plague in the capital city with the intention of overthrowing the country. This is an unforgivable crime. How can you ask me to save you?"

Xu Heng was stunned: "Uncle, this is unfair, this has nothing to do with my nephew. I am the one who is wronged."

Elder Xu glared at him and said, "With your little talent, how could I not know that you were wronged? But flies don't bite cracked eggs. If you hadn't taken the initiative to hand over the knife, what would they use to wrongly accuse you?"

Xu Heng lowered his head: "It's my nephew's fault."

Elder Xu sighed: "Forget it, no matter what, you are my nephew, tell me the whole story from beginning to end."

Xu Heng immediately showed a flattering smile and was about to stand up and step forward when Elder Xu shouted, "Just kneel down and talk."

Xu Heng was so scared that he knelt back down and told the whole story in detail.

The more Lord Xu listened, the uglier his expression became. Finally, he was so angry that he threw the teacup in his hand, smashing it to pieces next to Xu Heng.

"Look at your useless look. Does our Ruyin Xu family need that little money? If you need money, can't you ask me? You did such a despicable thing just for a secret recipe?"

"I know I was wrong. I don't want any recipes or pastry shops anymore. Please help me, uncle."

Elder Xu pondered for a while and said, "If that's the case, then I have to have this recipe."

"what?"

Xu Heng looked at Elder Xu in bewilderment: "Uncle, you..."

"you shut up."

Elder Xu scolded him and said, "This is no longer a matter between you and Yunfuji. This is the old man An Changqing who is trying to bully me."

Then, Lord Xu seemed to be mumbling to himself, or as if speaking to Xu Heng: "Your Majesty asked me to investigate myself, just to give an explanation to old man An Changqing. Spreading the plague and subverting the country is pure nonsense. What you have to do now is to calm the old man's anger. If the source is not extinguished, this matter will not be resolved. The longer it is delayed, the more detrimental it will be to our Xu family's reputation. If this matter spreads to Ruyin, how can our Xu family survive?"

Reputation is the lifeline of aristocratic families. The reason why the emperor is wary of them is because they have prestige among the local people. The imperial power also relies on these families to govern the people. Once their reputation is ruined, the reputation of the aristocratic families will disappear.

Without the popular support, the emperor doesn't even need to take action, as other local clans will rise up to attack you. No matter how long your family has been passed down, its only end is to be reduced to ashes.

After hearing this, Xu Heng immediately understood: "Then my nephew will prepare a generous gift and go to the Left Prime Minister's Mansion to apologize tomorrow."

"Why are you going to the Left Prime Minister's Mansion to plead guilty?" Elder Xu said with a look of disappointment, "You are not qualified yet. You should plead guilty to the old man's son. First, it is to give the old man face, and second, it is to give His Majesty an explanation. Remember, be humble and respond to whatever they say. Do you understand?"

"Nephew knows." Xu Heng thought for a moment and said, "But if An Jie insists on pursuing the poisoning, what should nephew do?"

Elder Xu said calmly, "Don't wait for him to investigate. Hand Xu Ping over first. Someone has to take responsibility for this."