I was given the contraceptive soup and became the emperor's white moonlight

Finally, the tightly closed door was reopened, and the people who came out either held their heads high in complacency or hung their heads in depression. Qi Zhongyuan walked out with a calm expression, and the smile did not return to his face until the people around him had all left.

He clearly saw the unhesitating praise in the doctor's eyes, and was confident about the test paper he handed in. Everything was going in a good direction.

Tomorrow, or perhaps the day after tomorrow, the imperial edict commending him will be delivered to him. Then the Qi family will be able to return to the world, and his ancestors will be proud of him.

At that time, I had the capital to repay my gratitude and the ability to make a living in the world.

Li Zhao didn't say anything when he received the silver sent by Yueyang Restaurant. He put away the remaining silver and kept the gold leaf separately. When he learned that Qi Zhongyuan had moved out of Yueyang Restaurant, he knew who meant this.

Fortunately, he was really busy these days and had no time to think about the origin of it.

In recent days, a vortex has been surging in the dark of the capital, and many people have been implicated. After that incident, Xiao Heng delegated power to Li Zhao, and used this opportunity to clean up the Imperial City Bureau.

Xiao Heng's original intention was to drive out all those idle children of aristocratic families and to settle accounts with those who deserted their posts one by one. Li Zhao advised him not to make a fuss in order to avoid alienating the aristocratic families from him.

He pointed to the Cavalry Battalion stationed at the south gate of the imperial city. The chief commander was a fifth-rank general without a title. The only thing was that he was a grassroots person and had become a fifth-rank general by killing enemies along the way. These people who were seeking their lives among the dead looked down upon those who had capital but did nothing the most. Therefore, this was an excellent deterrent to those mediocre and incompetent children of aristocratic families.

Xiao Heng also understood what he meant and nodded, handing the matter over to Li Zhao. However, what he didn't know was that the general not only looked down on the children of aristocratic families, but also hated this "figure of office but doing nothing" Dali Temple Minister.

For this reason, Li Zhao went to the military camp three times in a row. Even the imperial edict could not make the general retreat even a single step. Finally, the two fought to a draw, and the general finally agreed to accept those people.

In order to clean up the mess left by these people and reorganize the Imperial City Military Office, Li Zhao has been so busy these days that he not only has no meals to eat, but also has no wages to receive.

Fortunately, he was alone, and he usually ate and lived in the Imperial City, so he had no place to spend money.

However, the outspoken general was easy to deal with, but the noble families behind those young men were not so easy to deal with. Although his reputation was bad enough to scare many people, not everyone was afraid of him as the Chief Justice of the Dali Temple.

Those noble families knew clearly that this must be Xiao Heng's order, but they did not have the courage to question the emperor, so they could only cause trouble for Li Zhao. Although this was something that a lackey had to go through, Li Zhao was still so annoyed that he wished he could burn down their mansions.

"Sir, everything you ordered has been arranged." A man in the uniform of the Dali Temple walked up to Li Zhao and said, "Also, there was a message from Xijing saying that the local gentry had collectively revolted, but it had been suppressed by the local officials."

Li Zhao nodded and signaled him to leave. This was the best news he had heard in the past few days.

Just because those noble families are not easy to mess with doesn't mean that Li Zhao is someone who is easy to mess with. Being able to hold the position of Chief Justice of the Dali Temple, Li Zhao is naturally no easy person to deal with.

Those noble families were looking for trouble with him in the capital city, openly or covertly, and they repeatedly wrote letters to the court to reprimand him for misconduct. So he would expose their secrets outside the court to see who could outwit whom.

Li Zhao has never been a good-tempered person, and he cannot suffer in silence. However, he has been unusually silent these days, and even Xiao Heng is worried that the punishment for him is too severe.

In fact, Li Zhao has been sending people to the hometowns of those aristocratic families to cause trouble in the past few days. He said he was causing trouble but he was just collecting some evidence.

Although those aristocratic families have their roots in the capital, their branches and ancestors have businesses in various places. If there is a master who is an official in the capital in their mansion, how can the local people not show off their power?

What Li Zhao had to do was to find evidence that they were plundering the people's wealth.

In fact, everyone knows that if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. As long as things are not made too big, Xiao Heng will not ask about trivial matters. It is precisely this kind of thinking that has led to those aristocratic families becoming more and more aggressive.

It is not uncommon for those branches based in the hometown to bully men and women by relying on the prestige of the main family, and there are countless cases of occupying other people's land. Apart from those really insignificant little things, the charges and evidence that fell into Li Zhao's hands have already piled up.

He remained silent because he knew that Xiao Heng would not shake their foundation because of these things, and this would only make his situation more uneasy. Therefore, he did not report these evidences to the emperor immediately, but kept them for his own use.

"Sir, your generous gift really makes Mr. Lian very angry!" An unremarkable voice broke in, breaking the solemn atmosphere of the study.

Li Zhao looked up and glanced at him. The man immediately stopped where he was, turned around and walked out skillfully, knocked on the door three times again before walking in again.

"Have you found Feng Ji's?" Li Zhao didn't make things difficult for him anymore and asked, leaning back in his chair.

"That old guy is so clean, I don't know how he became an official!" The visitor looked like he had a headache when he heard the name, and walked aside to pour himself a glass of water.

Li Zhao didn't care about his inappropriate look, frowned and said: "There's no need to mention Mr. Feng's reputation. Perhaps the fact that he raised such a grandchild is the biggest stain on his life, right?"

"However!" Pei Wenzhuo put down his teacup and walked to Li Zhao and said, "I have made some other discoveries!"

"Yueyang Restaurant, five dishes and one soup, not bad, Lord Li?"

"Ha!" Li Zhao laughed helplessly, "Go ahead."

"Hehe!" Pei Wenzhuo laughed twice with satisfaction before saying seriously, "Although that old man Feng Ji repeatedly warned us not to cause trouble at home, there is one thing he didn't notice."

“But I noticed it!”

"If you keep us in suspense, you won't be able to see even a single vegetable leaf." He stood up and put his hand on Pei Wenzhuo's shoulder.

"Hey, hey, hey! Stop it, stop it!" Pei Wenzhuo hid aside, rubbed his shoulder that was pinched and said, "Isn't it okay if I say so?"

"Feng Ji has a nephew who opened a restaurant in Lianzhou, and it's quite large."

"This nephew is not three generations old, so he cannot engage in business. However, local officials do not strictly control these matters, and the nephew did not publicize his relationship with Feng Ji, so..."

"Well done!" Li Zhao nodded and patted him on the shoulder heavily.

Pei Wenzhuo bared his teeth and hid aside, trying to smile apologetically.