Going to Beijing to save his father, all the powerful officials in the city are vying to be his fath

Su Qin nodded. "I understand. The less often the emperor thinks of you now, the safer you will be. An emperor always has a desire to control the overall situation. If he feels that he is too dependent on you and lacks the ability to strategize, when he matures and becomes more capable, he will increasingly hate his former incompetent self, and then he will hate you who witnessed all his embarrassment and incompetence."

Zhao Liangchen: "I understand, that's why I rarely go to court these days. Even matters concerning the Imperial Guards are reported directly to Commander Jin.

The Emperor has been very busy lately and can't remember me."

Su Qin: "That's good. He may not remember you now, but when he does, he will be filled with gratitude for the brotherhood you shared as children."

Zhao Liangchen hesitated for a moment but still asked tentatively: "If the emperor doesn't suspect us, and you and Lord Su are safe, will you still stay here?"

Su Qin thought for a moment and replied, "If it was before my father's accident, I would definitely not have thought about leaving here. I would definitely listen to my parents' advice and marry someone who is not bad enough and live a stable life. If you asked me before I left on this trip with the caravan, I might have hesitated. As long as it is safe, I don't want to leave my hometown to live in an unfamiliar place.

But after this trip, I broadened my horizons and gained more experience, and I became more determined to leave here.

Although I have family and friends here, I am also bound by constraints and cannot control myself.

For example, if I stay here and don’t want to cause trouble for my father, I have to find someone to marry, but now I don’t want to live the kind of life of taking care of a husband and children.

Even if my father agreed that I should not get married and could stop the rumors, I would not be able to do whatever I want and often go out in public. I would always have to consider my father and grandfather's reputation.

But it’s different after I leave here. I can live the life I want. The sky is high and the sea is wide, and there are so many interesting things worth doing.”

Zhao Liangchen looked at the light in her eyes and thought that if she married him, he could guarantee that she would live a free and easy life.

But thinking about it, he couldn't do it. Even if he married Su Qin, gave her enough trust and freedom, and let her do whatever she wanted, he couldn't stop the gossip. In this secular environment where women are supposed to take care of their husbands and children and never go out of the house, if Su Qin is a little different from other women, she will definitely be criticized, and even slandered and abused by people of the same sex.

Because everyone lives a humble and gloomy life, why should she live alone freely and brightly? Human jealousy is powerful and can destroy a person at any time and place, and he cannot always stay by Su Qin's side to protect her from these rumors and harm.

Su Qin saw that he was silent and knew that he was sad, but at this time Su Qin could not give him any comfort. Compared with Zhao Liangchen, she cared more about herself.

Zhao Liangchen calmed down, suppressed the bitterness in his heart and asked, "So how are your preparations going?"

Su Qin recounted what happened today with Marquis Wuning: "I have already laid the groundwork for the affairs of Wu State. Whether it succeeds or not, I will find a way to settle down there."

Zhao Liangchen: "Then when do you plan to leave?"

Su Qin shook her head: "That's not necessarily true. I've already convinced my father not to arrange a marriage for me yet. I probably won't be leaving in the short term.

Even if I need to deal with matters in Ukraine, I will come back once things are settled there."

To survive in a place, there are many things to prepare. It is not as simple as marking out an area and building a few houses.

She will not be affected by worldly affairs in Ukraine, but there will be other dangers, such as the Ukrainians may turn against her and try to do something to hurt her, or they may no longer need her and drive her out of Ukraine.

She must be fully prepared, strong enough, and not afraid of anyone's challenge to get through it.

Zhao Liangchen breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that he didn't have to leave immediately. At least he still had time to spend with her. He also needed to give himself some time. During this time, he would carefully determine his own heart.

If, when Su Qin really leaves, he still feels that Su Qin is more important than any future, fame, or fortune, then he will drop everything and follow Su Qin without hesitation.

He can't do this now.

Su Qin: "I want to ask you, are there many families of criminals and orphans involved in the Liang Wang case?"

Zhao Liangchen nodded and said, "There are many people who follow King Liang openly and secretly. In addition to the people who were executed and exiled in the beginning, many local officials have been implicated and had their property confiscated and imprisoned recently.

The emperor wanted to eradicate the problem once and for all, so he sent many people to investigate secretly, and many of them were innocently implicated.

As for the private soldiers who had followed Prince Liang, most of them were killed, leaving behind many orphans and widows. Because there were so many of them, the Emperor, for the sake of his own reputation, couldn't kill them all, so he exiled them all and simply made them slaves, waiting to be sold."

Su Qin: "Can you find a way to contact these people? I want to pick some people."

Zhao Liangchen: "What's the use? You make a request and I'll help you find it. You don't have to look for these criminals. Their identities are sensitive. If you get too involved with them, I'm afraid the emperor will get suspicious."

Su Qin: "All along, no matter what I do, I always use people from Wuning Marquis Mansion. I want to train my own people. It's not that I don't trust Wuning Marquis Mansion, but I think it's more convenient to use my own people.

I plan to train some people for my future life in Ukraine. I will need people there.

If I hire or buy ordinary servants, they have families here and probably won't be comfortable living with me in Wu State. But if they are descendants of criminals, they have no place to stand in the Yong Dynasty, so they will stay with me for survival."

Zhao Liangchen: "But aren't you afraid that if you take them in, they'll betray you in the end?"

Su Qin shook her head: "Don't be afraid, since I dare to take them in, I naturally have ways to deal with and restrain them. Besides, I don't have everyone, so naturally I have to choose some people who have been innocently implicated and have good character."

Zhao Liangchen nodded: "Okay, I'll keep an eye on it for you."

Su Qin told him some specific things, and then had dinner with him and Mr. Zeng before Zhao Liangchen sent her back to the Su Mansion.

Su Qin originally thought that everything was arranged, so she could just wait for the New Year with peace of mind, but something happened suddenly that caught her off guard.

According to custom, after the results are announced, the emperor will hold a banquet in the palace to entertain the high school students.

However, the emperor is planning to hold a grand celebration this time. Because he was too busy after the incident with Prince Liang last time, he did not hold a celebration banquet. The emperor decided to combine the celebration banquet with this Qionglin Banquet and celebrate with all the officials.

This matter originally had nothing to do with Su Qin, but she received an imperial edict requiring her to enter the palace with Zeng Lao.