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

Zhao Liangchen followed Lai Xi to the front yard and saw all the servants kneeling on the ground. Some of them had obviously been whipped and were covered in blood.

Seeing Zhao Liangchen coming over, Zhao Jian asked angrily, "Were you and Gu Pan saying that something bad was going to happen in our house?"

Zhao Liangchen replied in confusion: "No, why would father ask that?"

Zhao Jian glanced at Madam Zhao, who then kicked the second-class maid in her courtyard who had a good relationship with Xing'er and asked, "Tell me what's going on."

The maidservant whimpered in pain, not daring to cry out. She lowered her head and begged for mercy, saying, "Madam, please spare me. It was Xing'er from the Second Young Lady's courtyard who came to me and said that the eldest young master told the Second Young Lady that something had happened to the master and that our entire family would be implicated. She told me to run away with her. I was grateful for Madam's kindness and didn't run away."

Zhao Jian looked at Zhao Liangchen with a gloomy look: "What did you say?"

Zhao Liangchen said in surprise: "Father, how could my son say such things to my second sister? Not to mention that nothing happened in our house, even if something happened, you wouldn't say such things. What good will it do my son?"

Zhao Liangsi, the eldest son who had been standing behind Madam Zhao, sneered, "What's the benefit? There's no need for any benefit. You can't stand seeing us doing well, and you're happy when we're in trouble."

Zhao Liangchen looked at Zhao Liangsi puzzledly and asked, "Second brother, what do you mean by that? As a member of the Zhao family, why shouldn't I wish for the good of the Zhao family? If the Zhao family is not doing well, what good will it do me?"

Zhao Liangsi particularly hated the title of "Second Brother". He looked at Zhao Liangchen with resentment and said, "You just don't want us to be well. You hold a grudge against us."

Zhao Liangchen calmly asked, "Why should I bear a grudge against you?"

Before Zhao Liangsi could answer, Zhao Jian angrily slapped the armrest of his chair. "Shut up and get down to business. Liangchen, what did you say to your sister? Someone saw you talking to her, and then she went to find Zhang and your mother."

Zhao Liangchen looked innocent: "She didn't say anything. She just said she liked some jewelry and asked her son for money. Her son told her that there have been a lot of things happening in the city recently, and both father and son have been confined. He asked her to keep a low profile and not go out to avoid causing trouble in the mansion.

Oh, she wouldn't think that we committed some serious crime and were going to be sent to jail just because her son said that both father and son were under house arrest, right?

How could she be so stupid? If we had really broken the law, it would not be just house arrest. We would have been thrown into jail long ago. How could we have had time to tell her to run away? Besides, where could we run to? The whole world belongs to the emperor. If we really committed a crime, we might still have a chance to survive if we didn't run away. But if we ran away, we would have no chance of survival.

"What about my second sister? I need to talk to her. How can you have such wild thoughts?"

Madam Zhao narrowed her eyes and examined Zhao Liangchen. "She's gone missing. Didn't you really sense something was wrong in the mansion and let her run away early?"

Zhao Liangchen raised his eyes and met Madam Zhao's gaze, then answered with certainty, "Mother, it's really not my son. You know, I love my second sister the most. If I really wanted to let my second sister run away early, I would have made arrangements in advance and would never let her go out alone... It's bad."

Zhao Liangchen's expression changed immediately, and he asked anxiously, "Mother, do you know who my second sister left with? It would be very dangerous for a girl like her to go out alone. There are so many disaster victims outside the city."

He looked at the dawn and said, "The city gates have just opened. My second sister shouldn't have left the city yet. Father, send someone to look for her. She might get into trouble if she keeps doing this."

Zhao Jian snorted coldly: "Looking for someone?"

He pointed at the few remaining servants in the courtyard and asked coldly, "Tell me, how are we going to find someone with only these few left?"

Zhao Liangchen almost laughed out loud as he looked at the sparsely packed crowd, but he immediately remembered the chest pain from his previous life and suppressed the smile. He said with some sorrow, "Although there aren't many of our father's children left, we should still go look for him. After all, Second Sister is a daughter of our Zhao family. If anything happens to her, it will affect the reputation of the other sisters."

Zhao Jian said coldly, "I don't have such a daughter. Since she's gone, whether she lives or dies, I don't care about the Zhao family's affairs. How could a woman who is not a member of the Zhao family possibly affect the reputation of the girls in my family?"

He looked at Zhao Liangchen and said with an ambiguous expression, "What you should be concerned about now is not the safety of your sister, but the safety of the entire family.

"Yesterday, the Emperor issued an order to dismiss you and me from our posts and place us under house arrest. Then, in the middle of the night, so many servants escaped from our mansion. How can I explain this to the Emperor and the Ministry of Justice? Now, even innocence has become a crime."

Zhao Liangchen: "Father, there is no need to explain to the Emperor or the Ministry of Justice. So many servants have sneaked out of the mansion. They just believed the slander and mistakenly believed that their families would be implicated. They are afraid of death. If the Emperor blames us, it is only because we are not strict with our subordinates and our servants are not loyal and responsible. It is a bit embarrassing, but we are definitely not guilty.

And this cannot be considered a completely bad thing. Through this incident, we can clearly test who is loyal and useful, and who is ambitious and ungrateful.

It's better to screen out so many treacherous people now before anything happens than to be stabbed in the back by them when something really happens."

Zhao Jian looked at him deeply and asked, "Is that what you think?"

Zhao Liangchen nodded: "Father, you don't have to worry about this matter. The most important thing now is the case of the disaster relief silver. This is what the whole court is most concerned about. As long as Zhao Kuo and others and the disaster relief silver are found and your father's innocence is proven, your father will be reinstated. But who will care about these trivial matters at that time?

As for servants, you can just buy more, and when you do, be sure to pick out some that are loyal and reliable.”

Zhao Jian's anger was reduced a little by what he said. Indeed, the most important thing now was the case of disaster relief money. As long as this matter was solved smoothly, he could have as many servants as he wanted. If it could not be solved, not only would a few servants run away, but his whole family would die.

However, although he was convinced, he was still angry. How could he not be angry when so many people betrayed him before he fell?

He looked at Zhao Liangchen and said, "That being said, it has already happened, and it still has a great impact on the reputation of the mansion. It was caused by you, so you should be responsible."

Zhao Liangchen readily replied, "Yes, it's all my fault. My careless words caused my second sister to misunderstand me. I am willing to be punished. I will be punished by kneeling in the ancestral hall until my father is reinstated."

Seeing that he was still so obedient, Zhao Jian's expression improved a lot: "You didn't mean to do it, so you don't have to kneel for so long, just three days."

Although Zhao Liangchen knew what kind of person his father was, he still felt sad. He said that he did it unintentionally, but he still punished him to kneel in the ancestral hall for three days. Tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Festival, a day for family reunion, but he is kneeling in the ancestral hall. How ridiculous.

However, he didn't show it on his face, and nodded in agreement. As he was about to head towards the ancestral hall, he glanced at the servants kneeling in the courtyard and pleaded for them, "Father, these servants didn't listen to the slander and left. This shows that they are loyal to the mansion. Not only have they done nothing wrong, but they have also made great contributions. Father, please don't punish them. They will be trustworthy people in the future and deserve a reward."

Zhao Jian glanced around at the people present. Indeed, there were quite a few loyal servants, most of whom were family sons. He nodded and said, "Everyone, get up. What happened last night was really a big deal. I was just angry and punished you. I hope you don't mind it. Work hard in the mansion from now on. I won't treat you unfairly."

The servants hurriedly said they dared not, and expressed their sincerity before helping each other to stand up. Many of them looked at Zhao Liangchen with gratitude.

Zhao Jian then said to Madam Zhao, "Everyone has been frightened today. Tomorrow is Mid-Autumn Festival. Give them an extra month's salary so they can have a good holiday."

Mrs. Zhao nodded: "Okay."

The servants expressed their gratitude again.

Zhao Jian hadn't slept all night and was extremely sleepy. He stood up and said, "Okay, everyone, go get some work."

The servants left one after another. Zhao Liangchen looked at their backs and laughed at himself. The servants would receive double their monthly wages during the Mid-Autumn Festival, but he was afraid that he would not even be able to eat.

He walked slowly towards the ancestral hall. He didn't care whether it was Mid-Autumn Festival or not. Only those who had families were worthy of celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival.