The imperial concubine is charming and charming, and only seeks power and wealth

Jiang Lingyue was a little surprised. She didn't expect that he even knew that Shen forced her to marry her nephew from her natal family. But she quickly reacted.

Too……

His Majesty the Emperor has an all-powerful hand. As long as he wants to investigate, he would even know that the Chen family had come to propose marriage. What's more, Shen had no intention of hiding her coercion from others. Everyone in the Jiang family, from Jiang Shao, the head of the family, to the servants who cleaned the main courtyard, knew about this.

It's not really a secret.

...Then, did he also know about Chen Ziwei and her...past?

The moment this thought flashed through Jiang Lingyue's mind, her heart suddenly tightened, and the fingers that were clutching his collar turned white from the force.

When Qi Junyi saw this, he frowned slightly, held her wrist, and asked, "What are you nervous about? ...Are you worried about the Jiang family?"

Jiang Lingyue took a deep breath, forced herself to suppress the uneasiness in her heart, and said, "Are you trying to vent your anger on me?"

He just said that Jiang Shao thought it was because of her that he wanted to take action against the Shen family.

Perhaps because she asked too directly, the person in front of her was silent for a moment.

After a pause, he pursed his lips and said, "Whether it's the Shen family or the Jiang family, I have my own considerations."

Jiang Lingyue was not surprised. In fact, she was just asking casually.

After all, she was very self-aware and never thought that she was important enough for him to go to the trouble of venting his anger on her.

She nodded slightly and said, "I don't understand the important affairs of the court. I will obey your majesty in everything. If you say you won't meet with the Jiang family, then I will definitely not meet with the Jiang family."

She had no affection for the Jiang family. Her memories of the past seventeen years were all about the torture by the Shen family, the cold-eyed observation of her father and brother, the kicking of the eldest sister-in-law when she was down, and the gloating of her younger sister.

The only warmth she showed was when her second brother came back from the military camp and saw that her situation was really dire, so he gave her a few dimes.

Any more and it will be gone.

When she was forced by the Shen family to marry her own nephew who was fond of men, her eldest brother turned a blind eye and pretended not to know. However, her second brother did ask about it, but he did not dare to challenge their father for her.

Jiang Lingxin even tried to persuade her to accept her fate, saying that every daughter's marriage was decided by the mistress of the harem, and the girl had no right to choose for herself.

Accept fate?

What Jiang Lingyue is most unwilling to accept is fate.

In order to avoid being controlled by the Shen family in her marriage, she did everything she could.

Qi Junyi certainly knew the grievances this girl had suffered in the Jiang family. He patted the girl's shoulder soothingly and said softly, "You made the right decision to enter the palace that day. By my side, no one can bully you in the slightest."

As soon as the mourning period was over, the court officials could not wait to submit a memorial to the emperor regarding the election of concubines. In fact, he was not very interested in filling the harem. After holding back the memorial for several months, he reluctantly approved it and specifically ordered that participation in the election was entirely voluntary.

Whenever he thought about it later, Qi Junyi was extremely glad that he had agreed to the selection of concubines, which gave the girl who was forced into a desperate situation by her stepmother a chance to choose.

Otherwise, this girl would either be forced to marry into the Shen family or be hired by the Chen family.

In short, she would become someone else's wife and would never be able to be held in his arms again.

Thinking of the torture she had suffered, Qi Junyi felt a little pity in his heart.

"From now on, the Jiang family will no longer be able to control you."

His voice was soft and gentle. As he spoke, he took hold of her wrist and slid it down slowly, interlacing his fingers with hers.

His slender fingers were clasped together, palm to palm, like vines that grew together and grew together, intimately intertwined.

Compared to his broad palm, her hand was incredibly small and could be completely covered by him.

This man had always liked holding her hand like this in his previous life. At first, Jiang Lingyue felt that this gesture was a bit too intimate, but after so long, she was no longer surprised.

The emperor was willing to coax her gently and tenderly, so Jiang Lingyue certainly would not be ungrateful. She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder obediently, looking very dependent.

"Your Majesty, I thank you," she said tentatively, "but the Jiang family has made some mistakes, and Your Majesty wants to punish them."

This statement actually counts as meddling in politics, but since he took the initiative to bring up the affairs of the previous dynasty tonight, it didn't seem too abrupt.

Qi Junyi really didn't take it to heart, and just said lightly: "It's not a matter of judgment."

Thinking of the fate of the Jiang family in her previous life, Jiang Lingyue pursed her lips slightly with mixed feelings.

As the founding fathers of the Jiang family, all the male members in the family were either dead or disabled. Before her death, the only person in the entire Jiang family who held a minor official position was her lame eldest brother, who was completely away from the center of power.

In his eyes...isn't this kind of ending enough of a punishment?

Does one have to be like the Shen family, with all their property confiscated and their clan exterminated, in order to be considered as the emperor's punishment?

Seeing that she was silent, Qi Junyi thought she was sleepy. He reached out and lifted her chin before taking a look. He smiled and asked, "Are you still worried about your father and brother?"

"Yueyue is such a kind and good girl," he said in a low and pleasant voice. "Don't worry, even for General Jiang's sake, I won't harm the Jiang family. It's just that your father is stubborn and self-willed. He has made some mistakes and his virtue is unworthy of his position..."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "He can't sit in the position of a third-rank general."

The ancestor of the Jiang family was a groom. He followed Taizu to conquer the country and made great military achievements along the way. In that era when there were many famous generals, he still made a name for himself.

Later, when the dynasty was first established and rewards were given according to merit, Old Master Jiang was granted the title of Marquis of Cheng'en, but it was not hereditary. When it was passed to Jiang Lingyue's grandfather, the title was gone.

Nowadays, the country is at peace and the four seas are subject to it. There are very few times when troops are used for battle. Jiang Shao, the great general, actually got his fame by relying on the merits of his ancestors.

He is also stubborn, self-righteous, overambitious, and cowardly and foolish.

When Qi Junyi was the Crown Prince Regent, he began to rectify the aristocratic families, especially those military families that were rotten from the root.

A few years ago, Jiang Shao's real power, which was already limited, became less and less, and he was gradually marginalized in the court.

Qi Junyi originally planned to keep him in the honorary title of a third-rank general, which would also save the Jiang family's reputation.

But in his previous life, after learning about the grievances the girl in his arms suffered at home, he changed his mind.

Of course, he did not take Jiang Shao's life, but demoted him from a third-rank general to a fifth-rank captain.

The third rank is a hurdle, especially in a place like the capital where aristocratic families gather. The third rank official title is nothing, let alone a small official of the fifth rank. This is a slap in the face of the Jiang family.

Jiang Shao was a man with high expectations but poor skills. He felt ashamed to face people and indulged in wine and women every day. Finally, he fell into the water and died while drunk.

Jiang Shao's death became a shadow between them.

Even though the girl in his arms had never revealed anything in front of him, even though Jiang Shao, as a father, had never given her any care, he was her biological father, not someone else.