Shipin Dalizheng

After the second prince came out, his temperament changed drastically. He cursed Rong Tang for his wolfish ambitions and his intention to murder the royal bloodline, calling him the greatest traitor in history.

Rong Tang was scolded and asked who the good people were. He said that when the Southern Emperor was alive, the people he praised most often were Lord Xie, Prime Minister Liang and Lord Liu.

There was no other way, so Rong Tang loaded the children onto the cart and sent them off to Lord Xie with great fanfare, saying, "Lord Xie, you are of royal blood after all. I dare not act on your own until the dust has settled. The Second Prince trusts you, so please look after him for a few days. This is also a credit to Lord Xie, so please do not refuse."

The Second Prince burst into tears and hugged Lord Xie's thighs, "Thank you, Censor, for saving me. I don't want to be with this evil villain."

Rong Tang took the opportunity to say goodbye.

On this side, Lord Xie was like being struck by a bolt of lightning, standing there unable to move.

The whole family didn't know what was going on. They only knew that Lord Xie looked grim, even worse than when his father died many years ago. They hurriedly closed the door and asked what had happened.

Lord Xie seemed to have aged ten years in an instant, and looked visibly haggard.

Madam Xie asked, "What's wrong, Master? What happened?"

Mr. Xie murmured, "It's over. Our branch is finished."

Mrs. Xie was so anxious, "Just tell me, it's getting so frustrating."

"The Second Prince came to our house, and we were like meat on the chopping block, at the mercy of others. His special status meant he should have been killed immediately, or even escorted to the Northern Dynasty and imprisoned for life, but he ended up in our house..."

Mrs. Xie cried, "Now that he's at our house, we'll take good care of him for a few days and hand him over later."

"That's easy for you to say." Lord Xie smiled bitterly. "Everyone in the city knows he's coming to our house. If we were to hand him over to the butcher's knife ourselves, how would the world view me...how would they view the Xie family..."

The Xie family, known for their loyalty, righteousness, and propriety, betrayed the prince who respected them. From now on, no matter whether they were from the Southern or Northern Dynasties, anyone who saw them would spit at them and say, "Bah, selling out your master for fame."

Xie Da closed his eyes. His official career was over, and his children's future was also gone. From now on, the Xie family's direct lineage would only have one branch in the north.

Madam Xie burst into tears, "What's going on? We're almost out of this, and Rou'er and Minzhi's future is in jeopardy..."

I can't bear it. Rou'er is almost seventeen, and she'll be able to go to the capital of the Northern Dynasty and find a good husband. Minzhi was an outstanding student with a promising future, but it was ruined just like that.

"Shut up."

Lord Xie shouted, sat down on the chair, and said tiredly: "Let me think about what he wants to do."

After thinking it over and over again, he decided that his character could not be destroyed. The only way out for the Xie family was to put the whole family to death and become loyal subjects of the Southern Dynasty.

The same drama was played out in the Liang and Liu families. The reactions of these two families were not much better than that of the Xie family. They were all desperate and felt like the sky was falling and the earth was collapsing.

In the final analysis, both Prime Minister Liang and Lord Liu are known as upright gentlemen in their daily lives. Their personalities are there, loyal and righteous ministers.

If he handed the princes and princesses over to the Northern Vietnamese court in the future, he would be unable to bear the criticism from the people. If he did not hand them over, even if the Northern Dynasty rebelled, his entire family, no, his entire clan, would be charged with crimes. Not only would he not be able to continue serving as an official, but even his descendants would have to wait three generations before they could take the imperial examinations.

Liang Xiang's white hair was particularly bright in the night. He sighed for a long time and said to Madam Liang, "I resigned from my post a long time ago. What made me so crazy yesterday that I tried to plot against the Earl of Annan? With just this one move, he has brought the Liang family to ruin."

The one assigned to their family was Princess Zhaoren. The little girl was tired of crying and was comforted by the nanny to sleep.

Madam Liang didn't have the same reluctance as Madam Xie. She was truly kind-hearted and sighed, "Things have come to this point. We'll just take it one step at a time. If we can save it, we'll save it. If we can't, forget it."

Liang Xiang smiled bitterly. "This man is very meticulous. I'm afraid his plan is to do everything in his power to keep the princess alive. If the princess lives, we live; if the princess dies, we die. But we can't find any flaws in him because none of us dare to gamble with our lifelong reputation."

People like him can die, but they cannot lose their reputation.

Forget it, let it be. Living in seclusion in the mountains as I thought before will only make life difficult for my sons and grandsons.

At Lord Liu's house, when Lord Liu told him the seriousness of the situation, the whole family cried breathlessly.

This was the most cruel, most cowardly, and unsolvable feeling of being burdened by one's reputation. Madam Liu was almost crying her heart out. Her son, his future career...

In the second half of the night, the Liu family had already discussed a countermeasure. Lord Liu asked a newly married illegitimate son to adopt the baby prince, and immediately expelled his family from the clan. From then on, the prince could have any surname except Liu.

As compensation, half of the Liu family's property was given to the illegitimate son. Of course, the house was out of the question, so all of it was converted into silver, which amounted to more than 10,000 taels. The illegitimate son and his wife readily agreed.

Madam Liu said hopefully, "In this way, can our legitimate branch be preserved?"

Her husband sighed, "It's not that simple. The little prince is handed over to his father. Everything is the responsibility of the entire clan. Separating them from the clan is only to protect the little prince to the greatest extent possible."

Madam Liu collapsed. "What's the point? Dad, why not just hand the little prince over? What's reputation worth? Is this newborn baby's future as important as Zhen'er's?"

Lord Liu opened his mouth and said after a while: "I'm afraid that even if we hand over the little prince, there will be no future for us. Annanbo is a cruel and vicious person..."

Suddenly I shuddered, remembering the fear of a cold knife passing by my scalp.

At the same time, a dagger with a letter stuck in it was nailed to the doorpost. Lord Liu stepped forward, pulled out the dagger, and opened the letter. He saw a dragon mark on it, which was the dragon guard totem of the previous emperor that he had seen before. He was immediately panicked.

After a long time, he said bitterly: "Pack your things."

A cloud blocked the moonlight. Horseshoes from several mansions, with their hooves wrapped in cotton cloth, gathered silently in one direction and disappeared into the night in a blink of an eye.

It was almost dawn when Rong Zhan came to inform Rong Tang, "They've all left."

"are you back?"

"came back."

The ones who left were the Xie, Liang, and Liu families, and the ones who came back were the "Dragon Guards".

"Let them chase after him again, with drums and gongs."

Rong Zhan took the order and went down to convey it, which caused a huge uproar in the imperial capital. The news spread everywhere that the Earl of Annan had handed the second prince and Princess Zhaoren over to the Xie and Liang families for custody, and these families had fled with the princes and princesses overnight.

Rong Tang sent people to arrest people everywhere and turned the imperial city upside down, but he still couldn't find the person. He had no choice but to post an arrest warrant and declare a nationwide search.

He was searching for people vigorously, and somehow, the reputation of these families suddenly rose straight up like a ladder, and everyone praised them for their kindness, righteousness and loyalty behind their backs.

When Empress Sun in the Heavenly Prison heard about this, she hung a white silk thread on the ceiling beam.

When Mr. Cui heard the news, he almost dropped the teacup in his hand.

"This Annanbo is truly ruthless."

Without bloodshed, the careers of three families were cut short, especially the Xie family, which was the most regrettable.

The Xie family in the south gained a reputation for loyalty and righteousness and went into seclusion. How should the Xie family in the north explain this to Emperor Xuan Ning?

But if you want power over fame, how can a person without fame get an official position or power?

It is impossible for Emperor Xuanning to reuse a person who would even betray his master for power and status. This conspiracy has no solution at all.

"Fame is exhausting!"

He took a deep breath, feeling lucky that he didn't provoke him. Otherwise, if he sent the prince to him for care, he would probably have no choice but to take his men and escape. The Cui family couldn't allow a man who would betray his master for personal gain to appear.

Zheng Jiu gritted his teeth, "But he doesn't want fame."