In the years of famine, I led a comfortable life with my husband

A look of satisfaction gradually appeared on the emperor's face. "Thank you, my dear minister. I was right about you."

At the morning court session the next day, the emperor directly punished the Guo family. Guo's father was demoted two levels and was required to pay back all the gold and silver to the national treasury within one month.

Upon hearing this decision, Guo's father's face turned pale, and Xu Chao's face became even uglier. However, the emperor specifically asked Xu Chao, "Lord Xu, what do you think of my decision?"

Xu Chao could only force a smile and agree, "Your Majesty is merciful. Lord Guo's corruption and bribery are violations of our dynasty's laws. Now he has only been demoted and fined. This is enough to show that Your Majesty cares about the world and has compassion for all living beings."

After the morning court session ended, Xu Chao's face had almost turned as black as the bottom of a pot. He ignored everyone and strode out of the palace.

After returning to the Prime Minister's Mansion, Xu Chao was furious in the study, turning the tidy study into a mess. Only then did Xu Chao feel much better.

"Xie Chengjin, you bitch, I shouldn't have let you leave alive that day!" Xu Chao regretted more and more that he didn't get rid of Xie Chengjin to prevent future troubles.

The Guo family has always been Xu Chao's most capable subordinate, but now they have been severely injured and cannot recover for a while. When Xu Chao thought about his left and right arms being cut off, he hated Xie Chengjin even more.

"You're such a good guy, Xie Chengjin, you'd better not fall into my hands, otherwise I will cut you into pieces!" Xu Chao's eyes were red and he looked extremely terrifying.

But misfortunes never come singly. Xu Chao had just accepted the fact that the Guo family had fallen when news came from his subordinates.

"Master, yesterday, Lord Shen went to the Guo residence and took away a young man that Miss Guo had brought back to the residence. According to Miss Guo, that young man seemed to have a very close relationship with Su Zhizhi. Yesterday afternoon, Su Zhizhi took that young man away from Lord Shen's residence."

"What did you say? Shen Wenjun?" Xu Chao was a little unbelievable.

Originally, when Shen Wenjun came to Xu Chao, Xu Chao was quite wary of him. However, after such a long time, Xu Chao almost let down his guard against Shen Wenjun. After this incident, Xu Chao began to doubt Shen Wenjun again.

"Go and check what the relationship is between Shen Wenjun, Xie Chengjin, and Su Zhizhi, and whether Shen Wenjun is involved in the Guo family's affairs. He brought the person out of the Guo family and handed him over to Su Zhizhi and the other two. Their relationship must be unusual. Shen Wenjun, Shen Wenjun, I didn't expect to be almost fooled by you."

The servant took the order and left. Xu Chao sat alone in the study, his face gloomy and uncertain, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Shen Wenjun naturally also received the news. Although he had made a deal with Xu Chao before, during this period of time, Shen Wenjun had been extricating himself from it bit by bit, and he had done so completely. No matter what Xu Chao said, there would be no evidence.

After dealing with Xu Chao's affairs, Shen Wenjun returned to the Fifth Prince without making a sound.

When Xu Chao wanted to settle the score with Shen Wenjun, he found that Shen Wenjun's residence had long been deserted. He only found a note left for him on the table with only a few words on it: "Those who do evil will eventually perish. Prime Minister, please take care of yourself."

Xu Chao was so angry that he was fuming. He never thought that Shen Wenjun would trick him like this.

Shen Wenjun was a man of deep thoughts, and had even planned a big game, including Xu Chao.

At the moment, Xu Chao had no way to deal with Shen Wenjun. In the following period of time, many ministers who had close relations with Xu Chao were dealt with to varying degrees. For a while, Xu Chao suffered setbacks one after another, and his reputation in the court plummeted.

The former dynasty and the harem were connected, Xu Chao was showing signs of downfall, and Wanpin's status in the harem also plummeted.

In the past, Wanpin was favored by the emperor. Although her position was not high, others did not dare to disrespect her.

However, because of Xu Chao, the emperor became increasingly indifferent to Concubine Wan. The harem was a place where people would bully the weak and see that Concubine Wan had lost power. The concubines who had been responsible for Concubine Wan's crimes in the past were all eyeing her and ready to make a move.

Wanpin also noticed something was wrong and became much more restrained in her behavior. However, even so, Wanpin, who was pregnant with the dragon fetus, basically became the target of public criticism in the harem, and it became increasingly difficult for her to move forward in the palace.

Wanpin still wanted to send a letter home, hoping that Xu Chao would help, but now Xu Chao himself could hardly protect himself and had no other energy to protect Wanpin.

The concubines in the palace have been watching the attitude of the emperor and the previous dynasty. Seeing that they have no energy to care about Wanpin, some of the bolder concubines even planned to take action against the child in Wanpin's belly.

As long as Wanpin is pregnant, the emperor will show more love to her for the sake of the child, which is not what they want to see.

Wanpin is actually a smart one. How many women in the harem are kind? Therefore, Wanpin is more careful about what she eats, for fear that it will affect the baby in her belly.

However, despite all her precautions, Concubine Wan was unable to defend herself against the servants in her own palace. Someone bribed the palace maids in Yinxuan Palace and secretly added musk to the incense in Concubine Wan's palace.

By the time Concubine Wan realized it, it was already too late.

Despite the imperial physician's best efforts, Wanpin's child could not be saved. Not to mention the child, Wanpin even had a near-death experience due to heavy bleeding.

Although Wanpin managed to save her life in the end, she was seriously injured and it was impossible for her to get pregnant again in a short period of time.

The news of Concubine Wan's miscarriage soon reached Xu Chao's ears. He thought that Concubine Wan would be much safer in the palace with a child. However, Xu Chao was too optimistic. Having a child without power would mean that the child could not be kept. Even if the child was born in the future, it would inevitably die due to "accident".

Xu Chao naturally felt sorry for Wanpin's only daughter.

After hearing the news of the accident, Xu Chao's hatred for Shen Wenjun had reached its peak, even surpassing Xie Chengjin.

During this period of time, all the information in the notebook impeaching Xu Chao was provided by Shen Wenjun. How could Xu Chao not hate him?

"Shen Wenjun, you are really great. Since you want to stand on the side of the fifth prince, don't blame me for being rude to you. I will make you pay the price!" Xu Chao was almost obsessed with Shen Wenjun.

Su Zhizhi has been staying in the palace all the time, and she is well aware of some of the recent news in the palace.

Especially after Concubine Wan had a miscarriage, although Su Zhizhi felt a little bit reluctant, the irreconcilable hatred diluted Su Zhizhi's reluctance.

She also went to see her secretly once. Due to the miscarriage and the torture of other concubines, Wanpin had lost a lot of weight, and Su Zhizhi almost didn't recognize her.