The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

But the problem now is that Shen Tianjiao's power in the court is too weak.

Although Shen Tianjiao has the support of the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion, the Zhenbei Marquis Mansion is, after all, a family of military honors.

They can provide Shen Tianjiao with all the military support, but they cannot resolve the disputes and twists and turns in the court.

Matters in the court are best handled by these civil servants.

Ruan Yuhu's attempt to win over the Zhao family at this time was clearly intended to help Shen Tianjiao build up her own power in the court.

With the support of these civil servants, it will become relatively easier for Shen Tianjiao or Li Muyang to govern in the future.

Not only the Zhao family, but all the aristocratic families in Yunli are within Ruan Yuhu's calculations.

However, there are exceptions to everything. For example, the Su family is not within Ruan Yuhu's calculations.

Even when it came to the issue of abolishing private armies among the major families, Ruan Yuhu did not allow the Su family to get involved.

For Ruan Yuhu, the Su family is her sworn enemy, and the entire Su family must be wiped out.

Sure enough, after seeing Zhao Jie off, those family heads who had been so arrogant just now surrendered in disgrace, like defeated roosters.

In this power struggle, Nguyen Ngoc Hu achieved complete victory with absolute advantage.

This means that imperial power prevails over power. In the future, any decision made by Shen Tianjiao will still be blocked by these aristocratic families, but there will no longer be resistance.

Shen Tianjiao listened to the eunuch's report, shook her head helplessly and smiled. These old stubborn people would bully her all day long by taking advantage of their seniority.

But when they are in front of someone who can truly subdue them, they become very submissive and obedient.

It seems that these old stubborn people are all paper tigers who bully the weak and fear the strong. They become strong when facing the weak and cling to the wall when facing the strong.

It seems that she doesn't have to be soft-hearted anymore. It's time for them to get to know themselves again.

After all, any reforms she would implement in the future would have to start with these aristocratic families.

If I only let them see my weakness and concession, then they will take advantage of Shen Tianjiao at will, and things will become difficult.

Only by letting them see Shen Tianjiao's toughness and means, and only by completely subduing them, will they dare not cause any more trouble, and subsequent things can proceed smoothly.

"Master, Su Yang is here and requests to see you. With him comes his son Su Wenhao."

Xia He came in and brought news that Shen Tianjiao didn't expect.

"Who? Who's here?" Shen Tianjiao almost thought she had misheard. Su Yang came with his son Su Wenhao?

Isn't it too unreasonable for the father and son to come to the palace to request an audience at this time?

If the person who came was Su Chang, Shen Tianjiao would not think it was a big deal, but now it was Su Wenhao and his son who came, which was not normal.

"Master, do you want to see him?" Xia He asked carefully when she saw Shen Tianjiao was hesitant.

Shen Tianjiao pondered for a moment and said, "Yes, but go call Qiong Niang over first. I have something to ask her."

Qiong Niang now controls the entire intelligence network of Shangjing City. She knows everything clearly, from the family secrets and recent movements of the aristocratic families to the quarrels between families.

Why did the father and son of the Su family come to see me? Perhaps I can get the answer from Qiong Niang.

Soon Qiong Niang came over, "Jiao Jiao, what happened?"

When Xia He went over to call Qiong Niang, she called out anxiously but didn't say what the matter was. Qiong Niang thought something big had happened again.

There has never been a peaceful day in the former dynasty and the harem, and Qiong Niang is numb now.

"It's nothing serious. I just want to ask you, what is the relationship between Su Yang and Su Wenhao, father and son, and the Su family?"

Shen Tianjiao's understanding of Su Yang was limited to knowing that he was Su Chang's concubine's son. Because the Su family had lost members of this generation, he was only recognized after he came of age.

As for Su Wenhao, Shen Tianjiao didn't know anything about him.

"Why are you suddenly asking about the father and son?"

Qiong Niang looked at Shen Tianjiao in confusion, not understanding why Shen Tianjiao suddenly asked about Su Yang and Su Wenhao, father and son?

"They, father and son, entered the palace to request an audience and are now waiting outside the hall."

"I want to ask what the current situation of the Su family is, and what's going on with this father and son?"

"Now that I know their purpose, I won't be completely unprepared when they negotiate their terms."

No matter what the current situation of the Su family is, and no matter what is going on with this father and son, what Shen Tianjiao can be sure of is that this father and son came to cooperate with her and negotiate conditions with some purpose.

"Is that so?" Qiong Niang nodded and said, "On the surface, the Su family seems as calm as ever, as if nothing has happened. However, behind this seemingly calm situation, there are undercurrents."

"Su Chang originally favored his eldest son, but that son was a man of short life and died of a serious illness not long after his marriage."

"So Su Wenzhi was a posthumous child. Since he no longer had a son, Su Chang transferred the love he had for his son to his grandson."

"Su Wenzhi was brought to Su Chang's yard just after he was one month old and raised by him personally."

"Originally, the various branches of the Su family were quite obedient because of Su Wenzhi's existence. After all, knowing that Su Wenzhi was there, none of them had any hope of replacing him."

"But now that Su Wenzhi is dead, each family has started to have inappropriate thoughts. After all, Su Wenzhi only has a daughter and no son."

"Each branch now has the opportunity to become the new head of the Su family, so the Su family is now in chaos."

"But I heard that Su Chang is planning to bring Su Wenzhi's concubine back to the Su family to raise her, hoping to train another Su Wenzhi."

"As for Su Yang, he was originally a neglected concubine's son. If it weren't for Su Wenzhi's father suddenly falling ill and dying, he would have been stranded outside and would never have had a chance to make a name for himself."

"Although he has returned to the Su family these years and is valued by Su Chang, Su Chang did not treat him as a son after all. He only treated him as a tool to do things for himself and the Su family."

"Since Su Yang returned to the Su family, he has been working hard to take the blame for the Su family over the years, but these are thankless tasks."

"If you do well, you won't get any reward. If you do badly, you'll be scolded. If you don't do it well, you'll even be punished."

"After so many years, who can bear it? Naturally, some thoughts of escaping from the Su family will arise."

"But Su Yang is quite good both as a person and as an official."

"His son, Su Wenhao, is also a man of his own ideas. I'm afraid that coming to see the emperor today was Su Wenhao's idea."

"These father and son are both promising talents. We might as well listen to their intentions before making any plans."

What Qiong Niang meant was that the father and son of the Su family were useful people. If used well, they could become the knife in Shen Tianjiao's hand, a knife that could pierce the heart of the Su family.

This knife can easily destroy the entire Su family.

Shen Tianjiao pondered for a moment. This was indeed a good thing. The Su family was no different from other aristocratic families. Before Yun Li overthrew the rule of the previous dynasty, they were the nobles of the previous dynasty.

After Yunli founded the country, it experienced countless changes, but the status of the Su family remained unchanged. This can only mean one thing, that is, the Su family not only relied on favor, but also relied on their own strength to get to where they are today.

The Su family's influence in Yunli is spread throughout Yunli and is comparable to that of the Qian family. If you want to move against the Su family, it is almost equivalent to making enemies with half of the court in Yunli.

Unless they can find solid evidence of the Su family's treason and collusion with the enemy, just like the Qian family did, and nail the Su family to the pillar of shame once and for all, they will never be able to turn things around.

However, although the Su family, like the Qian family, is not a law-abiding family, they have done many illegal things.

But Su Chang is not Qian Wanhe, who does everything in a blatant manner and does not know how to hide or avoid others.

Su Chang is a true nine-tailed fox. Not only is he very cunning, but he is also very cautious in doing things. He will never leave any handle that is detrimental to himself or the Su family, so that others can use him to threaten him.

This is also the reason why Shen Tianjiao has endured until now and has not taken action against the Su family.

Ruan Yuhu was well aware of this reason, so even though the enemy was right in front of her, she could only watch and could not do anything to the Su family.

Now if Su Yang and Su Wenhao, father and son, act as insiders, then the unknown secrets of the Su family will be revealed, and it will be easy to control the Su family.

Although it was a good thing, Shen Tianjiao didn't dare to make a rash decision.

After all, she knew very well the hatred between Ruan Yuhu and the Su family.

She couldn't help but consider Ruan Yuhu's feelings. Even if she didn't have the help of Su Yang and Su Wenhao, father and son, this time, there would still be a chance to deal with the Su family in the future. It was just a matter of time.

"Go tell your aunt about this and let her make a decision to see if it's feasible."

Qiong Niang looked up at Shen Tianjiao, knowing that there might be some hidden secret that she didn't know, so she didn't ask anything and went to find Ruan Yuhu.

After Qiong Niang told Ruan Yuhu what happened, Ruan Yuhu remained silent for a long time.

Ruan Yuhu remained silent, and Qiong Niang didn't dare to ask anything. She just stood aside with her head down and waited.

"Help me go see Jiaojiao, I have something to say to her." Ruan Yuhu handed her hand to Qiong Niang, and she said she was going to see Shen Tianjiao.

Qiong Niang quickly helped Ruan Yuhu up and supported her to find Shen Tianjiao.

While Shen Tianjiao was still thinking about the feasibility of this matter, she saw Ruan Yuhu coming. She stood up and took over from Qiong Niang to help Ruan Yuhu sit down on the chair.

"Jiaojiao, what do you think about this matter?" Ruan Yuhu knew why Shen Tianjiao was hesitant at this moment.

Shen Tianjiao glanced at Ruan Yuhu and said honestly, "Aunt, this is indeed a good thing."

"The Su family is a royal family from the previous dynasty. When Taizu founded the country, they surrendered with their entire clan and helped him suppress those unruly old forces."

"They have made a lot of contributions to the stability and unity of Yunli. Therefore, since the time of Taizu until today, the power of their Su family has been expanding. If we don't take this opportunity to get rid of them."

"I'm afraid that one day, before we find an opportunity, the Su family will become the second Qian family. But if they rebel, the situation will only be more serious than that of the Qian family."

"After all, Su Chang is not a brainless person like Qian Wanhe. The people in the Su family are good at calculating and have sufficient means and abilities."

"If we confront them head-on, we will be the only ones to suffer."

"But I still have to listen to you, Auntie, on this matter. If you are still upset, then let's just let it go and not mention it again."

"We can find another opportunity someday and get rid of them. We just need to wait a little longer."

Although Shen Tianjiao didn't want to give up this opportunity, she still put Ruan Yuhu first and didn't want to make Ruan Yuhu feel uncomfortable.

After all, not everyone can accept cooperating with the son of their clan-killing enemy.

"Jiaojiao, then do as you wish." Ruan Yuhu said to Shen Tianjiao.

"Aunt, you..." Shen Tianjiao walked over to Ruan Yuhu, "Aunt, you don't have to be so subservient. Although the Su family is difficult to deal with, there are ways to deal with them. We still have a long way to go."

Shen Tianjiao could understand Ruan Yuhu's feelings at this moment. Although all the talents in her family were killed after her death in her previous life, Shen Tianjiao could still understand the heart-wrenching pain and despair.

Compared to herself, Ruan Yuhu's experience was more painful and desperate. She watched her family and lover die with her own eyes.

She has been living for revenge all these years. For revenge, she even gave herself to someone she didn't love and trapped herself in this deep palace.

Ruan Yuhu has had a very hard and difficult life over the years, and Shen Tianjiao doesn't want her to suffer any more grievances.

"Jiaojiao." Ruan Yuhu held Shen Tianjiao's hand, looked up at her and said, "You know, I dream of revenge, and I always want to make that person get the retribution he deserves."

"As long as I can get revenge, does the method matter?" Ruan Yuhu raised a bitter smile. "This is the best chance to kill that person."

"I want to see how that person would feel if he knew that it was his own son who put him in such a desperate situation."

"It's time for him to understand the pain and despair I felt back then."

"My problem has never been how to deal with him. My problem is that I'm always thinking about how to kill him, but I can't do anything about it."

"I can only stay here year after year, day after day, watching him live well. Do you know what that feels like? It makes me feel more desperate than the pain I went through back then."

"Now that the opportunity is right in front of us, why don't we seize it? Why would we give it up in vain?"