The Return of the King: A Generation of Prodigies

"At that time, I was about to order that all members of your Su family be killed on the spot without leaving a single one alive."

"It was the Queen who came out to persuade me, saying that your Su family had made great contributions, and asked me to show some mercy and save your Su family's dignity."

"Therefore, I only sentenced Su Wenzhi to death and did not expose his evil deeds to the public."

"But you, the Su family, have clearly revealed your ungrateful and wicked heart. You turned around and humiliated the Queen in public, even in a place like Zuiyue Tower."

"Do you, the Su family, really think I'm dead? I'm simply not attending court due to my health. Do you really treat the Queen with such disregard, bullying her all day long?"

"You really think I can't deal with you, then what else can you do?"

"If you're so anxious to die, fine, that's fine, I'll grant your wish!"

"Your Majesty, I beg your forgiveness. I would never dare to disrespect you or insult the Empress."

"It's all my disappointing younger brother Su Cheng's fault. He, he, I failed to discipline him properly. I beg Your Majesty to punish him."

At this time, Su Chang was already sweating profusely. He knew that any explanation in front of Li Rui would be useless sophistry.

Instead of angering Li Rui, it is better to confess the crime and accept Li Rui's punishment.

Otherwise, you will suffer greater punishment later.

"Hmph!" Li Rui snorted heavily and said, "Don't always put the blame on others. Think more about your own problems."

"If you weren't a bad person and hadn't set a good example, your Su family wouldn't have produced so many bastards!"

"Yes, yes, it's all my fault. I beg Your Majesty to calm down."

"Su Cheng returned home last night and I had already beaten him to death. This old minister is coming to the palace today to plead guilty and is willing to accept any punishment the emperor may give."

Su Chang kowtowed like crazy, fearing that if he said these words a little later, Li Rui would issue an order to confiscate the Su family's property and exterminate the clan.

Li Rui remained silent behind the curtain. When Su Chang was about to faint, he finally spoke, "Alright, stop kowtow. If you die here today, won't I have to take the blame?"

"Su Chang, listen to me. I'm only telling you this once. From now on, you must behave yourself and keep your tail between your legs."

"If I find out that your Su family dares to do evil again, I will make sure that no one in your Su family will live in this world."

"Yes, yes, yes, I understand. From now on, I will definitely control my family and will never let them overstep the line and do evil."

Su Chang felt relieved. Although he knew that the matter would never end there, at least his life was saved.

"For Su Cheng's humiliation of the Queen, I must punish your Su family. Otherwise, how can I explain this to your Queen and the people of the world?"

Su Chang had just breathed a sigh of relief when Li Rui's next words made him feel like he was falling into an ice cellar again.

"Yes, I have already said that no matter what kind of punishment it is, I and the Su family are willing to accept it."

"That's very good." Li Rui was still very satisfied with Su Chang's ability to understand the current situation.

"In that case, I will punish you by confining yourself to your home for a year and not going anywhere."

"Your fief originally amounted to three thousand dan (approximately 1,000 dan of grain), but now I will take it back and put it into the state treasury."

"Also, your fiefdom of Luyi will be taken back from now on."

"Do you have any objection to my punishment?"

Su Chang had already become weak all over at this time. How could he dare to say no?

"Old minister, thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

"Okay, I'm tired, you can go back." Li Rui's lazy voice came out from behind the curtain. The meaning was obvious. He didn't want Su Chang to hang around in front of him.

"Old minister, I'm leaving." Su Chang tried to get up several times but failed.

Later, the eunuch beside him could not bear it anymore, so he came over, helped him up, and supported him as he walked out of the hall.

"Master Su, it seems like you can't leave the palace on your own. How about I find someone to escort you out?"

The eunuch looked at Su Chang, whose face was pale and weak, and was really afraid that he would faint in the palace in the next second.

It doesn’t matter whether Su Changren lives or dies, but he must not die in the palace. He can die anywhere outside the palace.

"Thank you very much." Su Chang didn't have the energy to say anything more. The most important thing was to go home quickly to save his life.

The eunuch called someone and carried Su Chang out of the palace in a bamboo sedan chair.

Before Su Chang could return home, he was called to Taihe Palace by the emperor and reprimanded. The news of the repossession of his fiefdom and estate spread throughout the aristocratic families in Shangjing.

Those cunning people got a very important message from this news, that is, the once prosperous Su family is going to be finished this time.

When Su Chang was sent back to the Su family, he was already in a semi-fainted state.

Lao Lu was so scared that he quickly sent someone to call the court doctor. He went to Su Yang's yard and dragged out Su Yang, who still could not accept that his father was going to rebel.

"Second Master, you can't be so depressed anymore. The old master just came back from the palace to apologize. I don't know what happened in the palace. This person is back, but he looks half dead."

"You have to come out and take charge of the situation. The Su family is relying on you now."

Apart from Su Yang, the Su family really can't find anyone else who can take charge.

When Su Yang heard that Su Chang was half dead after returning from the palace, he didn't care about his own mood and ran to Su Chang's yard.

"How is it?" Seeing the court doctor coming out of Su Chang's room, Su Yang hurried forward to ask.

Su Chang must not get into any trouble at this time. If anything happens to him, the Queen's plan will be in vain.

"Master is just overworked and frightened, nothing else is wrong."

"But you need to rest more in the future and avoid overwork, emotional excitement, and being too frightened."

Su Yang nodded and said to the court doctor, "Hurry up and write a prescription. Have someone prepare the medicine and send it over for the master to take."

The court doctor lowered his head and left. Su Yang looked at everyone in the room and said, "You all heard what the court doctor said just now. The master is not in good health now and cannot be disturbed. You all need to be careful in serving him."

"Yes." The people serving in the room didn't dare to say anything more at this time. They just did whatever Su Yang ordered.

"Uncle Lu, come with me." After Su Yang settled the servants, he walked out first, and Old Lu followed closely behind him.

When they reached the yard, Su Yang stopped and asked, "What happened?"

Lao Lu shook his head and said, "I don't know either. The master was fine when he entered the palace this morning, but he became like this when he came back."

"Send someone to investigate and see if you can find out anything."

Su Yang felt inexplicably uneasy. He knew that the matter was not simple. His father had seen all kinds of situations. He would not go to the palace to apologize and come back in this state after being scolded.

The Queen now wants to use the Su family to join forces with Li Chaohui in a rebellion, so she will definitely not make things difficult for her father.

Could it be that there is someone in the palace whose status exceeds that of the queen, and who has a grudge against the Su family, so she deliberately took the opportunity to deal with his father?

"Second Master, don't worry. I'll send someone to find out right away."

Su Chang entered the palace, and Su Yang locked himself in his room and refused to come out, so Lao Lu had no choice but to stay at home to take care of household affairs.

So Lao Lu had no idea what happened to Su Chang in the palace.

Soon the person who was sent out to inquire about the news came back and heard that it was the emperor who summoned Su Chang personally and punished him to not go out for a year and asked him to stay at home and reflect on his mistakes.

After hearing the news that his fiefdom and fiefdom were revoked, Su Yang's eyes went dark and he almost fainted.

The emperor is not punishing Su Chang or revoking his fiefdom and land today. The emperor has clearly made his attitude clear today, which is to kick the Su family out of the aristocratic families.

All the favors and preferential treatments that the Su family had previously enjoyed would be cancelled, and they became the emperor's abandoned children.

Once they become abandoned, the Su family will have a hard time. Without the emperor, a powerful backer, anyone can come up and step on the Su family.

Everything the Su family has now will soon be divided up by other families, and they will become worse than beggars.

"Second Master, you understand now. It's not that the old master is stubborn, but he has been forced into no other choice."

"Others may not know how Master Wenzhi died, but how could you not know?"

"From the moment his body was sent back to the Su family, the Su family actually had no way out."

"The Queen didn't publicize this matter on the surface. She said it in a nice way to save the Su family's face, but in reality, she just wanted to cover up the emperor's shame."

"You can sleep soundly even if you cuckold the emperor? How could such a thing happen?"

"The Emperor and the Empress are just looking for an opportunity to take down the Su family in one fell swoop."

"Unfortunately, the Third Master was not up to the task. He was so obsessed with beauty that he fell into a trap and was deceived. He personally presented this opportunity to the Emperor and Empress."

Lao Lu sighed heavily. He had seen the Su family at its peak and knew how important that glory was to Su Chang and the Su family.

Once this honor is lost, the Su family will be completely ruined, and the moment the Su family is ruined will also be the day of Su Chang's death.

So as long as Lao Lu is still alive, he will never allow such a thing to happen.

Su Yang didn't speak for a long time, as if he was in a state of meditation.

Lao Lu didn't bother him, knowing that he was just engrossed in thinking about the problem.

"Second Master, the master has woken up and wants to see you."

The servant who came running over broke the strange silence between Su Yang and Lao Lu.

Su Yang came back to his senses, waved his hand and said, "I understand, I'll go right away."

Su Yang tidied up his appearance and then walked to meet Su Chang at a leisurely pace.

"Dad, are you feeling better?" Su Yang walked to the bedside, looked at Su Chang and asked in a low voice.

"It's much better now." Su Chang stretched out his hand to signal Su Yang to help him up. After receiving Su Chang's signal, Su Yang hurried forward to help Su Chang up and let him lean on the quilt behind him.

"You've heard about what happened in the palace, right?" Su Chang spoke weakly, completely losing his previous momentum.

"Yes, son, I've heard about it." Su Yang lowered his head, trying hard to play the role of a good son.

"Ayang, now you understand, Daddy didn't have to take the risk of putting our Su family to death, but Daddy had to make a choice for the Su family."

"The Emperor, who has long since withdrawn from worldly affairs while recuperating in Taihe Palace, suddenly summoned me today. What does this mean?"

"This shows that the emperor has long wanted to abandon our Su family. He wants to use this opportunity to completely eliminate our Su family."

Su Chang turned to look at his son Su Yang, his eyes revealing complicated emotions.

Who would have thought that this son, whom he once treated like an abandoned child, would now become all his hope and support?

"So, son, there's no way out for us, father and son, and the entire Su family behind us."

"We must take a gamble, for the Su family and for Wenhao."

"It's done. From now on, our Su family will still be among the nobles, continuing the glory of our ancestors and making our Su family prosperous."

"It will also allow Wenhao to sit firmly in his high position without any worries and do whatever he wants."

"This child has suffered too much injustice in the past. Dad wants to compensate him well in the future."

"But if you fail this time, it will be Daddy's fault. You will have to accompany Daddy to the underworld and apologize to your ancestors."

"But fortunately, Wenhao has left, so this wave of disaster will not befall him."

"The money he took away was enough for him to support the Su family again."

Su Chang reached out and held Su Yang's hand, then asked, "Son, are you willing to take this risky move for the Su family and for Wen Hao, risking your life?"

Su Yang sighed, looked at Su Chang and said, "Father, at this point, for the Su family and for Wenhao, you and I have no way out."

"Whatever Dad wants to do, your son will accompany you. Brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons fight together in battle."

"Whether this thing succeeds or fails, whether it's a blessing or a curse, we, father and son, will bear the responsibility together."

"Dare, you are indeed a good son of my Su family, a good son of Su Chang."

"Dad, I've been waiting for you to say this."

Su Chang looked up at Lao Lu and said, "I'm afraid I can't do anything these days. If you have anything, please discuss it with Ayang."

"You two can discuss what to do. There's no need to ask me about everything."

"Listen to Ayang's opinions on everything. Just do what he says."

Su Chang's attitude shows that he wants to give up power and stop caring about worldly affairs. From now on, everything in the Su family will be under Su Yang's control.

"Yes, Master, from now on we will all obey Second Master's orders."

The person who had the least objection to Su Chang's arrangement was Lao Lu.

Su Chang has only two sons. The eldest son died young many years ago, and now there is only the second son, Su Yang.