Marrying a concubine and swallowing her dowry? The mistress turns around and marries a high-ranking

Chapter 641

Some seemingly plausible clues were found, but in Huo Tingsheng's eyes, that was enough.

Now, no matter how he looks at the Duke of Pingguo's family, he feels there's something wrong with them.

If Duke Pingguo has already been won over by Huo Jinghuai, it is extremely dangerous. With a solid financial backing, Huo Jinghuai's strength will only grow stronger, and his ambitions will inevitably intensify.

Huo Tingsheng immediately ordered a thorough investigation of the Minister of Personnel.

Throughout the entire Ministry of Personnel, very few people were truly clean-cut; how could they withstand such an investigation? The Minister of Personnel was quickly found guilty of several bribery cases and was dismissed from his post.

The Duke of Pingguo's mansion was also thoroughly investigated. The Duke of Pingguo was fond of drinking, and he had previously gotten drunk at a restaurant and killed someone, but the case was suppressed by the Duke of Pingguo's mansion, and in the end, they only had to pay compensation to settle the matter.

Such things are actually quite common in Ancheng; people from noble and powerful families have the privilege of disregarding human life. But for Huo Tingsheng to use this as an excuse is a serious crime.

Ultimately, because of this case, the Duke of Pingguo was stripped of his title and demoted to a commoner. His household was raided, and all the confiscated property was sent to the national treasury.

Huo Tingsheng felt that he had done nothing wrong. The Minister of Personnel had indeed accepted bribes, and the Duke of Pingguo had indeed killed someone. He was handling the matter impartially and had not framed anyone with any fabricated charges.

Because there was a perfectly legitimate reason, the downfall of the Duke of Pingguo's mansion didn't cause much of a stir. Everyone just thought the Duke of Pingguo's mansion was unlucky, and that Huo Tingsheng had caught them red-handed, making an example of them.

After that, Xue Qian reported to Huo Tingsheng many officials and nobles who were "secretly colluding with Huo Jinghuai".

Huo Tingsheng used all the charges he could find to punish people. If he couldn't find any serious charges, he would demote them, strip them of their power, or simply transfer them away from Ancheng.

He didn't go all out; these people were just dissatisfied, but it hadn't reached the point of escalating the situation. Therefore, Xue Qian's false accusations were never exposed.

As this happened repeatedly, rumors began to circulate among officials and the public, causing widespread anxiety and fear.

Especially since these officials who were punished were all loyal to Huo Tingsheng. His successive elimination of his confidants not only caused panic and confusion among the people, but also made them feel cold and disappointed.

On Huo Jinghuai's side, following Huo Tingsheng's actions, Huo Tingsheng also became much more restrained, leading Huo Tingsheng to believe that his measures were indeed effective.

Several months later, during a morning court session, all the civil and military officials once again jointly petitioned Huo Tingsheng to establish Huo Jinghuai as the crown prince.

Huo Tingsheng was both shocked and furious. He never expected that even after he had eliminated so many dissidents, there would still be so many people speaking up for "Huo Jinghuai"!

How many people has he quietly won over?

Huo Tingsheng still tried to stall and delay, but the ministers were very firm in their stance, bringing up the principle that a country cannot be without an heir, which left Huo Tingsheng with no room for argument.

Because that's just how it is; it's really unreasonable that he hasn't established a crown prince after so long.

Huo Tingsheng was both angry and unwilling, and was furious, but he had no good solution. In the end, he could only compromise and agree to make Huo Jinghuai the crown prince.

The political situation in the court has become very unstable recently. He was worried that if he firmly refused, it would cause public outrage. He was even more afraid that Huo Jinghuai might go all out and do something extreme.

They decided to use delaying tactics, agreeing first to stabilize the situation and public sentiment.

It's just establishing a crown prince; it doesn't mean the throne will be passed on immediately. If you want to change him later, you can still do so.

At this point, Huo Tingsheng had already decided to kill Huo Jinghuai.

His son is far too terrifying; he must be eliminated as soon as possible. Otherwise, he probably won't be able to sit on the throne for much longer.