Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"My beauty, where are you?"

"Hehehe, you little rascal, don't let me catch you, or I won't let you off the hook."

Inside the courtyard of the Suzhou Governor's Mansion, a wealthy young man nearing thirty, whose physique was remarkably similar to Jiang Shangxian's, was blindfolded and wandered among a group of beautiful women, wearing only open-crotch pants.

The fat man's name was Zheng Xiaoru, the son of Zheng Bisheng, the governor of Suzhou.

He was a lecherous and tyrannical man. Relying on his illustrious family background, he would do everything he could to avoid doing anything that involved him in Suzhou.

"Young master, come here, I'm here."

A seductive and alluring woman dressed in purple silk waved a blue silk handkerchief in her hand and gently called out to guide Zheng Xiaoru.

"Young master, I'm over here, come quickly."

Another woman, dressed only in a pink top, used a seductive voice to entice Zheng Xiaoru to capture her.

Surrounded by this group of glamorous and vulgar women, and inhaling the scent of their cosmetics, Zheng Xiaoru gradually lost himself amidst their repeated calls of "Come on!"

Just as everyone was having a great time, a servant suddenly came to report: "Master has returned home!"

The playful noise stopped instantly.

All the women who were playing with Zheng Xiaoru hurriedly knelt on the ground.

"Where are you all? Little beauties, where are you? Where are you?"

Zheng Xiaoru was the only one still going around in circles.

Zheng Bisheng stepped into the courtyard with a gloomy expression. Seeing the erotic scene before him, his face darkened even more.

"Where is the beauty?"

Zheng Xiaoru was seen groping his way toward him.

Suddenly he hugged Zheng Bisheng tightly.

"Hahaha, beauty, I've finally caught you! Come, let this young master give you a kiss, a kiss, ahh~"

As he spoke, he brought his mouth close to Zheng Bisheng's old face.

pop~

A crisp slap echoed in the courtyard.

Caught off guard, Zheng Xiaoru was slapped hard across the face.

He covered his face and hurriedly lifted the blindfold, only to be startled when he saw Zheng Bisheng's dark, ashen face.

"Dad, why are you back..."

"You unfilial son, what time is it? How can you still be indulging in women?"

Zheng Bisheng snorted coldly, his face full of disappointment and frustration.

"Father, what exactly happened?"

"What is it? My Zheng family is in grave danger! Alas!"

After saying that, he flicked his sleeve, sighed, and walked into the main hall in the back courtyard.

Zheng Xiaoru immediately ordered his servants to send everyone away, then changed his clothes and followed Zheng Bisheng into the main hall.

"Father, what's wrong with you?"

After the father and son sat down, the butler quickly brought them tea.

After taking a sip, Zheng Bisheng looked at Zheng Xiaoru and said, "I just received a secret report from the palace. Regarding the Liu Wu case, the court not only did not agree to hand Liu Wu over to us for execution on the spot,..."

Furthermore, a new imperial envoy was dispatched to thoroughly investigate the case, including the household registration system and the shortfall in salt taxes.

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xiaoru dismissed it, saying, "I thought it was no big deal."

Father, Suzhou is the territory of our Zheng family. The imperial court is far away and can't control this area.

So what if he's an imperial envoy? Once he's in Suzhou, no matter who he is, he'll have to kneel and obey the Zheng family's every whim.

If he's obedient and willing to be a dog, then he'll naturally reap the rewards. But if he's like Liu Wu, who dares to openly oppose others...

"Just detain them first and then put pressure on the court. What's there to worry about? If all else fails, what can they do to me if I act first and report later?"

He spoke these words with complete disregard, showing no regard for the imperial court whatsoever.

Zheng Bisheng frowned deeply: "This time, the imperial envoy dispatched by the court is different from the past. I heard that he is the current empress's husband, the Duke of Zhenguo, Shen Lang!"

"That commoner Shen Lang? Heh."

Zheng Xiaoru didn't care at all.

"Come on, let him come. I refuse to believe that we can take down even Liu Wu."

"To put it nicely, Shen Lang is the Emperor of Great Chu; to put it bluntly, he's just a bunch of lowly sons-in-law. I don't believe he can cause any trouble."

"idiot!"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Bisheng shouted a curse.

"The Empress Dowager and the Ministry of Justice have personally instructed us that Shen Lang is an extremely difficult person to deal with, and we must be fully prepared."

That's the current emperor's son-in-law, and the one who personally recaptured Chang'an!

Upon hearing this, Zheng Xiaoru remained completely calm: "Father, I really don't know what you're panicking about? Whether Shen Lang is an emperor or has illustrious military achievements,..."

But here, the rules must be followed. In the capital, the Empress has the final say, but in Suzhou...

The Zheng family are veritable local tyrants, you…”

boom--

Before Zheng Xiaoru could finish speaking, Zheng Bisheng slammed his hand on the coffee table, his gloomy face so dark it seemed like it could drip water.

"Nonsense! How can you say such a thing? If word gets out, my entire Zheng family will be executed along with our nine generations of relatives!"

Zheng Xiaoru shrank back and muttered, "It's not just me saying this; the whole Suzhou Prefecture is talking about it privately."

"The saying that they're number one in heaven and number two on earth, and that the Zheng family of Suzhou has the air of emperors, has been an open secret for over a decade, and nothing's happened yet..."

"Shh..."

Zheng Bisheng was desperate about his son. How could he say such a thing in broad daylight?

"Dad, what are you afraid of?"

Zheng Xiaoru, on the contrary, did not understand Zheng Bisheng's concerns.

"My Zheng family has deep roots in Suzhou, and the entire officialdom is staffed by our people."

We've been keeping things in order with the court and the palace. So what if Shen Lang finds out something?

Does he intend to turn the entire Suzhou officialdom upside down? If he dares to touch the Zheng family, then we'll fight to the death! What talk of illustrious military achievements and revival of renowned generals!

Once we arrive in Suzhou, we'll have to be mindful of the Zheng family's feelings. Liu Wu is so despicable, yet he's still thrown into jail by us.

Don't worry about this. In my opinion, it will definitely fizzle out in the end. Shen Lang can only please the Empress in bed; he doesn't have any other great abilities.

Zheng Bisheng shook his head: "It's better to be cautious in doing things. How about this, you go to the General Salt Depot and Granary Office and speak to Huang Daorong, telling him to tone it down."

Release all the salt that has been tightened in the market, so that Shen Lang doesn't find any leverage against him. Also, increase the number of men watching Liu Wu closely; absolutely do not allow him to have a chance to meet Shen Lang.

"Father, you... alright, alright, I'll go right now, okay? So, Father, what are you planning to do now?"

"I need to convene all the government offices in Suzhou to discuss how to deal with this Emperor Shen."

"It's not simple yet."

Zheng Xiaoru looked completely indifferent.

"Then Shen..."

"Ok?"

"Very well, Duke Zhenguo! Duke Zhenguo is not even twenty years old, is he?"

People of this age are in their prime, full of youthful vigor, and what they like most is nothing more than fame, fortune, and beautiful women.

He already has a name; we can give him money and beautiful women.

My Zheng family has plenty of money, and as for beautiful women, Suzhou has no shortage of anything but beautiful women.

If all else fails, have Yunniang play him a Heavenly Demon Dance; it will surely bewitch him completely.

"Are you crazy? I can understand giving him money, but offering him my beauty? What if His Majesty finds out...?"

"That's exactly what we wanted." Zheng Xiaoru grinned. "If Yunniang really had an affair with the Duke of Zhenguo, she would definitely be afraid of His Majesty finding out. In that case, wouldn't she be at our mercy?"

Upon hearing this, Zheng Bisheng pondered for a moment and realized it made sense. He also noticed that his son's expression had softened considerably.

"You've come up with a really good idea."

"Hehe, how many upright gentlemen have fallen at Yunniang's feet?"

Even the upright and incorruptible Liu Wu almost lost his composure when he first met Yunniang!

Once we've found something to hold against the Duke of Zhenguo, what are we afraid he might find out in Suzhou?

Even if we find out, we can only pretend we don't know, don't you think?

Zheng Bisheng nodded: "However, it's always good to have a few backup plans. Go to the salt certificate warehouse and inform Huang Daorong first."

I summoned all the government offices in Suzhou to the Governor's Mansion to discuss how to welcome the Imperial Envoy.

"The Duke of Zhenguo will be in Suzhou in the next day or two. Make sure everything is arranged properly."

"Okay, I'll go now."

"Ah."

After seeing Zheng Xiaoru off, Zheng Bisheng didn't remain idle. He immediately ordered someone to summon all the officials in Suzhou for an emergency meeting...

Little did they know that Shen Lang had already entered Suzhou territory.

However, his first stop was not Suzhou Prefecture, but the Suzhou military camp, which was 120 miles away from Suzhou Prefecture.

The officers in the barracks never expected that Shen Lang would come to the military camp without any prior notice and conduct a "representative emperor's inspection of the camp".

The saying goes, "When in doubt, first seize control of the military."

This is Shen Lang's own style of doing things.

As long as we control the troops in the Suzhou camp, it's equivalent to holding the lifeline of the Suzhou officialdom in our hands. Then we can do whatever we want with them.

As for the two battalions of guards that Jiang Mengxuan had assigned to him, Shen Lang had already ordered them to assemble in Ning and Ming prefectures, awaiting further instructions.

This time, Shen Lang intends to take advantage of the situation in Suzhou to thoroughly eradicate all the corrupt practices and evils in the officialdom of Jiangnan, leaving absolutely no residue.