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

Shen Lang and Jiang Shangxian discussed how to arrange things for these "beggar" relatives until late last night before coming up with a general plan.

In fact, Shen Lang supported the idea of ​​these illegitimate sons of marquises who planned to become self-reliant and support themselves with their own hands.

Influenced by modern literature, the idea that illegitimate children are inferior to legitimate children, and that illegitimate children are often malicious and scheming to rise to power and kill legitimate children, has long been deeply ingrained.

However, even if there are disputes between legitimate and illegitimate children in truly prominent families, the illegitimate children would not be foolish enough to frame the legitimate children in order to take their place.

Because the daily life of the legitimate heir is recorded in a special palace record, the only way for a son born out of wedlock to rise in rank is to outshine the legitimate heir through his own efforts.

As for framing someone to rise to power, that might exist, but it's an isolated case and shouldn't be brought to the forefront.

Those who truly want to compete for the position of family head are all direct descendants; 99% of the commoners don't even have the qualifications to participate.

Moreover, in most cases, social classes were fixed in ancient times, and the future and fate of legitimate and illegitimate children in high-ranking families were usually already clearly arranged, so there was not much conflict of interest between them.

In fact, whether they are born out of wedlock or legitimately, their birth is not something they can decide for themselves.

Since these illegitimate children wanted to support themselves, Shen Lang naturally agreed.

Of course, setting aside this idealistic relationship, what truly concerned Shen Lang was that the future plans for colonial and industrial development in the North and South would inevitably involve the involvement of these royal relatives from noble families.

Because the economic restructuring of the Chu state was too advanced, many local plans were not perfect, and thus many problems were exposed throughout the process.

The biggest hidden danger is that gang fights at steel mills across the country have been rising continuously in the past two years, and local authorities have been unable to control this trend despite their efforts to suppress it.

Only the intervention of these royal relatives, leveraging the remaining influence of the royal family, could stabilize the unruly workers.

After all, the Great Chu still held supreme imperial power, and as long as people weren't forced to live, they generally had a natural sense of awe towards members of the royal family.

In addition, there are many safety hazards in the railway sector, and it is indeed necessary to have someone supervise it.

Finally, the royal family and relatives will be an indispensable part of future overseas colonization plans.

By giving these poor relatives a secure job, and by using his royal status to suppress local corruption, Shen Lang could achieve two goals at once – this was exactly what he wanted.

Soon, Shen Lang and Jiang Shangxian properly settled the hundreds of poor relatives and their children in the Taiqing Palace.

Despite repeated warnings that the tasks assigned to the clan members would be demanding, no one voiced any objection.

After all, these illegitimate children of noble families are well aware that when they have to separate from the family and leave the mansion one day, they will have to rely on their own abilities to support themselves, and they can't expect to get much property (it will all be squandered).

Only by finding a way out now can we avoid feeling lost and helpless when that day comes.

As for enduring hardship...

Are illegitimate children afraid of hardship?

Moreover, these jobs pay quite well, more than the monthly allowance I receive at the Marquis's mansion, and I might not necessarily fare worse off after leaving the mansion.

The unique "job fair" finally came to an end around noon.

Shen Lang didn't say a word the whole time; it was all thanks to Jiang Shangxian's acting skills.

But everyone knew in their hearts that Shen Lang, the infamous regent, wouldn't just sit there as a figurehead for no reason; the solution to their children's livelihood was basically his doing.

So when they left, everyone bowed to Shen Lang in a gesture of goodwill.

"Finally finished!"

After a tiring morning, Jiang Shangxian finally stretched his arms comfortably after everyone left Taiqing Hall.

He looked at Shen Lang and grinned, "Brother, I feel very guilty for stealing your thunder. To express my gratitude..."

"I'll take you out for lunch today. I heard there's a Guanzhong-style barbecue restaurant that opened in the East Market. Their roasted lamb leg is so crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Shall we go try it?"

"Next time."

Shen Lang tidied up the documents on his desk, rubbed his sore eyes, and sighed heavily.

"I need to go back and make a register. Don't come to me with this kind of thing again, it's exhausting!"

After saying that, he left Jiang Shangxian and went straight out of the Taiqing Palace gate.

"Hey brother, why are you walking so fast? Wait for me."

Jiang Shangxian hurriedly got up and chased after him. The chair he was sitting on bounced immediately after he left, as if it had finally been freed.

……

Shen Lang walked quickly, bypassing Taiqing Palace and heading towards Shuixuan Residence.

As I passed by the Imperial Garden, I saw a group of beautiful women chatting amongst themselves.

He then remembered that the Empress was to meet with her relatives today, and these women of lower rank were not allowed to enter.

The women, who had been laughing and joking, immediately stopped their chatter when they saw Shen Lang and looked at him with suspicion.

"Ah."

Shen Lang responded expressionlessly and strolled along the cobblestone path leading to Shui Xuan Residence.

His appearance immediately drew whispers from the women.

"Who is this young man? He is so handsome and dashing."

"Yes, it's so different from what I usually see."

"Perhaps he's a palace guard, otherwise how could he be so upright?"

"Could palace guards wear such magnificent clothes? Besides, haven't we seen palace guards before?"

Clearly, none of these women had ever seen Shen Lang, and naturally they didn't know that they were talking about the most legendary regent of the Great Chu.

Shen Lang had no interest in what these slutty women were thinking; he just wanted to get back quickly and tell Jiang Mengxuan about today's events so he could make arrangements for them as soon as possible.

"Puff-"

Suddenly, a splash was heard from the edge of the pool.

Immediately afterward, someone shouted, "Oh no! Miss Xiangling has fallen into the water!"

In an instant, everyone gathered around the pool.

Shen Lang frowned slightly, glanced at the pool, and continued walking towards Shuixuan Residence.

"Young master!"

Just as he was about to step out of an archway, a young girl stopped Shen Lang, looking extremely anxious.

"Young master, someone has fallen into the water. Can you help them?"

The girl was Musk Moon. She had heard Changsun Ying describe Shen Lang's appearance, so she judged that the man in front of her was most likely Shen Lang, and deliberately arranged for him to have a chance to meet Xiang Ling.

"No."

Shen Lang refused directly.

"Please move aside, young lady. I have official business to attend to and cannot accompany you."

After speaking, he planned to walk past Musk Moon.

Musk Moon grew anxious: "Young master, Xiangling can't swim. If she drowns in this palace, it will be bad for the reputation of the capital."

Besides, as a citizen of the capital, do you really intend to stand by and watch someone die?

"Are you done?"

Shen Lang replied indifferently.

"Now get out of my way!"

"How can you be so cold-blooded? That was a living, breathing human life!"

Musk Moon was surprised that Shen Lang was so heartless, and immediately decided to use morality to blackmail him.

result……

"The pool is no deeper than chest-deep. If you let her stand up, she won't drown, so please don't block her way."

Shen Lang left with a remark, ignoring Musk Moon's stunned expression, and walked through the archway away with a flourish.

"Help, someone help me!"

At this moment, Xiangling was still pretending to be drowning, splashing around in the pool and waiting for Shen Lang to come and rescue her.

The poolside was surrounded by women, all of them extremely anxious.

Musk Moon walked blushing to the edge of the pool, trying to suppress her displeasure, and said loudly, "Second Miss, please get up quickly, the water in this pool is not deep."

Upon hearing this, Xiangling, who was struggling, was stunned for a moment, and then stood up straight.

Only then did he realize that the water in the pool was only up to his chest.

This scene startled all the women on the shore, who then began to whisper among themselves.

"How could this happen?"

"Second Miss, come up quickly, I'll take you to change your clothes, so you don't catch a cold."

Musk Moon was so ashamed she wanted to disappear. She quickly helped Xiang Ling ashore and they left the scene of everyone's pointing and whispering.