Disguised as a man, she became the biggest villain in the book.

Zheng Yuxiang was beaten so badly he couldn't stand up, but he kept comforting Zheng Luoqi, saying, "Don't cry, don't cry, Dad's alright."

Looking at the current situation, Zheng Luoqi felt helpless. She was too young and could not help at all. She could only be a burden, and her heart was also very heavy.

Seeing her like this, Zheng Yuxiang patted her head and comforted her, "My daughter has grown up; she even cares about her father now."

Just then, the sound of horses' hooves came from afar, and many horse-drawn carts loaded with grain and government vehicles slowly approached.

"The disaster relief grain has arrived! The disaster relief grain has arrived!" Many displaced people cheered as if they had seen hope.

A deep voice came from inside the carriage: "I am Zhang Yuan, the Grand Master of Ceremonies, and I have been ordered to come and provide disaster relief."

The guards at the city gate looked at each other in bewilderment. Hadn't the imperial court already distributed a batch of disaster relief grain? How come another batch had arrived so quickly? The guards read the documents and then let them pass.

After the guards let them pass, someone came out to distribute porridge.

Every day, Zheng Yuxiang would ask about Zhong Shufang's whereabouts, but the soldiers would always beat him out, until the third day...

Suddenly, the soldiers summoned all the refugees. Once everyone was present, they said, "A group of female refugees who were called away to work earlier, come and collect them."

At this point, one of the displaced people, unaware of the situation, asked, "Sir, what happened? Why can't they come out on their own? Why do we have to go and get them?"

The official looked grave and said, "Don't ask questions you shouldn't. Just go and get the person."

An uneasy feeling spread through everyone's hearts, but they dared not ask any more questions and could only follow the soldiers to take people away.

At this moment, Zheng Yuxiang and Zheng Luoqi followed behind the soldiers and arrived at a small courtyard. Before they even got close, they could smell a strong stench of blood.

Zheng Yuxiang kept reassuring himself, "It's okay, it's okay, Shufang will be alright," he told himself over and over again.

Then they arrived at a courtyard. When the soldiers opened the gate, the scene inside horrified many of them. There were corpses lying haphazardly inside, all of them women, in all sorts of gruesome conditions. It was a truly unbearable sight, and some of them fainted on the spot because they couldn't bear it.

Zheng Yuxiang's eyes welled up with tears at the sight. He pulled Zheng Luoqi inside quickly to search for Zhong Shufang.

Zheng Luoqi was terrified by the scene before her. Her face turned pale, and she stood frozen in place. But she was still praying for a glimmer of hope that her mother would be alright. She had always been very good to her parents since she came into this world, and she was very happy. She had long considered herself as one of their family.

She was afraid. She was afraid that the maternal love she had finally received would vanish like smoke. In her previous life, she was born into a disharmonious family where her parents were always arguing and she had never experienced any paternal or maternal love. In this world, she had finally found fulfillment, but heaven was going to take it away again. She hated it.

At this moment, Zheng Yuxiang couldn't care less about anything else. He kept searching for Zhong Shufang, but after searching the ground for her body, he couldn't find her. He suddenly felt relieved, thinking that Zhong Shufang might have already escaped. Just then, he heard Zheng Luoqi cry out in grief, "Mother!"

Zheng Yuxiang immediately ran over and saw Zheng Luoqi guarding a well. Zheng Yuxiang quickly walked over and saw a scene he would never forget. Zhong Shufang's body was submerged in the well. The entire body was bloated and looked like it had been dead for quite some time.

At this moment, Zheng Yuxiang could no longer control his emotions. Tears streamed down his face like a burst dam, and his sorrowful cries echoed in the air: "Shufang, Shufang, how could this happen? What happened? Who, who did this? Who is responsible for all of this!"

Zheng Yuxiang was filled with pain and self-blame, and he vented his grief. However, after his emotions calmed down a bit, he gradually became more composed and began to think about the truth behind everything. He kept recalling the moments he had spent with Shufang, and he was filled with remorse. He realized that he had sensed something was wrong from the beginning, but he hadn't paid enough attention to it, and he shouldn't have let Shufang go on that risk alone.

At this moment, Zheng Yuxiang was filled with resentment towards himself. He hated his incompetence and his failure to protect Shufang.

After Zheng Yuxiang and Zheng Luoqi buried Zhong Shufang, Zheng Yuxiang quickly learned who it was: Wen Lian, the county magistrate of the county. It was him who used the pretext of recruiting female workers to gather these vagrants together for people's entertainment. After the matter was discovered, he killed people to silence them, but Wen Lian was still arrested.

Zhang Yuan was ordered to provide disaster relief, but there was another matter that the Emperor also needed to handle: dealing with Wen Lian. Wen Lian was the Empress's nephew, and because he was ignorant and incompetent, he was given an official position at random. As a result, he committed crimes such as oppressing the people, exploiting them, embezzling disaster relief funds from the court, and corrupting morals.

Just when Zheng Yuxiang and Zheng Luoqi thought that Wenlian would receive the punishment he deserved for his crimes, things didn't turn out as expected. Wenlian not only didn't receive any punishment, but was only sentenced to a few years in prison.

Many people were furious about this outcome and went to beat drums to appeal for justice, but they were all driven away. Some even went to report to the authorities and were imprisoned.

From then on, the people gave up on this idea, and the people did not fight against the officials.

After this incident, Zheng Yuxiang studied even harder, forcing Zheng Luoqi to practice martial arts and read every day. He also stopped letting Zheng Luoqi present herself as a girl and instead made her dress as a boy, claiming to be his son.

Zheng Luoqi didn't ask Zheng Yuxiang why he made her do it, nor did she resist. After this incident, Zheng Yuxiang changed. Although he still loved his daughter, he became stricter.

After passing the imperial examination six years later, Zheng Yuxiang gained the emperor's favor. The emperor had long wanted to deal with the powerful Wen family, but lacked capable advisors. Zheng Yuxiang, through his own efforts, won the emperor's favor and quickly became a member of the emperor's faction. Zheng Yuxiang knew he needed power, and while serving the emperor, he was determined to eliminate the Wen family, yet he remained discreet and never revealed his hatred for them. However, to balance the power in the court, the emperor ultimately spared most of the Wen family members, including Wen Lian.

Seeing that Zheng Yuxiang's influence in the court was growing, the emperor eventually reinstated the Wen family.

This action chilled Zheng Yuxiang to the bone. He couldn't help but recall what had happened back then. How could the emperor not know that such a small punishment would not appease the people's resentment? Yet, in order to consolidate his own position, he still let the Wen family go.

Once Zheng Yuxiang understood this, he stopped worrying about it. Since this one was disobedient, he decided to find another one.

Twenty years after Zhong Shufang's death, after three years of provincial examinations and three years of palace examinations, Zheng Yuxiang spent ten years consolidating his position in the court and became a first-rank prime minister. He then changed emperors in four years. The newly enthroned emperor, Xue Huaiyu, was the sixth prince with the least power. His mother was just a palace maid, and he was able to rise to the throne only because of Zheng Yuxiang's support.

Zheng Luoqi is now 23 years old and has grown into a handsome young man. When the new emperor ascended the throne, Zheng Luoqi was awarded the rank of Censor-in-Chief, a third-rank official, for his meritorious service in supporting the emperor.

Although the new emperor Xue Huaiyu was able to inherit the throne because of Zheng Yuxiang, he lived like a puppet. Xue Huaiyu had long wanted to get rid of Zheng Yuxiang after he had served his purpose.

The main story begins...................