Jie teaches the Immortal Sweeping Heaven’s Cultivation of All Heavens

Liu Tong, knowing that Song Xuemei was pregnant, very "kindly" passed the news on to the Crown Prince.

The current crown prince is not yet married. Although he has several palace maids, none of them have given birth to his children.

The Crown Prince still had high hopes for the child and also harbored some affection for Song Xuemei, his childhood playmate.

He wanted the child, but he didn't want Song Xuemei to die.

Now the only option is to let the eldest daughter of the Song family "die".

So, a day later, the Song State Duke's Mansion discovered that their eldest daughter had not returned home, and immediately sent people to search for her.

They found only a broken carriage and the bodies of the coachman and two old women at the foot of the cliff.

The bodies of Song Xuemei and her personal maid were not found.

But no one believed they were still alive.

Because traces of wild animals were found nearby, everyone assumed that the two had been dragged away and eaten by wild animals.

Why not eat the coachman and the old woman?

It's because they don't have the same tender flesh as the two girls.

The people in the Duke of Song's mansion were very depressed. Of the two girls they had carefully raised, one had an affair with the Fifth Prince and the other had died. Who would they marry the Third Prince?

There are still girls from the collateral branches, but they haven't received proper care and are not suitable to be princes' wives.

Their relationship with the fourth prince also became awkward.

Later, when the fourth prince ascended the throne and became emperor, the crown prince he fathered was not of the Song State Duke's bloodline.

Someone in the Song family suggested that they simply leverage Song Xuelan's relationship with the Fifth Prince to align themselves with the Crown Prince's faction.

The suggestion came from Song Xuelan's biological father.

Duke Song immediately objected: "With the Imperial Concubine present, do you think the Empress and the Crown Prince will accept our surrender?"

Song Xuelan's biological father: "But isn't Xuelan here?"

Duke Song sneered: "Can Song Xuelan compare to the Imperial Concubine?"

He said, "Could it be that your dear daughter told you something?"

"No, no," Song Xuelan's father hurriedly replied.

But the way he looked, it was obvious that something was wrong.

Duke Song sneered inwardly, thinking that just because someone has a "good" daughter, they've won her over.

The Duke of Song said to the other two clansmen, "Send your daughters here tomorrow so that the madam can raise them."

The two clansmen were naturally very willing, but Song Xuelan's biological father raised objections.

"Lord Duke, their eldest daughter is no more than eleven years old, isn't she a bit young?"

Duke Song glanced at him and explained to the other clansmen, "Their wives cannot become the Fourth Prince's principal wife. In a few years, we will send them to the Prince's residence to become the Fourth Prince's concubines. The children they give birth to will then have our Song family bloodline."

The other clansmen praised Duke Song's wisdom, but Song Xuelan's father was not satisfied and curled his lip where no one could see.

He thought he should send his wife to visit Miss Song.

Unbeknownst to him, the Duke of Song had seen his expression.

A hint of murderous intent flashed in the eyes of the Duke of Song.

Duke Song went to see Liu Dong and told him that his wife had taken in two more daughters.

Liu Dong smiled and said, "Thank you for your hard work in teaching my two cousins, Aunt."

"It's no trouble at all, no trouble at all." Duke Song was very pleased that the Fourth Prince hadn't blamed the Song family and had even agreed to the two maids' request.

Liu Tong was pleased with the two girls' age; it would still be several years before they entered the Prince's mansion.

He can use these few years to arrange for the return of everyone around him and then leave this quagmire.

With these two girls as an excuse, he could also refuse to marry into other families.

The Fifth Prince already knows about Song Xuemei's affair with the Crown Prince.

Of course, with his current strength, he couldn't find out about the Crown Prince's childhood interactions with Song Xuemei. He only knew that a beautiful woman had appeared at the Crown Prince's private estate. That beautiful woman was Song Xuemei.

The Fifth Prince couldn't help but feel sorry for Liu Qiu. Both of his chosen fiancées had been snatched away by his brothers.

If the Fourth Prince found out that his fiancée had followed the Crown Prince without a name or surname, would he directly storm the Crown Prince's residence?

probably not.

The two men wouldn't fight over a woman, but what if it were about who would own the Jiangnan region?
Jiangnan has always been the wealthiest region, and its annual tax revenue can fill half of the national treasury.

Both the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince wanted Jiangnan to be theirs, and over the years, they had sent a lot of people there.

The officials on both sides fought fiercely. The prefect of Yangzhou and the salt commissioner were officials who were worn down and replaced every year.

Every person who takes office either loses their position or their life.

The Fifth Prince naturally also arranged for his men to handle the situation.

But he knew it was not the time to take the lead, so he appointed clerks rather than officials.

In reality, it's these petty officials who get the real work done.

If these petty officials don't cooperate and secretly tamper with things, some officials' orders might not even get through.

The Fifth Prince sent a message to his subordinates in Jiangnan, instructing them to begin their operations.

This time, it would be best to cut off the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince's influence in Jiangnan.

The carrier pigeon was shot down not long after it took off.

Xiao Luzi removed the bamboo tube from the pigeon's leg and handed the letter inside to Liu Dong.

After reading the above content, Liu Dong gave the Fifth Prince a thumbs up.

This person is indeed quite capable, far surpassing the crown prince whom the emperor has carefully groomed.

However, this person traveled to ancient times for more than ten years and has been assimilated by this era.

He completely disregarded the fact that innocent people were not involved.

Liu Tong handed the letter to the candle and burned it.

He mentioned Bi and wrote another letter.

Imitating other people's handwriting is a piece of cake for Liu Dong.

The content of the letter was the same as the previous one, but the main project it addressed was modified by Liu Dong.

The Fifth Prince instructed his men in Jiangnan to tamper with the upcoming Jiangnan provincial examination.

The imperial examination was of paramount importance to the imperial court. Tampering with the examination would certainly bring down all the officials in the Jiangnan region.

But in doing so, many innocent students will be implicated.

People study for years or even decades, all for the sake of passing the imperial examinations and achieving success in their endeavors.

If they are implicated in a cheating scandal during the college entrance examination, their future will be ruined, and all their years of hard work will be for naught.

The blow was too great.

Moreover, it might even cost these people their lives.

Although Liu Tong also wanted to wipe out the Jiangnan officialdom, he had a bottom line and would not use innocent lives to fill the hole.

Liu Dong then shifted his focus to the illegal salt trade.

From officials to salt merchants, no one in this area is innocent.

Some of these people were from Liu Tong's faction, but Liu Tong didn't like these guys.

Of the large sum of money sent from Jiangnan, only a small portion ended up in Liu Tong's hands.

Before rejecting these unjust acts, Liu Dong secretly had them all donated to an orphanage.

As for who gets the majority of them?
Hehe, naturally, that's the target Liu Dong is going to target this time.

His faction includes innocent people, but it is mostly corrupt officials, especially those who harm the people.

Liu Dong designated this operation as a rat extermination campaign. (End of Chapter)