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Chapter 668: Choice (Part )

Faced with difficulties, everyone has their own choices.

Fan Jianing chose to commit suicide and died.

Jiang Wanhua was in the most pain when she first learned that her father and brother were plotting a rebellion. She was locked in the house and could not go out. She was waiting to die. But she survived such a day.

Jiang Shaohua allowed the father and son of the Prince of Dongping to keep their bodies intact, and also instructed the Li family to treat Jiang Wanhua well. With the emperor's protection, and now that she has found Li Boyuan's blood in her belly, she can at least stay in the Li family.

As for the Prince of Huaiyang, he was unwilling to return to his fiefdom and was determined to stay in the capital. He dismissed his personal soldiers and asked the emperor to send guards to guard the palace.

The children could not understand the deep meaning of this. When the news reached the harem, Empress Dowager Zheng sneered.

"This Jiang Quan is really afraid of death. He has even shrunk his head into his neck. With the imperial guards guarding the palace, the slightest movement will alert the Showa Palace."

Eunuch Zhao didn't dare to say anything and glanced quickly at Eunuch Lin.

Eunuch Lin still had that smiling face, as if he didn't understand what Empress Dowager Zheng was saying.

Empress Dowager Zheng did not hide her feelings in front of her two confidants: "The emperor wants to keep them father and son to support the royal family, so I can't do it. Well, I will give the emperor this face."

Jiang Shaohua had already successfully ascended the throne and had a legitimate position. Empress Dowager Zheng did not want to have any direct conflict with Jiang Shaohua. She said this just to save face.

Eunuch Zhao secretly complained in his heart, but he kept agreeing with them.

Empress Dowager Zheng turned around and called Eunuch Lin over: "I heard that the Prince of Wu'an has left the city. Send some people to see him off. Oh, and send him farther. Wu'an is a long way away, and since he wants to go back so much, just send him all the way to Wu'an."

Eunuch Lin responded with a "yes" and stepped back.

Send it farther away? This means that the Prince of Wu'an should die farther away!

Eunuch Zhao was filled with chills. If he waited until he reached Wu'an County to take action, it would take some time for the news to reach the capital. He calculated that it would take two or three months.

By then, the body of the Prince of Wu'an would be cold. Who would care about the life and death of an ordinary member of the royal family who had lost his title?

Empress Dowager Zheng turned around and waved to Eunuch Zhao. Eunuch Zhao did not dare to show any emotion on his face and hurried forward to support Empress Dowager Zheng.

Empress Dowager Zheng seemed to be talking to herself: "Young people are soft-hearted. Some people are full of resentment and cannot be kept."

Eunuch Zhao nodded in agreement.

……

The Prince of Huaiyang and his five sons moved into the Prince of Huaiyang's Palace. The main gate was closed, and even the side gates were not opened. Only a corner gate was left for servants to enter and exit.

The emperor sent a team of imperial guards, a total of fifty people. These fifty imperial guards were not too many, and were enough to deal with the scoundrels. More importantly, this represented the emperor's support and protection.

There are no stupid people among the court officials, and stupid people cannot become high-ranking officials in the court. Since the emperor wants to keep the Prince of Huaiyang to support the royal family, the officials will follow the emperor's wishes.

Minister Zhang even privately told his grandson to spend more time with his granddaughter-in-law when she returned to her parents' home.

These trivial matters are not mentioned. Right now, there are more important things. Everyone in the Gaoliang Palace and the Dongping Palace will be beheaded in public. In addition, the court will confiscate the property of the two palaces. The property of the Huaiyang Palace and the Wu'an County Palace will also be confiscated by 80%. According to court practice, half of the confiscated property will be put into the inner treasury, and the other half will be added to the national treasury. For the Daliang treasury, which has been in a state of famine for years, this is simply a windfall.

However, the lucrative task of confiscating the royal palace and property was not the responsibility of the six ministries. Usually, the emperor would directly appoint his close ministers to lead the imperial guards.

The other three palaces are quite a long way from the capital, and a round trip takes a lot of time.

Jiang Shaohua ordered Song Yuan to lead a team of imperial guards to the Prince of Dongping's palace, and ordered Ma Yaozong to lead people to Huaiyang County. As for the farthest Wu'an County, he asked Yang Zheng to lead people there.

The Gaoliang Palace was in the capital, so there was no need to travel far, and it was the best job. Jiang Shaohua unexpectedly gave the job of searching the Gaoliang Palace to Wang Jin.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Wang Jin took the order seriously and led dozens of imperial guards to the Prince of Gaoliang's Palace.

The masters of the Gaoliang Palace were all imprisoned in the clan house and would be beheaded soon. There were only a few anxious stewards and servants in the palace.

They did think about taking some property and running away, but unfortunately, Jiang Shaohua had sent people to seal off the Gaoliang Palace a few days after the palace coup more than two months ago.

One or two people tried to escape by climbing over the wall, but were caught and beheaded on the spot. The rest were so frightened that they dared not move and have been waiting until today.

The once prosperous and glamorous Gaoliang Palace became a piece of meat on the chopping board overnight. The servants knelt in the open space, some cried bitterly, some shouted for mercy, and some of the braver ones cried and shouted for a guide.

This was the first time in Wang Jin’s life that he witnessed such a scene in person, and he felt very complicated.

In the eyes of everyone, it was a great honor given by the emperor for him, the Minister of the Central Secretariat, to come to the Gaoliang Palace to confiscate the property.

This was indeed the case. After Jiang Shaohua ascended the throne, he promoted and appointed him to important positions, without taking out his anger on him because of Prime Minister Wang's old grudge.

But today, as he led people to search the house, he had to think about whether the Wang family would face such a tragic situation if it fell one day?

Of course, he would not do evil. He wanted to be a capable minister of Daliang and assist Her Majesty the Empress with all his strength. But the Wang family was the most prestigious family in Daliang. There were thousands of clan members in the capital, and more than 10,000 clan members from the ancestral home and scattered throughout Daliang. Among them, many were officials.

If there was a corrupt official, like his brother Wang Yi... no matter how much favor he had from the emperor, he couldn't stand being implicated again and again. By then, he would have to resign without anyone else impeaching him.

Confiscating the Gaoliang Palace was not an easy task.

Wang Jin led his men to work for five days, listing all the assets of the Gaoliang Palace on paper and presenting a thick stack of paper to the emperor's desk.

Her Majesty the Empress said gently: "You have worked hard these past few days. I will give you two days off. You can go back and rest, and spend more time with Prime Minister Wang."

Since Jiang Shaohua ascended the throne, he has been working every day and has never asked for leave. Even a donkey pulling a millstone wouldn't work so nonstop, so it's time to take a break.

Wang Jin did not refuse. He respectfully thanked the emperor for his grace and returned to the Wang family with a tired face.

Prime Minister Wang, with the help of his servants, managed to sit up from the bed. There was still a deep contradiction and estrangement between father and son.

However, there is no point in regretting what has already happened. We can only move forward and look ahead.

Prime Minister Wang glanced at him and said, "What's wrong? Are you feeling uneasy after searching the Gaoliang Palace?"