Chapter 630: Heaven punishes the national thief!

The kinship between Xu Zhaojie and Feng Keqin is not just for show but involves several generations of the two families. If you count carefully, part of Xu Zhaojie's blood may belong to the Feng family...

In today's feudal society, people still attach great importance to family blood relations. Therefore, after figuring out Xu Zhaojie's attitude towards the Feng family, although the soldiers of the Anqing Army were jealous of the Feng family's wealth, they did not dare to act rashly!
After listening to Liu Zhaohu's words, Xu Zhaojie did not give an answer immediately, but asked:

"Did the Feng family send anyone over?"

Liu Chaohu thought for a moment and said:
"The Feng family sent someone named Feng Shen, saying he is your fifth uncle!"

After hearing this, Xu Zhaojie's face darkened, but he still said patiently:

"Did they mention money?"

Liu Chaohu shook his head and said:
"without!"

After receiving this answer, Xu Zhaojie was silent for a moment, then he sighed and said:
"Send the order to confiscate the Feng family's property. All the men, regardless of age, will be executed. As for the women, let the brothers below divide the property among them!"

Liu Zhaohu was stunned at first, thinking that he had heard it wrong. Seeing that Liu Zhaohu did not answer, Xu Zhaojie looked at him coldly and said:

"What are you standing there for? Go and pass the message!"

After hearing this, Liu Chaohu realized that Xu Zhaojie was really so cruel to his relatives and clansmen. He directly confiscated their property and exterminated their clans. He immediately took the order and said:

"Yes, let's go now!"

Looking at Liu Zhaohu's departing back, Xu Zhaojie sighed again. He didn't want to be so ruthless, but he had no choice. Under the difficult financial situation of Anqing, in order to support the war, he had to make big promises to his generals and promised a series of benefits after conquering Shouchun...
In order to fulfill his promise, Xu Zhaojie had to kill many wealthy families, and the first one to bear the brunt was the Feng family. During the more than ten years that Feng Keqin was in charge of Huainan, the Feng family had made a lot of money. The Feng family occupied more than 10,000 hectares of fertile land outside Shouchun City alone.

If Feng Jianchao came today and voluntarily handed over the Feng family's property, then Xu Zhaojie would let them go for the sake of their relationship. Although he was cruel and ruthless, he would not be so heartless as to not recognize his own relatives. It was a pity that the Feng family did not have this awareness, so Xu Zhaojie could not be blamed for being cruel and ruthless!
In addition to coveting the Feng family's money, Xu Zhaojie also intended to use the Feng family to kill people to establish his authority and tell everyone in Huainan that a new era, an era belonging to him, Xu Zhaojie, has arrived!
After resting in the room for a few hours and regaining his strength, Xu Zhaojie came to Tianquan Pavilion, the most famous restaurant in Shouchun. The dignitaries of Huainan had prepared a banquet here to celebrate the victory of Xu Zhaojie and the generals of the Anqing Army under his command, in order to express their loyalty to Xu Zhaojie. Almost all the leading figures of Shouchun were present to witness this historic moment in Huainan.

After pretending to decline several times at the banquet, Xu Zhaojie sat down at the main seat amidst compliments. When the banquet was about to begin, Xu Zhaojie stood up with his glass in hand and prepared to give a speech.
He first raised his glass and looked around. Everyone who made eye contact with him lowered their heads. No one dared to look him in the eye. Xu Zhaojie felt that he had reached the pinnacle of his life. A smile appeared on his handsome face. Xu Zhaojie said loudly:
“Zhao Jie is honored to have all the wise men gathered here today. This time, I take over Huainan not for Zhao Jie’s personal gain, but because Feng Keqin and the Feng family are corrupt and cannot deceive the emperor, and they have a rebellious heart. Zhao Jie, as the Marquis of Zhenyuan of the Great Zhou, has been eating the emperor’s salary for generations, so naturally I cannot tolerate such a traitor who disrupts the government and harms one side…”

"Now that the villain Feng Keqin has been brought to justice, Huainan should be returned to you gentlemen. Please select another capable person to govern Huainan!"

As soon as Xu Zhaojie finished speaking, a group of Huainan dignitaries who wanted to win the credit of supporting him immediately tried to dissuade him loudly. They quoted classics and beat their chests and stamped their feet to persuade Xu Zhaojie to stay, as if they would kill him on the spot if he didn't agree.

Seeing this scene, Xu Zhaojie was secretly satisfied in his heart, but on the surface he still acted very humble and unconvincing, and insisted that the gentlemen of Huainan choose other capable people.

Just when the two sides were acting enthusiastically, in the magnificent restaurant, three sleeve arrows were suddenly shot at Xu Zhaojie, who was declining the host seat. Seeing that the three sleeve arrows were about to hit Xu Zhaojie, Xu Zhaojie suddenly seemed to sense the danger, and his head subconsciously shrank, and the three sleeve arrows hit the porcelain bottle behind him.

"Afraid to wipe!"

The sudden shattering of porcelain immediately made the guards in the venue realize the coming danger. They immediately stood up to protect Xu Zhaojie. Just when the venue was in chaos, the guards also discovered the figures of the assassins, who were two attendants and a maid.

Seeing that they were discovered, the three men simply did not hide. Two attendants drew their short swords and rushed towards the Anqing Army guards. The maid among the three took out a grenade from her bosom, quickly pulled out the fuse and lit it with a fire stick, then threw it towards Xu Zhaojie while shouting:
"Heaven punishes the national thief!"

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Yijing, Governor's Mansion

A family banquet was being held in a side room of the mansion. After the war in Hebei and Henan ended, Ye Mingsheng, who had returned to Yijing, finally had time to entertain An Miaoyi and Xiao Ruolan with a banquet.

Looking at the good boy An Tianyu, although he already knew that An Tianyu had been in poor health since childhood due to premature birth, seeing his frail appearance, Ye Mingsheng couldn't help but shook his head in his heart. He made up his mind to give his brother-in-law a few old mountain ginseng to replenish his qi and blood. Although he was not a doctor, he could see that the boy was in poor health.

"Tian Yu, are you and Ruolan used to living in Yijing?" Ye Mingsheng asked with a smile. Although Ye Mingsheng had been as friendly as possible to his brother-in-law, facing Ye Mingsheng's majesty in every move, Tian Yu was still a little scared. He could only lower his head and said to Ye Mingsheng:
"Thank you for your concern, brother-in-law. My husband and I are living well in Yijing!"

Seeing An Tianyu's timid look, Ye Mingsheng didn't want to ask him anymore, but he seemed to have thought of something and felt that it would be bad for him as a son-in-law not to show some concern. He then hesitated for a moment and slowly asked:
"One of my biggest regrets in this life is that I never got to meet my father-in-law. When I was in the Imperial Guards in my early years, I heard about his heroic deeds and admired him so much that I wanted to listen to his teachings. Unfortunately, I never got to meet him. This is really a big regret in my life... I wonder if he passed away peacefully?"

Seeing Ye Mingsheng mentioned his father, Kunshan Hou Anhetu, An Tianyu, an honest child, was sad but also a little surprised. In his impression, his father Anhetu only served in the army for a few years and was seriously injured in the war. He has been bedridden ever since. During this period, he did not have any commendable achievements. I wonder what his brother-in-law Ye Mingsheng heard about his father's heroic deeds?
Although he was somewhat puzzled, An Tianyu did not dare to neglect Ye Mingsheng's question and whispered:

"Thank you for your concern, brother-in-law. My father passed away in his sleep and did not commit any crime!"

"That's good! That's good!" Ye Mingsheng nodded slightly.
After he finished speaking, Ye Mingsheng seemed to sense something. He glanced to the right and saw Xiao Ruolan, who had not spoken much at the banquet, drinking tea with her head down. Seeing this, Ye Mingsheng did not think much about it and shifted his gaze back.

Because An Tianyu was very shy, Ye Mingsheng did not ask him too many questions, and the atmosphere was a little awkward for a while. Seeing that An Tianyu could not eat or drink well while sitting here, the word nervous was almost written on his face. It happened that he had some things to deal with, so Ye Mingsheng helped him and left on the pretext of handling official business, allowing An Miaoyi and the young couple to continue eating.

In the evening, after discussing the matter of rewarding merit with Zhang Juning, He Jingyun and others, Ye Mingsheng, dragging his tired body, came to An Miaoyi's room and prepared to go to bed...
Ye Mingsheng was lying on the bed after a tiring day. Just when he was drowsy and ready to fall asleep at any time, he suddenly heard a sigh beside him.

Although he didn't know why An Miaoyi was sighing, Ye Mingsheng couldn't care less at this time. He just planned to have a good sleep and talk about it tomorrow morning. However, a few seconds later, the sound of An Miaoyi sobbing came from beside him.

If Ye Mingsheng could ignore the sigh, then he couldn't just sit back and watch if An Miaoyi cried secretly in bed. He took a deep breath, sat up from the bed, and said to An Miaoyi sincerely:

"Miaoyi, I know you suffered a lot at home when I was away. I already know about what happened to Bai Yuanyuan and Su Rumeng. I fully support your approach. I have also warned them to listen to you and not make you angry!"

Just when Ye Mingsheng wanted to continue, An Miaoyi held Ye Mingsheng's hand, shook her head and said with some guilt:
"I'm sorry to disturb your rest, my husband. I'm not sad because of their affairs, but because of Tian Yu..."

Seeing An Miaoyi saying that it was because of An Tianyu, Ye Mingsheng was somewhat surprised. He thought An Miaoyi did it on purpose, but now it seems that he was overthinking.

Looking carefully at An Miaoyi's tearful face, and recalling An Tianyu's frail appearance, an idea flashed through Ye Mingsheng's mind. Ye Mingsheng asked without thinking too much:
“Does Tian Yu have some terminal illness?”

After hearing Ye Mingsheng's question, An Miaoyi glared at Ye Mingsheng angrily, and then explained to him:

"I asked the doctor from the medical school to check Tian Yu's health. Although Tian Yu's health is not very good, his life is not in danger. If he takes good care of himself, he may live to be 60 years old!"

Seeing An Miaoyi's serious look, although Ye Mingsheng was skeptical about whether An Tianyu could live for a whole sixty years, he was more curious. Since An Tianyu didn't have any terminal illness, why was An Miaoyi hiding in the quilt and crying secretly in the middle of the night?

As if she saw Ye Mingsheng's doubt, An Miaoyi wanted to say something, but it seemed a little difficult to say. She didn't know how to start. After hesitating for a long time with a blush on her face, she bit her silver teeth and said:
"Husband, can you ask Doctor Li from the medical school to check on Tian Yu?"

"Doctor Li? That Doctor Li?"

After listening to An Miaoyi's words, Ye Mingsheng became even more confused. Li is a well-known surname. If he remembered correctly, there were as many as six or seven doctors with the surname Li in this medical school. God knows who An Miaoyi was referring to. Besides, An Miaoyi was his wife, the mistress of the Fengwu Army. If she gave a call, the medical school would surely agree. It was not difficult to let a doctor see a patient. Why did they need to ask him for permission...

Seeing Ye Mingsheng's puzzled look, An Miaoyi finally made up her mind and said:
"Li Wei!"

Ye Mingsheng was stunned when he heard the name, and then he suddenly realized it. No wonder An Miaoyi asked him for instructions. It turned out that she wanted Li Wei to treat An Tianyu. However, in order to make sure that his guess was correct, Ye Mingsheng asked An Miaoyi tentatively:
"What's wrong with our brother-in-law?"

Faced with Ye Mingsheng's questioning, An Miaoyi was ashamed and angry, but in order to get Ye Mingsheng's approval, she nodded under Ye Mingsheng's gaze. After getting An Miaoyi's confirmation, Ye Mingsheng was a little troubled!

Other doctors in the medical school were easy to deal with, but Li Wei was a little different. Li Wei was an expert in that field and the most important cash cow for the Dadongsheng Company. The several kinds of medicines he developed were very effective with few side effects, so he sold as many of them as he produced, earning Dadongsheng Bank tens of thousands of taels of silver.

In order to retain this talent, Dadongsheng Bank bought a large courtyard with three entrances in Yijing for him, assigned him five eighteen-year-old maids, and bought him dozens of acres of fertile land outside the city. Even the medical school awarded him the title of professor...
(End of this chapter)