My father is Yongzheng, and I am Qianlong?

Chapter 234 Ancestor, something terrible has happened! Fourth Master has come to raid our house!

The tenth day of the fifth month of the fifth year of the Yongzheng reign.

After bidding farewell to Emperor Yongzheng, the Empress, and the Imperial Noble Consort, Hongli left the capital.

Hongli arranged for Prince Ping, Fu Peng, to accompany him south, with Fu Peng in charge of leading a personal guard to protect his safety and also to keep watch over the Cao family members who were to be arrested.

Because of the special relationship between Fu Peng and the Cao family, Hongli believed that Fu Peng would not take advantage of his power to be too harsh on the Cao family during the confiscation process.

Hongli made this arrangement to make Fupeng even more grateful to him.

Fu Peng is indeed very grateful to Hongli now.

Throughout the journey, he diligently carried out all the tasks assigned to him by Hongli.

For example, strictly regulating the discipline of officers and soldiers in order to maintain his image as the Fourth Prince.

In addition, he strictly followed Hongli's instructions and reported to Hongli all local officials who wanted to use the pretext of welcoming Hongli to extort and harass the people, so that Hongli could stop these local officials from doing so in time and prevent these things from actually happening, and also to let the news reach Yongzheng's ears.

Besides.

He also refused to accept gifts from local officials when he met them in private, because he did not want to disappoint Hongli.

As a result, Hongli felt much more at ease during the journey.

Hongli also brought along Cao Zhaoye, a member of the Revolutionary Committee, to accompany him.

Cao Zhaoye has not yet been convicted.

Hongli brought him along so that, as the head of the family, he could demand that everyone in the Cao family cooperate with him in the investigation and confiscation, and truthfully disclose the current state of the Cao family's assets, especially the locations where the Cao family had hidden their wealth, as well as the assets they had secretly entrusted to various relatives and friends.

of course!

If Cao Zhaoye, who is under investigation, confesses truthfully, he may have a chance to be treated leniently; but if he conceals the truth, he will naturally be punished more severely.

Cao Zhaoye naturally understood this as well.

Now, locked in a prison van, shackled and escorted by his own nephew, he feels only regret.

In particular, after learning from Fu Peng that Hongli's birth mother had been promoted to Imperial Noble Consort, he beat himself in the prison cart, saying, "How could I be so stupid! I had to listen to others instead of my master, the Fourth Prince!"

The thought that her master was now the son of the Imperial Noble Consort and the adopted son of the Empress, and that if she hadn't been imprisoned, she could have relied on Hongli's even more powerful Cao Zhaoye, made her even more remorseful.

After beating himself, he couldn't help but say to his nephew Fu Peng, who was riding a tall horse, across the prison cart: "Your Highness, don't act like a servant. You must obey your master, Fourth Master!"

"Don't worry, sir. If I weren't truly obedient to the Fourth Master, he wouldn't have agreed to my request to make the Cao family his bondservants, nor would he have kept giving them opportunities!"

"Uncle, there's only so much I can do to help your Cao family. You yourselves have to be successful!"

Fu Peng looked ahead at Yunxia and said, "I wonder if my cousins ​​will catch Fourth Master's eye!"

"It's difficult. You might as well rely on your cousins!"

……

……

"Fourth Master, please have some tea."

Linqing.

Hongli, who was resting temporarily at the inn, had just woken up from his afternoon nap when a maidservant brought him tea.

This maid was a Li woman whom Nara Minxuan had arranged to serve him. Because she was literate, obedient, and efficient, she was assigned to Hongli's side.

Hongli knew that this maid was Li Xu's granddaughter, and remembering the relationship between the Li family and the Cao family, he asked her, "Do you know the old lady of the Cao family, Madam Li?"

"Reporting to Fourth Master, that is my aunt."

The maid's eyes reddened.

Aunt?

Hongli became even more curious after hearing this: "You've met her?" The maid nodded, her eyes welling up with tears: "My aunt has always been very kind to me. When I was a child, I went to the Cao family and stayed by my aunt's side for a while."

"It seems you are quite familiar with the Cao family as well?"

The maid nodded again: "Fourth Master is wise!"

What's your maiden name?

“My maid’s name is Zhenxia, ​​but the concubine has changed my name to Yulian.”

"Let's call her Zhenxia!"

At this moment, Hongli said something because he was reminded of Shi Xiangyun from "Dream of the Red Chamber".

He recalled that Shi Xiangyun in "Dream of the Red Chamber" was the grandniece of the matriarch of the Jia family, Shi Laotaijun. She was quite forthright and cheerful, but later the Shi family was also raided, so she was sold into prostitution.

Hongli had no idea whether Li Zhenxia, ​​who was standing in front of him, was the prototype of Shi Xiangyun in "Dream of the Red Chamber".

Hongli found her to be pretty, but her expression was serious and she rarely smiled, so he couldn't see any resemblance to the youthful and lively Shi Xiangyun.

Hongli could understand this. It would be very difficult for a girl whose family had just been raided and who had gone from being a mistress to a servant in the Xinzheku to remain cheerful and lively.

However, Hongli did not treat Li Zhenxia any differently because of this.

After all, the Li family's current situation is not entirely unjust; they have indeed committed unforgivable sins against the country and its people, and it is not solely due to their failure in political struggles.

As a daughter of the Li family, Li Zhenxia enjoyed the wealth and privilege brought about by the Li family's status as a bondservant of the royal family. Naturally, she also had to bear the consequences of failing to fulfill the corresponding responsibilities of this status.

If she wants to change her fate and become a master to be served again, she can only rely on her own efforts to regain Hongli's favor.

Moreover, Li Zhenxia was not the only Xin Zhe Ku Bao Yi (a type of servant) around Hongli.

As the head of the household, what he needed to do most was not to be overly compassionate, but to maintain a just order, to give important positions to those with virtue and talent, to severely punish those without virtue or talent, and to assign those with mediocre talent and virtue to mundane tasks.

So Hongli didn't say anything more, he just picked up his tea and took a sip.

Then, Hongli stood up and walked to the desk: "Grind the ink!"

"Whoo!"

Li Zhenxia responded and, mimicking how her maid used to serve her, obediently extended her fair wrist and began to lift the goose-shaped teapot, dripping water into the inkstone.

Hongli then began to peruse the letters that local officials had sent him in recent days.

Because Emperor Hongli forbade officials to come and pay their respects, these officials cleverly changed their methods and sent invitations, hoping to get a chance to meet Emperor Hongli.

Emperor Hongli personally wrote replies to these posts and rejected them.

Emperor Yongzheng would only grant him a meeting with a favorite minister like Tian Wenjing, but he would still try his best not to interfere in local government affairs.

Meanwhile, the masters and servants of the Cao family were unaware that their master had become a criminal and that their own property would be confiscated. They continued to act as if they were from the Jiangning Textile Bureau and were still enjoying themselves.

"Our Cao family are now servants of the Fourth Master, and the Fourth Master is the future Emperor!"

"Therefore, the wealth and status of my Cao family will not only continue in this dynasty, but also in the next. What is Li Wei? A penniless man who came from a poor family through donation. Does he even deserve to be compared with my Cao family?"

“Go to Suzhou and tell Li Wei that if he dares to continue intercepting the Cao family’s goods, I’ll have someone tear down the main hall of his governor’s office!”

At this time, Cao Yintang's nephew, Cao Shun, was reprimanding the servants who returned to report that the Jiangsu governor, Li Wei, had detained the Cao family's cargo ship on the grounds that the raw silk the Cao family had bought in Nanxun contained opium.

Before he could finish speaking, a large number of soldiers ran over and surrounded the area. A military officer on horseback shouted, "By imperial decree, the Cao family of the Jiangning Textile Bureau is to be raided and their property confiscated. No one in the family is to leave without permission!"

Cao Shun was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and then, terrified, he immediately turned around and ran to the backyard.

"Ancestor!"

"Oh no, Ancestor!"

Now that Cao Zhaoye is not at home, he can only report to Madam Li, the matriarch of the Cao family.

(End of this chapter)