Rebirth, guarding the mute at the tip of my heart

After examination by the coroner, it was found that the bones underneath were all those of teenagers between the ages of ten and fifteen. Families whose children were missing came to claim them and confirmed that they were the missing teenagers.

As soon as the news came out, the late emperor who was still in power at the time was furious and ordered a thorough investigation. Eventually, it was discovered that Xiao Chenghou and his son had secretly opened a brothel for high-ranking officials to have fun.

That brothel was no ordinary brothel. These royal nobles loved men, especially tender and delicate teenagers who were in their prime.

In ordinary brothels, there are of course little boys who are sold into the brothels, but they feel that they are unclean. These kids don’t have any special features, so they become boring over time.

The brothel opened by Xiao Chenghou and his sons was quite eye-catching. First of all, the young men here all came from clean family backgrounds. These children had been sent to school and had studied for a few years. They were also brought up in pampered homes and had never suffered any hardship. Therefore, they were particularly lovable when they were being tossed around.

Relying on this secret place, Xiao Chenghou and his son gathered a lot of connections and provided a lot of assistance to the Fourth Prince whom he supported at the time.

After the incident was exposed, the entire family of Xiao Chenghou was executed, all the officials involved were thrown into prison, and even the fourth prince at the time was stripped of his status and demoted to commoners.

At that time, Jiang Zhengchu had just passed the imperial examination and was just an insignificant official in the Ministry of Justice. Naturally, he could not play any role in such a big case.

The first-class Duke Li Yan found him privately and wanted to ask him to help replace a person, and the reward was the position of Vice Minister of the Ministry of Justice.

A minor official like him, with no power or influence and no background, managed to win the favor of Lu Shuanghua, the youngest daughter of General Pingxi, with his talent and appearance, and became a relative of the general, thinking that he might be able to make connections through the general's connections in the court.

But this woman was really unlucky. She died of childbirth complications one year after her marriage.

The old general felt that he had failed to take good care of the child, so he not only came to his house and beat him up, but also cut off all ties with the Jiang family.

It was already a great fortune for him to marry Lu Shuanghua. After that, it was naturally impossible for him, a minor official with no future and a poor wife, to make further progress through marriage.

If there were no other opportunities, he might have to waste ten years before he could barely get promoted to the next level. He might also be exiled and assigned to serve as an official in a remote place, and live like this for the rest of his life.

Jiang Zhengchu was certainly unwilling to accept this. If he was willing to live in mediocrity and accept his ordinary fate, he would not have racked his brains to attract Lu Shuanghua's attention.

Just at this time, Li Yan found him. Such a powerful figure came to him just to ask him to help replace the next person.

Although this case shocked the government and the public, there were so many people involved that even the Ministry of Justice’s prison could not accommodate them, so a temporary prison cell was set up.

The person Li Yan wanted to replace was not an official in the court, but the son of a businessman.

Although he didn't know what the relationship between this man and Li Yan was, the son of this businessman was not conspicuous among the dignitaries and was an insignificant little character.

Moreover, Li Yan had already arranged everything. All he needed to do was to open the prison door and let him take the scapegoat in.

Everything that happened afterwards was natural. The prisoner who replaced "Fu Yuquan" committed suicide out of fear of punishment, and the real Fu Yuquan was replaced.

This was originally a very small matter. The real Fu Yuquan changed his name from then on. Even Jiang Zhengchu didn't know his name or where he was. He couldn't understand how Xie Ze knew about this and how he could use it to threaten him after so much time had passed.

What Jiang Zhengchu didn't know was that Fu Yuquan was Li Yan's illegitimate son. After escaping a disaster, he left the capital and changed his name. Seven years later, his child was quite promising, passed the imperial examination, and was listed on the list of Jinshi. Thanks to his relationship with the Duke's Mansion, he was able to stay in the capital and become an official.

Fu Yuquan's father became an official because of his son's status. All the past things were just like passing clouds, and he could still enjoy a peaceful life in his later years.

But Fu Yuquan has completely forgotten those painful past events, but it does not mean that others have forgotten them. Not all the victims of the Houfu brothel died. The only few who survived the torture and humiliation that was worse than death will never forget those disgusting faces for the rest of their lives.

Fu Yuquan was eventually discovered. The scholar who had grown up but had never married because of the tragic memories of his youth recognized this beast and struck the drum to report his misfortune...

Fu Yuquan was sentenced to beheading, his son was stripped of his title, and the identity of the former Duke's illegitimate son was also revealed.

At that time, Jiang Zhengchu was already the Minister of Justice, and his daughter also entered the Second Prince's palace and became his concubine.

Emperor Kang Yuan was kindhearted after all. Considering his old age, he allowed him to resign voluntarily, giving him the last bit of dignity.

This was the ending of Jiang Zhengchu in the past, and Jiang Zhengchu today naturally would not know it. While drinking porridge, he racked his brains and thought in fear: The wise king was only nineteen years old, how could he know what happened so long ago?

Who told him? Who else knew about this?

"Your Majesty!" Just as Jiang Zhengchu was lost in thought, he suddenly heard Jiang Xingyu's stuttering voice in surprise.

"…What are you yelling about?!" Jiang Zhengchu shuddered all over when he heard the word "Prince". He cursed in annoyance, glanced in the direction of the door, and suddenly froze in place.

...Xie Ze?!

Xie Ze seemed to have not noticed the expressions of the crowd, who looked as if they had eaten shit. He just casually led Jiang Xin into the house. Seeing the sumptuous breakfast on the table, he curled the corners of his lips and sneered, "I came here early to find Jiang Xin and visit Lord Jiang. I also thought we could have breakfast together, but I never thought that you would eat alone without telling Ah Xin?"

Jiang Zhengchu: “…”

Fu Xuerong & Jiang Xingyu & Jiang Liangcai & Jiang Daiyu: "..."

Seeing that everyone's faces were not looking good, Jiang Xin quickly took out the note he had prepared earlier and gave it to Jiang Zhengchu: [Yesterday, I made an appointment with the prince to go to the Imperial College together. The prince just arrived. Because my room is close to the small door, he came in through the small door.]

Although it seems a bit obvious, everyone's attention is not focused here at the moment, so no one pays attention to those details.

The prince came to visit, and no matter how reluctant he was, Jiang Zhengchu still greeted the ancestor with a gloomy face and his family.

"I didn't know that the prince would come to visit so suddenly. I am sorry for not welcoming you. I hope Your Highness will forgive me."

"See you, Your Majesty."

"No need to be polite." Xie Ze responded calmly, then smiled at Fu Xuerong beside Jiang Zhengchu: "Madam Jiang, I was wondering why you haven't been given an imperial decree for so many years. Now it seems that the emperor is wise."

As he spoke, Xie Ze's face suddenly darkened again, and he said coldly: "It is indeed unworthy to treat the legitimate son harshly!"