Merchant families like the Ping family, which dominate a region, have a population beyond imagination. Just their ancestral mansion has hundreds of rooms. Some of the concubines' sons with low status even have to share a room.
Although the Ghost Lord was arrogant, he wouldn't have turned against the Ping family if Ping Xinian hadn't tried to kill him. They were not on the same level.
"How many people could there be?" Yi Qing asked curiously.
"Ping Xinian has a third uncle who has nothing better to do than have children. He's already fifty this year but still had two more sons. The key is that he already has a dozen or so grandchildren," the Ghost Lord said, sounding exhausted.
"Why doesn't the Ping family stop him if he has nothing to do? Who's going to raise all those kids?" Yi Qing thought the number was really astonishing.
The Ghost Lord found it tiring to talk to Yi Qing about this. He simply turned away and stopped talking.
"North Shanxi is a strategic thoroughfare and has always been a battleground for military forces. There are also many bandits there. People living there often get injured or killed every year, so they all hope to have a large and prosperous family. The more descendants a family has, the stronger it will be," Xiao Jinghan explained.
Yi Qing was a bit confused. She thought having a football - team - sized family was already a lot, but these people could have an army - sized family. "Then check those aged from fourteen to twenty - two."
"You mean to check those around Ping Xinian's age?" Xiao Jinghan understood.
Yi Qing nodded. "Although I don't know about face - changing techniques, I'm sure it can't be done casually."
The Ghost Lord didn't understand either. He always thought it could be done at will. "What are the requirements?"
"Those with too small faces can't have their faces changed," Yi Qing said to the Ghost Lord with a bit of annoyance. Just dealing with Ping Xinian had already been a long - drawn - out process.
The Ghost Lord knew Yi Qing was teasing him. "I got it."
"Since you got it, why aren't you going to check?"
"At least let me have a meal first."
After learning that Ping Xinian was still alive, Yi Qing didn't even care about the matter of the Duke of Xie. After dinner, she stayed in the room writing and drawing.
"What's wrong?" Xiao Jinghan wrapped his arms around Yi Qing from behind. "Don't worry about Ping Xinian. I'm here."
"That woman is simply a devil," Yi Qing said. She knew she couldn't be as ruthless as Ping Xinian.
"I'll kill her myself next time I find her," Xiao Jinghan said coldly.
"She'll hide in the dark again. Her tricks are impossible to guard against."
Xiao Jinghan also knew this. "I'll ask Tie Ying to investigate as well and see if there are any clues."
Yi Qing nodded.
Two days later, instead of resolving the matter of the Duke of Xie, the emperor made it even worse. Besides the ministers' petitions, some scholars also started to petition.
"What do you think I should do?" the emperor came to find Xiao Jinghan through the secret passage.
"What's the purpose of their petitions?" Yi Qing was puzzled.
"To hand you over," the emperor said directly.
As soon as he said this, the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. It felt cold even without ice.
"Why do they want to hand me over?" Yi Qing thought this was simply unreasonable. "I'm just a doctor. I saved the Duke of Xie after all. What does this have to do with me?"
"They may be targeting me," Xiao Jinghan said slowly.
The emperor sighed.
He thought the same. A mere Yi Qing wouldn't be worth going to such lengths unless they were targeting Xiao Jinghan.
Xiao Jinghan was a cold - natured person who didn't interact much with others. He hardly had any weaknesses. Moreover, he had so many military achievements that even if he made a mistake, it wouldn't be a big deal.
But Yi Qing was Xiao Jinghan's weakness. If they wanted to deal with Xiao Jinghan, they could only target Yi Qing. Taking advantage of the enthusiasm of the scholars from humble backgrounds to petition, they could catch people off guard.
"Are you being targeted indirectly?" Yi Qing looked at Xiao Jinghan and felt sorry for herself. Then she put her hands on her hips and looked at the emperor. "Who on earth is so stupid?"
"Those who don't want the court to be strong," Xiao Jinghan always knew who they were.
"You've got to be kidding me. Who doesn't want the court to be strong?" Yi Qing thought it didn't make sense.
"The vassal kings," the emperor looked at Yi Qing.
Yi Qing took a deep breath and didn't know what to say. The vassal kings indeed didn't want the court to be strong. Once the court became powerful, besides dealing with external threats, it would start to deal with them, which they didn't want to see.
"This is getting dragged into this again," Yi Qing looked away and didn't want to talk anymore.
"Hasn't it been found out who's fanning the flames in this matter?" Xiao Jinghan had been accompanying Yi Qing these two days, and the people he sent to investigate hadn't come back yet.
"It seems to have something to do with the Mu family," the emperor wasn't sure either.
"The Mu family?" Xiao Jinghan was surprised. "How is that possible?"
"Why not?" Yi Qing was also surprised.
"Do you know why the head of the Mu family was granted the title of Duke?" the emperor looked at Yi Qing's innocent face.
Yi Qing shook her head. She didn't grant the title, so how could she know?
"The Mu family is extremely wealthy. Back then, in order to win over the Mu family, the previous emperor found all kinds of excuses to grant the head of the Mu family the title of Duke, hoping to make the Mu family a part of the court," Xiao Jinghan explained.
Yi Qing gasped. This was truly domineering. "Does that mean the court has to cater to the Mu family?"
"Not really. It's just more convenient when the court needs to use the Mu family," Xiao Jinghan knew what the emperor was up to.
The emperor gave a dry laugh. He had no choice. "Even the emperor has to eat, you know."
"But the Mu family has always stayed out of court affairs. Why would they suddenly fan the flames in this matter?" Xiao Jinghan thought they might be wrong.
"I'm curious too."
The three of them talked for a long time but couldn't come up with a result. Then the emperor left first.
Yi Qing couldn't fall asleep in bed. She tossed and turned a few times and was directly pulled into Xiao Jinghan's arms.
"I'm hot," Yi Qing resisted.
It was the hottest time of the summer. With all these things on her mind, she felt even hotter.
Xiao Jinghan didn't let go. "What are you thinking about?"
"Tell me something about the Mu family," Yi Qing found she couldn't break free, so she leaned closer to Xiao Jinghan, hoping to make him hot.
The Mu family was a prominent family in the capital. Although they only had an empty title, their status was extraordinary. It was all because they were rich and were known as the God of Wealth on Earth.
To put it this way, the Ping family was just a nobody in front of the Mu family. They would even avoid the Mu family when they saw them.
When the previous emperor was on the throne, whenever he was short of money, he would invite the Duke of Mu to the palace to play chess and then complain about how difficult it was to be an emperor. The Duke of Mu would give him money without hesitation.
Of course, the Mu family also got a lot of benefits from the court. For example, the Mu family's banknotes could also be circulated, and the official silver would guarantee them. They were also exempted from a lot of land and waterway taxes.
The Mu family had always been low - key. Only the top - level nobles in the capital knew how powerful the Mu family was.
Yi Qing was stunned. She sighed at her own ignorance. It was already so difficult to bring down the Ping family, and now there was the Mu family.
"According to what you said, the Mu family shouldn't interfere in this matter," Yi Qing couldn't figure it out.
"I think so too, but since the emperor said so, it should be true," Xiao Jinghan was a bit troubled. "The Mu family is just one of the powerful families. There are other families like them. Although they don't live in the capital and are also very low - key, when something happens, whoever they support will be in that position."
Yi Qing gasped when she heard what Xiao Jinghan said. "Does that mean the emperor is both an ally and an enemy of them?"