Chapter 100

Chapter 100

What happened next with the Dingbei Marquis's household played out exactly as Han Zhang had predicted.

The letter Kang Zhanxun had the prefect hand to Emperor Taixuan was basically a surrender note—he was offering to give up his military command and help the emperor smooth things over with the old soldiers.

After reading the letter in the imperial study, Emperor Taixuan tapped his fingers lightly on the rosewood desk, a faint smile of satisfaction finally tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"This Kang Zhanxun—he's a smart one."

The head eunuch, Pan Fu, bowed and chimed in, "Your Majesty sees clearly. The Dingbei Marquis's household finally figured out which way the wind blows."

"Figured out which way the wind blows?" Emperor Taixuan let out a soft laugh and set the letter down. "It's not like he had much of a choice. Grabbing the tiger tally is easy, but winning the soldiers' loyalty is the hard part—he knows it, and so do I. Kang Zhanxun's play saves his family's neck and gives me an out without losing face."

He got up, walked over to the window, and stared out at the gray sky beyond the palace walls.

The Dingbei Marquis's family had earned their stripes guarding the border for two generations, through blood and battle. The old marquis fought for three days straight at the border, took seventeen arrows, and never backed up an inch—that's how he held the thirteen northern cities.

Emperor Taixuan had to give credit where it was due.

But that very loyalty had won them the people's love, the army's backing, and even officials in court sticking up for them. Their achievements outshining the throne—that had become a thorn in the emperor's side.

So letting the Dingbei Marquis's family off the hook now wasn't a bad move.

It saved him from the bad look of kicking loyal dogs to the curb after the hunt, and it kept a little dignity between him and his subjects.

"Issue the decree." Emperor Taixuan turned around, his voice flat and steady. "As for the title succession, the main branch was a victim in this too. Given the family's years of loyal service and their record guarding the borders, I won't drag the innocent into this."

"But since the household screwed up this bad, they still need to be taught a lesson."

He paused, like he was measuring each word carefully:

"All the main offenders will be punished to the full extent of the law. The Dingbei Marquis title gets knocked down a rank to Dingbei Earl, and Prince Kang takes it over from today. As for the Kang clan..."

Emperor Taixuan paused again, his fingers absently rubbing the jade pendant at his waist.

A moment later, that calm voice spoke up again:

"The Kang clan let their matriarch run wild and, without the court's permission, went and adopted an heir into the succession line. Sure, they were fooled, but that's still negligence—they almost pulled off a scam against the throne. They need to clean up their act and root out the rot."

"From today on, every branch involved is banned for three generations from taking the imperial exams, holding any official post, or marrying into the royal family. Let this be a lesson—don't bite the hand that feeds you, and don't forget where you came from."

Those last words landed heavy, hitting the quiet study like a thunderclap in the middle of winter.

After the decree was read out at the marquis's place—wait, the earl's place now—

The Kang clan elders who were involved listened, looking half relieved, half crushed.

Three generations banned from the exams, from office, from marrying into the royal family...

What did this mean?

It meant the Kang clan's future was toast for decades. No matter how smart their boys were, they couldn't get into government through the exams; no matter how great their girls were, they couldn't marry into the royal family or cozy up to the powerful.

"This humble subject... thanks the emperor for his infinite mercy."

The clan chief kowtowed, shaking, his voice dry and cracked.

Man, they were kicking themselves!

They'd helped the Kang matriarch pull off that dual-inheritance adoption without getting a single thing out of it—they were just doing the marquis's family a favor, hoping the household would look out for the clan later.

But who would've thought the Kang matriarch would be that stupid and reckless, almost getting the whole clan wiped out?

The clan chief sighed. "Alright, alright. We were careless, plain and simple. Take this as a lesson—go home and teach your wives and husbands what's at stake. Don't let another clueless, shortsighted woman or man like Madam Wang (the Kang matriarch) show up again."

Bottom line, the Kang clan had only been up-and-coming for a short while, without deep roots, and they hadn't married into any high-class families. Now they didn't have a single capable matriarch or lord to show for it.

They'd have to keep a close eye on the inner quarters from now on. If this happened again, the Kang clan had no more heroic deeds left to bail them out.

As for Kang Zhanxun—

After hearing the decree and shutting the door, he couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh:

"...Man, it looks like His Majesty's fear of our Dingbei Marquis household's reputation has hit its ceiling. He's basically cutting off any chance we have of bouncing back for decades."

Per the decree, his son wasn't banned from office, but one beam can't hold up a whole house.

Even if his son turned out to be a genius, without the rest of the clan backing him up, how could the family ever get back to its old glory?

Blocking the Kang clan's road that completely just showed how scared the emperor really was of them.

But then, after mulling it over, Kang Zhanxun let it go.

"Like they say, good luck and bad luck come hand in hand. Compared to the guys who get tossed aside after they've outlived their use, or who die right after making their mark, our family still gets to keep its bloodline—that's already a stroke of luck."

"His Majesty's princes are all growing up, and the next few years at court are gonna be a mess of power plays. For the family to lay low might not be such a bad deal after all."

"From here on out, if we raise our kids right, there might still be a comeback. But if the kids turn out to be deadbeats, no matter how big the fortune or how fancy the title, it won't survive the damage..."

Having been a slacker himself for years, Kang Zhanxun knew exactly how much damage a good-for-nothing son could do.

It took generations to build up the family name, but just one loser to tear it all down.

All that stuff mattered, but for a concubine like Xiang Lian, it was way above her pay grade. Instead of worrying about court politics, she was more stressed about Kang Zhanxun remarrying.

There was an old rule that a concubine could never be promoted to the main wife.

Now that Du Ruorui was in jail and about to lose her head, the main wife spot was wide open. For the sake of future banquets and social events, he'd definitely remarry. Xiang Lian was scared the new wife wouldn't put up with her and her kid.

Seeing the look on Xiang Lian's face, Kang Zhanxun asked, concerned:

"Sweetheart, did someone in the house run their mouth and get under your skin again? Now that I've got the title, I'm not letting anyone disrespect you or our son, not even a little. If anyone steps out of line, just sell 'em off."

Now that he had the title and real say in the house, nobody would dare mess with his wife and kid again.

Xiang Lian felt a warm glow inside, but she didn't dare say what she was really thinking. She just dropped her eyes and said quietly:

"Now that you've got the title, who in this house would dare talk down to me? I'm just worried... that with Yi'er being a concubine's kid, it might hold you back from marrying a proper wife from a good family."

She wasn't trying to stop him from remarrying; she just wanted to lock in some security for herself and her son while she still had his favor.

She had no family to fall back on, so she had to play her cards right for her son while she still had the upper hand.

But what Xiang Lian didn't expect—

Kang Zhanxun shook his head. "I'm not remarrying."

"Wh-why not...?"

Xiang Lian jerked her head up, her eyes filled with both astonishment and barely contained joy.

Kang Zhanxun gently took her hand and comforted her, "I know what you're worried about, and I'm worried about the same thing—that a future wife won't accept Yi'er."

"Whether my body can ever fully recover, I really don't know. I'm afraid Yi'er might be the only child I'll ever have. That being the case, it's better not to go and ruin some poor girl or boy's life."

Otherwise, with a favored concubine who has a son and a wife without one, it would inevitably cause trouble in the household.

Having gone through this ordeal, he was sick of the infighting in the household.

"But without a wife, how will we handle social events for the household? You're still young, my lord—if an imperial physician can treat the poison, you'll definitely get better..."

Xiang Lian knew exactly where she stood. She was merely a concubine; she could temporarily help manage household affairs, but for social gatherings outside the house, a concubine showing up would just step on people's toes.

But Kang Zhanxun had already decided: "Then we simply won't attend such gatherings. After all, our household needs to lie low for now—we don't need to socialize much. It's just as well to shut our doors to guests."

"I'm in this state now. From now on, let's focus on raising Yi'er well. When he comes of age, that will be the day the Dingbei Marquis household gets its glory back."

Since he'd put it that way, and it was for the sake of their son, Xiang Lian naturally didn't argue anymore. She was touched and overjoyed, tears welling up in her eyes as she said, "Alright, whatever you say, my lord..."

"Just call me husband," Kang Zhanxun said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Now that it's just you here, there's no need to worry about so many formalities. Once the dust settles, I'll go straight to the emperor to confirm Yi'er's position as heir."

"From now on, it'll just be the three of us, living our own quiet life."

Xiang Lian choked up. Finally, she smiled through her tears and softly replied, "Yes, husband."

...

Though he had decided to focus on raising his son, Kang Zhanxun wasn't planning on dying anytime soon either.

So, he still needed to treat the poison and find a cure.

Emperor Taixuan, to show he was a gracious emperor, specially dispatched imperial physicians to treat him and show favor to a deserving official.

Unfortunately, Kang Zhanxun had been poisoned for too long, and his health was already ruined. Not only could he never have kids again, but his life was shortened too. For now, the imperial physicians could only prescribe remedies to ease his pain and lessen his suffering.

Not being able to have more kids, Kang Zhanxun could accept—he already had a son to continue the family name.

But the fact that his life would be shortened was something he found hard to accept.

"So how many years do I have left?"

The physician sighed. "Ten years at most..."

"Ten years..."

Kang Zhanxun slumped, feeling hopeless.

Ten years from now, his son would only be sixteen—still just a kid. And Xiang Lian came from humble origins with no relatives to turn to. Mother and son would be alone and powerless—how could they possibly hold the Dingbei Marquis household together?

If they encountered scheming relatives eyeing the family property, how could a widow and her child defend what was theirs?

No, he couldn't die early.

If he died, Xiang Lian and his son would be doomed. He had to find a way to stay alive longer.

Then, suddenly!

Kang Zhanxun recalled the recent case of Shen Huaizhi suffering from a severe intestinal illness.

At the time, Han Zhang's miraculous acupuncture skills had spread throughout the capital—every noble and official had heard about it. If Han Zhang could treat him, even if he couldn't be fully cured, he might at least buy himself a few more years.

However, Han Zhang's life-saving techniques seemed to have their limitations, and His Majesty had already let it be known that no one should just go knocking on his door.

If he wanted to ask Han Zhang to treat him, he would first need to ask the emperor for permission.

After thinking it over, Kang Zhanxun eventually dug through the family's treasures, retrieved the pardon plaque that the old marquis had earned, and went to the palace to petition Emperor Taixuan.

The pardon plaque was certainly valuable, but it was also rather useless—it could only save one person from execution.

If one truly committed a crime punishable by death, under the current system, the whole family gets punished too. Who would you even save? You can't save everyone.

So rather than letting the plaque gather dust, it was far more useful now to use it to get treatment.

He had to live—live until his young son grew up and could stand on his own two feet.

Emperor Taixuan was reluctant to waste Han Zhang's medical skills on a good-for-nothing like Kang Zhanxun, but since Kang Zhanxun had brought out the pardon plaque, he had no choice but to agree, though he wasn't happy about it.

Knowing the emperor was unwilling, Kang Zhanxun was cursing to himself as well.

The medical skill belonged to Han Zhang—the emperor had just taken it for himself because he had the power, so now he had to pay twice for the same treatment. He hadn't even said a word, so what right did the emperor have to be all reluctant?!

Though Kang Zhanxun's behavior was pragmatic, having been a wastrel for many years, he still had a rebellious streak in him—which didn't keep him from thinking treasonous thoughts.