The legitimate daughter was reborn, and the emperor’s little Jiaojiao went crazy.

Emperor Mingde's arrival had already frightened Tang Songlin to death.

The words "the crime of deceiving the emperor shall be punishable by death" and "beheaded immediately" almost cost Tang Songlin his life.

The more mediocre a person is, the more he fears death. How could he withstand such a scare?

Tang Songlin collapsed to the ground with his whole body weak, almost forgetting to breathe, and shivering continuously.

Emperor Mingde looked down upon this spineless person.

Originally, he didn't want to scare the old Duke.

Although these old families cannot be said to have made great contributions to the North Wing, due to their large size and profound heritage, they can always produce various children who become the pillars of the North Wing.

For example, Tang Chuyu in front of him is a down-to-earth person.

There are many other people in the Tang family who work in the court.

Although not everyone can do earth-shaking things, as long as they do their job well, they are good officials.

Seeking stability in a prosperous era is the best policy. Only in troubled times can heroes emerge. Therefore, what Emperor Mingde needs now is officials who are stable and down-to-earth.

Protecting the foundation of the old family and giving due respect are the key considerations for an emperor. Of course, one cannot just believe everything he hears and punish whenever he wants.

But today is different, it is the Tang family themselves who want to set things right.

Moreover, when Tang Chujun looked up at him just now, he saw that half of her face was red and swollen, obviously she had been beaten.

There is no doubt that the person who hit her was the Duke of the Protectorate, Tang Songlin.

He is just a bully in his own house! Emperor Mingde was inexplicably angry, so he threatened as soon as he opened his mouth.

This time he was even more stern, "Duke Protector of the Country, please stand up and answer! You are such a spineless person!"

If he was captured, he would probably raise his hands and shout, "Confess, I confess! I confess everything!" before the enemy could torture him.

This association made Emperor Mingde look even more displeased at the Duke of Huguo. Are the people of the Northern Wing so soft-hearted?

Tang Songlin's spine was weak, so weak that he couldn't even lift his head.

Tang Chuyu had no choice but to go over and help his father up, and whispered to him, "Father, please answer the emperor's words and tell him the truth. Don't try to hide it by making excuses."

The room was so small that even the smallest sound could be heard by Emperor Mingde. "Oh! You are committing a crime of quibbling and concealing the truth! Don't think that we won't be able to find out after a long time. My Western Shadow Guards are not pushovers! Don't force me to have a joint investigation of the Western Shadow Guards and the Eastern Feather Guards just for you, the Duke of Huguo. It will be very embarrassing when we investigate."

Tang Songlin was so frightened that his face turned pale and he trembled even more violently.

Tang Chujun was thinking, hey, they say the emperor speaks with great care and is very thrifty with words. But that's not true. My emperor seems to be quite talkative, and he speaks a lot. My emperor is really wise and kind to the people! No wonder he can be the father of my daughter!

When I thought about this, I suddenly felt something strange in my heart.

The emperor is my daughter’s father, and I am her mother...this, this, this, why does this sound so weird!

Oh, I can't think about it, I can't think about it, I will be beheaded! Buddha, please have mercy on me, please cleanse my heart and mind, I must not let my imagination run wild.

Tang Chujun was frightened by his own thoughts. He subconsciously took a step back and then secretly looked at Emperor Mingde.

The man was wearing a simple and neat black satin suit. He had broad shoulders and a broad back, and his every move was full of elegance.

His eyes were reserved, with a depth that made people dare not look directly at them.

Perhaps because I knew he was the emperor, I couldn't help but respect him. I felt that as a citizen, being able to live in his land gave me an indescribable sense of security.

At this time, Tang Chujun prayed wholeheartedly for Emperor Mingde to be healthy and live a long life.

At this moment, Emperor Mingde was sitting, Tang Songlin was kneeling, and the others were standing on both sides.

Emperor Mingde just happened to catch Tang Chujun's eye with his head lowered and frowned, then shook his head, and seemed to be muttering something.

He wanted to ask, "What are you talking about?"

Could you tell me about it too?

Emperor Mingde didn't feel like being absent-minded any longer, so he had to put away his romantic thoughts and turned his attention to Tang Chujun...'s father.

Tang Chujun's father was really feeling miserable at this moment.

So scared!

But I still don’t know how to reply.

Because no matter how he responded, it would be deceiving the king.

If they admit that the money used for disaster relief came from the Ming family, then they, the Duke of Huguo, are bullying the late emperor.

If he refuses to admit that the money used for disaster relief belongs to the Ming family, then he is bullying the current Emperor Mingde.

It's so difficult! Tang Songlin knelt on the ground, tears streaming down his face, "I am guilty, please punish me, Your Majesty."

Between bullying the late emperor or bullying Emperor Mingde, Tang Songlin decisively chose to bully the late emperor. Even if the late emperor wanted to punish him, he had to wait until he was enthroned.

But Emperor Mingde was different.

Emperor Mingde could decide his life and death, honor and disgrace. After weighing the pros and cons, Tang Songlin decided to stammer out the truth, "Back then, when my father and I saw that the country was in trouble and were collecting disaster relief money, we thought about my father-in-law's family. They had money, so we told them that if the Ming family could donate enough money to help with the disaster, we would have a bright future..."

That was indeed what was said at the time. The bestowal of titles also depended on the emperor's mood, and the Duke of the Protectorate could not guarantee that one would be able to cross the social class barrier.

In fact, the Ming family was not greedy. Some of the Ming family members were very righteous and did not hesitate to donate money and materials for disaster relief. Anyway, they lacked everything except money.

Since the Duke of the Guard has come forward to donate silver, then let's donate. After all, doing good deeds and earning reputation at the same time is not contradictory.

But I never expected that a meat dumpling thrown at a dog would never come back. You can hear a sound when you throw stones on the water, but this time there was no sound at all.

In the end, the silver was donated by the Duke of Protectorate in his own name... This is hard to accept.

Mingzhen's depression was not unrelated to this, and she felt guilty towards the Ming family, because it was she who went home to lobby her father and facilitated this matter.

She was still pregnant with Tang Chujun at the time. She was depressed and when it was time to give birth, she encountered a difficult labor and lost her will to live, so she passed away.

Mr. Ming felt deeply regretful after learning of his daughter's death.

As a businessman, calculating gains and losses is instinctive.

The marriage of descendants is naturally based on interests and benefits for the family. It is best if the two can be happy with each other, but if not, they can only make do with it.

This is true for everyone in the Ming family, including Mr. Ming himself, who married the daughter of a wealthy Jiangnan businessman, also a marriage of alliance.

The Ming family got in touch with the Duke of Huguo's Mansion because Mingzhen's aunt boasted about how good the Duke of Huguo's Mansion was.

In fact, the Huguogong Mansion was a mess, with a lot of bad debts. The only thing that was worth looking at was the title and the status of the Beijing family.

So when Mingzhen's aunt persuaded her brother to marry her niece to the Duke of Huguo's mansion, she said that the Ming family was already very rich, and what they lacked was status and position.

In this way, the Ming family and the Duke of Huguo's Mansion each get what they need, and neither loses out.

Old Master Ming believed what his sister said, and thought that since Tang Songyue was well-known in Beijing, how could Tang Songlin be any worse?

Although Mingzhen was not the apple of the Ming family's eye, Mr. Ming agreed to the marriage only after careful consideration.

This was considered marrying up as a high-class woman. He hoped to connect with the powerful and wealthy through his daughter and achieve a class transition. At the same time, he also hoped that the two of them could live in harmony and happiness.

This may be the most painful and regretful decision Mr. Ming has ever made in his life.