.Li Laotai couldn't help but sigh, this damned world, with natural and man-made disasters constantly occurring.In past years, cherries were so cheap that children would lie under the trees and eat the...Recruiting!

The emperor's edict to conscript soldiers was expected by all.

Because of several northern expeditions, many soldiers were killed or injured but received no replenishment.

But this conscription, was not from the common people, but from officials of all ranks in the imperial court, and even from among noble families!

Almost every household received the draft notice. Any grandson who was fifteen years old or older, regardless of whether he was married or not and held no official position, would have his name listed on the notice.

But fortunately, the Emperor did not intend to exterminate all descendants of each family.

As stated in the intention, each family collects according to a ratio of three to one, with a maximum of three children, but one must be an heir.

That is to say, even if a family has ten or so sons, they would only use up to three, but there must be an heir.

Thus, families with fewer children are the unlucky ones.

For example, in the household of a certain minister, there were two grandsons in total, one legitimate and one illegitimate.

Now that the legitimate son has to go to the army, the illegitimate son is spared. Of course, this caused a huge uproar in the family!

The wife shouted for the illegitimate son to be replaced with the legitimate son, while the concubine cried that the imperial decree could not be disobeyed. In the end, the wives and concubines fought, and the legitimate son and illegitimate son also lost their facade of harmony, directly turning against each other.

The worst situation is when only one child in a family meets the requirements, such as the Wu family of Jiangning Houfu.

The second branch of the Wu family had a son who was already married. Last year, through the empress's efforts, he was appointed as a county magistrate in the south.

But the elder house had a legitimate son, who was just eighteen years old, unmarried and without any accomplishments.

This is also the case of the prince's consort getting a child in her old age, she was dearly loved. She didn't like studying or practicing martial arts, thinking that with the identity of the emperor's younger brother, finding a good wife, and waiting to inherit the title later would be enough.

To everyone's surprise, the emperor issued an imperial decree that the entire Jiangning Houfu had to send this precious little one to serve in the army!

Not to mention that the Madam of the Prince was so anxious she fainted, even the Old Duke and Duchess were having difficulty breathing.

Over these past two days, Mistress Wu had been both resentful of her daughter's lack of ambition and fearful that she was pushing her too hard.

So she lay in bed, ignoring everything.

Suddenly, such a major event emerged. Instead of being anxious, she was happy, with the corners of her mouth raised and unable to fall even though she wanted to.

The First House doesn't usually show off, look down on the Second House

Now that the dearly beloved child of their own flesh and blood is going to Jiangbei to die, who knows, maybe in ten or eight years, this Hou Mansion's title will fall to them, the second house!

The young mistress of the house finally woke up, crying so hard that her eyes seemed to bleed. Seeing her sisters-in-law's expressions, one could easily guess what was going on in her mind.

Thus, the usually dignified noblewoman turned into a shrew. The wife of the prince dashed forward and grabbed the second wife's hair bun, then beat her mercilessly.

"I hope you're happy, my son has something going on, and none of your family will live!"

Second Madam was no pushover either, she snatched her sister-in-law's hair bun back and scolded even more gleefully, "I'm just gloating, what are you going to do! Aren't you the Empress Dowager Aren't you proud"

"You made me go to the Empress to save my daughter, and you kept pushing me away. Now that your son is going to die, what are you going to do You deserve this, you deserve it!"

The two sisters-in-law were rolling around on the ground, fighting so fiercely that everyone watching was stunned.

"It's over, it's all over, the Marquis Mansion is ruined." The old marquis had despair in his eyes.

Back then, when the imperial court selected princesses for the princes, their family didn't expect their granddaughter to be chosen, but she was unexpectedly bestowed in marriage.

Fortunately, he was an unloved prince, but his family also received a title and became marquises.

He was also pleased with himself, thinking that was good enough.

Unbeknownst to all, the neglected prince actually ascended to the throne.

Everyone envied the Wu family's meteoric rise to power, becoming the in-laws of the Empress. However, he was the only one who worried day and night, with anxiety outweighing joy.

Since he knew his own affairs best, he was not a talented person, and his two sons were even more mediocre.

Perhaps wealth and honor are the beginning of one's downfall...

As expected, the eldest son became the Crown Prince, and the second son started to feel unhappy.

There was always some bickering between the two households, making life uneasy.

Earlier, the second son's wife strongly tried to marry their granddaughter to the Marquis of Xinting, and he also supported it.

It's nothing more than hoping that the second son and his wife will get their wish, so they won't keep eyeing the title and being jealous of the eldest son. Besides, Xinting Hou is capable and can protect his own family to some extent.

To their surprise, things didn't go as planned, and the two sons ended up arguing even more.

Now that the two daughters-in-law have completely torn each other apart, what prosperity is there left in the Wu family!

A harmonious family is the foundation for everything to prosper, but the future of the Wu family seemed destined for decline…

The old Marquis felt a sense of relief, as if a sword had finally fallen from his head. But more than that, there was sadness.

Finally, everyone managed to pull the Madam of the Estate and Second Madam apart. When they turned back around, they realized that Old Marquis had fainted and was unconscious.

"Father! Father!"

"Grandpa!"

"My lord!"

Everyone became increasingly panicked and frantically called for a doctor. For a moment, they almost ripped off the roof.

Under the same sky, in Xindu, such scenes were not uncommon in many households.

But there are exceptions, namely... the Prince Gong's Mansion.

The elderly couple and their son, Duke Zhen Guo, had been sitting anxiously waiting for a summons since hearing news of the conscription.

It's not that they were hoping their son would join the army, it's just that every family has to go through this. It's better to take a good look at the post first and see how it's written, then discuss countermeasures together.

The young master was almost scared out of his wits. He disregarded his age and clung to his mother's arm, refusing to let go. "Mother," he cried, "I don't want to go to my death! I won't cause trouble anymore, I promise. I'll study hard, truly I will. Please find a way, Mother, don't let me go to war!"

The Countess was so heartbroken that she almost fainted, but she gritted her teeth and comforted her son, “Don't be afraid, if it really doesn't work, I'll ask your father to plead with the Emperor. Our family only has you as our sole heir, the Emperor can't allow the Qi family line to be broken!”

The Duke of Zhen Guo was also planning this way, he paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, even calculating how to plead with the emperor when he saw him.

As a result, night fell, but no posts arrived.

A family of three finally came together and believed that their son would not be drafted.

The prince immediately rushed to the palace and knelt down, kowtowing. The Guo Gongye couple no longer cared about the 100,000 taels of silver they had previously offered.

These 100,000 taels were simply too useful. They saved my son's life twice!

The young master was about to go out and show off, but he was pulled back by the Duke.

"You fool! Are you trying to provoke others and bring trouble upon yourself Do you want to be dragged out and used as an example to pressure the Emperor Then go ahead, get out there! Once you're thrown into the military camp, your family won't have the power to save you!"

The prince was so scared that he shrank his neck. He didn't even dare to go out, and just hid in the house and wouldn't come out...

There has never been a shortage of intelligent people in this world. When the imperial edict came down, some immediately thought that it was a punishment from the Emperor towards the powerful and aristocratic families.

Punish them for their deaf ears and blind eyes to the empty treasury!

Punish them for their antics about the Northern Expedition, and impound their comfort money!

Punish them! They only enjoy peace and prosperity, but they are unwilling to pay even a little price!

As a result, many people regretted not donating money when the Duke of Zhen Guo had initially solicited contributions. Now that they had angered the emperor with their inaction, he unleashed his wrath and struck them down, leaving them barely alive.

Especially when hearing that the Zhen Guogong’s mansion hadn't received the military notice, everyone regretted it so much their intestines turned green... into the woods by several wolves.The village head's wife was frail and usually spoke little. This time, she cried until she collapsed.This donkey has lived in their house for five or six years. The e...