Chapter 645: Marriage to Exonerate Guilt
Zhao Ruilan looked down on the eldest son of the Shi family who was still serving his sentence in a remote mountain area. Her target was Zhao Yulin.
The scholars and officials who participated in the history compilation all said that Zhao Yulin had a good way of marrying women, and all his women were well-nourished and fertile. Zhao Ruilan was overjoyed when she heard this, and she made up her mind to become Zhao Yulin's wife, give birth to a large number of princesses and princes, and become the queen and the mother of the country like Zhao Feiyan.
The girl refused to do it and cried and acted like a spoiled child in front of the Queen Mother, asking her to help intercede for him. She wanted to be Zhao Yulin's woman.
Damn, this is forcing the bull to give birth, which is really making things difficult for the old witch.
Old Lady Xie sighed and said: "Things are different now. I don't have the ability to do that. Our Lan'er suffered hardships and humiliation for the Song Dynasty in Mobei, and her contributions were as great as the sky. However, no one in Jinguan City saw it, and instead regarded us as unclean. Woo, woo, woo.
The grandmother and granddaughter hugged each other and sobbed.
In the emperor's courtyard, Zhao Ruilan's mother, Princess Jia, and the queen were drinking tea and chatting with the emperor.
The Queen knew Lan'er's thoughts and was worried that she would not agree to this. She hesitated for a moment and asked the Emperor if it was okay.
Concubine Jia thought that it was a good idea for the emperor to marry Lan'er to the Shi family. For one thing, the two of them had been childhood sweethearts and were naturally close to each other.
Secondly, her Lan'er had been married to countless men in the desert, and it was not an exaggeration to say that she was a fallen woman. The eldest son of the Shi family was a playboy, and he was still serving his sentence, which meant he was a poor man. The two of them were like stone lions in the City God Temple, making a perfect pair. The Shi family had absolutely no objection to this marriage.
Moreover, for the sake of this marriage, the emperor personally wrote a letter to Zhao Feiyan asking her to issue an edict to pardon the sins of the eldest son of the Shi family. She thought that the Shi family would definitely be grateful to the emperor for his kindness and be good to her Lan'er.
The emperor said indifferently: It is a blessing for Lan'er and the eldest son of the Shi family to be able to ride the same boat together. They had a lot of fun when they were young. He coughed twice and reminded the imperial concubine to keep a close eye on her daughter and stop thinking about those unrealistic things. If she is not careful, she will lose her head. If it really comes to that, no one can save her.
When the empress heard that the emperor had said so much, she knew that the man in front of her was not confused at all, so she agreed to the marriage and carefully planned it with the imperial concubine.
The next day, Prince Wang Dian of the Peninsula boarded the ship and left with great regret. He looked back at the luxurious South Gate Water Wharf and felt that the majestic South Gate was like a high wall that completely blocked him out.
Thinking back to three years ago when he came to Chengdu, he was warmly received by the court of the New Song Dynasty. Zhao Yulin gave them silver and military equipment, and even sent a navy to help them fight against the Mongolian army. Now, not so long ago, they are like strangers. It's all because of greed and corruption.
The traveling envoys felt that the New Song Dynasty was too disrespectful.
According to the traditional system, the Celestial Empire would at least give some silver and precious gifts in return. This time, the New Song Dynasty's Ministry of Rites gave nothing and only sent a small deacon to see him off at the dock.
Wang Dian didn't think there was anything wrong with it. At least we could see clearly the attitude of New Song. He pointed to the newspaper with wet ink in the cabin and asked everyone to take a look. New Song wanted to revise the rules of foreign relations. What the third young master said last night was all on it. The exchanges between countries should be mutually beneficial, free and equal.
He said that the third young master had spoken well, and then he took the newspaper back to report to the king.
An envoy nearby said that there is also this official ship, which is bigger and newer than our silent one. It saves a lot of effort for the helmsman and is definitely valuable.
A few people started chatting and laughing.
In Jinguan City, Zhao Yulin was depressed.
Shunfeng Division received a secret report from Wu Yuqi that his elder brother Zhao Yuqing was really not a good person. He bribed officials in charge of tobacco tax in Guizhou without the knowledge of Zhao Yulin and evaded tax by falsifying accounts. The amount was huge and it was covered by criminal law. Wu Yuqi had asked Shunfeng Division to supervise the case and arrest all the people and put them in Guiyang Prison.
Seeing that he was frowning, Zhao Feiyan hesitated for a moment and said: Brother is always worried that he can't do it for two years, so you should earn as much as you can. It is normal to pay less cigarette tax.
He glared at Feiyan and said that everyone is equal before the law, and no ruler would destroy the Great Wall himself.
Zhao Feiyan stuck out her tongue and immediately stopped talking.
He picked up the brush and wrote the four words "enforce the law impartially", gave it to Jing Gang, and asked him to deliver it to a place with favorable wind in Guizhou Road, and ordered Liu San to handle the case personally.
Zhao Feiyan waited for Jing Gang to leave, then immediately went to massage his shoulders and neck, muttering to him: Our eldest brother is really willing to sacrifice his own relatives for the sake of justice.
He said that Brother Yuqing is not a child anymore. He has learned his lesson but still breaks the law. He has not learned his lesson. His father is right. He must be punished.
Feiyan murmured, "Brother Yuqing has finally made a comeback in the tobacco industry, and now he is in jail. Auntie will definitely hate us for the rest of her life."
He said that it was against the law and he could not care about so much. She hated us, and we only offended her. If we let Brother Yuqing go, we would offend everyone in the world.
Feiyan no longer hesitated and asked her maid to ask Mr. You Shi to come and talk about the case. She quickly reported the case of tax evasion of tobacco in Guizhou Road and asked the Ministry of Justice to find out whether Zhao Yuqing had any joint criminal facts.
When they returned home, they saw Master Lu drinking tea and waiting for them. He complained to Old Lu why he didn't say anything earlier.
Lu Youpeng said with a tired look on his face that he had brought Zhang Qi back.
Zhao Yulin immediately thought that Zhang Qi must have done something wrong.
It's really like when it rains it pours.
Two secret guards from the Shunfeng Division escorted Zhang Qi out of the side room. As soon as he entered the room, he knelt on the ground and kowtowed, crying and wailing that he had been bewitched by the devil and became a corrupt official who bought and sold official positions, and had failed the young master's expectations. Now he only asked for death to apologize.
Zhao Yulin put the tea bowl on the table with a bang and said, "Why are you howling like a real man? Why are you kneeling like a real man? Get up. Why should I die if I don't deserve the death penalty?"
No one can save the sinner from punishment.
Lao Lu waved his hand and told him to stand up and talk, pointing at Zhang Qi and saying that he had committed suicide three times, and that he should explain everything to the young master in person before dying. After much difficulty, they arrived at Cuiping Mountain, and Ma Linger persuaded him for half a night before they came to Chengdu.
Lao Lu explained to him: Ever since Zhang Qi married the concubine, he had been bewitched by the vixen, and he did whatever she said, even down to the point of buying and selling official positions and becoming a tool for merchants to intercede and speak for them. In a short period of time, he received a large amount of gold and silver , and except for a part that was squandered by the two of them, most of it was kept in the mansion.
However, after a thorough investigation, Shunfengsi discovered that his concubine was actually a spy of the grassland empire. Fortunately, Zhang Qi remained vigilant in his official duties and did not leak important military secrets. The concubine failed to steal the secrets three times. Otherwise, this kid would have committed a great sin.
Feiyan broke out in a cold sweat after hearing this, no one could have imagined that there was a colorful and beautiful snake curled up next to Zhang Qi. She pointed at Zhang Qi and said in a long-winded manner: Brother Zhang is so confused, and he is a member of Shunfengsi, why can't you tell the difference between loyalty and treachery and let others manipulate you?
Zhang Qi cried loudly, howling and slapping himself hard. The secret guards on both sides immediately held him down and told him to calm down, don't move, and wait for the third young master to decide his fate.
Zhao Yulin asked Lao Lu, what should we do according to the rules of Shunfeng Company?
Lu Youpeng said that Zhang Qi's concubine and son had been beheaded, and all the gold and silver had been confiscated into the government treasury. His concubine left behind an account book of receiving silver and money, and they used the account book to catch the illegal merchants and officials who sent the money. Fortunately, no greater harm was caused. It depends on how you convict her.
He said that since there was no murder , there would be no death penalty, so he couldn't die. Otherwise, what would happen to our sister Qiu Ju? She raised three children by herself. Isn't Zhang Qi afraid that Qiu Ju would be exhausted?
Zhang Qi cried even louder.
Lao Lu said: Since his merits and demerits offset each other, then he should be demoted to a commoner and sent to Chang'an to take care of Qiuju and the children.
Zhao Yulin said that it was not enough. This guy was greedy for beauty and forgot about the kindness of our sister, so he was punished to be Qiuju's groom and serve our sister carefully for the rest of his life.
If our sister complains, the punishment will be doubled.
Zhang Qi was still crying. Lao Lu told him not to upset the young master here, and ordered two secret guards to supervise Zhang Qi to go to Chang'an to apologize to Qiu Ju and start a new life.
The girl broke free again, knelt down and kowtowed three times to Zhao Yulin before letting the secret guards pull her away.
When Lao Lu saw Zhang Qi and the others walking away, he sighed and said that he quit his job. Yu Qi would take over his job. They had agreed on it when he was in Xuzhou.
Seeing that he and Zhao Yulin looked gloomy, Zhao Feiyan said anxiously: "Master, can we just say we don't want to do it?" Even a loyal guard like Zhang Qi committed a crime. I don't know how many people in Shunfengsi will change their ways and defect to the sect. Master needs to keep an eye on them.
Zhao Yulin shook his head and said that Old Lu was too old, so he should just help Dongmei in Chengdu. He would not go far away and would leave everything to Yuqi.
Lu Youpeng nodded and said that was what he meant, then stood up and said goodbye.
Feiyan saw Zhao Yulin looking listless and knew that he was feeling upset, so she pulled him up and told him to go out for a walk. It had been a long time since they had been to Huaxi, so they should go and see the children's beggar's chicken.
He said listlessly that all the children had been sent out to work on street construction, so who was left there ?
Zhao Feiyan told us to go, and we would know once we got there.
When the two arrived at Huaxi, Zhao Yulin was surprised to see Ma Linger's second son, Zhao Guangyuan. He went up to the child and asked why he came so suddenly without telling his father first.
Then, a group of children ran out, shouting "Daddy, Daddy" happily.
Zhao Yulin saw that Shunzhidi, Huo Fenghuang and Yangjin's children were all inside. They had all grown up without him noticing, and he was so happy.
Zhao Guangyuan proudly told him that they had brought something that his father would definitely like. He immediately pulled him towards the beggar chicken warehouse and opened a sack for him to see.
He saw that it was full of broken pepper strips with the seeds removed.
Zhao Yulin picked it up and took a closer look with surprise, feeling extremely happy.
Zhao Guangyuan said that he harvested two full sacks of dried chili peppers this year and filled a large wooden basin with the seeds. Our mother said that she would rent a large piece of land to plant next year, and Dad could have as much as he wanted.
Zhao Yulin was delighted and ordered the kitchen to kill a big rooster. He wanted to cook spicy chicken and cold chicken slices for the children himself, and he guaranteed that they would still want more even after their stomachs burst.
The kids were very happy and gathered around him, wanting to watch him do it.
Zhao Feiyan immediately asked them to go aside, saying that she, the queen mother, wanted to test their knowledge. The group of children immediately pouted and left reluctantly.
