The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Chapter 477: Facing the Injustice
"Yang, the daughter of Yue, oh, the daughter-in-law of Aunt Zhao, and the son and daughter-in-law of He are also in our cloth shop. Isn't that a coincidence?"

The shopkeeper sighed, "Anyway, all kinds of strange people have come to catch up with our cloth shop."

Soon, the guards dragged out three more people. They were pushed out of the cloth shop in a mess and fell to the ground with Aunt Zhao.

Zhu Qizhen couldn't bear to watch and stepped forward, but Xue Shao reached out and held him back.

Zhu Qizhen turned his head and looked at him unhappily.

Xue Shao said calmly, "Sir, if you force them to stay, their situation will only become more difficult. In the eyes of the world, the court has convicted their families, so they are the relatives of the criminals, and they are also guilty people."

The four were driven out and knelt on the ground, unwilling to leave.

The shopkeeper sent back all the workers who were watching and talking, closed the door, and then walked forward with a cold face and threw two money bags to them: "Don't blame me for being cruel. You have seen the situation in the past few days. If you stay, the people in the cloth shop will be uneasy. No matter how kind the boss is, he can't ruin his job for you."

"Besides, it's not just someone in your family who has committed a crime. You have offended the Royal Guards!"

Yang raised her tearful face and cried, "My father was also a Jinyiwei, he was also a Jinyiwei - he went to the battlefield with the late emperor and solved many strange cases. Even if he didn't have any merits, he had worked hard. Why did my mother and husband die unjustly after he died? Why, why -"

She looked up to the sky and cried: "Dad - look, come and look at us, why is this happening, why -"

Yang Chenghao rushed over, tears streaming down his face, and rushed forward to hug his sister, "Sister, get up——"

Yang curled up in pain, tightly grasping Yang Chenghao's arm, and asked unwillingly: "The heaven is unfair, the emperor..."

Yang Chenghao covered her mouth tightly, tears streaming down his face, "Sister, don't say anymore, don't say anymore, you still have me, you still have me, I will make money, I will support the family, I will seek justice——"

He choked up and said, "Believe me, my mother and brother-in-law will definitely be able to clear their grievances and be vindicated!"

Yang cried in his arms.

The shopkeeper's eyes turned red, he turned his back and wiped his eyes quickly, he rummaged in his sleeves, took out a handful of silver, stuffed it directly into Yang Chenghao's hand, and waved his hand, saying: "You guys should leave quickly, the county magistrate is better off managing it now, although your fathers were once Jinyiwei, they are all dead, and the people they offended are still Jinyiwei now.

Before, we didn’t know your identities, so it was fine for the cloth shop to take you in. But now everyone knows your identities. Captain Chen has come to the cloth shop twice because of you. The cloth shop really can’t keep you anymore.”

Zhu Qizhen's face darkened when he heard this.

Yang Chenghao wiped away his tears, put the money away, and bowed to the shopkeeper repeatedly, accepting his kindness: "If I achieve something in the future, I will definitely report it to you. If I achieve nothing..."

He paused, then said ashamedly, "I can only repay you in my next life."

After saying this, he helped his sister and Aunt Zhao up, and the three of them left together.

Zhang Qingfang and his wife, who were crying silently on the ground, picked up the money bag, stood up, silently bowed to the shopkeeper and left.

Zhu Qizhen looked at the backs of the five of them as they left, his heart sinking.

The shopkeeper was also lost for a moment, but soon came to his senses and immediately turned around to warmly entertain Zhu Qizhen and Xue Shao: "My two distinguished guests, what do you want to see next? How about going to see the dyeing of cloth? Zhang Qingfang was working in the dyeing room just now."

Zhu Qizhen asked solemnly, "Zhang Qingfang looks like someone who can read. Since his father was once a member of the Imperial Guard, he should be literate and have learned martial arts, right? How did he come to dye cloth?" "He can read and write, and he knows martial arts, so what?" The shopkeeper said, "His mother killed her husband, so his career was cut short. In addition, the person they offended was Wang Shan, the nephew of the seal holder. They don't need to ask for anything. There are many people working for them."

The shopkeeper whispered, "His situation is even more difficult than that of the Yang family kid. The Yang family kid can still find a job like copying books, but he... even going to the dock to move sacks is always causing trouble for him, so he finally came to our cloth shop to dye cloth."

Zhu Qizhen was puzzled: "Is it more profitable to carry sacks than to dye cloth?"

Shopkeeper: "Of course, a young man like him can earn more moving sacks than dyeing cloth, and he has been cheated many times. He is not a long-term worker in our cloth shop, but a short-term worker, and his wages are paid by the day."

Seeing that the emperor did not understand, Xue Shao explained in a low voice: "Daily wages are lower than monthly wages, the working hours are longer, and the work is harder."

Zhu Qizhen's chest heaved. Yang's questioning and Zhang Qingfang's numb face kept flashing back in his mind. He was no longer in the mood to visit the cloth shop and left directly.

Xue Shao quickly apologized to the shopkeeper and went after the emperor.

He followed Zhu Qizhen silently.

Zhu Qizhen walked into the busy street and moved among the crowd, but at this moment he did not feel the bustle, but felt very lonely.

He walked up to the bridge, stood on the bridge and looked down at the vendors rowing their boats and hawking their wares, and asked, "Is this true, or did you arrange this, too?"

Xue Shao: "It is true that they work in the cloth shop. It is true that they live on thin ice. It is also true that the cloth shop is threatened by Jinyiwei Captain Chen Fulin..."

Xue Shao turned his head to look at him and said, "It is true that I brought Your Majesty to the cloth shop to see them."

Zhu Qizhen: "Everyone says that they hope I can be a wise ruler. They always tell me on various occasions how to be a wise ruler. However, in their hearts, they always hope that I can be more confused, less capable, and rely on them more.

They always think that what they think and do is right, and if I don't do what they think, I'm wrong. What do you think of me?"

Xue Shao: "Your Majesty, I only hope that justice can be done, that grievances can be redressed, that the dead can be at peace, and that the living can return to peace."

He said: "I am a lowly official. I do not consider the great plans of the country. I only see the common people. But I want every common person I see to get justice and not be wronged."

"Your Majesty, to the ministers in the court, the Yue and He families are just women, and the grievances of the Yang, Qiu, and Zhang families are just a few families. They are not comparable to those national plans, but..." He looked up at the emperor: "All national plans are made up of individuals and households. We can't only see the big picture and ignore the small details."

“Individual grievances are also grievances!”

If Zhu Qizhen had heard this before today, he would have definitely become rebellious, thinking that Xue Shao was a big-headed and nitpicking person.

But he had just faced the blood on Aunt Zhao's forehead, Yang's questioning and anger, and Zhang Qingfang's numb face...

They were real people, no longer the "sons of the Zhao family, the Yang family, and the Zhang family" mentioned by the ministers...

His heart... couldn't ignore them anymore.

(End of this chapter)