The Ming Dynasty took an unconventional approach

Chapter 480 Good Brothers

Xue Shao, who wanted to support them, immediately asked, "Do you have a lot of money?"

He also had to take care of the imperial prison and take care of his uncle.

The Xue family was not very rich, they were just an ordinary landlord family. His father and uncle were honest officials, and the family's expenses were covered by their salaries, but the savings for real estate depended entirely on his mother and aunt who ran the land and shops.

But three years ago, my uncle fell into trouble, and in order to help him, our family sold the shop and half of the land, so only half was left.

This time, my uncle was thrown into the imperial prison as soon as he arrived in Beijing, so I still have to spend money to take care of him.

He is not Pan Yun.

Being tortured would cause injuries, and so would starvation, so Xue Xuan couldn't afford to gamble.

In just three days, he had spent all the money he had earned during this period, and most of the money his uncle had brought him. Now he was writing letters home to ask for money.

It was obvious that Pan Yue and Pan Yu had no money, but he could say so confidently that he was rich.

He was interested in how they made money.

Pan Yue and Pan Yu looked at each other, and considering that Xue Shao had the same goal as them and was also their younger sister's friend, they took him along.

Xue Shao kindly asked, "Do you want to take a shower and change your clothes?"

Pan Yue shook his head: "That's fine."

The two of them found the side door of a house and asked Xue Shao to hide in the alley while they went to knock on the door.

The door opened quickly, and when the doorman saw the clothes they were wearing, he waved his hand without even looking at their faces, "Go away, beggars, go away. Do you know where this is, and why are you knocking on the door?"

Pan Yu said fiercely: "Who is the beggar? Open your dog eyes and look, I am your Second Master Pan!"

The servant looked closely and opened his mouth in shock: "You, you, you, Mr. Pan? How did you become like this?"

"Don't ask, is your third son at home?"

"Yes, yes. The Imperial Academy is closed today, and the Third Young Master is at home."

"Go call him out and tell him I have something to talk to him about."

The doorman was undecided for a moment, so he opened the door and said, "Second Master Pan, why don't you come in and wait?"

Pan Yu waved his hand: "I'm in rags, it's not convenient for me to come in, you call the people out."

The doorman did not dare to be negligent and did not close the door tightly. He just left it ajar and ran to find the third young master.

After the second son Pan was exiled, the third son cried a lot. Recently, because the Pan family's case was brought up again, the third son started talking about the second son Pan again.

Not long after the servant left, a boy of about fifteen or sixteen came running over.

Seeing the ragged Pan Yue and Pan Yu, she burst into tears and rushed over to Pan Yu, hugging her head and crying: "I thought you died at the border. I wrote to you several times, but you didn't reply."

Pan Yu burst into tears: "I can't come back, why would I write to you and make you sad? If I hadn't been desperate, I wouldn't have come to you now."

The young man was furious: "Are you still a brother? Good brothers are willing to stick up for you. Don't you think of me as a brother?"

Pan Yu wiped the tears from his face with his arm: "My father is in danger now. Whoever gets involved will be in trouble. I know your father is in trouble too. You definitely can't openly support my father. Good brother, it's great that you have this intention." The young man gritted his teeth and said, "Just wait, I'll go to my grandmother in a while. It's useless for me to force my father, but forcing my grandmother will definitely work."

Pan Yu quickly refused: "No, Lord Xue is so powerful, has such a good reputation, and holds such a high position. The Censorate has investigated thoroughly but has not found any solid evidence that he has committed a crime. How dare I let your father get involved in this?"

"If anything happens to your family, I will be blamed for it," Pan Yu held his hand and said tearfully, "So don't beg your father. If there is a chance in the future, your father can say a fair word in the court, or not join Wang Zhen and his ilk in framing my father."

The young man also had tears in his eyes: "Don't worry, my father will definitely not stand on the side of the treacherous Wang, but we are classmates, I can't just do nothing."

But what can he do?

The young man looked at his good friend and his tears fell even harder. He cried loudly, "Pan Yu, what's wrong with you? You're still wearing clothes that are so damaged."

Pan Yu also cried, "You don't know how much we paid to come back. The official letter required my father to be escorted back to Beijing for retrial. My elder brother and I were both serving in the military camp and were not among those who came back. In order to come back, we pawned everything and used the money to bribe people everywhere, from the military camp to the prefecture and county government offices. Even the clerk had to pay two taels of silver to get the official document that had been stamped. When we finally left Datong, my elder brother and I only had more than 200 coins left."

The boy looked incredulous: "Then...then how did you get back?"

"We just followed the escort team. When they took the car, we followed the car. When they ate at the government office, we dug wild grass and vegetables. It's spring now, so at least we won't starve to death..."

The young man was heartbroken, he wiped his tears, and said with a firm look in his eyes: "Just wait, although my father is afraid of death and losing his job, and cannot support your father in the court, but I can give you money. You need money to rent a house and eat in Beijing, and your father needs money to manage things in the imperial prison now, right?"

After saying that, he turned around and ran to the yard. No matter how Pan Yu called out, he couldn't stop him.

After half an hour, the young man came out, carrying a heavy bag.

He stuffed the bag into Pan Yu's arms, and Pan Yu was caught off guard and almost dropped it to the ground.

He touched the heavy object inside and looked at the boy silently and moved.

The young man held his hand tightly and whispered, "Take it and use it. If it's not enough, come to me again. I'll go to my grandparents' house. My two uncles have a lot of good things in their houses."

He took out a handful of money from his pocket, including silver bills and banknotes, and stuffed them all at Pan Yu, saying, "Take all of these."

Pan Yu was surprised: "Where did you get so many silver bills and banknotes?"

The young man lowered his voice and said, "My New Year's money, my grandmother gave me some just now, and some was found in my father's room. These banknotes are issued by the court, and they are rarely used. Although they are cheap, they are useful. You can take them all."

Pan Yu hesitated: "Yu Rui, you didn't steal this money, did you?"

“Shh—” Yu Rui whispered, “This is something you and I know about, oh, and Brother Pan also knows about it, no one else will know about it.”

"...How could you not know that your father lost his money?" Pan Yu stuffed the money back: "Just give me your New Year's money and the money you cheated from your grandmother."

He wanted his good brother to help him, but he didn't expect his good brother to stab him twice: "If your father knew, he would beat you to death."

Yu Rui said proudly, "No, this is the private money my father hid without my mother's knowledge. He only looks at it once every two weeks. Two days ago, the bookstore settled his royalties, and he secretly hid some of it. He won't look at it again for at least ten days. When he finds out, my father won't dare to say anything as long as I don't say anything."

He said cleverly: "Then I will find a way to make my mother angry and make her look sour every day, and my father will not dare to say a word."

Pan Yu opened his mouth wide and turned to look at his elder brother.

Pan Yue nodded slightly at him.

(End of this chapter)