Uncle from a poor family

Chapter 518: Good-hearted Zhang Butang

Liu was cautious.

She was not in a hurry to leave, but found a place to hide outside the Ministry of Justice.

She knew that she would have to work anyway if she returned. The daily lifting and moving things were mostly things that strong laborers should do. Now, as an old woman in her fifties who had lived a life of luxury, she was asked to do these chores. She would avoid them if she could.

I used my connections to get leave today to ask for a favor and to investigate a case. I'll be back as late as possible.

Liu waited until Li Hua walked out of the yamen, then stood up suddenly. Without waiting for him to get on the carriage, she hurried forward and blocked Li Hua's way.

"who?"

Li Hua is probably a little overly nervous.

His recent prison life made him feel a little uncomfortable after he was released. When he saw someone approaching, he thought it was the government officials who wanted to take him back for questioning.

Only when he saw clearly that the person blocking his way was an old woman did he breathe a sigh of relief.

The servant next to him had come to protect his master, and he stopped in front and shouted, "What are you doing?"

"It doesn't matter."

Li Hua waved his hand, signaling the servants to leave.

He felt that he was overreacting. The person in front of him was just an old woman who looked harmless, so why was he so nervous?

Liu bowed respectfully and said, "This is Li Jianzheng, the Imperial Observatory, right?"

"it's me."

Li Hua asked, "Who is this lady...?"

Liu was afraid that if she revealed her identity, the other party would immediately reject her, so she did not introduce herself immediately, but quickly got to the point and asked, "My husband was also involved in the Liang Fang case like Li Jianzheng, and was sentenced to death by the court... I wonder how you got out of the cell and were reinstated?"

"I wonder if your husband is...?"

Li Hua was surprised.

There are actually family members of people involved in the same case in front of us?

Although he had long since stopped wanting to get involved, he still asked out of politeness.

Liu smiled bitterly and said, "He is just an insignificant person. I just want him to be pardoned as soon as possible."

Li Hua nodded and said, "Since he has been sentenced to death, it is impossible to pardon him. But if the court shows mercy and changes the sentence to a lighter one, he will probably be released before the end of the year. My situation is special... ahem, the case needs to be investigated in detail. If your husband's crime is not serious, I believe he will be released soon. Don't worry, madam."

After saying these perfunctory words, Li Hua was about to get on the carriage and leave.

Liu still moved forward and blocked Li Hua's way.

The driver quickly stopped the person and shouted, "Madam, you look so gentle and weak, why do you keep stopping others? What are you doing? Are you trying to be rude to my master?"

Tears welled up in Liu's eyes, and she said in a sad voice, "I have nowhere to turn to for help, so I can only beg you, Li Jianzheng, to help me."

"Madam, I'm in a good mood today and don't want to argue with anyone."

Li Hua frowned and asked, "You said you were once a wife of an official, so you should know the rules. Such an offense is not what an official's wife should do. You didn't tell me your family background. As far as I know, most of the people involved in this case have been released, and the latest ones will probably be released in the next few days... Tell me who you are related to, and I may know the inside story and tell you."

Li Hua has become much more humble now.

After all, he was an official, and he was so rude when being stopped and questioned by ordinary people or even relatives of criminals. If it were in the past, he would have just asked his servants to go forward and drive them away.

Now, on the contrary, he wanted to maintain his sense of justice. After experiencing the imprisonment, he actually had some thoughts on believing in Buddhism and Taoism. He probably became more kind-hearted... He even felt that the fact that he was able to turn danger into safety this time was the result of his usual good deeds.

Liu quickly introduced herself: "My husband is Peng Hua, the current crown prince's junior protector."

"what?"

Li Hua was shocked by this identity.

He hurriedly climbed onto the carriage, saying, "Go away, Madam, I can't get involved in your case... This is a major case ordered by the emperor, how can ordinary people dare to ask about it?"

Liu disregarded propriety and grabbed Li Hua's collar.

In a hurry, she used a lot of strength.

"Swish..." The sound of cloth tearing was heard, and almost everyone was stunned.

Just as Li Hua's skirt was torn and he was in a state of confusion, Liu hurriedly apologized: "I'm sorry, Lord Li, I'm rude... But in an emergency, I have to do this... I just want to ask, the officials in the court pleaded for mercy on my husband, and the case was sent back to the Ministry of Justice for retrial, right? Why is there no news yet?"

Li Hua finally came to his senses and asked curiously, "Who said there was no follow-up? The Ministry of Justice decided to uphold the original verdict and still sentence him to death. Don't you know that?"

This finally resolved Liu's doubts.

It turns out that the so-called escape from despair is nothing but a flash in the pan and a false alarm.

Even if the case is retried and the judge still sentences him to death, doesn't that mean... the Peng family's painstaking efforts to overturn the verdict are completely hopeless?

Li Hua bent down to check his clothes, and said angrily: "Now, no one dares to ask about the case of Lord Peng except His Majesty who can turn the tide. Of course... um um."

Liu suddenly knelt on the ground, kowtowed, and begged, "Please give me some advice, Li Jianzheng."

Li Hua almost wanted to step forward and kick Liu away, but he held back and said, "The case of Lord Peng is no longer under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple, and Your Majesty may not have the time to inquire about it. Now the only one who can decide whether your husband lives or dies is Zhang Bu Tang. If he says your husband lives, he lives, and if he says your husband dies, he dies."

"Which Zhangbudang?"

Liu's eyes widened and she asked curiously.

Is there such a powerful person in the court?

Can you skip the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple and decide the life and death of a former cabinet minister?

Li Huaren had already stepped onto the carriage and waved his hand, calling out, "Hurry up... Let's go, let's go."

"Li Jianzheng, please consider this as a request from me..."

Liu quickly rushed forward to stop the carriage.

Now the servants of the Li family didn't dare to step forward to stop them.

Knowing that the person in front of him was the wife of the former cabinet minister, she was not someone that an ordinary person could afford to offend, and he couldn't even say the words "drive her away". Looking at the miserable appearance of his master, he knew that this was a person that even the director of the Imperial Observatory couldn't afford to offend and could only avoid.

Li Hua was a little annoyed and said angrily, "Who else could it be? It must be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, Zhang Guozhang! He is kind-hearted and generous, and he never cares about the mistakes of small people. Even if the officials have offended him before, he is tolerant and never cares about it. However, you have never met him before, so I advise you not to have such a foolish dream. Zhang Guozhang will not help others easily... Let's go!"

This time Li Hua was no longer reluctant to leave. He simply whipped the horse's butt and whipped it. He drove the horse himself without anyone else driving it.

The coachman and the attendants behind could only jog along.

The only one left was Liu, who stood there in a daze, and hadn't come to her senses for a long time.

……

……

Forbidden City.

Zhang Luan had just gotten off the sedan chair and was walking forward tremblingly, leaning on a cane.

He followed Chen Gui and headed towards Qingning Palace.

Originally, the emperor had sent people to inform all the gates in the palace and directly sent Zhang Luan to Qingning Palace in a sedan chair. However, Zhang Luan was afraid that the censors would impeach him for disrespecting etiquette, so he insisted on getting off the sedan chair and walking slowly. He did not walk fast, but leisurely, which made Chen Gui, who was leading the way, quite anxious.

Beads of sweat dripped down Zhang Luan's forehead, showing that he was seriously injured. Every step he took consumed a huge amount of strength or brought severe pain.

Halfway through the journey, Zhang Luan suddenly frowned, stopped for a moment, covered his stomach, and went to a dark corner of the palace. Chen Gui heard something strange behind him and turned around to check. He was shocked when he saw this and quickly reminded him loudly:
"Father-in-law, you've taken the wrong road. Qingning Palace is in front of us... You can already see the outline of the palace. It's not like you haven't been here before, so how come you're still lost?"

"Ah... My stomach suddenly feels anxious, I need to find a place to go to the toilet."

Zhang Luan looked embarrassed.

Chen Gui hurried over to support Zhang Luan, as if he was afraid that he would do something weird again. He reminded him, "Meeting the Grand Empress Dowager is the most important thing. Even if you feel uncomfortable in your stomach, you have to hold it in first. Besides, there are not so many toilets in the palace. You are an outsider, do you really think you are familiar with this place?"

Zhang Luan thought, why am I not familiar with it?

In the past, when I went to the palace, if I followed that good old man Qin Ji, I could go to the toilet at any place and feel like I was at home.

What? You want me to hold it in first after I come with you?

Some people are out of touch with the world and really think it is so easy for men to hold back when they reach middle age?
(End of this chapter)