Zhao Defang's road to the virtuous king

"What a bastard!" Defang was very angry, "Then what happened to your son?"

Zhang Laosi and the old lady wiped their tears when they heard this, "My son was released, but he was very angry when he came back. He went to Cai Erhuai with a torch at night to argue, but was beaten to death by Cai's servants... "

"What! There is no law!" Defang slapped the table and shouted, "Where is the government! Did the government arrest him?"

"No, Cai Erhuai said that my son went to his house to set fire to kill and hurt his servant. During the chaos, my son fell to the ground and died..."

"Then the official letter?"

"The magistrate looked at the knife and the torch and decided it was my son's fault, but after all, he was dead, so he just beat Cai's servant [-] times."

"Slap the board when someone is killed? Are the officials out of their minds? It's really disgusting!" Defang looked at Zhang Lao Si, "Then you didn't talk about selling the land?"

"As I said, everyone in the village went to sue, but the magistrate said that we sold the land to the Cai family. There was no other way. Cai Erhuai knew that we were going to sue him, so he asked his family to beat us. My daughter-in-law couldn't take it anymore. He ran away with his grandson, and Cai Erhuai wrote an IOU of five liang of silver and forced me to press my fingerprints. I had no money, so he... let someone take my daughter away..."

"Stolen?! Then where is your daughter?"

"It's in Cai Erhuai's mansion." Zhang Laosi wiped his tears, "Cai Erhuai has a 12-year-old son, and he said that after his son gets married next year, he wants my daughter to be his son's concubine. I heard that she does a lot of work every day. The old woman and I couldn’t see it either, and I thought there was nothing I could do... This skinny donkey was left in my family, so I had to pull boxes and goods for others every day, earn some copper coins, and pick up some vegetable leaves to fill in. My stomach is full, I hope I can find my grandson and see my daughter again..."

"This damned guy!" De Fang was furious, clenched his fists, "How can the government ignore him when he robs civilian girls?"

"Cai Erhuai has a lifelong contract with my daughter, we really can't help it." Zhang Laosi was in tears, "Ba Ye, you don't know, this Cai Erhuai's brother is a high-ranking official in the capital, and the county magistrate dare not mess with him."

"A high official in the capital?" Defang asked, "Who is his brother? What kind of official is he?"

"His elder brother's name is Cai Dahuai. I heard that the official is not young. Cai Erhuai said that his elder brother can see the emperor's relatives and prime ministers every day."

"Ah?" Upon hearing this, Defang wondered if he really was an official he knew, but no official could allow his younger brother to do such outrageous things in other counties, so he asked, "Then what kind of official is his brother?"

"I don't know what kind of official it is. Cai Erhuai said that his elder brother is very powerful. Even the famous Eight Wise King needs his elder brother's approval to enter the palace. If his brother is unhappy, the Eight Wise King won't be able to see the emperor."

Defang and Baili were stunned when they heard this, and Baili stretched out his finger to pick his ear, "Master, did you hear me right? Cai Erhuai said that the Eighth Wise King needs his brother's approval when he enters the palace to see the emperor?"

Defang looked at Baili, "Did I mishear, sir?"

Zhang Laosi said, "That's right, Cai Erhuai said so"

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