A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Starting from the Village Chief

Chapter 750 It's time to hit the road.
Outside the Dali Temple prison.

Li Yi waited in the carriage with his wife, Du Shiniang, and concubine, Ji Lingyi.
"Actually, you can just wait at home."

"I won't feel at ease unless I come to pick them up in person. Ah Lang, you're sure they'll be able to get out, right? There won't be any more complications, will there?"

Ji Lingyi held her husband's hand, feeling nervous.

Li Yi nodded. He pleaded with the emperor for his sister-in-law's life, and Li Shimin granted him that request. However, the emperor had a condition: if Ji Zongchi wanted to extricate herself from the situation and remain in Chang'an, she had to divorce Li Yiyu.

Du Shiniang asked Li Yi to plead for her cousin and sister-in-law, and this was the same result.

Du Caigan, the governor of Huazhou, was Du Shiniang's cousin. He was implicated in the rebellion this time. The emperor, mindful of his merits, spared his life but exiled him to Lingnan.

His wife, Lu Congbi, came from the Lu clan of Fanyang. Three prime ministers, Li Yi, Du Ruhui, and Fang Xuanling, pleaded for them, but the result was that Lu could only stay with her daughter after the divorce.

Li Yi desperately wanted to protect Li Yiyu, but the emperor forbade it.

The Prince of Yi'an's family had already shown extraordinary mercy by only executing Li Yili. Li Xiaochang and his remaining five sons were all to be exiled to Lingnan for life, with no possibility of being pardoned. Their wives, concubines, and children were also to be exiled to Lingnan.

Ji Zongchi was allowed to stay after the divorce, which was an act of leniency outside the law.

Ji Zongchi originally intended to go to Lingnan for exile with her newlywed husband.
Ji Lingyi refused, and Li Yi repeatedly tried to persuade the young girl. She was only fourteen years old, newly married, and childless. Going to Lingnan was an exile, not a demotion.

And once you go, it's for a lifetime.

Ji Lingyi didn't want her younger sister to suffer like that.

She had already suffered enough as a convicted woman and slave in the Yeting Palace for five years. To be exiled to Lingnan, or even to Jiaozhi, which was known as the ends of the earth, was a challenge. How could a northerner adapt to the climate there?

"Ah Lang, Zong Chi is only fourteen. We must persuade her to stay."

divorce,

It sounds like he's heartless and ungrateful.

However, when nobles intermarried, it was common for relatives by marriage to be convicted of crimes, and in such cases, divorce was the usual course of action.

Some divorced women are still able to stay with their daughters.

Even royal princesses and county princesses would divorce their husbands if they were involved in major cases such as treason and were exiled.

Ji Lingyi advised her younger sister Ji Zongchi to divorce and stay, while Fang Xuanling's wife, Lady Lu, also advised her cousin Lu Congbi to divorce and stay.

at last,

The gates of the Dali Temple prison opened.

The Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, accompanied by jailers and two women, came out.

"coming."

Li Yi, Du Shiniang, and Ji Lingyi got out of the carriage and went to greet them.

Two young women stood at the prison gate, their hair loose and their faces bare, without any jewelry.

"Third Sister," Ji Yiyi stepped forward and hugged her younger sister.

Du Shiniang also called out to Lu Congbi, "Sister-in-law,"

"Sister!"

Ji Zongchi could no longer hold back and burst into tears, hugging her sister and sobbing uncontrollably.

"It's good that you're out, let's go home."

Fourteen-year-old Ji Zongchi nodded.

Lu Congbi remained relatively calm, though she silently shed tears.

Being able to escape from Dali Temple prison
Both women had already divorced their husbands, and only in this way could they avoid being exiled to Lingnan and remain in Chang'an.

"sister in law."

"Don't call me sister-in-law anymore, I'm no longer a member of the Du family."

Lu Congbi was from the Lu clan of Fanyang. Three years ago, at the age of eighteen, she married Du Caigan, the governor of Huazhou and Duke of Pingyu.
The marriage between the Lu family of Fanyang and the Du family of Jingzhao was considered a good match in terms of social standing.

After marriage, they had a daughter.

Life was originally very happy, but suddenly her husband was involved in a treason case.

After much persuasion from her family and relatives, Lu Congbi agreed to divorce her husband for the sake of her young daughter, so that she could stay in Chang'an with her daughter.

Her daughter was only a little over a year old, and she worried that her daughter wouldn't be able to withstand the hardships of the journey.

"Go back first, Hui'er is waiting for you at home."

Upon hearing this, Lu Congbi burst into tears. After she was imprisoned, Li Yi and his wife helped her take her daughter out and care for her.

They were taken back to the manor.

Lady Lu couldn't wait to go find her daughter.

"You comfort them, I have other things to do."

"Go ahead, thank you for your help, otherwise they wouldn't be able to stay."

"Why are we being so polite as family?"

Li Yi returned to the Dali Temple prison.

He came to see Li Xiaochang and his son Li Yiyu. They were to depart the next day to be exiled to Jiaozhou in Lingnan, and that they would never return.

Carrying the prepared food box, they went to see Li Liulang first.

While in prison, he took the wine and food out of the food box and said, "Lingyi and I have already brought Third Sister back to the manor."

"Thank you, brother," Li Yiyu said dejectedly.

"Come on, have a drink." Li Yi poured him a full glass of wine. "I wanted to help you stay, but unfortunately..."

Li Yiyu comforted Li Yi instead, saying, "In a major case of treason, the fact that your whole family was spared is already an act of leniency."

"My second brother?"

"After the dog's spine in Dongshi was cut in half, I have already arranged for someone to help with the collection and burial."

"Thank you, brother."

Li Yili also knew the whole story of this treason case, but it was true that his second brother had plotted the rebellion first. In the end, fathers and brothers could not escape being implicated. It made no difference whether the father or the elder brother was responsible for the treason.

The father took the blame, which saved the family's lives, even though they were exiled to Lingnan. This was already a very good outcome.

"My family's affairs have implicated my elder brother."

"Eat your food, let's not talk about this anymore. Set off tomorrow with peace of mind. I've already made all the arrangements. The journey won't be too arduous, and there won't be any dangers."

When you arrive in Jiaozhou, Lingnan, I will buy you a piece of land and build you a house, so that your family can live peacefully there.

Let's forget all of this in Chang'an.

Li Yiyu was an ambitious young man, unlike his good-for-nothing, spoiled older brothers. Unfortunately, he was implicated.

If Li Yi hadn't had such high merits and been a confidant of the emperor, he would have been implicated this time as well.

Most of Li Xiaochang's brothers are no longer alive. For example, Li Yi's father died young, while Xiaoben and several others followed Yuwen Huaji in his rebellion while serving in Jiangdu. Later, they tried to rebel against Yuwen Huaji again but were executed.

Although his brothers are no longer alive, their sons have also been implicated this time.

Only Li Yi was able to remain uninvolved and unaffected.

The rest of his nephews had to be exiled to Lingnan as well.

This was the imperial era. A serious crime like treason usually resulted in the extermination of the entire clan. To only confiscate the property of the whole family and exile them was already considered an act of great imperial grace.

At least there wasn't a situation where all the men in a family were executed and all the women were sent to the inner palace or the music and dance academy.

When Emperor Emeritus Li Yuan's maternal uncle's son, Dugu Huaien, rebelled against him, Li Yuan executed him directly, followed by the execution of his brothers, nephews, and nieces, and the imprisonment of all his female relatives in the inner palace.

Li Yi's concubine, Lady Dugu, was the daughter of Dugu Huaien. After her father was executed, she was given to Li Yi as a reward.

Li Yi has become increasingly cautious in his actions over the past few years.
A major reason is to protect the whole family; if one person gets into trouble, the whole family suffers, and even the children cannot escape.

"Please take good care of Third Aunt for me; I've let her down."

Li Yiyu ate one bite after another. He had just married and been granted the seventh-rank official position of Imperial Guard of the Crown Prince. His life was supposed to be beginning to shine, but suddenly he was exiled to Lingnan.
They got divorced.

He got drunk very quickly.

He slumped over the table and murmured, "I was planning to get married this year and have a big, healthy son next year. I even thought of a name for him: Jiafu, Li Jiafu..."

"Once we get to Lingnan, I'll have someone help you find another wife."

Li Yiyu fell into a drunken stupor and snored loudly; he hadn't slept well for days.

Patting him on the shoulder, Li Yi instructed the jailer to take care of him before turning and leaving.

He came to see Li Xiaochang.

This is an old man who was betrayed by his son.

The old man wasn't very capable, but he also wasn't very ambitious. As a result, his sons were all terrible, which was his fault for not raising them well.

In the end, they reaped the bitter fruit of their actions.

Seeing the food box that Li Yi brought,

Li Xiaochang took it, opened it, and took out the items one by one.
He sniffed and couldn't wait to start pouring the wine.

"This is the best Jiannan Shaochun tea,"

First, I poured a full glass and drank it down in one gulp. Then I poured another glass, but this time I only drank half of it, savoring the taste slowly.

"What fine wine! I'm afraid I'll never be able to drink Jiannan Shaochun as good as this again."

Li Xiaochang, whose head was full of white hair, put down his wine cup, reached out and tore off a roast goose leg, and began to take a big bite.

Wolfishly devouring tiger.

Last time, Li Yi brought him wine and food, but Li Xiaochang cried and refused to eat, saying it was his last meal before his execution.

But today he didn't even ask, and he didn't care about Li Yi at all.

Li Yi poured himself a glass and sipped it slowly.

After a while,
Li Xiaochang ate almost the entire roast goose, leaving only a pile of bones.

Only then did he finally raise his head.
"Alright, now that we've eaten and drunk our fill, we can get going."

"When we get to the underworld, at least we won't be starving ghosts."

"Do you know that when I was a child, my father was a kitchen supervisor in Emperor Wen of Sui's palace? He was actually just a servant. At that time, Emperor Wen of Sui had not yet become emperor; he was a Right Junior Earl and Duke of Daxing."

My father was a servant in the household, and I was naturally a household slave as well. Back then, I often went in and out of the kitchen, and whenever I saw the dishes and wine prepared for banquets in the mansion, my mouth would water.
At that time, I thought, how happy I would be if I could eat roast goose.

Li Xiaochang recalled the past.
"Later, the old Duke of Sui passed away, and Emperor Wen inherited the title of Duke of Sui. My father, due to his capable service, was also granted a position as a military advisor. When Emperor Wen became the Chancellor of Northern Zhou, he further bestowed upon my father the title of Baron of Huaichang."
From then on, I was able to eat roast goose regularly.

But even in Emperor Wen's residence, Yang Yong, Yang Guang, and others still called me a slave.

He went on and on about many past events,
"When will we set off? Will we be given poisoned wine, or a white silk ribbon, or will we take action at a post station along the way?"

Uncle is overthinking it.

We'll depart for Jiaozhi tomorrow and arrive safely at our place of exile.

Li Xiaochang held his wine glass, seemingly surprised, and pondered for a moment, "Safely arriving in Jiaozhi, does that mean I can live another year or two?"

Li Yi said frankly, "As long as my uncle goes to Jiaozhi and forgets about Chang'an, he can live peacefully in Lingnan."

This surprised him.

Although he did not rebel, his son did. He publicly confessed in the imperial court to his crime of plotting to rebel and seize the throne.

Is he still alive?

The emperor had said he would spare the emperor's life and exile him to Lingnan, but he would not execute him directly.

Li Xiaochang unloaded it all at once.

He lost all his energy and spirit.

"The current emperor is indeed extraordinary. If it were the retired emperor or Jiancheng, he would not have shown any mercy."

"Don't worry, once I've made up my mind, I won't go back on it. As for things I shouldn't say, I'll keep them buried deep inside!"

(End of this chapter)