Jackie Chan's Son-in-Law

Chapter 160 Only His Mother Remains
The emperor remained standing outside the prison cell. He glanced at Zhao Mengjing kneeling inside and Chen Qing beside him, and slowly said, "It's getting late, I'm going back to the palace."

Chen Qing hurriedly walked out of the prison and left the Zhenfu Division prison with the emperor. After entering the Zhenfu Division, the emperor walked ahead with his hands behind his back and said, "Chen Qing, I have a question for you."

Chen Qing immediately bowed his head: "Your Majesty, please ask."

The emperor turned around, looked at Chen Qing, pondered his words for a moment, and said, "Just now, I went to visit Prime Minister Yang at his residence, but he refused to return to his post in the cabinet and even said that he wanted me to bring his second son into the imperial prison to be punished."

"Tell me, what should I do?"

At this moment, there was no one around, and only he and Chen Qing could hear what the emperor said. After hearing the emperor's words, Chen Qing first frowned and whispered, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Yang has been in charge of the cabinet for too long and has become mistaken."

At this point, Chen Qing looked up at the emperor and said, "I will lead men to the Yang residence shortly to arrest the man. As requested by Prime Minister Yang, we will take the second young master of the Yang family into the imperial prison!"

The emperor then smiled and said, "You rascal, you really aren't afraid of offending people."

"Having too many lice doesn't make you itch."

Chen Qing was not afraid at all and said, "In the Zhenfu Division, others may not dare to, but I am not afraid. Anyway, I have already offended several ministers in the cabinet, so I am not afraid to offend them again."

The emperor stroked his chin, thought for a moment, then reached out and patted Chen Qing on the shoulder, saying, "Forget it. Although it was very satisfying to put Yang Erzhen in the imperial prison, you don't have a proper official position right now. It's not legitimate for you to lead the Zhenfu Division to arrest him."

At this point, the emperor paused, then continued, "The fact that you could say those words shows your commendable loyalty."

"I…"

The emperor slowly exhaled: "Let's bear with it for now."

The young emperor took a deep breath to calm himself down, then walked out of the Zhenfu Division gate with his hands behind his back.

"Since you are acquainted with Zhao Mengjing's family, the aftermath of their case will be left to you. Today, you can take the gold medal I gave you and release him from the imperial prison, and settle him properly. I will issue an imperial edict in a few days."

Chen Qing bowed deeply and said, "Your subject obeys."

The emperor walked out with his hands behind his back, then turned back to look at Chen Qing and said, "These next few days, you should have a good talk with him about Minister Yang's matter."

Chen Qing naturally knew who the emperor was referring to.

Zhao Mengjing, Vice Minister Zhao, will become the future Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate, which is the top leader of the outer court's disciplinary system.

The emperor's intention in assigning him this position was quite clear. This young emperor obviously had a good impression of Chen Qing, and at least for now, he was unwilling to let Chen Qing launch an attack on the behemoth that was the Yang family.

To prevent Chen Qing from dying before achieving his goal.

However, he was very willing to let Zhao Mengjing be the vanguard and take the lead.

Considering the emperor's intention to rectify the officialdom, this timing made it clear why the head of the disciplinary system was appointed to the position of the stubborn Vice Minister Zhao.

It is obviously very suitable.

Moreover... perhaps the emperor had planned this all along.

Chen Qing bowed and escorted the emperor to the gate of the Zhenfu Division. After exchanging a few words with Tang Can, the emperor boarded his imperial carriage and left, leaving the Zhenfu Division members kneeling in disarray.

After the emperor left, Tang Zhenfu was the first to get up from the ground. He patted Chen Qing on the shoulder and said with a smile, "I told you that Brother Chen would come back to our Zhenfu Division sooner or later. And look, we meet again at the Zhenfu Division in just a few days."

Chen Qing smiled wryly and said, "Lord Zhen, I haven't thought about officially resuming my post yet. I was just brought to Zhenfu Division by His Majesty."

"There's no difference."

Tang Can smiled and said, "The brothers we sent to Huzhou should be here by now. The men I personally sent are the most capable secret agents of the Zhenfu Division. It won't be long before they send word back and clear your name."

Chen Qing clasped his hands in thanks, then asked, "Lord Zhen, His Majesty ordered me to bring Vice Minister Zhao out of the imperial prison today..."

Although Chen Qing possessed the Emperor's Golden Token and could indeed use it to bring Zhao Mengjing out of the imperial prison, he would still have to serve in the Zhenfu Division for a considerable period of time.

If you use the general manager's order to bypass your immediate supervisor, your immediate supervisor will definitely be unhappy.

Saying hello would be much more appropriate.

Everyone wants to carry a sedan chair; giving the leader face at such a time will make things much easier for you in the Zhenfu Division later on.

If someone truly believes they've gained some imperial favor and starts acting arrogantly, behaving like a lord in the Zhenfu Division, they might be fine for a while, but in the long run, they'll surely face the backlash. Sure enough, Zhenfu Tang was somewhat pleased to hear this, and he quickly smiled.
"Oh, His Majesty just said that he will follow Brother Chen's arrangements."

At this point, Tang Can waved his hand and said, "You can just take your people and leave. If you don't trust anyone, you don't have to trust Brother Chen."

"it is good."

Chen Qing clasped his hands in a salute and said, "Thank you, Lord Zhen."

Tang Can said with a smile, "Come on, I'll go with you to the Imperial Prison and say hello to the people there to avoid any misunderstandings."

Chen Qing responded and greeted Yan Hu before arriving at the Imperial Prison with Tang Zhenfu. With Tang Can present, the process at the Imperial Prison proceeded smoothly.

The two arrived at Zhao Shilang's prison. Tang Can personally opened the cell door, went in first, smiled at Zhao Shilang inside, and said, "Congratulations, Lord Zhao, you've finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel."

With a smile, Tang Zhenfu said, "Over the past three or four years, I have always admired Lord Zhao's character and have not made things difficult for him in the slightest."

What's easier to do than a favor that's given casually is a favor that's given casually, and these casual favors are sometimes extremely useful.

Chen Qing also stepped forward, squatted down and untied the shackles on Zhao Mengjing's feet. It was clear that Zhao Mengjing's ankles had developed sores from years of wearing shackles and living in the dark, damp prison.

Zhao Mengjing looked up at Tang Zhenfu and forced a smile: "In the past three or four years, I have witnessed too many human tragedies here. I am only alive today because of Tang Zhenfu's care."

He took a deep breath: "Thank you for your kindness."

Zhao Mengjing's words were not sarcastic, because what he had seen and heard in the imperial prison over the past few years was far more substantial than what Chen Qing, a greenhorn who had just entered the Zhenfu Division, had experienced.

Countless people died before his eyes.

After exchanging a few polite words, Tang Can clasped his hands in a fist and smiled, "This humble official has other matters to attend to, so I will not disturb Lord Zhao any longer."

"Zizheng, please take good care of Lord Zhao and escort him out of the imperial prison."

Chen Qing agreed and watched Tang Can leave.

After Tang Zhenfu left the imperial prison, Chen Qingcai looked at Zhao Shilang and sighed in a low voice, "People say that being able to walk out of the imperial prison alive is like being reborn. Today is the day of Zhao Shilang's rebirth. I am sending Zhao Shilang out."

Zhao, the Vice Minister, turned to look at Chen Qing and remained silent for a long while before letting out a long sigh: "It's not because of my wife and daughters."

He turned to look at the cell and murmured, "I will die here."

What do scholars pursue?
Fame and fortune.

As long as Zhao Mengjing dies here, even during the reign of Emperor Jingyuan, no one will dare to write extensively about him. However, when the next emperor arrives, the civil officials will surely write extensively about him and pay homage to him.

And it will surely be passed down to future generations and recorded in history.

This is the fame that scholars seek in the pursuit of official rank and recognition.

In recent years, Vice Minister Zhao had long intended to die for his country here, but his wife and children were still in the capital, and he was really reluctant to leave.

Chen Qing sighed and said, "After Lord Zhao leaves, he can still achieve great things. Isn't that better than dying a pathetic death here?"

Zhao, the Vice Minister, glanced at Chen Qing and said in a hoarse voice, "His Majesty has appointed me to head the Censorate, presumably to reform the bureaucracy. If I become ruthless and thoroughly reform the court and the country, people will come and ask me, 'Why didn't you dare to intervene when the Zhang brothers committed evil?'"

How should I answer?

Only the flawless can kill.

For strict laws to be accepted by the public, the first thing to ensure is that everyone is equal under the rule of law; otherwise, people will naturally feel dissatisfied.

Upon hearing this, Chen Qing knew that Zhao Mengjing was still harboring resentment towards the emperor's two uncles. He sighed softly, "Lord Zhao, everyone has selfish desires, including the emperor. Some things are not impossible to do, but one must be mindful of the methods and approaches."

"We can discuss this further in the long term."

Zhao Shilang coughed violently and was about to speak, but Chen Qing could only whisper.

"The emperor has no father, only his mother remains."

(End of this chapter)