Going to Beijing to save his father, all the powerful officials in the city are vying to be his fath

Zhao Liangchen nodded and said, "The relief money has been lost, the victims haven't been resettled, people are dying every day, and we can't control it anymore. When I left the city today, some refugees were already leading a riot. The Imperial Guards arrested quite a few of them, which had a deterrent effect at first, but then someone instigated the refugees and they attacked. The Imperial Guards were outnumbered and the refugees were almost overwhelmed. Finally, I had no other choice but to go back to the city and find some wealthy families and conscientious officials to give out porridge outside the city, which was enough to appease the refugees."

Zeng Lao frowned and said, "Asking people to give out porridge is not a long-term solution. There are too many refugees, and there is not enough food for all of them. If we don't find a proper solution, something bad will happen sooner or later."

Zhao Liangchen nodded: "Yes, giving out porridge is only a temporary solution. Now the only way to appease the refugees is to find disaster relief money."

Su Qin, who had been standing nearby, suddenly interrupted, "Do you know where the disaster relief money is?"

Zhao Liangchen looked at her, hesitated for a moment, and nodded slightly: "I probably know."

Su Qin: "At your father's place?"

Zhao Liangchen shook his head. "My father was only the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of War. He couldn't have embezzled so much disaster relief money by himself. They were a faction, and my father hired someone to do it. But the disaster relief money doesn't necessarily belong to him. It might have been divided up or hidden somewhere. It would be extremely difficult to find the disaster relief money from them unless they voluntarily give it up."

Su Qin stared at Zhao Liangchen. "So is there a way to make them return the disaster relief money?"

Zhao Liangchen hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Yes, tell the refugees that your father and his men have embezzled the disaster relief funds, and then execute them in front of the refugees. They will then use the disaster relief funds to appease the victims. This will both appease the victims and improve their reputation."

Su Qin's face darkened instantly: "So you plan to step on the corpses of my father and others to get to the top?"

Zeng Lao was also annoyed and slapped Zhao Liangchen: "What kind of crazy idea did you come up with?"

Zhao Liangchen explained: "This is not my idea, they really intend to do this, so we can't let the refugees cause chaos. Once the refugees riot, Lord Su will be dead. I have been comforting the refugees all day, but I don't know how long I can hold out.

I haven't figured out a way to save Lord Su's life and get them to hand over the disaster relief money."

This was a difficult problem, and no one had any idea what to do. For a moment, the atmosphere in the room was somewhat dull.

Zeng Lao was the first to break the silence and said to Zhao Liangchen, "You should eat first. This matter cannot be rushed. Let's find a solution together."

Zhao Liangchen picked up the bowl and started eating. Su Qin went out of the house and sat under the crabapple tree again. It was already dark at this time, and a moon was hanging in the sky, but the yard was not dark.

Su Qin just stared at the moon in a daze. The Mid-Autumn Festival was just a few days away. In the past, Mrs. Su would prepare a lot of food, clothing and other daily necessities to send back every Mid-Autumn Festival. Su Qin would celebrate the festival with her grandmother, making mooncakes and rabbit lanterns together. Although it was not particularly lively, it was very warm. This year, no one made mooncakes for Su Qin, and she didn't know if she would be able to eat mooncakes again.

She murmured to herself while looking at the mooncake: "Grandma, what should I do?"

After finishing his meal, Zhao Liangchen stood at the door of the main house and looked at Su Qin's lonely and sad back under the moon. He was very familiar with that desolate feeling. When he was young, he always sat under the moon and looked at the gate of the courtyard, hoping that his father would come to see him, and hoping that someone would care about him. Unfortunately, no one came. Even the cats and dogs in the house seemed to know how lonely his place was and were unwilling to pass by.

Now, looking at Su Qin's back, he felt inexplicably distressed. He didn't know whether he felt sorry for Su Qin, whose family was broken up, or for himself, who had no one to care about him.

He walked to Su Qin and comforted her softly: "Miss Su, don't worry, I will never let anything happen to your father."

Su Qin withdrew her gaze from the moon and looked at Zhao Liangchen calmly: "So what are you going to do? Can you calm the refugees down?"

She didn't believe in any promises, especially men's promises. It was like pouring a few copper beans into a hot pot. It only made a sound and was of no help to a hungry person.

Zhao Liangchen's expression was a little stiff. To be honest, he had no confidence in himself. He was a military general, and using his brain was never his strong point.

Just by looking at his expression, Su Qin knew that he had no good solution. Su Qin was not disappointed. It is better to rely on oneself than on others. She has never had the habit of relying on others to solve problems.

She pointed to the stone bench next to her and said to Zhao Liangchen, "Master Zhao, please sit down."

Zhao Liangchen wanted to tell her not to call him Lord Zhao, but he didn't know what to call him. If he called him by his name, it seemed like they were not that familiar with each other.

He had no choice but to sit down silently.

Su Qin looked at Zhao Liangchen and asked, "Do the victims know about the disaster relief funds now?"

Zhao Liangchen shook his head. "Because the relief money hasn't been found yet, the Emperor and other officials were afraid that the victims would riot if they knew the money was missing, so they concealed it."

Su Qin nodded. Throughout her journey, she had never heard anyone mention that the imperial court had provided disaster relief. If the imperial court had provided disaster relief, the victims would not have been able to travel so far to come to the capital.

"Master Zhao, you just said that your father and his men might push my father and his men out to divert the conflict. We can do what they can do, too."

Zhao Liangchen was stunned: "What do you mean, are you going to push your father out?"

Su Qin shook her head. "No, the Ministry of Justice has been holding my father in custody for a long time without convicting or sentencing him. I guess the evidence isn't strong enough. Since there's no conviction, there's still a way forward. Zhao Kuo said it was my father who instructed them to steal and replace the disaster relief money. We can also say he framed me and we can shift the blame."

Zhao Liangchen: "Are you trying to point out the person who actually embezzled the disaster relief funds?"

Su Qin nodded. "We can tell the victims in advance about the relief funds and point the finger at your father's party for embezzling them. That way, if they push my father to take the blame, they won't be credible. Even killing my father won't necessarily quell the anger of the victims."

Zhao Liangchen shook his head. "It's useless. Accusations require evidence. The evidence Zhao Kuo handed over can fully prove that your father was the one who ordered him to steal and replace the disaster relief silver."

Su Qin laughed sarcastically: "Then is the evidence he handed in true?"

Zhao Liangchen shook his head: "No. But it is real enough, otherwise the emperor and I would not be deceived."

Su Qin: "Fake, it will always be fake, it can never be true. They can forge evidence, and so can we. We don't have to believe it completely, as long as we can confuse the public."

Zhao Liangchen hesitated: "Is this okay?"

Su Qin asked, "What kind of person is the Minister of Justice?"

Zhao Liangchen thought about the ending of Tong Zhongqian's previous life and concluded, "He was a very complicated person. He was devoted to the case and was very serious. There were very few wrongful convictions. He did not form cliques for personal gain, nor did he accept bribes. He was only focused on solving the case.

But he's not the kind of person who's pedantic and inflexible. On the contrary, he's very smart. If a case involves someone powerful, he'll be accommodating and won't pursue it relentlessly, so he has a good reputation."

Su Qin: "If there is additional evidence proving that my father is not the mastermind behind the corruption case, will he reopen the investigation?"

Zhao Liangchen nodded. "Yes, the party my father is loyal to hasn't bribed him, so as long as there's new evidence, he'll definitely re-investigate."

Su Qin: "Okay, then we'll give him new evidence. But who this evidence points to depends on what Lord Zhao thinks."