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

Zou Tai said worriedly, "But if we don't tell the emperor, won't he be kept in the dark forever? What if he gets harmed by that person?"

Zhao Liangchen: "The fact that he was able to endure for so long and personally support the emperor to ascend the throne shows that he wants not only the throne, but also reputation and legitimacy.

They did so much for the disaster victims just to enhance their own reputation and ruin the emperor's reputation. Until the emperor becomes too foolish and unable to shoulder the heavy responsibility, he will not do anything to the emperor.

We just need to be more careful in the future to avoid anything that would damage the Emperor's reputation."

Zou Tai nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to you. I will go to the palace often to check on you during your absence."

Zhao Liangchen gave some instructions and left. After leaving Zou Tai's house, he went to the small house he bought.

The small house was not far from the Zhao residence. It was a courtyard. After he climbed over the wall and went in, the whole courtyard was dark and quiet. He tried to push the door of the main house, but it wouldn't open because it was locked from the inside.

He knocked on the door: "Gu Pan, are you in there? I'm the eldest brother, open the door."

Only after hearing his voice did a woman's sobbing voice come out: "Brother, is that you?"

Zhao Liangchen lowered his voice and coaxed, "It's me, open the door."

There were stumbling and kicking footsteps in the room, and soon the door opened. Before Zhao Liangchen could see clearly, he was hugged tightly: "Wow, big brother, I'm so scared."

Zhao Liangchen stumbled after being bumped into. He frowned and stood firm. He put his hand on Zhao Gupan's shoulder and pushed her back. "Gupan, don't cry yet. I ran away secretly. I don't have much time. Let's talk about business first."

Only then did Zhao Gupan let go of Zhao Liangchen, but she was still sobbing.

Zhao Liangchen: "Let's go inside and talk first."

He entered the house first, found the oil lamp on the table in the main hall and lit it, then sat down and looked at Zhao Gupan who had followed him in and asked seriously, "Gupan, how could you sneak out?"

Zhao Gupan was crying so hard that she was obviously stunned when she heard this question. She didn't even bother to wipe her tears and looked at Zhao Liangchen in shock: "Brother, didn't you say that something happened in our house? Let me prepare in advance."

Zhao Liangchen: "Did I tell you to get ready so you can run away? Where can you, a woman, run to? There are so many disaster victims outside the city. I'm afraid you will be caught by human traffickers as soon as you leave the city.

Besides, the whole city is searching for the missing prisoner, so you can't leave the city."

Zhao Gupan cried even louder: "You, you said something happened, I, I was scared... I thought you let me run away"

Zhao Liangchen said helplessly, "Something really happened in our house. The prisoners who embezzled disaster relief funds were replaced right under my and my father's noses. One of them was a member of our Zhao family. Tong, the Minister of Justice, suspected that the prisoners were replaced by my father and me, but there was no evidence, so we were suspended and confined.

This case is really big. If we can't find these criminals and prove our innocence, we will definitely be convicted.

I asked you to be prepared, and I meant to prepare in advance. Once we are convicted, I will take you away, not let you run away alone. Don't worry, I will not let you go to jail. Even if something happens to me, I will arrange a safe place for you. How can you survive if you run away by yourself?

Not only did you run away yourself, you also took the servants with you. We were already suspicious, and now that so many people have escaped, the suspicion is even greater. Those servants who ran away must have been arrested and taken to the Ministry of Justice by now."

Zhao Gupan was dumbfounded. She realized then that she had misunderstood. But now that she had escaped and caused chaos in the mansion, she was afraid that she could not go back.

She asked worriedly, "What should we do now, brother? I'm out now, and my father must be angry and won't let me go back."

Zhao Liangchen sighed and said, "It's my fault too. I was in a bad mood that day and didn't explain it to you clearly, which is why you made such a mistake."

Zhao Gupan looked at Zhao Liangchen and suddenly said, "Brother, why don't we find a way to leave the city now? Didn't you say that if father is really convicted, you would find a way to arrange a place for me? Although you are fine now, it doesn't mean that you will be fine in the future. Anyway, we are out now, so we might as well take this opportunity to escape. That way, you don't have to worry about me in the future."

Zhao Liangchen's face darkened. "Leaving the city now? The city gates are closed. How are you going to get us out?"

Zhao Gupan didn't see Zhao Liangchen's expression clearly, but instead suggested: "You are a member of the Imperial Guard, so you must know the person guarding the city gate. Let's give him some more silver and ask him to open the city gate and let us out."

Zhao Liangchen asked with a half-smile, "What about after we leave the city? Where are you planning to go?"

Zhao Gupan: "I have thought about it a long time ago. I plan to go to my aunt's hometown. I have saved some money over the years. I can buy a small courtyard in a small place and live there."

Zhao Liangchen leaned back and looked Zhao Gupan up and down. Zhao Gupan looked at him for a long time without saying anything before he realized that his expression was wrong.

She asked Zhao Liangchen tentatively: "Brother, don't you want to go with me?"

Zhao Liangchen asked sarcastically, "Do you know that opening the city gate without permission is a serious crime punishable by execution of the entire clan? Do you think that with your small amount of silver, someone will risk the entire clan being slaughtered to let us leave the city? Since you have made up your mind, why don't you leave the city today?"

Zhao Gupan also felt a little aggrieved. She originally thought that she could leave the city smoothly today, but after she went out, she found that the streets were full of imperial guards checking people. After hiding and reaching the city gate with great difficulty, she found that the gate was not open. She could only enter but not leave. She was trapped in the city.

She said aggrievedly, "I went to the city gate today and saw it was heavily guarded. Brother, don't you hold a high position in the Imperial Guard? You have a good relationship with the Emperor, so you must have a way to get out of the city, right?"

Zhao Liangchen suddenly felt it was particularly ridiculous. This was the sister he had loved since childhood. She had only asked for some money from him before, but now she even wanted his life for her own safety.

He stood up and said, "You are really my good sister. I am now suspected of exchanging prisoners. The Ministry of Justice is looking for evidence to convict me. You want me to bribe the guards to escape? You want me to flee for fear of punishment and directly confirm my crime of exchanging prisoners. Not only do you want to send me to death, but you also want to send the entire Zhao family to death.

I was originally worried that you might be in danger out there alone, so I risked being discovered by the Ministry of Justice and came out to look for you. Now it seems that you are very resourceful and capable, so I don't have to worry about you anymore. Go on your own. I can't leave. I can't send my whole family to die."

After saying that, he started to walk away. Zhao Gupan was so frightened that he immediately grabbed his sleeve and said anxiously, "Brother, you can't just leave me alone."

Zhao Liangchen pried her hands apart and said word by word, "It's not that I don't want to help you, Gu Pan, I can't let my whole family die just for you."

Zhao Gupan cried anxiously, "Why not? Who at home cares about us? If it weren't for your ability, if you hadn't taken care of me, we would have died long ago. They never considered us family. Why should we die for them? I don't want to. Big brother, let's go. Please, with your ability, we can live well wherever we go. We will really die if we stay."