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

Zeng Lao kicked Zhao Liangchen so hard that he sat down on the ground. He did not stand up, but knelt on the ground: "Teacher, please calm down and don't get yourself hurt by anger. Listen to me, I don't want to have a mistress. I have nothing to do with this girl. It's just that I owe a favor to her father. Now she has nowhere to go, so I want to take care of her.

I originally wanted to rent a yard for her to live in, but as you know, there are many refugees in the capital, and it is not safe for a girl like her to live alone. I cannot take her home, so I can only ask you for help.

You are alone and in poor health. I am always worried about you, but I am too busy to visit you. If I let this girl live with you, she can take care of you and I can feel at ease.

Zeng Lao carefully observed Zhao Liangchen's expression and said sullenly, "Don't frame me like that. Tell me, what is the origin of this girl? Why are you helping her?"

Zhao Liangchen looked up at Zeng Lao's dark and serious expression. Knowing he couldn't hide it, he sighed and said, "I dare not hide it from you, teacher. She is the eldest daughter of Su Jijing, the former Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. She has been raised in her hometown in the countryside. She escaped the flood in Chanzhou and came to the capital to find her father. But now her father is imprisoned in the Ministry of Justice. I don't want her to be arrested as well, so I have to ask for your help."

Elder Zeng stared at Zhao Liangchen in disbelief and asked, "You want to harbor a serious criminal of the imperial court? Do you know what kind of crime you would be charged with if discovered? It's a capital offense. Not only you, but your entire Zhao family would be implicated."

Zhao Liangchen became serious and said earnestly: "Teacher and student swear on their lives that Su Jijing is innocent. He was wrongly accused."

Zeng Lao chuckled: "So what if it's unfair? How many loyal ministers have been wronged since ancient times? How many have been rehabilitated and had a good end? Why do you still want to seek justice for the Su family?

I teach you to be upright, but when did I ever teach you to be so self-righteous?"

Zhao Liangchen looked a little sad: "Teacher, the Su family can be wronged, but they cannot be wronged by their students."

Zeng Lao frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"

Zhao Liangchen told the whole story of how his father used Zhao Kuo and him to frame Su Jijing and embezzled the disaster relief funds.

Zeng Lao's face darkened the more he listened. After Zhao Liangchen finished speaking, he asked, "How did you know all this?"

Zhao Liangchen: "I learned this by accidentally overhearing a conversation between my father and someone else."

He couldn't tell the teacher about his rebirth. Even if he did, the teacher wouldn't believe him and would think he was talking nonsense and would no longer help Su Qin.

Zeng Lao's expression was extremely serious. "The people behind all the things you mentioned are all your father. Are you trying to send the entire Zhao family and your entire clan to their doom?"

Zhao Liangchen shook his head: "Teacher, I don't want them to die, but I can't send the Su family to death against my conscience. Although you told me that when I enter the officialdom, I will be too tough and cut off. I need to be gentle, roundabout, and tolerate the existence of gray and unfairness. I will remember this.

But what my father did was not simple corruption. He disregarded the lives of millions of people in Chanzhou and the stability of the court. The teacher's ambition was too big, and the students could not turn a blind eye and go along with him.

Please help the students, the Su family, and the people of Chanzhou."

After saying this, he kowtowed heavily.

Zeng Lao stared at the top of Zhao Liangchen's head without saying a word. He was thinking. After a long time, he slowly exhaled: "Forget it, this old man will not live for many more years. It is a blessing to be able to do something for the court and the people before I die.

You can let that girl come. Although I don’t have any great abilities, I can still protect a girl.”

Zhao Liangchen was delighted and kowtowed again: "I would like to thank you for your kindness on behalf of Miss Su."

Zeng Lao raised his eyebrows and teased, "Who is this Miss Su to you? Why should you kowtow and thank her?"

Zhao Liangchen was a little embarrassed: "Teacher, please stop joking with students. This is the first time I've seen her today."

Zeng Lao was just joking, not taking it seriously. He glanced at the food on the table and said, "Get up. If you kneel down any longer, the food will get cold."

Zhao Liangchen stood up and said, "Yes, students eat with teachers."

Zeng Lao said disdainfully, "Didn't you come here after eating? You still want to snatch such a small amount of food from me?"

Zhao Liangchen smiled and picked up a shrimp dumpling for Zeng Lao: "I was just busy drinking and didn't eat anything. My stomach is burning now. Please give me a bowl of rice."

Old Zeng snorted coldly, picked up the shrimp dumplings and put them in his mouth, without stopping Zhao Liangchen from eating. The two of them ate slowly without discussing Zhao Liangchen's father's affairs.

After dinner, Zhao Liangchen played two games of chess with Mr. Zeng and then slept here.

-

Su Qin was awakened by hunger. When she opened her eyes, she saw a very small window on the opposite wall. It was already dawn outside.

It seemed that she was really tired and slept for more than ten hours.

She stood up and stretched her body. She felt sore all over. She didn't feel it when she was on the road, but now that she had rested, she felt pain all over. Her feet hurt so much that she didn't dare to touch the ground.

Perhaps hearing the noise, a female jailer came over and saw Su Qin and immediately smiled and said, "The girl is awake."

Su Qin nodded: "You are?"

The female jailer said, "Miss, just call me Zhang Hua. When Master Zhao left yesterday, he asked me to take care of you. He even sent you food last night. I called you a few times, but since you were sleeping so soundly, I didn't wake you up. I've saved the food for you, and I'll go get it for you now."

After saying that, she left and returned a short while later with two food boxes. After opening the cell door, she said with a smile, "The food from yesterday is still here. Master Zhao just sent someone to deliver some new food. Which one do you want, young lady?"

After saying that, she placed both lunch boxes on the table and opened them. Su Qin leaned over to take a look. The contents of both lunch boxes were very exquisite, much better than the porridge and steamed buns she had for the first meal. They were full of delicate pastries and fragrant dishes, but one was cold and the other was hot.

Who would eat cold food when there is hot food? Su Qin looked up and saw the female jailer drooling as she looked at the food in the food box. She smiled and said, "It's cold in the prison, so I'll eat the hot one. If Sister Zhang doesn't mind the cold, you can have that one."

The female jailer immediately smiled and said, "Don't mind, don't mind. I can heat it up. Thank you very much, young lady. I'll get you some water. Please wait a moment."

After saying that, she quickly left with another food box. After a while, she came back with a bucket of hot water, a toilet bowl, and even thoughtfully gave Su Qin a piece of cloth to hang on the fence to block it.

"Girl, don't worry about washing up. I'll be watching outside. No one will come here. Call me when you're ready and I'll pour it for you.

Su Qin thanked her, and after she left, she thought about it and decided to take care of her physiological problems, and then washed herself briefly with hot water.

She followed the refugees all the way north. Although she had hidden silver and money, she had no pass and was afraid of insecurity. She did not dare to leave the refugee group, stay in a hotel by herself, and was afraid of being robbed. She did not dare to buy food, let alone take a bath. She was already very dirty.

After a simple wash, she found a relatively clean set of clothes from her bag and changed into them before starting to eat.

Zhao Liangchen did not show up for the next few days, but three meals a day were delivered on time. Su Qin ate them contentedly at first, but later she became a little anxious. Could it be that Zhao Liangchen was planning to keep her in jail forever?