Shipin Dalizheng

Early the next morning, Rong Tang ordered the kitchen to prepare a large lunch box. Passing by Baixianglou, he asked Rong Zhan to buy a lotus leaf chicken to take with him. The three of them, master and servants, went into the Ministry of Justice together.

Upon hearing that the visitor was coming to visit the prison, the official in charge inquired about the visitor's identity, accepted the gift, and wrote a note, "No more than half an hour."

Half an hour was not a short time, and Rong Tang felt that it was enough time to ask whatever he wanted to ask.

Besides, since that day, Xiao Zhenyue had sent away his cellmates one by one, and when it got dark, his father still didn't come to pick him up. Not to mention being picked up, there was no one to even bring him food.

After eating two meals of stale bread, even if you are slow-witted, you can feel that something is wrong.

He was first moved from a clean cell to a dark, smelly dungeon, where he was locked up with other filthy prisoners. After two days, he was taken to the Ministry of Justice prison and locked up with his family. Only then did he realize that something terrible had happened to his family and that the entire family was imprisoned.

In the past few days, he had experienced the ups and downs of life. First, his fiancée, to whom he had been engaged for many years, broke off the engagement. Then he learned that his father had committed a serious crime and that the whole family was in danger of being beheaded. Fear and despair gnawed at his heart every day.

It was also during these few days that several of his good friends who had grown up with him never came to see him once.

Lying in the damp and moldy straw pile, with cockroaches, bedbugs, mosquitoes and flies flying around and hitting his face, Xiao Zhenyue's heart felt like it was dead, smelly and festering.

From the other side came the suppressed and broken cries of his mother and sister. At this moment of despair, the prison boss called out, "Xiao Zhenyue, someone's visiting."

Xiao Zhenyue thought he had heard it wrong and didn't react for a long time.

The jailer yelled at him, "Are you dead? If not, give us a response. People are waiting!"

Xiao Zhenyue's mind is in a mess, who would come to see him?

He followed the jailer out of the big cage and into a separate room at the end. He saw three people standing inside. One of them was unfamiliar to him, and the other two were Rong Tang and Rong Zhan, whom he met in the Jingzhao Prefecture Prison.

He suddenly wanted to cry.

"Prince Rong, is that you?"

He wanted to cry and laugh at the same time, but ended up laughing with tears in his eyes. "I've been thinking about who would come to see me all the way. I even thought of Hua Niang in the building, but I never thought it would be you."

"How have you been these past few days? I've been out of town since that day, and I was so busy out there that I thought you came home after me."

How could it possibly get better? In the prison of the Ministry of Justice, unlike the Jingzhao prefect who just warned them casually, they would actually be beaten, starved, and if they got sick, no one would treat them.

Xiao Zhenyue said while crying, "Fortunately, you see I'm still alive, thank you..."

"Don't talk, eat something first."

Xiao Zhenyue had the impression that he liked eating the chicken from Baixianglou. But at this moment, Xiao Zhenyue peeled away the lotus leaves, hesitantly plucked a small piece of chicken skin and stuffed it into his mouth. After swallowing it, he said, "Can you send it to my family? My parents, my brother and sister-in-law, they haven't eaten well for many days."

Especially my mother and sister, they were born into wealth and have never suffered hardship...

In fact, he had never suffered hardship, but at this moment, he still wanted to take more care of the women in his family.

Rong Tang was filled with awe. No matter what crime Minister Xiao had committed, or how unreliable Xiao Zhenyue had been in the past, a man who was imprisoned, hungry, and living at every moment, and who cared more about his family, was not a bad person at all.

Rong Tang took out a bowl of rice and a small jar of rice wine from the food box, and asked Rong Wanli to send the rest to the Xiao family.

"Eat, it's easier to talk after you've had a full meal."

Xiao Zhenyue cried while wolfing down his food. He used to find it difficult to swallow white rice, but now it seemed like a delicacy to him. He drank the rice wine even more carefully, every drop, wanting to drink it for a longer time.

"I don't have much time, Xiao Zhenyue. You and I didn't have much friendship in the past. To be honest, I came to you for a purpose."

Xiao Zhenyue was full and pushed his bowl away. "That's fine. I also feel that we're not close enough friends. I'm feeling uneasy. Now that you've spoken up, I don't have to guess. What's the matter?"

"I've met Gu Zhongxun and the others before, and I heard from them that your father was pushed out by the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. I won't hide it from you, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue's Liang family has offended me, and I want to deal with him, and I need your father to provide guidance."

The more Xiao Zhenyue heard about the Liang family, the more hatred surged in his heart. He had also heard what his father said, but because of King Rui, his father was afraid of revenge and never dared to tell him the whole truth.

"The Liang family has Prince Rui behind them. You might not be able to overthrow them, but you'll end up getting yourself into trouble. Why bother? I probably can't help you at all."

"It doesn't matter if I can't help. It depends on whether you are willing to help. I don't know your father, and he may not trust me. All you need to do is call your father out to talk to me. I promise you that while your family is in prison, I will deliver food, clothes, and medicine on time until the verdict. And the fight between me and the Liang family will not involve your family, and it will not have a negative impact on your family in the future."

Xiao Zhenyue was very tempted. There were many women in his family, most of whom were adults. Once they went to prison, who would treat them as human beings?

Even if he died, he wanted his mother and sister to retain their dignity in their final days.

Not long after he left, Lord Xiao came over with a hoarse voice.

"I probably can't help you either. It's true that all officials are corrupt, but evidence is also important if you want to catch corruption. He has mine, but I don't have his."

Rong Tang said, "We can find evidence. Sir Xiao, I just need you to give me some direction. Imagine if we investigate him while we're investigating you, and it turns out his problem is more serious than yours, do you think there's another possibility? You'll give him a lighter sentence, and he'll be in jail?"

Lord Xiao smiled bitterly, "Even if they find out that his problem is bigger than mine, judging by the current situation, they'll probably put the blame on me. Maybe our whole family won't have any chance of survival."

"So Lord Xiao is still dreaming, thinking the Liang family will leave you alive. Don't you think about it? If he didn't want to get you, why would he expose you? Maybe he's just laying the groundwork to eventually pin all the evidence on you. Your only chance now is to stand by me. What if I can bring him down? Doesn't that give your whole family a chance? Even if I can't bring him down, what's the loss to you? Don't you want your wife and children to have a better life in prison, and not suffer so much before they die?"

Lord Xiao's heart was instantly in turmoil.

Rong Zhan and Rong Wanli both retreated, leaving Rong Tang and Lord Xiao alone.

A quarter of an hour later, the jailer came to ask them to leave. In front of Master Xiao, Rong Tang gave the jailer a fifty-liang silver note and said, "The straw inside should be changed frequently, so the food should be better. If anyone is sick, please see a doctor. If you run out of money, ask this prince for more. Remember, if anyone outside asks about my visit today, you should think of a good answer."

The jailer readily agreed, even though others had given money to deal with the Xiao family... but that was just a small string of copper coins, nowhere near as generous as Prince Rong, which gave fifty taels.

After Master Rong Tang left, the jailer kept his promise and replaced the rice with new dry straw. The lunch was also changed to freshly cooked brown rice. Although it was not as fine as the one at home, it was much better than the pig and dog food they had eaten before.

The Xiao family father and son looked at each other with mixed emotions. They were worried about the unknown future, but also felt a glimmer of hope.

The next step is to set up the game. It is known that the Liang family is the people of Prince Rui. If you want to deal with him, the best way is to use the power of others and use the people of Prince Huai and Prince Yong to catch a small tail of Minister Liang. This small tail may not seem fatal, but it is the biggest obstacle for Minister Liang to be promoted half a level and take over the position of Minister of the Left.