"What's your name?" Li Hong asked, looking at the little girl who was clinging to Yang Yue's side and holding the hem of Yang Yue's clothes tightly with one hand.
"Chen Qinghan, a civilian girl."
"My name is Yang Lan'er."
Two voices sounded in the room together. Chen Qinghan, who had just finished answering, hurriedly raised his head when he heard Yang Laner's words.
Only then did he see that for some time, His Highness the Crown Prince's eyes had been focused on Yang Lan'er. As for himself, he had been ignored by His Highness the Crown Prince.
But after her reply appeared, Li Hong remembered that he seemed to be talking to Chen Qinghan just now.
"Sorry, I was distracted. Chen Qinghan, did your father help you get this name?" Li Hong turned his attention to Chen Qinghan and asked with a faint smile.
"Yes, Your Highness." Chen Qinghan became less nervous because of Li Hong's soft gaze on Yang Lan'er just now. When he answered, his tone became much more relaxed.
"Han is a lotus flower, which has the noble quality of being able to emerge from the mud without being stained. The word "Qinghan" not only expresses your father's noble character for you, but also means clear water lotus. It seems that Chen Jingzhi has high hopes for you. Ah." Li Hong said, commenting on Chen Qinghan's name.
"Thank you for the compliment, Your Highness. Please understand that my father has been wronged. He has been an official for many years and has always been clean and honest. He has never done anything against the court. I also ask Your Highness to re-examine my father's case." Chen Qinghan suddenly said Kneeling on the ground, he said sadly.
The eighteen-year-old girl was first deceived and taken into custody by Li Jingye, and then she was sent to Hangzhou inexplicably and secretly imprisoned.
Later, he fearfully followed Yang Yuedong and hid in Tibet, hoping to save his father's life by not being caught by Li Jingye.
Now it was like he had been running hastily in the darkness, and when he was in fear, he finally received a glimmer of light. In addition, he had been separated from his father for so many days, and he didn't know whether his only relative was alive or dead.
All the complicated factors combined. After meeting Li Hong, he was able to control his emotions immediately and did not burst into tears on the spot. This already shows that Chen Qinghan is strong enough.
Li Hong nodded silently and motioned for Chen Qinghan to get up, but Chen Qinghan was kneeling on the ground and refused to get up. It seemed that if Li Hong did not agree, she would not be able to kneel down.
Shaking his head helplessly, Li Hong looked at the little girl Yang Lan'er amiably, and then said softly: "Lan'er, can you help Sister Yang up?"
Yang Lan'er didn't expect Li Hong to call her, so she was stunned for a moment, and then nodded obediently at the reminder of Yang Yue beside her. After saying "yes", she ran to Chen Qinghan and wanted to help her up.
But Chen Qinghan is already eighteen or nineteen years old, and has become an adult in the Tang Dynasty. Yang Laner, who does not have enough to eat, can support him.
Seeing Yang Lan'er struggling to help Chen Qinghan up, but Chen Qinghan was kneeling there, and Yang Lan'er tried her best to lift her up, so Li Hong had no choice but to say: "Don't worry, Chen Jingzhi is safe now." "My son, although he is being held in prison, there are people protecting him secretly, so he is safe for a while."
"Really, Your Highness?" Chen Qinghan raised her head and asked as if the pear blossoms were raining.
"If you continue to kneel down, I can't guarantee whether it's true or false." Li Hong spread his hands and shrugged.
Chen Qinghan was stunned. He didn't expect that a person as noble as His Highness the Crown Prince could actually joke. So his fair and tear-stained face turned slightly red, and then he stood up obediently and whispered: "Thank you, Your Highness, the daughter of the people."
"Don't thank me. I don't have that much ability to prevent Li Jingye from killing your father. Li Jingye is eager to kill your father before I arrive in Yangzhou. So, if you want to thank me, thank yourself first. , or thank your father for giving Li Jingye a lie," Li Hong said with a smile.
Bai Chun opened the door gently and walked in, stood behind Li Hong, and looked at Chen Qinghan without saying a word as she stood there with pear blossoms in the rain, and Yang Laner stood beside her.
Chen Qinghan understood what Li Hong was referring to, which was the evidence in her hand about Li Jingye's rebellion, so she thought for a moment and said: "Back to Your Highness, the daughter of the people has no evidence of Li Jingye's rebellion, only a few officials." The letters between Minister Yang Zhirou and Li Jingye, the governor of Yangzhou, and Zheng Jingxuan, the governor of Kuozhou. Among them, the letters with Yang Zhirou mentioned how to remove my father from the post of governor of Yangzhou. "
"Is that all?" Li Hong frowned. These were not enough. What he wanted was direct evidence of Li Jingye's rebellion, even if it was indirect.
But if it is just an official battle, how can we catch all these people in one fell swoop? Will he continue to deal with Li Jingye
But having said that, something is better than nothing, so Li Hong asked again without waiting for Chen Qinghan to speak: "Did you carry those letters with you, or did you hide them somewhere?"
Chen Qinghan lowered his head, not daring to face Li Hong, who looked a little solemn, and whispered: "The civilian daughter did not dare to take it with her, because it was related to her father's life, so she was placed in Uncle Yang's house by the civilian daughter, but... But now I’m afraid that someone is targeting me, so I don’t dare to go and get it.”
"Send Lawless and go to Yang Yue's house with Miss Chen. No matter what, we must get those letters!" Li Hong stood up, glanced at Bai Chun and said.
"Yes, Your Highness, I will make arrangements right away." Bai Chun said respectfully behind Li Hong.
"Take her with you. Also, prepare a decree to Li Yiyan, the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, and Di Renjie, the Minister of Dali Temple, to investigate whether Yang Zhirou and Yang Sijian, the ministers of the Ministry of Personnel, are... secretly colluding with Li Jingye! Hit Shu Sheng and Menxia Sheng Send someone to Yangzhou immediately. If the level of the person sent is too low, I will fire them both!" Li Hong's expression became more solemn. He had been too idle these days, just thinking about what was recorded in the history books. , completely forgetting that his arrival has changed the trajectory of history.
Then it is like the butterfly effect, everything will not happen again like the historical trajectory. Some things that have happened before may not happen again. Some things that have never happened will happen in the changing historical process.
Or, some things that have happened in the past will happen earlier or later in the process of historical changes, but no matter what, I am a little too confident.
Bai Chun didn't understand why Li Hong suddenly became so solemn, even with a hint of anxiety in his expression, but he also knew that this was not the time to ask the reason, not to mention that he shouldn't ask himself, so he waved to Chen Qinghan. I went to find Lawless and take someone to find the letter.
Yang Yue and Yang Lan'er, who were left behind, looked at His Royal Highness the Crown Prince who was kind just now with some fear, but in the blink of an eye they became cold.
Yang Lan'er unconsciously ran up to Yang Yue quietly, holding Yang Yue's hand tightly. With her small body, she involuntarily hid behind her to avoid looking at Li Hong.
After Bai Chun and Chen Qinghan left, Li Hong sat down again. After sorting out his thoughts, he looked at Yang Yue and asked: "You once served as the secretary of Lin'an County. As far as I know, Chen Jingzhi was an official." In the beginning, you started your official career at the lower level of the sixth rank. Lin'an is a lower county in Hangzhou. I'm afraid you haven't gotten into the rank yet, so how do you know me?"
"This... back to your highness." Yang Yue had never seen an official as big as the prince. When he replied just now, although he knew that Li Hong must be a high official, he did not expect that it would be the prince, so he always spoke directly. .
But after listening to Chen Qinghan's words just now, every time or at the beginning, he would mention the words "Hui Your Highness", and then he said in the same way: "Hui Your Highness, Xiaomin has been serving as the Secretary of Lin'an County since he was thirty years old. After Mr. Chen Jingzhi took office in Hangzhou, he went to Lin'an County once. Due to the problem of land being annexed by a wealthy family, he met the ordinary people when they were verifying their household registrations. Later, when he was impartially carrying out the rent adjustment issue of the Imperial Household Department, he met the ordinary people. ... then they became friends. Xiaomin's son and daughter-in-law were wrongly accused and imprisoned because of this incident, and later died in prison. It was Mr. Chen who helped Xiaomin redress the injustice of his son and daughter-in-law, so Xiaomin owes Mr. Chen Two lives..."
"Land annexation?" Li Hong guessed.
"Yes, Your Highness. According to the latest laws of the Tang Dynasty, wealthy families and nobles are not allowed to annex or buy out people's land, but..." Yang Yue is actually an ordinary commoner, a small businessman, not to mention Even the prince, even the lowest county captain from the ninth rank, would not treat them as officials of the Tang Dynasty.
Therefore, no one regarded officials who were at the lowest level of the Sigong, Sicang, Hu, Judiciary, Bing, and Shishi ranks as officials of the Tang Dynasty as officials of the Tang Dynasty.
"Then who wants to forcefully buy out your family's land?" Although Li Hong was talking to Yang Yue, his eyes were always on Yang Lan'er.
Then he waved to the old man and the young man, and after the three of them left the workshop, they walked around and talked casually in the elegant and unique Li Mansion.
"Yes... this is Yang Jikang, the son of Mr. Yang Zhirou, the Minister of Civil Affairs." Yang Yue lowered his head, wanting to look at everything in the mansion, but he did not dare to be too blatant, so he had to lower his head and look around with his eyes.
In such an elegant and quiet environment, Yang Yue and Yang Lan'er felt as if they had ascended to the fairyland. They were completely different from the world they were familiar with. They were two completely different worlds.
"Since you know that Yang Jikang is an important member of the imperial court and the son of Yang Zhirou, the Minister of Civil Affairs, why do you still dare to go against them and argue with them? Why are you unwilling to sell them the land even if you risk the lives of your own son and daughter-in-law? "Aren't you afraid of them?" Li Hong was curious, how could you, an unqualified clerk, have the confidence to fight against Yang Jikang
"This..." Yang Yue was a little unable to react. Although he was literate, he was not very knowledgeable and could not speak a few words of truth, let alone facing the Crown Prince.
So after thinking about it for a long time, he finally said: "The laws of the Tang Dynasty stipulate this. The common people are afraid of the government's investigation, so they dare not sell to them."
"..." It was the first time Li Hong heard such logic. Laws and regulations were greater than wealthy nobles. This was a rare logic in the Tang Dynasty and even in the world.
(End of chapter)