Zi'an asked about the deal Yuan had made with the old lady, and Yuan told him everything in great detail.
Zi'an said worriedly, "It would be great if we could get Guiyuan's indenture back, but how can we get Ximen Xiaoqing to reduce his sentence? We can't ask the prince for help."
Yuan smiled slightly, "You should read more about the laws of the Great Zhou. There is a clause in the law that anyone who injures others can be exempted from punishment or have his sentence reduced if he is proven to be insane."
Zi'an exclaimed, he didn't expect that there was such a clause in the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Zi'an smiled and said, "Mother, you have read a lot of books, and now they can be put to good use."
"You can go there tomorrow and tell Liang about this. Liang will know how to find someone to prove Ximen Xiaoqing's madness." Yuan said.
"Okay, I'll go there tomorrow." Zi'an said.
No words were spoken that night.
Zi'an went out early in the morning carrying his medicine box.
She first went to Liang's parents' home and told Liang about her plan. Liang was very grateful. After bowing to Zi'an to thank him, she piled a lot of precious medicinal herbs and gifts on Zi'an's carriage.
Zi'an couldn't refuse, and he really wanted those precious medicinal herbs. Plus, those gifts looked like gold, silver, and jewelry, so he had to accept them "reluctantly". "Second Madam is too polite. I won't do that again in the future. Please give me more next time. I need them."
Liang sighed and said, "You can take it. I don't know how much I move to the Duke's Mansion every year. I am the only daughter in my family, and my parents have given me some subsidies."
On the way to the Liang Palace, Zi'an asked Xiaosun, "Is the Liang family rich?"
"Of course, the Liang family's ancestors were founding heroes. During the reign of Emperor Taizu, the Liang family's ancestors were granted the title of Duke and a fiefdom of 100 miles. Later, the Duke stopped being an official and started a business. He also cooperated with the Hu family to open a restaurant and a gold mine. It's a pity that the Liang family made a lot of money, but had few descendants. It's not that the old lady is infertile. The Liang family had several sons, but they all died of illness. Now, another one is about to die."
"What's going on? Are you sick?" Zi'an asked.
"I don't know, but many doctors were consulted but to no avail. A few days ago, I heard that she was dying. It's a blessing that she has managed to hold on until now. It's really pitiful. The wife of the Duke of Liang gave birth to this son after she was forty-five years old. He just turned fifteen this year."
"Don't you know what disease it is?" Zi'an asked.
"I don't know. I heard it's a heart disease, brought from the womb. The previous few were like this, but I'm not sure. These are all rumors from outsiders."
Congenital heart disease? If it is serious, the child will not live more than a few years. If he can survive until the teens, it is indeed good. However, if he can survive until the age of fifteen, perhaps the type is not serious.
But no matter what, there are no conditions for surgery here, so Zi'an thought about it and just felt sorry for Mr. Liang, but had no intention of treating him.
When they arrived at Prince Liang's mansion, Prince Liang had just gotten up. After ordering someone to ask Zi'an to sit down, he ate his breakfast leisurely.
"Would you like to eat?" King Liang had eaten half of it before he remembered to ask Zi'an.
Zian shook his head, "I've eaten."
I ate two steamed buns on the way here, just because I wanted to give him treatment as soon as possible. But the old man just got up to eat breakfast now.
King Liang pushed aside his breakfast and looked at Zi'an with a smile on his face, "Today I have a gift for you."
"Gift?" Zi'an's heart moved, but he concealed the surprise in his eyes. It seemed that she was going to get rich today.
King Liang said, "That's right. Strictly speaking, it wasn't given to you by me. It was given to you by my uncle. He brought it to you early this morning. He left the capital for a few days and has already left."
"He's leaving Beijing? I've never heard him say that before." Zi'an said in surprise.
"Do I have to tell you everything?" King Liang clapped his hands, "Come on, bring the gifts up."
Two people came in from the door, one was a servant who had been following King Liang before, and the other was wearing coarse cloth clothes and had a large curved knife on his waist. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, and was of a stocky build. He was wearing a pair of coarse cloth shoes on his feet that were so tattered that his two toes were exposed.
Zi'an looked around and didn't see any gifts in the two people's hands.
"Boss Dao, show your skills to the young lady!"
The boy immediately drew a scimitar from his waist and said, "That's it!"
As the thick local accent fell, he was seen squatting slightly, holding the scimitar and slashing forward. With a "bang", the table in front of King Liang was suddenly split in half, and the breakfast on the table was scattered all over the floor.
King Liang was furious, "I didn't ask you to chop the table!"
Dao Lao Da ignored him, squatted down to pick up the breakfast on the ground, wrapped it with his tattered clothes, grinned and showed his two big teeth, "It's dirty, can't be eaten, sprinkle it all over me?"
"Take it, take it!" King Liang waved his hand, looking impatient.
Zi'an's eyes widened, "You want to give me a gift, is to let him play a trick on me?"
"No," Liang Wang called Dao Lao Da over unhappily, "I'll give you the buns. Come here and meet your new master. Call me Miss."
"What? New master?" Boss Dao glared at Zi'an, carefully placed the breakfast wrapped in his arms on the coffee table, then walked in front of Zi'an, knelt down, and kowtowed several times, "Boss greets the young lady."
Zi'an frowned, "What's going on?"
Boss Dao's eyes widened even more, "The eldest lady is also from Shu?"
Zian waved his hands, "No, I'm not, you..."
She looked up at King Liang and asked helplessly, "Okay, what does it mean that the prince gave him to me?"
"This man protects his master. He will fight to the death with anyone who dares to touch the people who feed him. The uncle said that it would be best for this man to stay in Xiazhi Garden. As for Guiyuan, he will take Guiyuan away and recruit her into the palace after he comes back. These are his original instructions."
Zi'an glanced at Dao Lao Da, "Will you stay with me?"
Boss Dao asked cautiously, "Is there any food to eat?"
"Yes, there's also meat!" Zi'an said.
Dao Lao Da let out a cry, his eyes widened and his mouth opened wide. Zi'an clearly saw saliva flowing from the corners of his mouth, "Yes, yes, yes."
King Liang said with a smile: "Okay, let's show you what else you are capable of. If you are capable, you can eat meat every day!"
Boss Dao suddenly jumped up and rushed out. After a while, he heard a loud "boom" from outside. Something on the roof slowly fell down, first dust, then glazed tiles, and then, it felt like the house was... shaking.
King Liang cried out inwardly that something was wrong and ran out hurriedly. When he saw the scene in the yard, his legs suddenly went weak and his heart was bleeding.
"Who told you to cut down my thousand-year-old banyan tree?" King Liang was furious.
"It's the prince who said so. We should show our abilities." Boss Dao looked righteous.
Zi'an walked out and saw that the big banyan tree in the yard had been chopped down. The trunk fell down and pressed on the roof. The house and the tree were ruined.
"This is an unintentional mistake. Your Highness, please don't hold it against him." Zi'an began to defend his son.
Liang Wang said angrily to Zi'an: "I didn't cut down your tree, so of course you don't care."
When Dao Lao Da saw King Liang cursing at Zi An, he jumped up without thinking, holding the knife in his hand and slashed at King Liang, shouting, "Don't bully my eldest daughter."
(End of this chapter)