Chapter 105: Plum Blossoms 15 I am also your husband

Song Yanze didn't recognize the woman, but as soon as she opened her mouth, she spoke with a Suzhou accent. The woman stumbled towards him and immediately knelt down and grabbed his official robe.

Song Yanze helplessly supported her arm, trying to get her up, but the woman refused to get up.

"Master Xiao Song! I am from Huaizhou! You were our Lord! I recognize you, please help me!"

When the drum for hearing reports sounds, the person who beats the drum must first be beaten with a stick in the court. This is to screen out those who have truly suffered great grievances and are willing to appeal even if they have to be beaten or punished.

"You know how to beat the drum..."

"I know! I will be punished by the imperial caning, but I cannot watch my family being beheaded."

Song Yanze temporarily dismissed the officers and soldiers who were about to take her away, and let her go into the yamen first, spreading out papers and letting her state her grievances in detail.

Such a noise would be heard by half of Kyoto if it was related to the disaster in Jiangnan Province as he thought.

We have to do it quickly and not let her be taken away by anyone else.

She was a peasant woman, not very literate, but she spoke with reason and logic, and was a tenacious and wise woman.

She knelt in front of the hall, trying hard to hold back her tears, and started talking about the Dragon Boat Festival.

The dam broke after the Dragon Boat Festival flood, which caught everyone off guard. It happened in the middle of the night and no one was prepared. Not only farmland but also villages and towns were affected and flooded.

It was the spring ploughing season, and only a small amount of the grain from last year's autumn harvest was left overnight. Those who had managed to survive had no food to eat.

In her village, the village chief, who was also the patriarch of their family, immediately went door to door to count the situation, gathered everyone together, and gathered the rice and grain, but there was only enough for each person to eat for one day.

In the last few days, only pregnant women and children could be fed. The court sent an imperial envoy, and the county magistrates also came, but they only distributed less than five days' worth of food.

At this time, some people came with grain and rice, claiming to be from the government, saying they wanted to take over the land in exchange for grain.

Normally, one mu of land could be sold for 60 to 50 dan of grain, but they only asked for 10 dan. Who would be willing to sell? This way, you can only live this year and not the next. If you don’t starve to death this year, you will starve to death next year.

So the young and middle-aged people in the village joined together to raise funds and went to the neighboring counties that were not affected by the disaster to collect grain.

Unexpectedly, as soon as the group returned to Huaizhou, they were arrested on the spot, accused of reselling grain and disrupting grain prices. The woman's father, brother, and husband were all imprisoned.

The imperial envoy brought the imperial edict, claiming that he wanted to intimidate the local gentry, and bring them out to be executed on a chosen day to serve as a warning to others.

Song Yanze concentrated and wrote them down one by one, and inquired about the vague ones in detail. At this time, there was indeed a commotion outside the yamen.

A colleague came over quickly and reported to Song Yanze: "The Jingzhao Yinfu has sent someone to arrest him."

Song Yanze didn't even raise his head, knowing in his heart that they were here to arrest someone.

He still calmly wrote down on the paper, helped her write a complaint, and looked at her.

"Go on, don't worry about it."

Although she was a country woman, she was not ignorant and realized something. She immediately calmed down and continued speaking.

He knelt in front of the hall, pulled open a corner of his robe, tore open the lining of the robe, and took out a piece of paper that was well preserved.

"These are the documents and certificates signed by each household for raising money to buy grain. Sir Xiao Song, I believe you can give us justice."

He was displaced all the way and hid in a caravan to come to Beijing to appeal for justice. He was so cautious. I think it was because the provincial, prefectural and state officials from top to bottom had no other choice and no one could be trusted.

Song Yanze knew what this piece of thin paper meant. Without it, the fifteen villagers would be criminals. Only with this piece of paper could they prove that they had reached the end of their rope and had no other choice but to buy food to save the people.

Song Yanze couldn't imagine what kind of dangers they had gone through before handing this piece of paper to him.

"Jingzhao Yin is investigating the case!"

"Master Xiao Song, this is probably against the rules, isn't it? Beat the drum to report the case, and ask the Jingzhao Yin to first arrest the person and beat him in court, and then interrogate him in court to see whether to transfer him to the Censorate."

"Master Xiao Song is a new official and doesn't know the rules. We won't argue with him, but..."

A group of soldiers broke into the yamen. The leader was Jingzhao Yin, a disciple of Li Heng. After the last incident, Li Heng's party hated him so much that they would not be polite.

Before they arrived, Song Yanze had collected all the complaints and paper evidence, leaving only an unfinished petition on the table, with only a beginning.

Jingzhao Yin glanced at him and his expression relaxed a little.

"We want to take the people away."

Song Yanze slammed his pen on the table, ink splashing everywhere, and stared at Jingzhao Yin.

"Your Excellency brought people to break into the Censorate, what do you think this place is?"

Song Yanze has always been calm and self-restrained. He has always laughed off the overt and covert exclusion by Li Heng's party. This is the first time he got angry and showed off his official power.

He was not in the right to argue with him about whether to take the thing or not, so Song Yanze simply grabbed someone and beat him up.

"Your Excellency brought officers and soldiers with you, all of whom were wearing swords. What do you want to do?"

Song Yanze suddenly stood up, strode forward, flicked the sleeves of his crimson official robe, stood in front of the hall, blocking the woman to prevent the soldiers from getting close to her and grabbing her.

Of course Jingzhao Yin refused to retreat. He stared at him and the situation was deadlocked for a moment.

After a long while, he turned around with a livid face and shouted, "Take off the knife!"

Suddenly, the sound of metal colliding and falling to the ground was heard in the yard.

"how?"

Song Yanze stood in front of her the whole time, with a stern look on his face and refusing to retreat. The situation was still unclear, and if she was taken away at this time, her life might be in danger.

"Master Xiao Song!"

Song Yanze was stunned. The peasant woman wiped her tears and stood up tremblingly. She swallowed two or three times before she spoke.

"Master Xiao Song, I will not embarrass you."

Song Yanze looked into her eyes and she shook her head, her eyes full of fear, but still firm.

"I believe in Master Xiao Song, just like my family believes that I can do it."

"you……"

Song Yanze's heart clenched, and before he could say anything more, an old voice suddenly came from outside the hall.

"Has our Censorate been robbed? Did the Jingzhao Yin personally lead people to break in?"

The person who came down from the hall was his immediate superior, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Second Rank, Yu Zhu. It was also he who made the earth-shattering move to promote Prince Xuan to the position of Minister of Revenue.

The old man is over seventy years old, and he moves and sits shakily. No one would bother him unless it is a matter that the last few people cannot handle.

Yu Zhu's hair and beard are all white. He is an old minister in the court and has considerable weight in the eyes of the emperor. Even if Li Heng is here today, he has to give him face.

The Jingzhao Yin was now unsure whether Song Yanze acted on his own initiative or with Yu Zhu's instructions.

Yu Zhu walked up to Song Yanze, and behind him were two assistant ministers from the Ministry of Works.

"You dare to act wildly in the Censorate. It seems that you have forgotten the nickname of Mr. Xiao Song."

They sang in unison, and it seemed that Jingzhao Yin was at a disadvantage, but the laws were there, and Yu Zhu held Song Yanze back.

"Since you have brought the person here, then let's beat him in the court and take him away."

The peasant woman bowed and calmly stood in the hall, ready to be punished. The imperial caning also had its own rules, with ten strokes. Some people became paralyzed on one side of their body, some recovered after a month or two of recuperation, and some died on the spot.

With so many people watching them, they can't do anything they want.

But because it was Huaizhou's business, she would have to suffer a lot. Song Yanze clenched his hands tightly, anxiously thinking of a way to save her from this.

"Is the Censorate so busy today?"

She had already been placed on the execution bench when a familiar deep voice came from outside the yamen.

Jiang Tingyuan led a few people, one hand on the goose feather on his waist, and walked in directly. He seemed not to notice the awkward stalemate inside, and glanced at Jingzhao Yin with a half-smile.

He bowed slightly and asked the imperial messenger behind him to forcibly take the peasant woman down. Since he was present, no one dared to stop them.

Only the anxious Jingzhao Yin suppressed his anger and asked: "What does Commander Jiang mean by this?"

I don't know what this peasant woman reported. If it was about food, it would be easy to deal with. But I'm afraid it was a big bad conspiracy. It's not easy to kill her, but I have to hold her in my hands.

"Arrest the suspect." Jiang Tingyuan raised his eyebrows and said only these four words to him, then turned around and said a few more words to Yu Zhu and Song Yanze.

"I have taken him to the imperial prison."

Song Yanze knew that this was a way to get out of trouble. Yu Zhu nodded, and Song Yanze understood that they had discussed every detail.

This way, he wouldn't arouse suspicion and it would also muddy the waters so that Li Heng wouldn't point all his spearheads at Song Yanze.

Jingzhao Yin was unable to persuade Jiang Tingyuan, nor could he be more ruthless than him, so he had no choice but to turn around and leave with his men.

Song Yanze breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Yu Zhu. Yu Zhu just nodded and left a word.

"Do what you should do and what you can do, and don't worry about the rest."

Song Yanze was not worried about himself. After today's incident, it was inevitable that Li Hengdang would target him.

He was more worried about Jiang Tingyuan, whose authority came from the emperor and who was directly responsible to him. He was absolutely neutral and should not lean towards any side.

His action now can be described as acting on his own initiative.

Song Yanze got off work and waited anxiously at home. Jiang Tingyuan had not returned yet and the situation in Jiangnan Province was not optimistic. All these things made him unable to calm down.

Song Yanze couldn't eat dinner, so he told Lianxin to leave in a low voice. He sat with his back to the door and stood up to leave, but was pushed back from behind.

Song Yanze was startled and looked at him. Jiang Tingyuan had just finished his shift and did not look like he had just returned from the palace.

He stood aside with his head down, setting the table and placing the dishes. I forced the chopsticks into his hand, but his face still had his usual calm expression, and nothing could be seen.

Song Yanze always felt familiar with him, a feeling that often made him overlook the fact that they had only known each other for a few months.

"No matter how big the event is, we still need to eat."

There were only the two of them in the room. Song Yanze looked at him and couldn't help but grab his hand.

"Today it's you and King Xuan who are helping..."

"yes."

Jiang Tingyuan rarely interrupted him. This time, he didn't let him finish. Instead, he held his hand, making it clear that he didn't want him to be too involved in party affairs.

Jiang Tingyuan looked at his bitter face, then suddenly smiled, reached out and pinched his nose, and didn't stop until he had annoyed him.

Song Yanze was restrained by him and held in his arms. Jiang Tingyuan buried his head in his neck, rubbing against him like a cat, lowering his head to peck and kiss him gently, and ruffling the collar of his crimson official robe.

"Don't worry about me, just do your thing."

"Ten Jiang Tingyuans can't do what you can do."

Song Yanze's heart trembled, and he grabbed his sleeve tightly, hesitating and not knowing what to say.

He wanted to go to Jiangnan Province to seek justice for the people there who had no way to make a living. But this was no different from wading into the muddy waters of the Ministry of Revenue, and this time he was actually seeking death.

There are mixed forces in the local area, and even the emperor may not stand on his side this time.

But the petition, which was sewn into his sleeve and which he had traveled thousands of miles to preserve at the cost of his life, was handed to him.

Then there are his family, his friends, his roots...

But he is different now. He no longer comes and goes naked without any worries.

Song Yanze put down the chopsticks that were forced into his hand, turned around and hugged Jiang Tingyuan's waist tightly, buried his head in his chest, breathing rapidly, and no complete sound came out of his throat, only a few sob-like sounds.

Jiang Tingyuan lowered his head and rested his chin on his head, hugged him, and patted his back slowly.

"The emperor has issued an edict, asking me to secretly investigate the Sanjiang dam, but it is currently in the Ministry of Works. The peasant woman I took away today is from Huaizhou, and more than half of the people in her village participated in its construction."

"Taking her away will help you save her, and it will also help me."

Song Yanze slowly recovered and looked up at him: "It's far-fetched. If I can really help you find clues, the emperor can still justify it. If not, you can just wait to be suspected."

Jiang Tingyuan smiled, lowered his eyelashes and looked at him, his black eyes softened. Song Yanze's heart moved and he subconsciously moved closer to him.

Jiang Tingyuan seemed not to notice and whispered to him, "Master Xiao Song is right. It seems that it won't be long before I will be dismissed from my post and investigated. At best, I will become a civilian and be driven out."

"If it's worse, the house will be confiscated and the head will be beheaded."

Song Yanze frowned and thought about his joke seriously, then suddenly laughed and his brows relaxed.

“It’s not bad.”

"If you become a commoner, and if I still have a reputation, I will support you. If I am the same as you, I will take you home and open a private school. I will teach, and you...you will work at the docks to earn a living."

"If you behead me and confiscate my property..."

"Then I'll go with you. Am I not also your family member?"

He spoke the second half of the sentence more and more quietly under Jiang Tingyuan's scorching gaze, but his eyes did not evade at all. He was calm and indifferent, with a certainty that it had to be so.

"Family." Jiang Tingyuan said softly, asking for more sweetness. "What family? Brothers?"

Song Yanze didn't understand why he specifically mentioned this name, but he wanted to satisfy all his desires.

"Husband."

"It's my husband."

Jiang Tingyuan bit his lips fiercely. He also wanted to be gentler. The atmosphere was just right, suitable for holding hands and expressing love softly, or doing something more in line with what Song Yanze liked, chatting by candlelight at night and reciting some sad poems.

But he was still the greedy dog hiding behind the screen and masturbating by biting his clothes. It was terrible. The person who had always been able to watch from afar came towards him, squatted down and said very nice words to him.

I made a promise that I couldn’t even hear in my dreams.

He couldn't control himself from licking it so quickly, it was too difficult.

But Song Yanze indulged himself and put those words into practice silently.

Don't just indulge in pleasure for a moment, but understand him and know everything about him, the good and the bad...

Then they accept it all and indulge themselves in it.

Song Yanze was really out of breath, his whole body was trembling and sweating, and his eyelashes became heavy. He asked him vaguely: "First... first... rest first."

Jiang Tingyuan's eyes were red and he looked greedy. Such an expression on his cold and handsome face made Song Yanze feel funny, but he couldn't help but feel his heart beating like a drum.

He retreated, and before he could catch his breath, Jiang Tingyuan whispered an apology and suddenly chased after him.

The lips and teeth touch each other, the touch of friction, the heat of breath, the wandering of the tip of the tongue, the senses are infinitely called to the extreme and are forcibly occupied.

They suddenly separated. Song Yanze grabbed his shoulders to catch his breath, looking at him in a daze, his red lips bitten, rubbed, and sucked.

"I haven't eaten yet. I have to eat something first."

Jiang Tingyuan didn't let go, just held him tightly and kept feeding him food. If he really didn't want to eat, he would put the food in his own mouth.

Song Yanze drank half a bowl of porridge before he reacted and whispered, "Not decent."

Jiang Tingyuan heard it clearly, lowered his head to watch him eat, and urged in his ear: "Hurry up."

"Wha…what?"

"What else could it be? Spring nights are too short. Isn't that what you scholars say?"

Song Yanze suddenly felt that it was not right to eat or not eat, so he kicked him.

Jiang Tingyuan let him kick him, and his hand had already touched the buttons of his official robe. Song Yanze kicked him again, but it was just a joke.

Song Yanze sat beside the bed. Jiang Tingyuan took out his wooden hairpin, and his black hair fell down. The candlelight was soft and bright inside the gauze curtain, and his jade-like face was shining and blushed.

Her white undershirt was loose, and she looked at him uncomfortably, but she said softly to him, "I'll try harder today."

The foolish dream of his youth has become a reality, and no one can understand his feelings at this moment.

With her black hair loosely tied up, Song Yanze was like a beautiful white fish stranded on the bedding, and the suppressed breathing sound was hidden in the small space separated by the gauze curtain. His hair stuck to the side of his face, and he turned his face and looked at him with wet and red eyes.

"No, no."

Jiang Tingyuan's fingers were stained with water, leaving wet marks on the dry bedding. He leaned over to comb his hair and kissed his eyelashes lovingly.

"Not trying hard again?"

Song Yanze thought of something and whispered, "You can try harder."

Jiang Tingyuan pulled the quilt tight, threw the small box of melted ointment aside, smiled, and whispered some obscene words to him.

Seeing him shrink into the quilt, he lifted the corner of the quilt and asked him with a smile.

"Because you want to go to Jiangnan, so you work so hard tonight? Are you afraid that I won't agree?"

Song Yanze shook his head.

"You won't stop me from going. You said that you can do ten things that I can do, but you can't do them."

"You'll let me go."

Song Yanze lay beside him, and his smile was more touching than all the beautiful looks he had seen in his dreams.

"I am willing to do this, and I understand your desire."

"I am also your husband. I understand everything and am willing to accept it all."