Chapter 83 There is someone in prison, I have to protect her

However, the tranquility was disturbed by the sound of military boots and armor rubbing against each other. Outside Yansheng Hall, the sound was getting closer and closer. Lu Tingwan, who was immersed in ancient books, suddenly looked up and listened to the sound. Before she had time to think, the imperial guards led by Han Jinzhang ignored the obstruction of the palace guards and broke down the gate of Yansheng Hall. Behind Han Jinzhang was a person she was very familiar with.

It’s Xie Zhao.

A strong wind swept through the courtyard, blowing the scraps of paper in disorder until they fell in front of Xie Zhao. He raised his head and took a look. It was the blueprint of the sunset bow drawn by Lu Tingwan. His heart felt like it was pierced by needles.

When he received the order to go to Cheng Mansion to arrest someone, he already knew that Lu Tingwan was doomed.

But this was not Xie Zhao's original intention, but he had to obey the emperor's will for the time being.

Lu Tingwan slowly stood up, the guess in her mind seemed to be correct.

Xie Zhao didn't dare to look at her directly. He looked straight ahead, his sight passing through the distance, and he could only catch a glimpse of her shadow in his peripheral vision.

She shifted her gaze from Xie Zhao to Han Jinzhang and said calmly, "Deputy Commander Han? Why are the Imperial Guards here in the Shangshu Mansion if they're not guarding the Imperial Palace?"

Han Jinzhang sheathed his sword and bowed, saying, "We are here to apprehend the Lu family, Second Madam. We apologize for the offense."

Although he was ordered to come and arrest someone, he was still Cheng Xianzhi's man after all. Cheng Xianzhi was the commander of the imperial guards, and Han Jinzhang was under his jurisdiction. They had a previous friendship, so he would not use violence and still maintained basic courtesy.

Lu Tingwan said calmly, "Arrest? I wonder what crime I have committed?"

"Lu Mingqian framed loyal officials for his own selfish reasons, sheltered rebels, and enriched himself. The evidence of his crimes is conclusive. The emperor has ordered that all members of the Lu family be imprisoned from now on. The emperor, in consideration of Minister Cheng's letter, has graciously allowed me to come to the Shangshu Mansion. As for the Lu family, and your sister who married into the Duke's Mansion, they are not so lucky." Although Han Jinzhang was polite, his face was cold and he had no expression when he spoke.

When Lu Tingwan heard this, a huge stone sank in his heart. The Lu family has been confiscated?

Without waiting for her to say anything else, Han Jinzhang raised his hand and lightly nodded. The six imperial guards behind him stepped out in unison and went forward to escort the person. Lu Tingwan took two steps back with her shoulders straight.

Xie Zhao in front of her shook his head at her, and Lu Tingwan slowly released her hand that was pressing on the armrest of her right arm.

She knew that she had no chance of escaping from this group of well-trained imperial guards. Even if she escaped from the Cheng Mansion, the whole city would probably hunt her down within a quarter of an hour. She would not be stupid enough to do that.

Just as they approached Lu Tingwan, Xie Zhao interrupted, "Wait!"

"Deputy Commander Han, let your subordinates come down!" Xie Zhao's voice was steady, without any ups and downs, but his eyes were very sharp.

Han Jinzhang nodded, and the men returned to the formation. Xie Zhao put handcuffs on her, not using heavy force.

He lowered his voice, and Lu Tingwan vaguely heard, "Lu Pushe's crimes have been exposed, and His Majesty has issued an order to seal off the Lu family. No one of the Lu family's bloodline will be spared, and their fate is still unknown."

"Don't be impulsive," he said as he finally put on the shackles. "I won't let you die in Kyoto. Believe me!"

After saying that, he turned to Han Jinzhang and bowed.

Han Jinzhang raised his hand, and Xie Zhao escorted Lu Tingwan out of Yansheng Hall. A half shadow appeared in the side hall. Lu Tingwan shook her head to signal the person at that position, asking her not to come out.

Feng Xin hid behind the door. In the gap, Lu Tingwan was shackled. With every step he took, the iron shackles made a sound. As the imperial guards set off, the sound of iron armor covered the sound of shackles and gradually dissipated in Yansheng Hall.

His father was the Left Prime Minister of the country. If there was no solid evidence, the emperor would not have issued such an order. The imperial guards who went to the Jiang and Lu families had already returned to the palace. No one in the Lu family was spared, even the pregnant Lu Tingwu had to be imprisoned. After hearing the news from the Ministry of Revenue, Jiang Yanli rushed to the Duke's Mansion without stopping, but it was still too late.

On the way, they met the imperial guards escorting Lu Tingwu and were surrounded like an iron barrel. Jiang Yanli rushed into the army on his horse regardless of everything. The imperial guards raised their swords and raised their horses' hooves high after a shrill neigh.

The leader of the Imperial Guards, He Li, said: "The Imperial Guards have been ordered to escort the criminals. Who dares to obstruct the Holy Order?"

Jiang Yanli was extremely anxious. Just as the horse's hooves were raised high, he saw Lu Tingwu in the team. She was sitting in the prison car, and her belly was obviously bulging with five months' pregnancy.

He ignored them and tried to stop them, saying, "I don't care what the reason is. She is my wife, Jiang Yanli. If you want to send her to prison, you have to walk over my body!"

Lu Tingwu listened to the heartfelt words, her eyes welled up, her heart ached, and big tears fell into the prison van.

When the imperial guards entered the Duke's Mansion with the imperial edict to arrest someone, Jiang Haiyi did not dare to say anything against it, not to mention that a doctor from the Ministry of Revenue could not stop this fruitless attack.

There was a sudden noise in the prison van. Lu Tingwu clutched the wooden railing tightly and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Yanli, Yanli..."

"Awu..." Jiang Yanli became even more anxious when he heard the call. He rolled off his horse and rushed towards the iron wall built by the imperial guards with all his strength. However, because of the onlookers, the imperial guards did not dare to cause trouble for fear of arousing public anger.

The imperial guards put away their swords but did not make way. Jiang Yanli could not advance at all and could only stare at the pitiful Lu Tingwu from a distance.

At this moment, his heart felt like it was being crushed by a heavy weight, shattering into bloody mud.

"Yanli..." Every word Lu Tingwu called out made his heart ache.

The people around them couldn't bear it and accused the imperial guards of being cold-blooded and ruthless. As for what happened to the Lu family, from the moment the imperial guards broke into the Lu mansion and confiscated their property, the whole city was in an uproar and they scattered very quickly. Although some people hated what the Lu family did, they couldn't help but feel sympathy when they saw a pregnant woman being openly escorted from the street to the palace by the imperial guards.

Unable to withstand the public outrage, the imperial guards led by their leader addressed Jiang Yanli, "Second Young Master Jiang, Lu Tingwu is a high-ranking official in the imperial court. He is under the command of the Emperor, and I cannot release him. If you have anything to say, please speak here. We have official business to attend to, and will not stay long!"

Jiang Yanli also knew that the emperor was furious about this matter. He issued an imperial decree to confiscate the Lu family's property before the Dali Temple had even reviewed it. It was conceivable that there was no room for maneuver in the case.

But, that's his person...

She was pregnant with their child, and the night before, they had chosen a name for the unborn child together under candlelight...

"Don't be afraid, Ah Wu. I will go back and ask my father and the Queen Mother for help..." His face was filled with tears and his expression was so hideous that there was not a trace of blood on it. At this moment, he felt powerless and could only turn this overwhelming helplessness into words of comfort to himself and Lu Tingwu.

"Awu, don't be afraid..."

Lu Tingwu stroked her belly with her right hand, fearing that the noise outside would disturb the fetus. The sudden arrest had already made her at a loss. At this time, she didn't know what the situation was like at the Lu family, and whether A Wan was also thrown into jail like her.

Will Ah Wan also be this scared...

The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt. She looked at the dejected Jiang Yanli, whose hair was crooked and clothes were disheveled. There was pity in her beautiful eyes, but the moment she saw him riding towards her, she was not so afraid anymore.

"Yanli, Awu is not afraid," she said with a forced smile, "Yanli, go back home..."

The imperial guards did not linger any longer. At the command of the leader, two soldiers drew their swords and led the way. The people gave way, and the army continued to move towards the palace gate.

Jiang Yanli was completely exhausted. He could only hold onto the horse's back and slowly collapse on the street, muttering, "Awu, I will definitely find a way to save you..."

In the end, the Duke's Mansion sent someone to take him back.

After the Lu family was imprisoned, the Dali Temple reviewed the documents according to the regulations and entered them into the files. There was no need for a joint trial by the three courts. The Lu family had already been searched and confiscated, and this trip was just to leave a record of the case in the files.

Two families fell in succession in Kyoto, and the news of the Lu family's confiscation spread to Tanzhou. In order to facilitate discussions with the county governments on flood control measures, Cheng Xianzhi checked into the prefectural government office upon arriving in Tanzhou. Now, after more than a month of disaster relief, the flood in Tanzhou has been resolved, but there are still some miscellaneous matters to be completed. He had planned to return to Beijing in three days.

Han Zhou received the news from Kyoto, and Cheng Xianzhi was checking the reports submitted by various counties in his bedroom. Although the flood disaster was over, good measures to help the people after the disaster were still necessary.

He knitted his brows together, a slight headache forming. Han Zhou bowed to the seated figure. Cheng Xianzhi was used to reading documents while listening to Han Zhou's report; this saved time and allowed him to handle official business more efficiently.

"Sir, a letter came from Kyoto saying that the emperor has thrown Lu Mingqian into prison and will execute him in three days!" Han Zhou said, picking out the key points.

The long fingers that were flipping through the documents paused slightly before continuing to the next page.

Han Zhou didn't mention anyone else, and he didn't ask any more questions. Han Zhou continued, "Seven days ago, the Imperial Guards sealed off the Lu Mansion, and..."

He couldn't help but glance at her again when he said this. At this moment, Cheng Xianzhi finally raised his eyes, put down the important things in his hands, and asked calmly, "Anything else?"

"Lu Tingwu from the Duke's Mansion and the second wife of our family will all be imprisoned and will be executed at the punishment ground in the north of Kyoto City in three days." Han Zhou's words were cold, but there was no joy or other emotions on his face.

Both of them seemed to know that this day would come, so each one was calmer than the other.

But the palm on the table unconsciously clenched into a fist, and Han Zhou was in full view.

In a moment, Cheng Xianzhi loosened his fist and smoothed out the slightly wrinkled document.

"Back then, Lu Mingqian covered up Liu Qiyuan's misrepresentation of military pay and supplies in the northwest to amass wealth, and secretly aided Prince Ning in his rebellion. Imperial power was lost, the throne was unstable, and various factions were eyeing him covetously. The emperor failed to order a thorough investigation, and how many of Prince Ning's accomplices were released?"

"But the fact that the Ministry of Revenue was in deficit could not be concealed, so they had to tamper with the account books of the Ministry of Revenue to frame your father, Minister Han, for the deficit. The Northwest and Shanhaiguan frequently asked the court for military supplies. Under pressure, the emperor had no choice but to order the Ministry of Revenue to allocate funds as needed. But the deficit was so big that Minister Han could not make up for it from tax revenue." Cheng Xianzhi recalled the turmoil caused by the old case a few years ago, and he still felt regretful.

"If it weren't for Kong Fan revealing his hand in the property tax, I wouldn't be able to confirm that my father's case was exactly the same. It's just that my father wouldn't exploit the people and collude with merchants like Kong Fan did. So when Lu Mingqian pushed my father to take the blame, he had no way to defend himself..." Han Zhou's eyes were filled with the hatred and unwillingness he had felt back then, "Lu Mingqian deserved to die!"

"Has the Jiang family made any moves?" Cheng Xianzhi remained calm and composed.

"In this matter, His Majesty ordered the imperial guards to directly search the Lu Mansion without any trial. The Jiang family made the greatest contribution. In Hanzhang Palace, the Minister of the Central Secretariat and other officials put pressure on Lu Mingqian and ordered the execution. There is sufficient evidence of his guilt. The Empress Dowager did not say a word during the hearing. The Lu family has no way to retreat and the execution is imminent." At this point, Han Zhou seemed to feel a sense of pleasure in clearing up the shame.

"Lu Mingqian deserved death," Cheng Xianzhi's starry eyes revealed a hint of unease, but he didn't mention it. Instead, he turned his attention to something else. "The Queen Mother abandoned the car to save the king, secretly helping Your Majesty investigate the Lu family. This is a sign of restraint. After the Liu Qiyuan incident, the Jiang family must be restless. They want to prevent Your Majesty from discovering the Lu family's actions through Liu Qiyuan's confession and then implicating the Jiang family. Even if the Emperor doesn't punish the Lu family, Queen Mother Jiang will punish Lu Mingqian. Fearing something unexpected will happen, the sooner Lu Mingqian is executed, the better. Why would Queen Mother Jiang stop him?"

Fearing that something unexpected might happen, both the emperor and the empress dowager's followers wanted Lu Mingqian dead.

Then Lu Mingqian would definitely not survive.

"Execute Lu Mingqian, execute all the Lu family members..." His eyes darkened, his thoughts heavy. Lu Tingwan couldn't escape either...

Han Zhou could see that he had some distracting thoughts in his mind, but he didn't mention them.

"Han Zhou," after a long moment, Cheng Xian made up his mind, a hint of apology in his eyes, "Lu Mingqian must die, but there's one person among them, and I have to protect her!"

Han Zhou had nothing to say. He knew who Cheng Xianzhi was talking about. Besides, that person had not done any harm to his Han family. He had no objection to this matter.

"It's your decision, sir," Han Zhou said. "If you hadn't come to my rescue back then, there wouldn't be Han Zhou today."