Chapter 528: Rescue
"Stop." Tangli said.
The carriage stopped.
Tang Li got off the carriage and walked to the river, where he saw a piece of blood written on the ground.
She looked into the river. The person who had just jumped into the river was already submerged by the water and disappeared without a trace.
She couldn't just watch a life being lost.
"Fourteen." Tangli shouted into the air.
A figure walked out of a small alley. He was wearing ordinary clothes and had his head lowered. He was a very ordinary person, the kind that no one would notice if he blended into the crowd.
When he walked in front of Tang Li and raised his head, he found that he was very handsome, with a pair of black eyes, firm and calm.
It was exactly fourteen.
"Save people." Tang Li said.
Fourteen jumped into the river and sank into it.
Tangli was waiting by the side, feeling a little nervous.
I hope Fourteen is okay and can rescue the person successfully.
After a while, Fourteen emerged from the river with a person in his hand.
Tangli breathed a sigh of relief.
Fourteen brought the man to the shore, walked up the steps, and placed him on the river bank.
Both of them were soaked, and the man's eyes were closed, his life or death uncertain.
Tang Li reached out his hand and placed it under his nose, still breathing faintly.
Fourteen's hand pressed on his belly, pressing it.
The man spat out a mouthful of water and then slowly woke up.
Is he dead?
He opened his eyes and gradually saw the person in front of him clearly. It was a very beautiful woman. Turning around, he found that the streets around him were very familiar.
Isn’t this the place where you just jumped into the river?
He is not dead?
He struggled to sit up, and Fourteen pushed him, and he sat up.
"Ma'am, I'm sorry. Thank you for your help." He said politely.
Xu Lubai's face was dull and he sighed, "But, Madam, why did you save me?"
"Where are you from?" Tang Li asked.
"Xu Lubai from Qingzhou." said the young man.
"Xu Lubai, if you die like this, will you be worthy of your parents, wife and children?" Tang Li looked at him and asked bluntly.
Xu Lubai's face paled even further. "I feel so sorry for my parents, wife, and children. My father died young, and my mother and wife have been running the household. My mother is old, with a hunched back, but she goes to town every day to do laundry. My wife works in the fields, and her hands are calloused from the hard work. She's young, but she looks old. They do this so that I can study hard, pass the imperial examinations, and bring honor to our family. When I leave, my wife, children, and mother are leaning against a tree at the village entrance, watching me. I turn around and see the earnest hope in their eyes."
Xu Lubai was agitated. "I studied hard so that my family could live a good life. But now, I've been accused of cheating and am no longer eligible to take the imperial examination. My previous status as a juren has also been revoked. My future is ruined. Ten years of hard work have been wasted. How can I face my mother, wife, and children back home?"
Being disqualified from the imperial examination would have been one thing, but being unable to take the imperial examination forever dashed his hopes.
What else can he do if he lives?
Xu Lubai's face was full of despair. He covered his face and sobbed softly.
"If you die, your mother will lose her son, your wife will lose her husband, and your children will lose their father. They will feel even worse," said Tang Li.
"Yeah, it's all my fault. I'm useless." Xu Lubai muttered in a low voice.
They would certainly be sad if he died.
He couldn't just die.
But what should he do?
"Are you being wronged?"
Tangli held the blood letter on the ground in his hand.
Every word is heartbreaking.
What was written was that he did not cheat in the exam and was willing to prove his innocence with his own body.
"Yes, I was wronged! A note was stuffed into the pen I carried with me, but it wasn't mine. Someone put it there on purpose to frame me!" Xu Lubai said excitedly, then drooped. "But no one believed me. They all thought I plagiarized and directly disqualified me from the imperial examination! No one believed me!"
"You can go to the Dali Temple to report the case." Tang Li said.
"Report the case to the Dali Temple? I don't have any evidence. Will the Dali Temple be tried?" Xu Lubai said.
He is a student from another place and was directly accused of cheating. The officials in charge of the imperial examination did not believe him. Will the Dali Temple handle his case?
He was found guilty of plagiarism by the officials conducting the imperial examination. If the Dali Temple intervened, it would be interfering in the imperial examination. Would the Dali Temple do such a thankless task?
"Cheating in the imperial examination is a serious matter and will definitely be tried in the Dali Temple. The Dali Temple Minister is fair and strict and is a very good person." Tang Li said.
If Xu Lubai was wrongly accused, her brother would definitely clear his name.
If not, then nothing will be hidden under investigation and he will get the punishment he deserves.
Xu Lubai suddenly felt some hope. What if the Dali Temple could really clear his name?
Even if you miss this imperial examination, as long as you are still qualified to take the exam, there is hope!
"And I have evidence that someone stuffed notes into my children's bodies with the intention of slandering them for cheating." Tang Li said.
"Then your child..." Xu Lubai looked worried.
This lady is so young, I didn’t expect her child has already taken the imperial examination.
Is her child okay?
"The note was found before entering the examination room. It was a close call." Tang Li said.
Xu Lubai breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't want others to suffer the same fate as him.
"Go back and change your clothes. I'll wait for you at the entrance of Dali Temple."
Tangli also asked Fourteen to change his clothes.
Tangli got on the carriage and headed towards the Dali Temple.
On the way there, she was lost in thought.
She observed Xu Lubai and felt that what he said was true and that he must have been wronged.
Could the person who wronged him be the same person who wronged Xu Jue and Zi'ang?
I hope his brother can find the perpetrator based on these clues!
Tangli arrived at the gate of Dali Temple.
After waiting for a while, Xu Lubai came running over wearing a washed-out robe, sweating all over.
"Madam, you have been waiting for a long time." He bowed to Tangli.
He turned to look at the Dali Temple, and saw that it was very majestic under the sunlight, as if it could dispel all darkness and injustice.
The hope in his heart spread.
Xu Lubai was a scholar, so he naturally knew how to write a petition.
He had already written the petition and handed it to the officials from the Dali Temple.
Everyone in the Dali Temple knew Tang Li, so they took the petition and went directly to the Dali Temple Minister and handed it to him.
Gu Huainian looked at the contents of the complaint and frowned.
The person who reported the case was actually his younger sister.
And it’s about the exam…
"Let the reporter come in, and I will investigate the case myself." Gu Huainian said.
Tang Li and Xu Lubai walked into the Dali Temple and met Gu Huainian.
The Dali Temple Minister personally tried this case!
Xu Lubai was a little excited, maybe he could really be cleared of his name!
Tangli handed over the two notes first.
"This morning, around 3:30 am, at the entrance to the examination hall, someone suddenly bumped into my two children, Xu Jue and Wei Ziang. Then, two slips of paper appeared on my two children's bodies."
Gu Huainian looked at the two notes and found that the handwriting was exactly the same.
"Do you still remember the appearance of the person who hit you?" Gu Huainian asked.
Tang Li thought about it carefully: "He was wearing a white scholar's robe, and he was thin and short, about the same height as me. He kept his head down, so I couldn't see his face clearly."
Gu Huainian wrote them down one by one.
Tangli couldn't think of any other useful information.
Gu Huainian looked at Xu Lubai, and Xu Lubai told him what had happened.
"Who do you think has the chance to put the note into your pen?" Gu Huainian asked.
Xu Lubai fell into deep thought: "I arrived in the capital within ten days and stayed in an inn with my fellow townsmen. This pen is newly bought, specially for answering questions in the imperial examination, and has been kept in a box ever since. No more than five people have had access to my pen..."
Xu Lubai listed the names of those people one by one.
"My fellow countrymen Zhang Qing and Qu Jin, my new friends Deng Gang and Jiang Hua, and Hong Qiwen!"
"Zhang Qing couldn't possibly harm me. We were classmates from the same county and have known each other for over ten years. Qu Jin is even more out of the question. After we came to the capital, we ate and slept together. He often helped me out, and he even paid for the inn!"
Gu Huainian nodded.
All the questions that should be asked have been asked.
"You guys go back first." Gu Huainian said.
Tang Li and Xu Lubai turned around and walked out the door.
"The threshold is high, be careful." Gu Huainian said suddenly.
Tang Li and Xu Lubai both turned to look.
Xu Lubai was somewhat flattered when he saw the Dali Temple Minister’s expressionless face: “Yes, yes.”
Tang Li heard the gentleness in the words and saw the tenderness in his brother's eyes. His heart warmed and he smiled and nodded.
Tang Li and Xu Lubai left the Dali Temple.
"Mr. Xu, please go back to the inn first and wait for news from the Dali Temple. The Dali Temple will definitely give you justice." Tang Li said.
Xu Lubai bowed deeply three times.
The first time, "Thank you, ma'am, for saving my life."
He was so depressed that he actually jumped into the river. If it weren't for his wife, he would have been dead.
The second time, “Thank you, Madam, for showing me the way.”
Letting him come to the Dali Temple to report the case gave him hope.
The third time, "I will always remember your kindness, Madam. I will tie a knot of grass in my mouth and never forget it."
Xu Lubai bowed for a long time and did not stand up.
I will never forget your great kindness.
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