Chapter 152 Has he gone mad?
Xu Yifei then helped Xu Yiyan down from the donkey cart, while Xu Yinan gave him some instructions.
Since it was inconvenient for the others to enter the city, Yun Zhao asked Zhi Chun and the others to find people from the Zhenyuan Escort Agency.
With the situation in Xuyangzhou unclear, and only Lu Xun and Lu Li accompanying him, Yun Zhao was worried.
With everything prepared, Luo Qing led the exiled group into the city.
As she passed through the city gate, Old Madam Xu took some loose silver and limped over to the guards.
"Gentlemen, my son is an old friend of Xu Jiajie, the Registrar of the Household. I wonder if he could help me deliver a message?"
It is said that Xu Yiyuan's relatives suffered misfortune and he hoped to see them while he was in exile.
The officer took the loose silver, weighed it lightly in his hand, and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
They gave quite a lot.
"Alright, but whether Military Advisor Xu is willing to meet with him is another matter."
"Yes, yes, thank you, sir!"
With a fawning smile, Old Madam Xu limped away.
The officials escorting the exiles naturally saw their actions.
Fearing that it might cause further trouble, they had no choice but to suppress their questions and simply keep an eye on her movements without interfering.
The guards led them to an inn and warned them, "Don't wander around before the prefect summons you!"
Luo Qing frowned unhappily.
It's one thing to make things difficult for them when they come into the city, but what's the point of not letting them move around?
They are officials from the Court of Judicial Review. Does Xu Yangzhou intend to place them under house arrest?
"Why? We are from the Dali Temple. You have no right to detain us without a legitimate reason!"
Luo Qing spoke frankly.
To his surprise, the guards just sneered and looked him up and down.
"The Dali Temple? Do you even have an official rank?"
The mocking tone immediately enraged the escorting officials.
"What do you mean?"
Several people rushed forward in displeasure, but Luo Qing stopped them by raising his hand.
He suppressed his temper: "Even if we have no official rank, we are still people from the Dali Temple."
"They were escorting prisoners on imperial orders; demanding an explanation is perfectly reasonable!"
"The explanation is that there is a plague in Jiangnan, and refugees and bandits are everywhere. Our Lord Yuan is worried that some refugees might harm you all."
For your safety, please remain inside the inn and await our lord's summons!
When the guards mentioned that the prefect's surname was "Yuan," Luo Qing immediately understood.
Is Prefect Xu of Yangzhou aware of the situation in An County and deliberately making things difficult for them?
"When will Lord Yuan have time to meet us? We need to hurry to Lingnan."
Luo Qing's anger vanished instantly, and when he spoke again, he had no confidence at all.
"That's hard to say. Our magistrate is a fifth-rank prefect, he's very busy!"
After saying that, the guards left.
"Boss, they're being way too arrogant! A mere prefectural governor..."
How dare they make things difficult for the Court of Judicial Review? We should write back to the capital and have the Minister of Judicial Review report them!
The officials said angrily.
"What are you accusing him of? Accusing him of being too busy as a prefect? This letter has to be sent back and forth."
Do you think he'd keep us here after all these days? Let that old bastard from the Xu family come see me!
Luo Qing was just short of kicking one of his men.
When the officials came to find Madam Xu, she still had an arrogant smile on her face.
They kept making things difficult for her family on the street, and they even beat her up a few days ago.
Seeing them begging the guards like dogs, she felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction!
Therefore, when the officials came to take her away, she didn't even feel afraid.
Luo Qing was instantly enraged when he saw her arrogant smile.
"What, so happy? Tell me, do you want to see someone else first, or should I kill you first?"
Luo Qing asked with a forced smile.
"You don't need to threaten me. The guards at the gate watched me enter the city and even took my silver."
"You watched me walk in alive, and you killed an exiled prisoner without any reason. Do you think you can leave Xuyang Prefecture unscathed?"
Madam Xu may be a bit foolish, but she has been the matriarch of the household for twenty years, and she has acted out the role of a bully using someone else's power countless times.
"It's a long and arduous journey to Lingnan from here. A few exiled prisoners died from the plague in Jiangnan. Do you think the higher-ups will investigate?"
Luo Qing laughed.
Could she possibly think that a subordinate official of Xuyang Prefecture could take away exiled prisoners?
"We'll have to see the person first."
Madam Xu felt a little scared, but then she thought that she would soon be in Jiangnan.
With the old man around, she wasn't afraid that this person could do anything.
"Tell me, who were you looking for when you gave the silver at the city gate?"
Luo Qing suppressed his temper and asked.
Seeing that she wouldn't answer, Luo Hao added, "If you want to suffer less on the way, answer properly!"
After hearing this, Madam Xu looked up at them.
“My son has been kind to Xu, the military advisor in Yangzhou.”
Luo Hao immediately understood.
No wonder Xu Yiyuan had asked the officials which cities they would enter on their way to exile.
So that's where it was!
"Apart from this, that's all?"
"That's all. As for why that Lord Yuan is targeting you, I have no idea. It's none of my business!"
Old Madam Xu had no idea who this Prefect Yuan was, let alone Xu Qingshi and Wu Lianzhen.
"Go down."
Luo Qing waved his hand, signaling for someone to take her away.
As soon as the door opened, they saw Wei Jingchen standing outside, holding Yun Zhao in his arms.
What are you doing here?
Wei Jingchen did not answer directly, but instead glanced at Madam Xu.
Luo Qing waved his hand, signaling someone to take Old Madam Xu away and let the two of them go inside.
Do you know anything about Prefect Yuan's situation?
Luo Hao thought Yun Zhao was a smart kid, and he treated her fairly well usually.
Now that they were in the same boat, Yun Zhao found Wei Jingchen, made an excuse to leave, and came to find Luo Hao.
"Brother Luo Hao, do you know that bad guy from An County has escaped?"
Yun Zhao looked up and asked.
Luo Hao and his brother Luo Qing exchanged a glance and nodded.
"We suspect he was rescued by Prefect Yuan."
"Are you saying that a dignified prefect would knowingly break the law and break someone out of prison for the sake of Yuan Shijie?"
Luo Qing felt that this explanation was utterly absurd.
Breaking someone out of prison is a crime that implicates others!
It is said that Xu, the prefect of Yangzhou, was a cousin of Yuan Hongyang and held Yuan Shijie in high regard.
The guards at the gate were clearly targeting the words "officials from the Court of Judicial Review."
When Magistrate Luo arrested Yuan Shijie, he used the name of the Dali Temple.
"If Yuan Shijie hadn't reported it to him, how would a mere gatekeeper have known about this?"
Luo Qing and the others immediately understood Wei Jingchen's explanation.
It looks like they're in big trouble this time!
Luo Qing said with a stern face, "Young Master Wei came here specifically to talk about this matter, I'm afraid it wasn't just to explain something, was it?"
"Yuan Shijie's future was ruined by us all; they didn't hesitate to kill Yuan Hongyang to take the blame."
It certainly wasn't just because of the word "important"; the escorting of government officials was a very high-profile target.
"It's inconvenient for us to leave the inn, so how about we cooperate?"
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