Chapter 340 Another Announcement
Upon hearing that Doctor Lou had arrived, Madam Liu and her half-sister stopped talking. Then, two women entered. The one in front looked younger, while the one behind appeared older. Madam Liu guessed that the one behind must be Lou Qingyao.
Sure enough, after exchanging greetings, the old woman introduced them: the woman in front was Doctor Lou, and the woman behind her was Doctor Lou's older sister. Liu's gaze then fell on Lou Qingyao, and their eyes met. Liu nodded slightly, and Lou Qingyao also nodded slightly.
Lou Qingdai began taking her half-sister's pulse, while Lou Qingyao watched from the side. After a while, Liu Shi, who was sitting by the bed, stood up and walked out. Lou Qingyao saw this, glanced at Lou Qingdai for a moment, and seeing that she was taking the pulse seriously, she also quietly followed her out.
Lou Qingdai sensed that she had left, frowned slightly but didn't pay attention. Lou Qingyao left her half-sister's room and saw Liu Shi standing outside. She took two steps forward, stopping two feet away from Liu Shi, and then heard Liu Shi say, "Come with me."
Lou Qingyao's heart was in her throat. Watching Liu Shi walk out, she glanced back at the dormitory, gritted her teeth, and followed behind Liu Shi.
The two entered a room one after the other. Liu introduced herself and then said, "The carriage is ready outside. Come with me."
But Lou Qingyao stood there without moving. She hesitated and said, "Will my younger sister be in trouble? Will she get involved?"
Liu hadn't expected her to ask this, and after a moment's thought, she said, "As long as your father doesn't blame your sister, she won't get involved."
As for whether the entire Lou family would be involved, Lou Qingyao, with her intelligence, should know the answer. However, if she wanted revenge, the Lou family would become enemies of the Prime Minister's Mansion; otherwise, she could forget about revenge.
However, she felt that Lu Shaocheng and the Duke of Chu would not allow the Prime Minister to take action against the Lou family. But this was not something she should say.
“Okay, I’ll go with you,” Lou Qingyao said, clenching her fist.
She knew perfectly well that if he took the Prime Minister's eldest grandson, Pei Qitang, to the authorities again, the Lou family would be considered enemies of the Prime Minister's household. Otherwise, her father wouldn't have placed her under house arrest.
However, she had made up her mind that if the Prime Minister retaliated against the Lou family, she would continue to sue, even if it cost her her life.
Liu sighed inwardly, knowing how difficult her life had been, and started walking out, with Lou Qingyao following behind. Soon, the two arrived at the back gate of the Feng family home, where an old woman was guarding it. Upon seeing them, she immediately opened the back gate.
The two went out through the back door and saw a large carriage parked outside. Liu walked over and lifted the curtain, revealing Lu Shaocheng sitting inside. Upon seeing her, Lu Shaocheng extended his hand, which Liu took, and they boarded the carriage. Then, Liu pulled Lou Qingyao into the carriage as well.
After they were both seated, the carriage started moving. Madam Liu introduced Lou Qingyao, "This is my husband."
Lou Qingyao bowed to him, and Lu Shaocheng told her to dispense with the formalities. He then took out a petition and handed it to her, saying, "We are going to the Dali Temple now. You can hand over the petition in a bit, and then you don't need to worry about it anymore."
Lou Qingyao gripped the petition tightly in her hand, looking at Lu Shaocheng and asking, "Will the Court of Judicial Review accept my petition?"
"Yes," Lu Shaocheng said with certainty.
Lou Qingyao nodded; based on his status alone, she trusted him. Looking down at the petition in her hand, she was both excited and couldn't help but admire how well it was written.
Carefully holding the petition, Lou Qingyao looked at Lu Shaocheng again, hesitated for a moment, and asked, "Will the Lou family be affected?"
Lu Shaocheng hesitated for a moment, then said, "Your father is the head of the Imperial Medical Academy. He has a lot of connections in the palace and in the capital."
The next thing he said was that he had the ability to protect himself.
Lou Qingyao was taken aback, and tightened her grip on the complaint.
"Don't worry, we will ensure the Lou family's safety," Lu Shaocheng added.
Lou Qingyao nodded, his heart filled with complex emotions at that moment.
The carriage stopped, and Lu Shaocheng lifted the curtain to look out. The three large characters "Dali Temple" on the plaque came into view. He said, "We've arrived," and then got out. Liu Shi and Lou Qingyao followed him out, and then a servant led a man in his thirties over.
"This is the lawyer I've hired for you. Follow him inside," Lu Shaocheng said, his gaze fixed on the gate of the Dali Temple.
Lou Qingyao nodded and followed the lawyer, the two walking one after the other towards the entrance of the Dali Temple. Just as they reached the gate, they were stopped by two gatekeepers. "What are you doing here?"
As they spoke, the two gatekeepers looked on with suppressed apprehension, their gazes fixed on Lou Qingyao. They recognized her; the last time she came, she knelt on the ground, weeping and lamenting that her husband had been murdered. Seeing her pitiful state and not wanting to be pointed at and gossiped about by onlookers, they led her inside.
They later discovered that the person had accused the Prime Minister's son, and they were so terrified they almost knelt down. Now she's back again, and this time they absolutely cannot let her in. Last time they were fined three months' salary; if they let her in again, they'll lose their entire year's pay.
Just as the two were about to say something about driving them away, the man next to Lou Qingyao handed over his calling card and introduced himself: "I am lawyer Zhang Yue."
"As a lawyer, you should know that the Dali Temple does not accept private lawsuits. You'd better leave now."
“This time she’s suing the Prime Minister,” the lawyer said.
The surroundings were deathly quiet. The two gatekeepers stared at the lawyer as if he were a fool. Just as they were about to speak again to drive him away, the lawyer turned his body to the side and looked at a short distance behind him.
The two constables followed his gaze and saw Marquis Anyuan's eldest grandson standing there, looking at them indifferently. Good heavens, both of them felt a chill run down their spines; it seemed the Marquis Anyuan's household was about to go to war with the Prime Minister!
The two bowed to Lu Shaocheng in the distance, told Lou Qingyao and the lawyer to wait, and then ran inside, their tone naturally much better than before.
As one constable ran, he said to another, "How did the Marquis of Anyuan's residence get involved? I've never heard of any conflict between the Marquis of Anyuan's residence and the Prime Minister's residence!"
Another yamen runner silently ran a few steps and said, "I seem to have heard that there is some discord between the old Duke of Chu and the Prime Minister. The Marquis of Anyuan's family and the Duke of Chu's family are related by marriage, and the current Duke of Chu's family is related to his maternal relatives."
The constable nodded knowingly. By then, the two had arrived outside the study of Tong Taichuan, the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Seeing the attendant guarding the door, they went over and explained what had happened outside. The attendant frowned after listening and then went inside to report to Tong Taichuan.
Tong Taichuan was reading a collection of poems. The Dali Temple did not handle cases from the common people, and officials rarely had anything to complain about, so Tong Taichuan was quite leisurely. However, leisure also meant fewer opportunities to make merit and a difficult path to promotion.
Tong Taichuan's current principle is to avoid making mistakes rather than seeking merit, and to let him live out his days until he reaches a certain age and retires.
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