Chapter 122
Luo Yan received a report from his servants today that the judge had come to Siyang. He did not go out to inquire about the trial results, as he probably knew that nothing would go wrong.
Luo Yuxing, however, was young and worried. He couldn't stay in the house and went to the garden to look around several times. It was not until someone from the Zhang family came in the afternoon and saw that they looked relaxed that he breathed a sigh of relief.
Luo Yan knew that the Zhang couple would come to express their gratitude, so he prepared tea in advance.
"Thank you, Lord Luo, for your help. If not for this, my husband and I would probably still be trapped in injustice."
When Luo Yan heard Zhang Fangyuan's address, he knew that it was the judge who revealed it. He did not say much. This time, he was prepared to reveal his identity, so he asked the two to sit down.
"We have been neighbors for many years, and I know your personalities. This lawsuit is a false accusation."
Luo Yan couldn't help but sigh when he said this. Merchants have always had a low status and have been bullied by officials. It is common for the county magistrate to join forces with the local tyrants who have been serving them all year round to bully others. He has been in the officialdom for many years, so how could he not know these twists and turns? As the saying goes, if the water is too clear, there will be no fish. He cannot manage them all, not to mention that he is no longer in office.
But the Zhang family has done a lot of good things in Siyang City over the years, and he knows a lot of them. The county magistrate protects the local tyrants and suppresses good businessmen. In fact, he is only interested in profit and has gone too far. He took action not only for the Zhang family, but also to suppress the county magistrate's actions, which is the trend of Siyang.
Luo Yan took a sip of tea and said with a careless smile: "It's also for the sake of my student. If I don't help, he will really have to go to another family."
Although it was just a joke, it also reminded Zhang Fangyuan. The couple stood up together and gave Luo Yan a big gift. They came from humble backgrounds, and it was truly a blessing from heaven for their descendants to be personally taught by the chief academic officer of the Imperial College.
Luo Yan waved his hand and said, "I am old and have no intention of recruiting students to teach me. But when Xiao Xing and Rui Jin and Rui Li hit it off, they came home and asked me to accept them as my students. This is how a teacher-student relationship came about. I think everything is very natural and great."
It was really a fate. He was returning home in a simple manner and met Zhang Fangyuan on the way. He was very enthusiastic and accepted Zhang Fangyuan's son as his student. He felt that it was fate.
Having seen too many conspiracies and calculations in the officialdom for decades, he hated scheming the most in his old age. Therefore, such a simple teacher-student relationship made him feel very comfortable, and Ruijin was indeed a good student.
Zhang Fangyuan said, "I didn't know your identity before, so I may have offended you. I hope you won't take it to heart."
"I have already retired and returned to my hometown. How can I still have any status?"
Luo Yan had never mentioned the past. Today, since everyone was here and he was determined to train Rui Jin, he talked about the past: "I left my hometown when I was young and lived in the capital for decades. My wife died early and gave birth to a son who unfortunately died..."
Luo Yan never remarried and raised his son alone. His only son was very promising. He passed the imperial examination at a young age and later became a Jinshi twice. He married a beautiful woman. The couple loved each other very much and lived a very harmonious life.
Although the couple was in love, they had children a little late. Luo Yuxing was born three years after their marriage, and he loved her like a treasure.
"I thought that hardship would finally pay off, but I never expected that when Xing'er was two years old, his father was appointed by the court to go to Yongning Prefecture to provide disaster relief. Most new Jinshi candidates had to work in the local area for a few years before being transferred back to the capital to work. Your Majesty sympathized with me and did not let Xing'er's father go far away. That year, Yongning Prefecture was hit by a disaster, and Xing'er's father volunteered to go to Yongning Prefecture to provide relief to the victims, and the couple went together."
Yongning Prefecture is not too far from Siyang. Many people still have a deep impression of the disaster that happened that year, especially Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He.
"The drought caused an epidemic, and plague broke out in the Yongning Prefecture. Xing'er's father worked hard day and night and ran around everywhere, and he was infected with the plague. His mother took care of him personally regardless of the disaster..." Although it was many years ago, Luo Yan's eyes were still a little moist when he mentioned the old things: "Then Xing'er was the only one left to keep me company. It was really pitiful for the child, he was so young."
Xu He's eyes turned red when he heard this. That year, many people died of an epidemic in Yongning Prefecture. He also heard from the people that local officials who were responsible for disaster relief also contracted the disease and passed away. He never thought that they were Luo Yuxing's parents. Not only the child was pitiful, but also Luo Yan, who lost his only son at such an old age. It was a regrettable thing no matter how you look at it.
Luo Yan was indeed devastated by this and fell seriously ill. During his illness, he often dreamed of his wife and children. He always felt that he had not taken good care of his only son and felt guilty. His illness lingered for a long time and he did not recover. He was also saddened by the many scenes in Kyoto, so he simply used his illness as an excuse to resign from the emperor in advance.
The emperor, mindful of the Luo family's contributions, promoted Luo Yan to the rank of third-rank official and allowed him to retire. Luo Yan had trained countless people during his many years in the court and was respected by many in the court. Although he had retired from court and no longer cared about state affairs, there were still many nobles and high-ranking officials who wanted to send their children and grandchildren to the Luo family to ask for education. Luo Yan could not bear the disturbance, so he simply took Luo Yuxing back to Siyang.
"I am worried from time to time. I am getting older day by day. What should I do with Brother Xing?"
"As long as you are in Siyang, the two of us will take good care of Xing Ge'er like a lucky carp."
Luo Yuxing stood outside the door, listening to the conversation inside the room. Suddenly, he stopped serving the tea he was about to bring in, waved his hand and asked the servant to take it back.
He looked a little tired, and when he walked out of the hall, he couldn't help but blush.
Although he was young when his parents passed away, he had memories of the time when he was two years old. The two people who had always loved him were gone suddenly. Even at a young age, he felt bad when he saw the gloomy atmosphere at home. He often hid at home and cried. His grandfather was even more sad to see him like this.
These years in Siyang, far away from the capital, he had slowly forgotten some of the sad things in the past. But now the old things were suddenly brought up again. He had grown up day by day and was more knowledgeable than when he was a child, which made him even more sad than before.
He was afraid that his grandfather would know that he had heard the conversation, so he said that he wanted to feed the fish in the pavilion. He dismissed the servants, and sat by the lake, his eyes already blurry.
"What's wrong? Did something important fall into the lake?"
Luo Yuxing was so preoccupied with sad things that he didn't hear the footsteps behind him. When he heard the concerned voice, he quickly wiped his eyes and turned around. Seeing that it was Zhang Ruijin behind him, he felt very rude and stood up quickly.
Not knowing how to refute it for a moment, he just followed Rui Jin's words and said, "Yeah."
Ruijin originally wanted to come with his father to thank the teacher, but when he saw Luo Yuxing so sad here, he couldn't bear it for a moment.
"What has fallen? But it fell from this side. I'll see what I can use to fish it out for you."
Luo Yuxing shook his head: "It's a small thing that can't be found anymore, so there's no need to look for it anymore."
Rui Jin frowned and wanted to call a servant over, but when he saw Luo Yuxing's red eyes, which were moist, and he was a child who always cared about his appearance, he thought that he didn't want others to see him like this, so he gave up.
He took out a handkerchief from his waist and said, "Don't cry. If you want to buy something in the city, I'll go with you tomorrow, okay?"
Luo Yuxing took the handkerchief, nodded gently, lowered his head and said nothing more. Ruijin felt that the man was pitiful and wanted to go and pay his respects to the teacher. However, he couldn't leave him alone. He held out his hand and said, "Didn't you say a while ago that you couldn't paint Xuemei well? I have some free time today. How about I teach you?"
Although the two saw each other every day and went to school in the same classroom, Ruijin was studious and well-mannered. Apart from scolding Xiaoli for being too talkative, he never said much to him. This was the first time they were so close. Luo Yuxing looked at Ruijin's palm, hesitated for a moment, and finally let go of his hand.
He lowered his head slightly and looked at the hand holding his. Although Ruijin was older than him, he grew up very fast. His hands were actually a circle bigger than his. It turned out that the palms of this person who was always serious were also warm...
Within a few days, the martial arts schools and shops under Qin Hongde in the city closed one after another, and the business of Ji'an Martial Arts School started to pick up.
Even if the government had not ordered the Qin family to close down, the impact of this false accusation was great, and the Qin family's business would have reached rock bottom, but it would have been closed more completely.
Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He also heard that the magistrate was reported by the Tongpan and reprimanded by the prefect, and his performance evaluation for this year was over. The Tongpan got away with it, but this matter really had nothing to do with him. He just came to watch the fun and stepped in dirty water. It was not possible for him to get away with it unscathed.
I heard from Xiao Li that he saw his great-grandfather bring gifts to the Luo family, but was rejected by Luo Yan. He must have known Luo Yan's identity, and out of ignorance he competed with the chief priest for students. Not only was he embarrassed, but he also offended people. He was really no less unlucky than the county magistrate.
The Zeng family no longer had the nerve to harass the Zhang family, and they behaved themselves as if they had never had any dealings with each other. Afterwards, the county magistrate even came to ask for peace. Zhang Fangyuan knew that the county magistrate would not fall because of this incident, and they would still meet each other in Siyang from now on. For this reason, he neither agreed nor refused, but he knew in his heart that he would not respect the county magistrate as much as before.
After this incident, Zhang Fangyuan paid more attention to Ruijin's studies. After several twists and turns, he felt that if he wanted to live a more stable and smooth life, he had to have some fame. Among the five classes of scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans, scholars are the most important. It is not just talk, but one has to go through a lawsuit and encounter troubles to realize its importance.
In addition, after the autumn harvest, Zhang Fangyuan opened the granary to provide relief to the people. The lawsuit was reversed thanks to the people. If the Zhang family had not done good deeds over the years, I am afraid that not so many people would be willing to speak up. The people's hearts and reputation are things that cannot be lost.
After a busy period of cooking, it was already the end of autumn.
The caravan of Zhang Xiaotian and his brother returned from their first trip to Suzhou. The two brothers got acquainted with a big cloth merchant in Suzhou and made a long-term agreement on the future silk business. The caravan also brought back a lot of Suzhou's latest cloth and leather from the merchant and brought them back to their house first.
Xu He picked out a few good pieces for the two children to make autumn clothes, and gave two pieces to Luo Yuxing.
The weather in late autumn was cool and a little chilly. Xu He brought a bowl of warm soup to Zhang Fangyuan in the warehouse. Autumn harvest was the busiest time of the year. He had to pay land tax and grain tax, and also count the grain produced by the hired farmers. Zhang Fangyuan had been counting the accounts for several days in a row.
Zhang Fangyuan drank a mouthful of soup and felt more energetic.
Xu He sat down next to Zhang Fangyuan and took a look at the accounts. He felt a headache looking at the many figures. "I used to be pure and enjoyed making money one penny at a time, but now I don't have the time to spare."
Zhang Fangyuan pointed at a few boxes and said, "It would be a hard time to celebrate the New Year if we don't count the accounts this year."
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