When Zhao Huan saw the complaint, he was almost furious.
The handwriting on the petition was all written in blood, every word dripping with blood. I never expected to encounter such an injustice on this official road: "Investigate! Investigate thoroughly!"
Everyone was startled. Zhao Huan rarely got this angry. When he got angry, it was a sign that someone was about to suffer misfortune, perhaps even lose their head.
The emperor was furious, and everyone shuddered. The guards around him knelt on the ground in unison, the majesty of the emperor's power clearly on display.
"Your Majesty, what happened?" At this time, only Nangong Lian'er dared to ask.
Zhao Huan's face turned pale, and he didn't answer her: "Go to Fengxian County!"
It turned out that the petition stated that the woman's name was Yunxia, also known as Yunniang, and she was the child bride of the Luo family.
The bully Luo Xiaohu killed her husband, stole her property, and falsely accused Yunxia of doing it. The county magistrate threw Yunniang into jail without any investigation.
However, the legal advisor Fan Zha knew that Yunniang was wronged, so he took advantage of the county magistrate's absence to release Yunniang secretly and let her stop the emperor to redress her grievances.
"Bring the wronged woman into my dragon sedan chair. I want to know the details of the case on the way." Zhao Huan turned around and walked back into the car.
The official roads of the Song Dynasty were clear, and the emperor's sedan chair was pulled by eight horses. The sedan alone could easily seat seven or eight people. Zhao Huan wanted to invite the commoner woman into the carriage so he could inquire more thoroughly about the case on the way.
Two guards helped the graceful Yunniang to Zhao Huan's sedan chair. Nangong Lian'er stood beside her, her pretty face flushed with anger. Although Yunniang dressed like a young woman, she looked like a graceful young woman, especially in her plain white attire. Her tears were like pear blossoms in the rain, making her look even more charming.
Zhao Huan and Nangong Lian'er knew that his brain would short-circuit when he saw a beautiful woman. Especially such a beautiful young woman, and when a woman cried in front of Zhao Huan, he could not resist.
Nangong Lian'er was right. Zhao Huan's biggest flaw was his softness towards women. He was especially vulnerable to beautiful women. If this beautiful woman cried again in front of him, he would give her whatever she wanted. As the Emperor of the Song Dynasty, he was surprisingly incompetent when it came to women.
Yunniang was helped into the imperial sedan chair, looking distressed. Zhao Huan was already waiting inside. Yunniang fell to her knees as she entered and cried, "Your Majesty, please help me."
"Are you Yunniang?" Zhao Huan asked. He had already seen Yunniang's name on the petition.
Yunniang raised her pretty face slightly, tears still streaking across her snow-white face. She looked at that bastard Emperor Zhao Huan with a wavering heart. "Damn it! I've selected beauties from all over the world, but they're all naive young girls. Young girls are great, but they need to be trained. How can they be as open-minded as young women? I haven't even tasted a young woman yet. A young woman always knows more than a young girl, right?"
He didn't think about Empress Zhu Lian, who already had a child when he traveled through time. Zhao Huan's mind was full of dirty thoughts about the young woman Yunniang.
In fact, most men are like this. Although Zhao Huan has dirty thoughts in his mind, he will not do anything if he is asked to do so. Sometimes men may be rude in words, but their hearts are still relatively pure.
Nangong Lian'er didn't think so. She pouted, lifted the curtain of the sedan chair and rushed in.
The journey was lonely and boring. Zhao Huan originally wanted to send Nangong Lian'er away and interrogate the young woman on the way. But when he saw her jealous face, he immediately gave up the idea: "Lian'er, come with me and interrogate Yunniang. Yunniang, tell me your grievances in detail, and I will definitely make a decision for you."
Nangong Lian'er finally calmed down a little. She leaned against Zhao Huan and looked at Yun Niang who was kneeling below.
Yunniang wept and said, "I am originally from outside Fengxian Town. When I was eight years old, my family suffered a tragedy and I was sold to the Luo family as a child bride. My father-in-law passed away early, and my mother-in-law and husband were quite kind to me. We opened a restaurant in Fengxian County. Because it is located at the junction of two provinces, there are many merchants coming and going. The Luo family is a good business owner, so customers are flocking in and business is booming."
Later, for unknown reasons, we offended someone, and the county magistrate raided the Luo Family Restaurant, accusing us of tax evasion. Although we are a small family, we pay all taxes to the court every year, not a penny less, and we would never dare to falsify accounts and evade taxes again.
The woman and her family were taken to the county government office. My mother-in-law and husband argued with us. They compared our account books with the taxes we paid, and we hadn't evaded a single cent. The county magistrate, unable to find any evidence of us, released us home under pressure from the people.
"We had just returned home when the county magistrate sent someone to ask for money in a roundabout way. My mother-in-law gave him two hundred taels of silver and they let him go."
Zhao Huan interrupted her: "Are you saying that the county magistrate asked your family for two hundred taels of silver?"
Yunniang nodded: "That's right."
"Who did he send to get it? Who is the county magistrate of your Fengxian County?" Zhao Huan asked.
Yunniang explained everything: "The county magistrate's name is Bai Qingsheng. He sent his subordinate, Du Huachang, who is said to be a brother-in-law of the county magistrate. He said that someone had given us a high salary, and the county magistrate was in a difficult position because he needed to take care of everyone. He asked for 1,000 taels. Although our restaurant has made some money, 1,000 taels is still a lot of money. Only after my mother-in-law begged him did he agree to give 200 taels.
We thought the matter was over. A few months ago, the imperial court issued a notice regarding the Haizhou drought and called for donations. My mother-in-law, with her compassionate heart, was the first to donate. My father-in-law had starved to death during the disaster, so our family donated 500 taels. We never imagined that these 500 taels would lead to such a disaster.
"Bai Qingsheng, could he be the person who stopped us on the road and shouted "Long live the emperor"? Nangong Lian'er asked.
Zhao Huan looked at Yun Niang and said, "Are you talking about that idiot official Bai Qingsheng with the big round face and narrowed eyes?"
Yunniang was overjoyed to hear this. The emperor actually called him a "dog official." This meant there was hope for overturning the verdict. "Your Majesty is wise, and this is the man. I was thrown into the county jail, but fortunately, Master Fan risked his life to save me. I had intended to go to the capital and beat the drum to file my complaint, but Heaven has mercy on me. I was fortunate enough to hear that Your Majesty was here, and so I dared to stop the sedan chair to appeal for justice."
Zhao Huan's heart moved: "I heard that you are well-spoken and not from an ordinary family. Who are you?"
Yunniang was shocked. This emperor was so powerful that he could see through her identity. She stood there in a daze for a long time without saying a word.
Nangong Lian'er also noticed something was amiss, and she moved closer to Zhao Huan to be on guard. If the other party was posing as an assassin seeking justice, and was so close to the emperor, it would be a very bad situation.
Nangong Lian'er was about to call out to Linghu Yunlong outside the sedan, but she saw Yunniang grit her teeth and say, "Your Majesty, my family is a wanted criminal of the imperial court."
Zhao Huan was shocked when these words came out, and Nangong Lian'er even shouted: "Linghu Yunlong! Protect the emperor!"
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