Chapter 321 Chapter 321 Angry
Xu Yunfan pulled a mask from a carriage and put it on his face. "This is it. I was originally going to have Second Brother Xu take a letter to Prefect Fang, and he'd tell you what to do. But I feel I need to give you a shot of adrenaline now."
"This thing's called a mask. Wearing it can block most... So, when you get there, take some medicine beforehand, and then add the mask for double protection. There's nothing to be afraid of. If... I mean the worst-case scenario, it's just a fever. Don't we have medicine for that? Now, tell me, what's so scary about that?"
If someone really died, would Xu Yunfan be able to stay behind? He would probably have to go there in person, and he wouldn't hesitate to agree to Fang's father's request to do this for him.
A doctor from the Meng family asked, "Doctor Xu, are you serious? Can this thing really prevent us from being infected?"
In their eyes, they would rather call Xu Yunfan "Doctor" than Mr. Xu, Master Xu, or Mr. Xu.
"Of course. If not, would I let you go? I'm just a bachelor, I can't bear such a heavy responsibility. I have a son and a husband, and I don't want to go to jail."
After Xu Yunfan said this, everyone's heavy mood suddenly lightened. They picked up their packages, said goodbye to Xu Yunfan and got on the carriage.
Second Master Meng: "..."
No, have these people forgotten who is the head of the family and the one in charge?
Meng Chi had also climbed onto his horse. As Xu Er shouted "Go", dozens of horses neighed, raised their front hooves high and galloped out.
Early in the morning, Fang's father had people "clear" the streets to ensure that this group of people could leave the city as quickly as possible.
Dozens of horses took the lead, followed by dozens of carriages. This scene caused passers-by to point and talk.
"What's going on? Did something happen that I haven't heard of?"
"Don't you know? My kid had a fever yesterday... Lord Xu is working with the Meng family to support Pingjin Prefecture. If I hadn't been there last night, I wouldn't have known about this. You don't know, Lord Xu... That medicine is amazing. It can reduce fever in less than half an hour. With Lord Xu's help, those children in Pingjin Prefecture won't be in any trouble."
"I also heard at the gate of the Meng family that there were so many carriages in front. Those trucks were carrying the food given by the Xiao Qin family, and the ones behind them were the forty doctors of the Meng family. Lord Xu is really generous. As soon as he asked, the Meng family sent him forty doctors. It's incredible."
"Our Lord Xu is still the most prestigious."
"This isn't a question of prestige, but rather, our Lord Xu is truly remarkable. A medicine that can reduce a child's fever in less than half an hour—is that a miracle drug?"
"I don't know. I only know that Lord Xu is a very good person. For the sake of the children of Pingjin Prefecture, he has done his utmost to be kind and righteous."
Even if they are not officials, they are not ignorant of the ways of the world, nor are they brainless. If you help me, I will help you next time. However, if I help you and you don’t help me, what’s the point of talking about next time?
Lord Xu owes a favor to a family like the Meng family, and it won't be easy to repay it in the future.
"Master Xu is so kind! More than a dozen carriages of food, how much silver would that be worth?"
"Isn't human life more important than money? Lord Xu is just a bachelor, but he has achieved this. I really hope that Lord Xu can climb higher. Then it will be a blessing for our people."
On the city gate.
After watching dozens of carriages disappear from sight, Fu Qingyu said to Qi's father beside him, "Is this really all right? Should I send a few more imperial doctors over?"
After all, seeing is believing, hearing is not. Things that you have not seen with your own eyes and hear from others are ultimately not credible.
Qi's father: "Your Majesty, since Xu Xueshi dared to release the seaport, this matter must be fine."
"That's good." Fu Qingyu was also afraid. He was afraid that he could not save these children, and he was also afraid that the fever would really spread from one to ten, and from ten to a hundred.
He had sent imperial physicians over earlier, but to little effect. Several previous imperial physicians were fine when they went, but they came back coughing all the time and were now lying in bed unable to get up.
Every winter, the children of their Dayan Dynasty are the ones who need special attention. This year's situation is indeed unexpected.
Uncle Qi had reported the matter to the court. Fu Qingyu had allocated money and sent imperial doctors, but more and more children were suffering from fever, and he had no other choice. When Uncle Qi's father entered the palace, Fu Qingyu had an idea and suggested that Uncle Qi try Xu Yunfan.
After all, Xu Yunfan is the brother-in-law of the Qi family.
"Are those the military attendants of Master Xu?" Fu Qingyu's gaze fell on Xu Er and the others.
Father Qi: "Yes, his group of warriors are very powerful. I originally wanted to send someone to escort them, but Master Xu didn't trust me."
"Are those warriors holding bows and arrows?"
"It should be. It looks similar to a bow and arrow, but also seems different." Qi's father was not sure.
Fu Qingyu frowned, looking a little tired. It seemed that there were still many things about Xu Yun that he had not yet discovered.
…
Xu Yunfan refused the attempts of Lord Meng and others to keep him, left a thermometer behind, and then he successfully escaped and returned home.
"Brother, you're finally back." As soon as Xu Yunfan came back, Qin Mu ran to Xu Yunfan and held his hand, "Thank you, Brother."
"Hmm?" Xu Yunfan asked curiously, "Why do you suddenly want to thank Brother-in-law?"
Qin Mu: "Brother Fu promised Brother Shao Ping and Brother Shao An to live in our house. Brother Mu wants to thank Brother Fu."
Xu Yunfan bent down and touched Qin Mu's face: "Then can you kiss my brother-in-law?"
"Okay, okay." Qin Mu stood on tiptoe and kissed Xu Yunfan on both sides of his cheek, then contentedly took Xu Yunfan's hand and walked towards the main hall in the front yard.
Fang Zixi just brought out the dishes and said, "You're back, it's time to eat."
"Well, I'm going to wash my hands."
Xu Yunfan washed his hands and hurried into the kitchen. Qin Run was just serving the last bowl of soup. "Yunfan, is everything done?"
"It's done, don't worry." Xu Yunfan took the soup bowl from Qin Run's hand and his eyes fell on Qin Run's left index finger.
Qin Run had several scars on his finger. Because he had suffered so much, he longed to provide a better life for more children. Xu Yunfan glanced at it, then turned away silently. He asked inexplicably, "Brother Run, why are you so kind?"
"Why are you so sweet?" Qin Run smiled. What was good about him? His kindness was just based on selfish motives for Xu Yunfan.
"It's not sweet talk, but words from the heart. It's like you understand me no matter what I want to do. It feels really good."
Xu Yunfan was so beautiful that she almost fainted. She turned her head and kissed Qin Run on the face, "Let's go, let's go eat."
Xu Yunfan, who had a delicious meal, didn't know that sometimes, great fame means great responsibility.
Early in the morning, Xu Yunfan yawned as he arrived at work. Su Xiangdong stood in front of his desk and asked, "Didn't you sleep well last night?"
"Yeah." Xu Yunfan held his chin to his hand and squinted his eyes, looking half awake and half asleep. "I went to bed a little late last night."
In late December, he and Qin Run calculated several account books. It was good. They made a lot of money this year, but they also spent a lot. Maybe this amount of money seemed like a lot to Lord Qin and the others, but Xu Yunfan was still not satisfied, so he planned an event and personally took part in it last night, which inevitably delayed some time.
After finally getting off work, Xu Yunfan yawned and rode his horse, intending to take a shortcut back.
But before I even got home, I saw a fight.
Oh, it’s not right to call it a group fight, because it was a one-sided beating.
"What's going on?" Xu Yunfan murmured softly, turned around and wanted to leave. Sometimes, he was not so kind-hearted as to help others when he saw injustice.
Sometimes, taking action without asking why is tantamount to aiding and abetting evil.
As Xu Yunfan turned around, the man who had been beaten to the ground was crawling forward with a bruised face and nose. He stretched out one hand and said, "Master Lu, please pay us our wages. Master, we have elderly parents and young children to support, and we rely on this wages to have a good New Year. What should we do if you do this?"
It was not a long sentence, but the man on the ground spoke for a long time, his voice intermittent.
Is this a wage claim?
Xu Yunfan took a long time to slow down his steps. After a while, a slight sigh dissipated with the wind.
"Hey, what are you guys doing?"
As soon as Xu Yunfan spoke, the scene instantly became quiet.
Lu Xiao is a man who doesn't care about men or women. He has countless beauties in his backyard. But when he saw Xu Yunfan, he realized that the beauties he had collected before were nothing but beauties. In front of this person, they could only end up in a dull and bleak ending.
"Who are you?" Lu Xiao looked at Xu Yunfan infatuatedly and asked.
Xu Yunfan tilted his head and pointed at the man on the ground with a bloody face. "Who are you? I heard him say you owe him wages? Is this true?"
"Nonsense! How could I owe wages to such a peasant?"
Peasant?
Xu Yunfan was disdainful. This guy really picked up the bowl to eat and put down the bowl to curse his mother. He is a peasant, aren’t you?
Counting back three generations, who didn’t dig in the fields for food?
"Master Lu..." The man on the ground whimpered, as if he had no place to vent his grievances, and he actually started to cry. "Master, I am a villager from Xinghua Village in Dongling County. I worked with other villagers to build a house for Master Lu. We worked for eight months and didn't get a penny. Master Lu said that when a good house is built, he will give it to us, but the house is ready..."
Before the man could finish speaking, Lu Xiao couldn't stand being exposed in front of the beauty, so he kicked him.
Xu Yunfan couldn't bear to watch it anymore, and he had already judged whether what the man lying on the ground said was true or false.
Seeing that Lu Xiao was about to kick again, Xu Yunfan took a run-up and kicked him directly.
"Master Lu, you... you dare to hit our Master Lu."
"I hit you, so what? What's wrong with that? I've already hit you, Master Lu, Master Hai, what can you do to me? Who are you? What, you want to hit me? You bunch of lackeys, why don't you open your eyes and see who I am?"
Young Master Lu is young, but it makes him sound as if he is not. We are all young masters, so who is afraid of who?
He has two fathers-in-law protecting him, so there is no way he can be afraid.
Xu Yunfan was very confident in taking action.
"Who are you?" The people following Lu Xiao were not his servants, but a bunch of bad friends.
Lu Xiao finally returned to Beijing, and now he sneaked out to have fun with them. Because he was driven out of Beijing, Lu Xiao dared not bring anyone out. Now that Lu Xiao was knocked unconscious, they all wanted to stand up for him, but they were afraid.
You have to be wary. It's obvious that this person is not someone to be trifled with. Judging from what he said, he seems to be of great importance.
At this time, someone said weakly: "You...you are Master Xu?"
He was not very sure. After all, how could someone like him have the chance to see the elegance of Master Xu? He had only heard that Master Xu was a rare and stunning beauty.
Xu Yunfan: "It's me. What? Are you guys going to stand up for your brothers? If so, then come together. If not, get out of here right away."
Standing up for Lu Xiao and thus offending Prince Xiao and General Qin's brother-in-law?
Oh, they're not that stupid.
Considering that the victim was lying on the ground and didn't say anything, it doesn't matter if he takes revenge.
"Master Xu, it is we who are blind and fail to recognize the great man. Please be magnanimous and do not hold it against us."
Xu Yunfan snorted coldly, and without any hesitation, he picked up the man on the ground and carried him to the clinic.
This trip delayed us for another hour and a half.
Looking at the man lying on the bed, whose original appearance can no longer be seen, and then looking at the back of his hands with protruding joints and cracks, whose son is this, and whose father is this?
Why? They do the most tiring and dirty work and earn the cleanest money. It's hard enough, but some people have no conscience and are ignorant of the sufferings of the world. They insist on throwing these poor people into the abyss.
What is going on? He is a bachelor in the capital. No one has come to him to help him. There are some things that he cannot interfere without the help of others, otherwise, it will be a handle.
Xu Yunfan tucked in the quilt for the patient and paid the twenty-odd taels of medicine for him. Just as he was about to leave, the medicine boy came running over and said, "Doctor Xu, the patient has woken up and wants to see you. Do you want to see him?"
"Let's meet." After a little hesitation, Xu Yunfan went in and sat there for half an hour.
After coming out, Xu Yunfan was so angry that his nostrils were enlarged. He cursed the Lu family countless times in his heart. After leaving the clinic, he turned around and rode his horse in the opposite direction of Xiao Qin's house.
After traveling to several places yesterday, Xu Yunfan had to face up to a problem, that is, the top officials of the Ministry of Justice were not something that he, a bachelor, could meet whenever he wanted, and he could not use the identity of Prince Xiao and General Qin's brother-in-law to go to the Ministry of Justice.
Xu Yunfan was worried for a while at his workstation. After all, his current status was still a bit low. Without an status, some things would be difficult to handle.
After finally getting off work and returning home, Xu Yunfan was shocked by the ragged and weather-beaten men who were standing at Xiao Qin's house.
The other party heard the voice and seemed to have discovered him. When they saw Xu Yunfan, they were shocked at first, and then seemed to be confirming something. After looking at each other, they knelt down in front of Xu Yunfan.
"Please, Master Xu, please make the decision for us. Please, Master Xu."
How can they go back home this year if they can’t get their wages back? The whole family is waiting for them to take their wages back, hoping to use the money to have a good New Year, to buy a few more pounds of meat, to buy a new cotton coat, but now all their hopes have been dashed with just one word from the employer: “I don’t like it.”
It was obvious that all the work was done according to the foreman's instructions. The employer said that he didn't like it, but did not prevent him from moving in. Isn't this clearly bullying?
They went to the government office to file a complaint, but the county magistrate was clearly having an affair with his boss and kept making excuses. Now it was almost the New Year, and not only were they not paid, several of their co-workers had caught a cold. They had no choice but to run around in despair. By chance, they heard a laundry worker tell them to raise money and go to Beijing to look for a man named Xu Yunfan, who was also the top scholar in the imperial examination.
The female worker told them that Lord Xu was a kind-hearted man. They and their son had been wronged a while ago and had nowhere to turn to. It was Lord Xu and General Qin who suggested that this matter should not be taken lightly. In the end, he not only made the decision for them, but also relocated them. Some time ago, he even went to the Meng family to ask for help for the child of Pingjin Prefecture. Such a person was a kind-hearted and good person. Since no one was willing to help, they might as well go find Lord Xu and give it a try.
When a few people came to the capital to inquire, they found that five or six out of ten people had heard of Xu Yunfan's name.
After successfully finding Xiao Qin's house, they waited for a long time until Xu Yunfan came back from work, and then this scene happened.
After hearing the whole story, Xu Yunfan helped several uncles with graying temples to their feet. "You two should get up first. Logically speaking, this matter shouldn't be my responsibility. If I did, it would be overstepping my authority. But since you're here today and I've heard about this, don't worry, I will help you with this matter."
"Thank you, Lord Xu, thank you, Lord Xu..." Several men were in tears and choked with sobs, and were about to kneel down to Xu Yunfan again.
They had never shed a tear when they had gone through hardships along the way, when they could not get their wages, when they were confused when they were running around in vain, when they were filled with sadness and helplessness. But now, when they received the warm words "I will help you", several of them could not stop sobbing.
How could anyone who had not experienced the hardships involved in walking from Dongling County to the capital understand? They had originally come here just to give it a try, with a tiny hope, but in the end, Xu Yunfan gave them an unexpected result.
"You guys go to the inn with my people and stay for one night. I will go there for you now. The people above don't care, I will take care of it. As long as you have done the work, I will get all the wages you deserve back to you without a single cent less." Xu Yunfan was not bragging or pretending to be a good person, but he knew how important this wage was to a family. How could he not be angry?
As a last resort, Xu Yunfan made another trip. He had only come to inquire about the situation before, but now he had to endure the other party's excuses and look for people one level at a time.
Even though Xu Yunfan is now a bachelor, this case has exceeded the scope of their jurisdiction. If they want to intervene, they must report to their superiors and obtain permission before they can handle the case. Otherwise, it would be out of their jurisdiction.
By the time they submitted the report and received approval from their superiors, the new year had already passed.
There was no other way. When Xu Yunfan, filled with rage, found Song Tong, he slammed the table and angrily shouted, "Assholes, they are the most vulnerable group at the bottom of society. They have elderly parents and young children to support. They rely on this salary to support their families after being away for a year. Are you going to take care of this? If you don't, I will. When the time comes, don't say I didn't tell you before, and don't blame me for being too drastic."
Song Tong frowned and said, "There is actually such a thing? Why..."
He was about to ask why he didn't know, but he became speechless as soon as the words came out of his mouth.
Yes, how could he let higher-ups know about something that the county magistrate doesn’t care about?
"I'm not aware of this matter. Don't worry, Master Xu. I will definitely report this matter."
"This sort of thing has happened more than once or twice, and it's not an isolated case. It's just that you haven't heard of many of these things, so you've tacitly assumed they don't exist. As members of the Dali Temple, shouldn't you propose improving the laws in this area?"
"What does this have to do with the law?"
"Why not?" Xu Yunfan held his forehead and said, "If the county magistrate doesn't care, if the laws are improved, if a labor law is established, if each county establishes a labor bureau, and if officials are regularly dispatched for inspections and investigations, who would dare to commit fraud?"
"Do you know how pissed I was when they told me they were going to sue that bastard for withholding wages, but they couldn't even write a complaint and didn't even have any relevant evidence?"
Xu Yunfan asked interrogative questions, his sharp eyes showing no sign of hiding his anger. No one knew how angry Xu Yunfan was when he learned that these workers had come to his house and begged humbly in order to get their wages back, but were met with a sneer of laughter from the other party.
"If the law were perfect, for long-term projects like this, workers would sign labor contracts before starting work. Even if the county magistrate didn't intervene, there would still be a labor bureau. With the labor bureau in place, the most basic rights of these working people could be protected to the greatest extent possible. If everything were left to the county government, who else could they turn to if they stopped taking care of things? They can't read a single word, and they just work hard every day. The county magistrate asked them to provide evidence to prove they were owed wages. It's a complete joke. In this case, do you think it's reasonable and appropriate to ask the victims to provide strong evidence to prove their claims? They can't read a single word, and you ask them to find evidence? It's a complete joke. Who should be investigating a case and collecting evidence?"
The more he talked, the angrier he became. Xu Yunfan had never gone to do anything before. If there was anything, it was either his family members who took care of it, or he just had to say a word. Now that he had gone to these departments in person, he finally knew what it meant to ask others for help.
He was waiting there, but the staff seemed indifferent. They asked him questions like who were the workers, where did they live, etc. Xu Yunfan couldn't answer some of the questions, as if there was gold in the notebook on the table. The staff lowered their heads, didn't even look at him, and told him to go back and ask clearly before coming back.
No, Xu Yunfan was stunned on the spot.
He came to file a lawsuit, not to have his household registration investigated. He had given the names and addresses of the men demanding their wages, and had even informed them that the workers were currently in Beijing. He even brought a doctor's certificate confirming his claims, and that they could send someone to investigate and question him. But they actually asked him for the names and addresses of hundreds of workers?
He has finished speaking, what else do you have to do?
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