Inside Zhao Shouzheng's room, the incense sticks had burned out, and white ashes fell into the copper stove.

Zhao Hao certainly hoped that the old man could be reinstated, but he knew that since the Hongzhi period of the Ming Dynasty, "no one can be reinstated after being dismissed." Even if someone was falsely accused and dismissed during an investigation, he could not be reinstated as an exception to avoid undermining the severe punishment of the investigation.

Therefore, he was not as optimistic as Zhao Jin. He shook his head and said, "My grandfather was sent down from the capital for investigation. It would be difficult for him to turn things around."

"My dear brother, you only know one side of the story. When you were not around, my uncle told me about my great-uncle in detail. Although he was dismissed from office due to the imperial examination, the reason for his dismissal was old age..." But Zhao Jin smiled faintly and regained his usual calmness and wisdom. He said leisurely, "There is a trick here. I wonder if you have thought about it."

"Uh, no..." Zhao Hao scratched his head awkwardly. As the saying goes, knowledge gained from books is always shallow. He lacked sufficient experience in the twists and turns of the Ming Dynasty officialdom.

"Then I will tell you about it, brother. Please take a look." Zhao Jin was not surprised. Even if Zhao Hao had a family background, he couldn't know everything, right? He quickly seized the opportunity to explain to his precocious brother: "According to the rules, those who are 'old' or 'ill' in the imperial examination should be ordered to retire. Even if they are not given enough dignity, at least they can live in leisure with a crown and a robe, right?"

"But what's strange is that my uncle was dismissed from office and ordered to leave the capital. This is a punishment for those who are 'careless' and 'soft', and it is obviously too heavy a punishment for my uncle. But what's even stranger is that my uncle accepted it without saying a word. I think it was mostly a show."

"Brother, are you talking about the self-torture trick?" Zhao Hao's eyes lit up, and he suddenly felt that this was really possible. In fact, he had occasionally thought about it. How could his grandfather, who had been in the officialdom for thirty years, fall from power just because of a minor crime? And he was left penniless and his family was broken up.

This is unscientific...

But Zhao Hao had just arrived in the noble territory and had no idea what was going on. He just thought it was because the inspection was particularly strict this year. But after hearing what Zhao Jin said, he understood it all at once. Damn it, the old man was a hero who cut off his arm and retreated to advance!

Old Zhao is already in such a miserable state. If Old Gao continues to hold on to it, he will probably incur public outrage.

"That should be the case. And I heard from my classmate that my uncle's tragic experience caused quite a stir in the capital, and many people were indignant about him. The impeachment of Gao Gong by the Ministry of Personnel this time may also have this story behind it..."

Zhao Jin said with emotion: "In short, nothing is absolute. When I return to my post, I will immediately report Gao Gong for abusing public power to seek personal revenge. Maybe His Majesty will show some leniency..."

"Don't do that!" Zhao Hao's hair stood on end when he heard that. He thought, "As for my grandfather from the Gu family, if you ask the court to re-investigate his case, there will definitely be something wrong. If the old man still wants to live freely outside, he will probably die in prison."

"Why?" Zhao Jin didn't understand the point for a moment.

"I know you have good intentions, brother, but you have endured more than ten years of hardship and finally made it through. If you get caught up in the matter of our ancestors again, it will be a great sin!" Zhao Hao said sincerely, "Brother, please think more about yourself and don't be impulsive again."

"Besides, if the old man really has a backup plan, we have to find out clearly so that we can help him, right?"

"My dear brother, you really are very considerate of me..." Zhao Jin was very touched to see that Zhao Hao was only thinking about him. He held his brother's hand tightly and nodded heavily, saying, "Okay, then I will wait for you to gain a firm foothold and cooperate with my uncle to make plans slowly."

“As it should be!”

~~

The two of them chatted for a long time until Qiaoqiao knocked on the door and called them to eat.

They suddenly realized that it was already noon. Then they came out of the east room, washed their hands and sat at the eight-immortal table.

Then I saw four dishes, one soup and two bowls of fragrant rice on the table.

The dishes were scrambled eggs with shrimp and braised mandarin fish, stir-fried artemisia and water spinach mixed with dried tofu. The soup was shepherd's purse dumpling soup dripping with sesame oil.

Two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes, fresh and clean, look good and you will feel comfortable. When you take a bite, the taste is even better than usual.

Qiaoqiao also prepared a pot of small wine for Zhao Jin, which was exactly what the old man wanted at the moment.

The two of them were full of praise for the meal. Zhao Jin patted his round belly and praised Qiaoqiao, saying, "I think the chef of Wei Ji Xian should not hire an outsider, and Qiaoqiao should be the chef."

"I think it's okay." Zhao Hao held the soup bowl and gently scooped up the meatballs.

"My father-in-law is trying to make me happy. I just did it blindly. You guys don't mind." Qiaoqiao said, looking at Zhao Hao meaningfully and said, "Maybe you'll get tired of it in a few days."

"Why do you say again?" Zhao Jin asked curiously, "I've been eating breakfast at your place for a year and I haven't gotten tired of it."

After saying that, he glanced at Zhao Hao and said, "My dear brother has only eaten two meals at your house, so he will not get tired of it."

"I'm just kidding." Seeing Zhao Hao's embarrassed face, Qiaoqiao covered her mouth and laughed.

~~

Zhao Jin spoke out his secret, and the excitement faded away. Not long after lunch, he sat there and took a nap.

"My dear brother, I'm going to take a short rest and get enough rest so that I can accompany my uncle to study in the evening." Zhao Jin said hello to Zhao Hao, got up and went back to the east wing to take a nap.

Zhao Hao sent him to the door of the main room and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the door of the side room closed.

It was a close call, a very close call. If we had taken action two days later, we would have been unable to start the fire.

And unexpectedly, Zhao Jin was the same age as the second-in-command of the Ministry of Personnel. With such a strong backer in the government, it was no wonder that he was able to rise like a rocket later on.

Earned money, earned money.

Zhao Hao stretched lazily with satisfaction. He had planned to continue writing a book in the afternoon...or rather copying a book, but he felt sleepy after eating, so he went back to his room to take a nap.

"I'll write after I wake up..." Young Master Zhao thought lazily and fell asleep soon after.

But before I fell asleep for long, I heard a knock on the door.

Then there was the sound of Qiaoqiao opening the door. "Monk, who are you looking for?"

"Excuse me, lady donor. I am a close friend of donor Zhao." Then a clear voice like the sound of jade stones colliding replied, "I came to visit you today."

"My master is in jail. You should come back another day."

"It's okay. I'm looking for your young master." The voice was ups and downs, and extremely annoying.

Zhao Hao suddenly lost all sleepiness and came out with a dark face. He saw a bald head shining in the sunlight.

If it’s not the incredibly handsome Master Xuelang, then who else could it be?

"Am I that familiar with you?" The less confident Zhao Hao felt when facing this fanatical fan, the more annoyed he became.

"Donor Zhao, please don't keep people at a distance." But Xuelang, who was usually arrogant and unruly, didn't have any temper with him. "I came here this time to tell you a good news."

"What good news?" Zhao Hao then turned and went into the house.

Xuelang hurriedly followed in, and Qiaoqiao quickly prepared to make tea for them.

"Miss, please brew this tea." Xuelang took out a small porcelain jar from under his wide cassock and said to Zhao Hao with a casual smile, "I was disrespectful to you last time. This jar of purple bamboo shoots is a tribute tea given by someone else. I am offering it to you as a token of my apology."

Only then did Zhao Hao's expression ease a little.

"The water temperature should not be too high. It's best to use mountain water...Okay, just pretend I didn't say anything." Xuelang was about to make a habitual fuss, but realized that he was forcing others to do things that were difficult for him, so he turned to Zhao Hao and said with a smile: "Donor Zhao, I already know about your ancestor's affairs. I have already written to Suzhou and asked Wang Yanzhou, the leader of the literary world, to do justice for you..."

"Who?" Zhao Hao was stunned for a moment before he reacted and said, "Are you talking about Wang Fengzhou?" Wang Yanzhou and Wang Fengzhou are both Wang Shizhen, a great writer who dominates the literary world.

"Yes, it is Wang Fengzhou." Xuelang smiled as if to seek credit, "Donor, you may not know that Wang Fengzhou has a very high prestige in the Ming Dynasty. As long as he raises his arm and calls for action, not only the literary world, but also the government and the public will speak up for you. By then, even the cabinet ministers of the current dynasty will find it difficult to resist the public anger..."

Zhao Hao thought, there is no need for you to make noise, Gao Gong has already incurred public anger. But what is the use?

He shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Alliance Leader Wang may not be able to help much. He is still begging the court for help. How could he create trouble?"

"Ah?" Xuelang was stunned. This was something he didn't know.

Zhao Hao said calmly, "Leader Wang should be in Beijing right now, asking the court to redress his father's innocence! If he offends Gao Gong, wouldn't everything be over?"

Wang Shizhen's father, Wang Rong, was imprisoned and killed by Yan Song. Now the court is rehabilitating the ministers who were wrongly accused in the previous dynasty. The well-informed Wang Mengzhu had already rushed to the capital with his brother, using their connections and making overtures everywhere to try to rehabilitate his father.

"Ah?" Xuelang had heard about Wang Shizhen's family affairs a long time ago. Hearing this, he lamented and said, "Will the poetry world of the Ming Dynasty remain dark for a while?"

But after a while, he cheered up again and said, "But rest assured, sir, I will definitely help you, even if it means sacrificing my life!"

ps. Asking for recommendation votes and chapter reviews~~~ Please fasten your seat belts, the young cabinet minister is about to send out the first bus...

ps2. Sacrifice, oh no, I recommend a stupid book, "I Survived 999 Heavenly Tribulations", written by Lan Baitian.