Chapter 485: Big Trouble
Editor: Atlas Studios
Having successfully passed the Palace Examinations, Fan Zijin was now preparing for the lucky scholar examination. At this moment, he could no longer care about the examination. He rushed straight to the Qi Residence to look for Mu Yangling and shouted in despair, “Haoran is in big trouble!”
Mu Yangling put down the apple in her hand and asked, “What did he do?”
Li Jinghua rushed over and interrupted Fan Zijin. “Zijin, speak slowly. What’s the hurry?”
As she spoke, she went forward to support Mu Yangling and patted her shoulder to comfort her. “Don’t be anxious. They just like to make a fuss.”
Fan Zijin’s expression changed slightly. He looked at Mu Yangling’s stomach with a complicated expression and took a deep breath. After taking a step back, he said, “The rebels in Jinghu attacked the government office on a large scale. Haoran led his troops to fight them and is in a deadlock now. The policy of the court is to eliminate the bandits, but now, he’s leaning towards helping the bandits down plus offering them amnesty. Due to this, many people in the court are impeaching him.”
Mu Yangling looked at him suspiciously. “Really? That’s not considered causing trouble. Why are you so anxious?”
Fan Zijin forced a smile and said, “Seeing as Haoran has a short temper, I’m just worried that the tone of his memorial is too forceful.”
Mu Yangling took a deep breath and said with a straight face, “I’m in good health. As long as he doesn’t die on the battlefield, I can take it. Tell me. Otherwise, I’ll still find out when I go out. Won’t I be even angrier then?”
Secretly anxious, Li Jinghua smiled and said, “You guys should have more confidence in Fourth Brother. I think he’s only going to eliminate the bandits. What trouble can he cause? Ah Ling, you’re already eight months pregnant. The most important thing is to stabilize the fetus.”
Mu Yangling only looked at Fan Zijin. Fan Zijin stood rooted to the ground, drenched in cold sweat. He deeply regretted being too impulsive and coming here. However, seeing how persistent Mu Yangling was, he gritted his teeth and said, “The rebels attacked the government office and various counties. The magistrates of Hengzhou, Yongzhou and five counties under jurisdiction were captured and beheaded by the rebels. None of their families survived. Now, there are 130,000 rebels in Jinghu. In addition to petitioning for granting amnesty to the bandits and redistributing land to them, Haoran even asked for relief grain. The Imperial Court is in an uproar, with many people impeaching Haoran and saying that the deaths of the magistrates were instructed by Haoran.”
Seeing Mu Yangling’s calm expression, Fan Zijin continued, “The key is that they even took out evidence. It seems that the Hengzhou army is really guiding the rebels. If this matter is confirmed, Haoran definitely won’t be able to keep his life. That’s seven families, old and young. Three of the clans are rather influential, too. After today, I’m afraid there will be even more memorials for impeachment.”
Taken aback by the fact that the matter was so serious, Li Jinghua sat down on the chair and said, “No, Fourth Brother couldn’t have done this, right?”
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“No,” Fan Zijin and Mu Yangling said in unison. Seeing that Fan Zijin believed Qi Haoran, Mu Yangling heaved a sigh of relief and said, “Haoran isn’t like those people. Even if those seven people deserve it, the old and young in their family aren’t all bad people. With Haoran’s personality, he won’t do such a thing.”
Fan Zijin nodded repeatedly. “Besides, with the Emperor’s men monitoring Haoran, it’s impossible for him to do such an immoral thing.” At this point, Fan Zijin’s eyes lit up. “That’s right. With His Majesty’s men around Haoran, Haoran can clear his name.”
He relaxed and revealed a calm smile. “It seems that the assistants assigned by the Emperor aren’t completely useless.”
However, Mu Yangling was not so optimistic. “Then why didn’t he write to us? Wasn’t it said that his plea has arrived?”
Fan Zijin held his breath. Li Jinghua’s limbs went weak and she asked with a pale face, “You’re saying that His Majesty instructed this?”
Then, Qi Haoran could only take the blame.
Mu Yangling lowered her eyes and shook her head. “There are many possibilities. Perhaps Minister Qin is using those lives to silence him. By doing this, he killed three birds with one stone and weakened the Emperor and the Qi family’s power.”
“It might also be the doing of Minister Qin’s political enemies. Not only can this make Minister Qin lose manpower, but this will also make him and the Emperor suspect each other. This was also a chance for them to get rid of Haoran.” Fan Zijin quickly followed Mu Yangling’s thoughts. He sat on a chair at the side and pondered. Finally, he said, “The most important thing now is to know how much Haoran knows about this matter. Then, get someone to collect the crimes of these seven people and try to calm the public opinion as much as possible.”
Mu Yangling’s face sank. “No matter what, Haoran can’t admit to this crime. Otherwise, if he can lead the rebels once, he can also lead them a second time. Should someone bring this up one day, he won’t be able to live. The entire Qi family will be implicated, too.”
At this moment, Fan Zijin couldn’t help but be suspicious. “The Emperor really didn’t send Haoran to Jinghu to get rid of Eldest Cousin?” Otherwise, why would he let someone make such a mistake under Qi Haoran’s nose?
Mu Yangling stood up and bowed. “Zijin, I’ll leave the matters outside to you.”
Fan Zijin waved his hand nonchalantly and said, “You don’t have to specially tell me to do that. We’re brothers. You should take care of yourself first. Don’t let Haoran be distracted outside.”
Mu Yangling nodded in agreement. At this moment, she was already eight months pregnant. In another month or so, she would give birth. Her first priority was indeed to take good care of herself.
The next day, Li Jinghua handed Little Treasure over to Mu Yangling and began to represent the Qi family in diplomacy. She had to find out more information and the attitudes of the officials so that more people would view the Qi family and Qi Haoran more kindly.
Mu Yangling also went out with Li Jinghua a few times with her big belly. Everyone pitied her when they saw her with a big belly, so this resulted in a reduction in the number of memorials impeaching Qi Haoran.
However, this was insignificant in the snow-like impeachment. As they waited for Qi Haoran to send another defense memorial, the atmosphere in the Imperial Court reached a boiling point. There was even an unyielding imperial censor who kowtowed until he bled in the Imperial Court to beg the Emperor to punish Qi Haoran. The next day, this imperial censor wrapped a white cloth around his head and went to the streets, feeling very proud.
Fan Zijin nearly wanted to hire some men to throw a gunny-sack over his head and give him a good beating.
Mu Yangling was almost expressionless now. Throughout the day, she only gave orders with a dark expression and did not speak much.
“Still no letter from Fourth Master?”
Spring shook her head. “Young Master Zijin sent a message saying that the court hasn’t received Fourth Master’s defense yet.”
Mu Yangling sighed. “I’m just afraid that he’ll be tied down now. By the time he finds the time, he’ll have been convicted of the crime.”
“What should we do then, Fourth Madam?”
Mu Yangling smiled bitterly. If they knew more, they could refute the rumors or find someone to plead for Qi Haoran. Most importantly, news of this matter was almost sealed off now. They could not get any more information at all, and the people Fan Zijin sent to Jinghu had yet to send a message back.
Mu Yangling only hoped that those seven people were guilty of heinous crimes. It would be best if they were officials who forced the people to rebel. That way, it would explain why the rebels attacked the official residence. As for evidence such as Qi Haoran’s instigation, they would definitely be able to find evidence to refute it.