Li Zhi, don't be a coward

After leaving Tai Chi Palace, Li Qinzai rushed back to the Duke's Mansion without stopping.

The purpose of entering the palace today is to inquire about Li Zhi's attitude towards Shangguan and his son, and the second is to protect the safety of Shangguan and his son.

Of course, if Li Zhi's attitude towards Shangguan and his son was disgusting, or he had murderous intentions, then Li Qinzai would not say anything, and it would be enough to save the lives of Shangguan's two children.

After all, he was not stubborn enough to confront Li Zhi.

Now that Li Qinzai had got the answer he wanted, Li Zhi really wanted to save the lives of Shangguan and his son.

So Li Qinzai suddenly gained confidence, and hurried back home after leaving the palace.

Back in the mansion, Li Qinzai immediately called Feng Su, and ordered to mobilize 200 members of the Li family, armed with halberds, to escort Shangguan and his son to the south of the city tomorrow.

Li Qinzai looked very serious when he gave the order. He told Feng Su that there would almost certainly be assassins on the way to assassinate Shangguan and his son, and no matter who came to assassinate, it would be over.

Feng Su clasped his fists in response, turned around and strode out.

Li Qinzai felt a little relieved, the lives of Shangguan and his son should be saved, unless the other party dared to mobilize troops to intercept Shangguan and his son on the road.

If the army was mobilized, the nature of the matter would be different. No one would do such a stupid thing under the premise that Li Zhi did not express his position on the annexation of the land by the eight prominent families in the south of the Yangtze River.

In the eyes of the eight prominent families, Shangguan father and son deserved to die, especially Shangguan Tingzhi, who dared to name and impeach them in the Golden Palace. This is an endless hatred.

However, the attitude of the emperor is very important. After Shangguan Tingzhi went to participate in the impeachment, the emperor not only did not adopt his memorial, but exiled their father and son to Qiongzhou, which shows that the emperor did not want to touch the interests of the eight prominent families in the south of the Yangtze River. The matter should be suppressed up.

The affairs of the court belong to the affairs of the court, and the affairs of the rivers and lakes belong to the affairs of the rivers and lakes.

It has to be admitted that although Shangguan Tingzhi's memorandum was suppressed by the emperor, it had caused a storm in the court, and many disciples of the eight prominent families were officials in the court.

After this incident, the party members of the famous family must keep a low profile in the court, and it is best not to show their faces in front of the emperor, otherwise they are afraid of bringing up unpleasant memories of the emperor.

What about rivers and lakes?

Those who deserve to be killed must be killed.

The Shangguan father and son are not dead, and when they arrive in Qiongzhou safely, how many memorials will be presented to the court and how many evidences will be cited to completely overthrow the annexation of the land by the wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River. These two cannot let them live.

If the interests of a powerful group are touched, the consequences will be dire. The Shangguan family has undoubtedly been caught in a storm. As long as the father and son leave Chang'an for Qiongzhou tomorrow, there will be infinite murderous opportunities waiting for them on the road.

…………

Early the next morning, the door of the criminal prison was opened.

Shangguanyi, Shangguan Tingzhi and his son wore dirty prison clothes and walked out of the prison step by step.

Fortunately, because the matter was too involved, the officials from the Ministry of Punishment did not dare to torture the father and son. Apart from changing into prison clothes and being poorly fed in prison, Shangguan and his son suffered basically no other torture.

There were many people standing outside the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice. When they saw the father and son coming out, there was a burst of crying. Many people shouted "Patriarch" and "Lang Jun", but they wanted to rush up but were stopped by the officials.

These people are all the women, children, old and weak members of the Shangguan family. Shangguan Tingzhi was dismissed from office, and his father and son were exiled. The sky has fallen in the Shangguan family. Today the father and son are leaving Chang'an for Qiongzhou. The women, children, old and weak members of the family are waiting outside the prison of the Ministry of Punishment to see them off. .

There was no sadness on the faces of Shangguan and his son. Instead, they nodded and smiled at their relatives not far away.

Four officials followed behind the father and son expressionlessly. They were ordered to escort Shangguan father and son. To them, this is of course not a good job. It took eight lifetimes of bad luck to encounter such a job.

From Chang'an to Qiongzhou, people have to go back after being sent to the official posts. Half a year has passed since they came and went. There is no chance to get promoted and make a fortune, and they have to endure the hardships of the journey. How can the official posts be in a good mood?
Li Qinzai led Shangguan Kun'er and Shangguan Wan'er, and the three of them were also among the people seeing him off.

Looking at the grandfather and father in prison clothes in the distance, the two babies couldn't help crying.

Shangguan father and son also saw Li Qinzai and the two babies, and the father and son's eyes turned red immediately, and their calm mood was disturbed at this moment.

"Grandpa, father—" Shangguan Kun'er cried out sadly.

They wanted to rush in front of Shangguan Yi, but Li Qinzai held the two children tightly on their shoulders.

"Don't go there, just say goodbye like this. Don't worry, everything is arranged." Li Qinzai soothed in a low voice.

The two babies stopped struggling and continued to cry.

In the crowd, Shangguanyi and Li Qinzai's eyes met. Li Qinzai smiled at Shangguanyi, and then nodded slowly.

The two of them didn't say a word, but those who were as shrewd as an official, immediately understood Li Qinzai's meaning, heaved a sigh of relief, and nodded and smiled at him.

From the prison of the Ministry of Justice to the gate of Chang'an City, four officers escorted them all the way, and the crowd followed silently. It was not until they left the city gate and traveled ten miles that the women, children, old and weak of the Shangguan family stopped under Shangguan Yi's scolding. , watching the father and son drifting away, the relatives cried loudly.

After the official start of the exile journey, the expressions of the father and son were not relaxed, but became more solemn.

When Shangguan Tingzhi looked back uncomfortably for the first time, Shangguanyi suddenly smiled and said in a low voice, "Don't worry my son, Duke Li has made arrangements."

Shangguan Tingzhi was taken aback for a moment, as if he understood something, and sighed with a wry smile: "My Shangguan family and the Li family have always had a friendly relationship, I never thought that Li Jungong would lend a helping hand..."

Shangguanyi said in a low voice: "Everything in the world has its own fate, you, I still have to thank the old man for sending Kun'er to study under Duke Li on a whim."

"This teacher-student relationship is the important reason why Duke Li is willing to lend a helping hand. Of course, I also have to thank you for giving birth to such a lovely and smart daughter, Wan'er, for making Duke Li fall in love with her and have the two families worry about getting married. Otherwise, … It’s such a catastrophic disaster, and Duke Li is not stupid, so how could he act so rashly?”

Shangguan Tingzhi sighed: "Anyway, I can lend a helping hand at this time. The Shangguan family owes a lot to Duke Li. It was the child who was too impulsive and caused a big disaster for the family..."

Shangguanyi shook her head: "Forget it, everything has been done, why should the old man be harsh on you, you are already middle-aged, but you are still too immature to be an official, if you can get through this calamity safely, you should learn more."

The father and son chatted in low voices while walking, but they didn't know that the murderous intent gradually permeated the road behind them.

After parting from the family members, a team of more than ten people quietly followed Shangguan and his son.

This team was disguised as a caravan, but the people in the team were all ferocious and murderous, and they didn't look like businessmen engaged in serious business.

When Shangguan and his son left the city gate, the caravan turned from a branch road outside the city into the main road and followed Shangguan and his son at a distance. The distance between them was only three to five miles.