The spring river is warm and the duck is prophet.

In Luoyang, the capital and the central Ministry of Revenue, Li Ling naturally had to know some decisions and affairs of the court and China faster and easier than others.

For example, some day ago, the emperor rejected the request for the Northern Expedition because the military rations were difficult to operate on time. Then it was even more rumored that the emperor intended to suppress the prince.

In the past two days, another rumors about the prince began to spread slowly in the officialdom of the capital, that is, officials of the Eastern Palace actually began to join forces and submit memorials, intending to persuade the emperor to recall the prince from the north.

Li Ling could naturally figure out their intentions at once. This was because the conflict between the Prince Yi Party and the Yongwang Party has been almost made public. Whether it was out of the idea of ​​protecting the prince or to use the prince's power to suppress the contender for the throne, the princelings in the capital really needed him to come back and take charge of the overall situation.

However, Li Ling could also estimate the result of their doing so, and it would definitely not be successful. Because the emperor would never allow the prince to return at will at this time, whether in terms of rules or from his own interests, it would be the same result.

In terms of rules, since the reign of Emperor Taizu, this dynasty had decided that the prince had to serve in the northern border for three years, but now it has been less than two years since the prince went to the northern border. As for the emperor's interests, he has only suppressed the officials of the Eastern Palace and he does not want to cause trouble anymore.

However, the officials of the East Palace were still quite strong. In early September, Li Ling heard that they had jointly submitted a memorial and gathered forty or fifty officials to report to the emperor, intending to change his mind. As a result, he was scolded by the emperor without any surprise. It is said that two of the leading officials were directly dismissed, waiting for the final verdict.

Of course, Li Ling only watched the battle between these princes and emperors, fathers and sons, kings and ministers. In his capacity, he really had no intention of participating. Moreover, he had no solution to his own problems. At least until now, he has not been able to fully make up his mind whether to risk going back to southern Yunnan.

But sometimes things often develop unexpectedly again. Li Ling thought that this matter had nothing to do with him, but when he was resting on this day, he found that the situation was not as he thought.

On the morning of the tenth day of the lunar month, Xu Cang came to the door with a serious expression. As soon as he saw Li Ling, he pulled him into the study, and then suddenly bent his knees and wanted to bow to him.

This made Li Ling frightened. Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough and quickly supported him: "Brother Zhuowu, what are you doing?"

"I... Wen Zhong, I really have no choice but to find you to save me..." Xu Cang said with an uneasy look on his face.

"What big thing happened? Tell me slowly, don't be anxious. As long as I can help, I will never refuse." Li Ling said, and helped him to sit down on the chair beside him.

Xu Cang stumbled for a moment before looking at Li Ling and said, "I... my teacher was suddenly taken to the capital more than ten days ago and was imprisoned. I was afraid... I was afraid I would be convicted of a serious crime. I asked many people for help, but they... they had no choice but to come to you with shamelessness."

"Your teacher... are you talking about Zhang Ru?" Li Ling was also stunned. Seeing the other party nodding, he said curiously, "He is not in Xuzhou, and he is no longer a court official. How could he be arrested by the court and be taken into the capital? He is a famous scholar in the world!"

"Because... because of the teacher, he had a joint letter with someone before..."

Before Xu Cang finished speaking, Li Ling's expression changed again: "Are you saying that Zhang Rushi and the officials of the East Palace jointly submitted a memorial to His Majesty, wanting the prince to return to Beijing?"

"That's right, do you know this?"

Li Ling nodded a little heavy, then sighed: "Sir Zhang Ru is confused. Now he is not a court official, but just a people who have retired and lived in vain. How could he dare to get involved in such a major event?"

Xu Cang smiled bitterly: "The teacher's personality has always been like this. As long as it is something he believes is right, he will never worry about the consequences. Moreover, he was the young tutor of the prince before, and he was already close to the prince, so he felt that it was necessary to speak for the prince.

"I still remember that when I was in Xuzhou that day, the teacher was very happy to hear that the prince was sent to the northern border by His Majesty. He even drank a lot of pain for this... And this time someone asked the teacher to take the lead in the report, so he did not refuse!"

"What did you say? This time, the Confucian master was still taking the lead in the commentary of His Majesty's recall of the prince?" Li Ling was surprised and could not control his voice.

"They said that the teacher is a great scholar in the world and was once a high-ranking official in the court. Only with him can everyone feel at ease, so the teacher did not refuse and signed the name directly." Xu Cang answered honestly, while Li Ling only felt that his mind was buzzing. The behavior of this Confucian scholar was too naive. He was not like a person with decades of official experience. He was completely used as a gun!

Obviously, the prince and the other party knew how dangerous this report was. Once the emperor was furious, what would the result would be if the joint letter submitted, especially the leader... So they pushed Zhang Hefeng, who was idle at home, to the forefront. It was really a scam.

"Wen Zhong, you have to help you think of a solution. If the teacher is really good, I, a disciple, will be ashamed to be in this court!" Xu Cang stood up again and arched to the ground deeply.

This time, Li Ling did not stop him. He was in a mess and couldn't react. He was just thinking about the seriousness of the matter in his mind. After a while, he sighed and said, "But you should also know that I am just a small director of the Ministry of Revenue and do not even have the right to submit a memorial to Your Majesty. How can you help you in this matter?"

"I...you...you have more ideas. Now, I really can't find anyone who can save the teacher except you." Xu Cang also looked confused. Obviously, this was the last life-saving straw he could catch when he was desperate.

Li Ling heard something different from his words: "What do you mean by saying this? What about the princelings who pushed Confucian masters to this point? Do they just sit back and watch Confucian masters be convicted and ignore them?"

"They..." Xu Cang gritted his teeth and snorted, "I actually went to find them after I learned the news early. Some of my colleagues in the Hanlin Academy only said that they could not help, and as for other adults, I couldn't even meet each other. Originally, I wanted to ask the Ministry of Revenue Fanbutang, after all, he was the leader of the Donggong Party in Beijing, but he avoided him and asked someone to pass on a message to me, saying that the teacher might not be a problem. How could it be fine? He was taken back to the capital overnight and threw himself into the Hall of Yama. If he didn't save him again, I'm afraid..." At the end, he shivered even more.

Li Ling was suddenly stunned: "Yan Luo Palace? Are you referring to the Imperial City Prison?"

Over the past half a month, with the sudden rise of the Imperial City Division, many officials fell into their hands, causing the cold yamen to become famous - of course, it was a bad reputation. As a result, it was called the Hall of Yama, meaning that as long as it was taken away by the Imperial City Division, it would not be able to get out again.

Xu Cang nodded with a panic look on his face: "It's the Imperial City Office. Senior Brother Xiong, who brought me a letter, has been there with me, but he couldn't even enter the door, let alone meet the teacher."

Li Ling calmed down at this time: "In this way, it's really the Confucian master who was ordered by His Majesty. This matter is really difficult. The officials of the Eastern Palace were very smart. When they saw that the situation was not good, they shrank their heads and turned into turtles."

"These people are really hateful. If they say one thing and do another, the teacher shouldn't believe their nonsense. It was because they were pushed by him that he was dismissed from office. This time, he was plotted against him again..."

Looking at Xu Cang's gritting teeth, Li Ling could only pat his shoulder: "So you and I have to learn from you. As an official in the court, you must always be alert and never be used by others. You are foolish enough to think that you are doing good things for the country and the people."

Xu Cang nodded. The teacher's experience this time had a great impact on him. Some of the inherent views on right and wrong had begun to loosen and collapse at this moment. However, what he was most concerned about now was whether he could rescue the teacher from the Hall of Yama, so he looked at Li Ling again: "Wen Zhong, can you really not come up with a solution this time?"

Li Ling frowned and pondered for a while, then said slowly: "Sir Zhang Ru has also helped me. Now that I see him in trouble, I naturally cannot stand by and watch. However, this matter was done by Your Majesty after all, and it is not easy for me and my ministers to save people."

After pausing, he said, "But I think things will always turn around, and you don't have to be too panic. I will find a way to meet the Confucian master first and then find a proper way to come out."

"You... can you really meet the teacher?" This statement is obviously more surprising than Li Ling's promise to help rescue Zhang Hefeng. That's the Hall of Yama. Not to mention the new officials of the dynasty, even high-ranking officials above the fourth rank, it is not easy to go to the Imperial City Office to meet Zhang Hefeng who was designated as the imperial prisoner.

Li Ling smiled and said, "I dare not say enough, 80% chance. In this way, you will give me three days. Whether it succeeds or not, you will give you a definite answer."

Xu Cang looked at Li Ling's eyes carefully, and when he saw that he did not dodge at all when he spoke, his heart suddenly became relaxed. He was still very clear about his friend's abilities. Since he dared to say that he was 80% sure, he naturally had a solution. So at that moment, he bowed and bowed again: "Then I'll ask you to warm up all of it."

Li Ling held him up and said, "No need to do this. You and I are friends. If there are any difficulties, I should help you. Besides, Master Confucian is half of my teacher, so there is no reason to refuse. But there is a saying that I have to put it in front of you. Maybe you still need to cooperate with me at that time, so don't shirk it."
Chapter completed!