Episode 22

For the sake of friendship, Lin'an resolutely went to the former court in person and submitted a blood letter. This move greatly shocked the officials of the Manchu Dynasty.Princess Pingyang fled privately against the imperial edict, which was something that could easily be criticized. But with Lin'an here, those who wanted to excuse Zhang Feng were blocked by her.Eventually, the emperor ordered Zhang Feng to be beheaded.

When the imperial concubine learned that her daughter Lin'an had gone to court over this matter, she was so angry that she went to find her personally and blamed her for interfering in government affairs.The imperial concubine believed that Lin'an was too pampered by his father and did not understand worldly affairs, but now he showed up in public for a princess, which was really inappropriate.However, Lin'an turned a deaf ear to her mother's reproach. She only had Pingyang in her heart, and she couldn't help but feel heartbroken when she recalled the tragic situation of the last time she saw her.At this time, a butterfly flew over and surrounded Lin'an for a long time, unwilling to leave. Lin'an looked at the butterfly and secretly wondered, could it be that Sister Pingyang was finally freed?

Heng Hui was released from prison and learned that Zhang Feng would be beheaded within five days and that those who had murdered Princess Pingyang would be punished as they deserved. She felt relieved.The post of Minister of the Ministry of War was vacant, and the emperor asked ministers to recommend candidates. Everyone rushed to recommend their cronies, but Wei Yuan remained silent.The emperor handed the matter over to Shangshu Bureau and asked Wei Yuan for his opinion.Wei Yuan took the opportunity to plead with the emperor to pardon Lin'an's death penalty, but the emperor did not agree.

Since the unjust case of Pingyang, Lin'an has been staying in the palace, not thinking about food and tea, and crying every day.The eldest princess saw that Lin'an was so sad, so she asked Xu Qi'an to pass a scroll and cakes to her.However, Lin'an's maid turned Xu Qi'an away, and no one wanted to see Lin'an at this time.

After the maid left, Lin'an opened the scroll sent by Xu Qian. It turned out to be painted by Princess Pingyang during her lifetime. It depicts the scene of them visiting the Lantern Festival together, and there is also a small poem inscribed by Pingyang himself.Seeing Pingyang's handwriting, Lin'an burst into tears again.The prince came to visit Lin'an and felt very sad when he heard her crying.

Because Xu Qi'an hadn't taken home any money for a long time, his aunt started to find trouble and asked him and Xu Pingzhi to immediately take out their monthly salary.However, at this time, the father-in-law of the imperial court came to the Xu family to read out the imperial edict. It turned out that the five thousand taels of gold that the emperor had previously rewarded had finally been distributed.Xu Pingzhi and his aunt's eyes widened when they saw so much gold.Xu Qi'an's family status also skyrocketed as a result, and both his aunt and Xu Pingzhi greeted him.Xu Qian was also very generous and gave some of the gold to his aunt to take care of.

Xu Qi'an also gave some gold to his former Tongluo brothers and Li Yuchun. They were very grateful when they saw the gold.In this world, there are not many people who can share joys and sorrows, but Xu Qian knows how to share, and he is really a rare good person.

The emperor never pardoned Xu Qian's death penalty, which made him very uneasy.Wei Yuan told him that it might be because of the incident with Linglong last time that the emperor was dissatisfied with him.Xu Qian then asked if he could avoid death if he caught Zhou Chixiong. Wei Yuan nodded and said that catching Zhou Chixiong was indeed a great achievement.In the end, the second member of the Tiandi Society caught Zhou Chixiong and rode a phoenix to send him to Xu Qian.Xu Qian found a scholar from White Deer Academy and Cai Wei from Si Tianjian to accompany him to meet the emperor.