Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 41: Towards the Heavens
In the afternoon, near dusk, a simple horse-drawn carriage drove into Xuanfanfang, where the Henan Prefecture Government Office was located. After the carriage stopped, Zhou Lang got out of the carriage. After paying the fare, he lowered his head to tidy up his clothes and walked straight to the gate of the Henan Prefecture Government Office.

Several officials stood in front of the government office, staffs in hand, observing the passersby with a somewhat bored air. Soon, one noticed Zhou Lang approaching and whispered to his companions, "Look! Isn't that the son of Zhou Lushi? This brat, this brat is coming towards us! How dare he?"

Everyone in the mansion had long known about the plight of Zhou Liang's family. As the lowest-level officials, they were not too worried about being punished for the frequent floods in Luonan, so they also felt some sympathy for Zhou Liang's family.

At this moment, an official standing in the outermost room raised his wooden staff, pointed at Zhou Lang from a distance, and shouted, "Don't come any closer, or you'll be punished!"

Zhou Lang turned a deaf ear to the scolding and continued walking straight to the gate of the government office. Now, even if the officials in front of the gate wanted to ignore him, they could no longer do so. They could only approach with sticks and surround Zhou Lang. One of them even shouted in a low voice: "What are you doing here, Zhou's brat! Since you have escaped, why are you still..."

Faced with the crowd surrounding him, Zhou Lang showed no fear. He simply raised the scroll of petition in his hand high and shouted, "I am not here to discuss family matters. I am here to sue the dignitaries of the court for allowing their servants to cause harm to the people of the village. I have also filed a petition with my accomplices, and have even reached the emperor with a letter! If you officials are unable to make a decision on this matter, please inform the responsible superiors immediately and do not interfere, lest you bring harm to others!"

The yamen runners originally wanted to arrest Zhou Lang and throw him directly into prison, but after hearing his words, their faces changed. Two of them went forward to control Zhou Lang, while another one went forward, snatched the petition from Zhou Lang's hand, and hurried into the mansion to report.

The commotion in front of the mansion also attracted other people in the mansion. Especially some officials, when they heard that the son of the guilty official Zhou Liang had come to surrender, they also came forward with a guilty conscience and wanted to find out what was going on.

Zhou Lang was taken to the government office. His eyes swept across the faces of the Henan officials who had rushed there after hearing the news. There were many people he knew among them, and each of them might have participated in the slander and persecution of his father, which made him extremely angry.

Henan Yin Zhang Jingzhong has been extremely busy with the Luonan flood situation in recent days. When he learned that the son of the fugitive official Zhou Liang had been brought to justice but refused to plead guilty, and instead threatened to sue the powerful, he was furious. After quickly scanning the petition handed over by the official, his face suddenly became extremely serious.

He couldn't even wait for the official to escort Zhou Lang into the hall. He hurried out first. Seeing the officials approaching, Zhang Jingzhong impatiently dismissed them. Then he came to Zhou Liang and said in a loud voice, "My son Zhou, is the matter you are suing about true or false? Do you have any evidence?"

Although Zhou Lang was just an ordinary young man, his mentality had undergone a huge change after suffering a family tragedy. His character became more resolute. He was not intimidated by the high position of the prefect. After hearing this, he just looked at the other party and said in a deep voice: "Mr. Zhang Yan is famous throughout the world and has great power in the court. Without solid evidence, how dare I make a false accusation! However, this matter is of great importance. The governor is a new official and knows little about local affairs, so I am afraid it will be difficult to make a judgment.

"The former Grand Chancellor, Doctor Cui, is well aware of this matter. The Censorate is now in a position to make a decision. Please, Your Excellency, promptly report this to the former Grand Chancellor, Doctor Cui of the Imperial Censorate, who has now arrived at the court. Only then will I dare to reveal this matter!"

"How dare you! Your father, Zhou Liang, acted recklessly and breached the dike, causing the Luonan flood. His crime is grave, and even death is unforgivable! You fled, which was already illegal, and now you dare to enter the government office to cause a disturbance and slander the ministers. The punishments imposed by the government are designed to severely punish stubborn and reckless people like you!"

When Zhang Jingzhong heard that this boy actually looked down on him so much, he was extremely angry and immediately ordered the officials to torture this boy.

Under normal circumstances, Zhou Lang wouldn't have dared to act so boldly, but now he was so reckless that even the prefect's powerful presence couldn't frighten him. He simply shouted, "Your Excellency, are you determined to abandon justice and cover up this crime for Lord Zhang Yan? Even if you're going to torture me to death right now, aren't you worried that others in the prefecture will expose this?"

"What? This kid actually wants to sue Zhang Yan Gong?"

After hearing this, the people who had just dispersed quickly gathered back and stared at this place with wide eyes.

Although the top-level struggles in the court were too far away from them, they had heard of these things. In particular, the Imperial Censor Cui Yinfu who attacked Yan Gong Zhang Shuo this time was the former Yin of Henan, which made these Henan officials feel more involved.

"What nonsense are you talking about! I didn't mean that, but what you said is not entirely true..."

After hearing this, Zhang Jingzhong's face suddenly changed and he waved his hands hurriedly to deny it. Although he was the awe-inspiring Henan Yin in front of his subordinates and the people, he did not dare to interfere easily in the top-level court political struggles, let alone take a stand.

Especially now there are many former officials promoted by Cui Yinfu in the mansion. What happened in the mansion today may be reported to Cui Yinfu word for word in the near future. Naturally, he dare not bear the suspicion of shielding Zhang Shuo.

Although he was furious at the boy's contempt for him, Zhang Jingzhong knew that this matter was not something he should deal with privately behind closed doors. So he ordered again, "Quickly take the heavy shackles and lock this man in front of the hall. Then send someone to the Xiantai to report to Doctor Cui and ask for his decision."

Doing so certainly made him feel humiliated, but the frequent floods in Luonan and the fact that the court officials had not yet made a decision had already made him worried and anxious. At the moment, he dared not get involved in other serious personnel disputes. It was better not to get involved in such troubles.

As soon as he gave the order, someone volunteered to come forward and ordered the official to lead a fast horse to go to the imperial city to report the relevant matters to the Imperial Censor Cui Yinfu.

The imperial city is where all the court departments are located. Although there are security restrictions at the city gates, they are not very strict. Ordinary officials can pass through as long as they bring a seal to prove their identity.

However, the entry standards for different offices in the imperial city are different. The entrance guards to some minor offices are almost non-existent, but it is extremely difficult to enter important offices like the Secretariat and the Ministry of Personnel without an introduction.

The Eastern Capital Censorate was located in the first row west of Tianjie Street within the Imperial City, visible from the Duanmen Gate. This was also a key imperial office, making it difficult for officials from Henan Prefecture to enter. They could only announce their purpose outside the official residence and wait for a summons. In the Censorate's main hall, Chief Officer Cui Yinfu was buried in his papers. The desk before him was piled high with files, and beside it lay several overflowing baskets of files.

These files were all records made by the Censorate in recent years concerning matters concerning the Minister of the Central Secretariat Zhang Shuo and his trusted associates. Cui Yinfu took the trouble to look through them again and again, hoping to discover some new personnel clues, so all other cases were put aside.

A few days ago, he joined forces with two Zhongcheng and took the initiative to attack Zhongshu Ling Zhang Shuo. Although Zhang Shuo was imprisoned, the situation gradually changed with the passage of time.

Especially this morning, in the court, Zhang Shuo's brother, Zuo Shuzi Zhang Guang, cut off his ear to protest for justice in front of the emperor and all the officials. Not only did the court officials feel greatly shocked, but even the emperor's attitude changed. It is said that in the afternoon he even sent Bohai Duke and the internal attendant Gao Lishi out of the palace to visit Zhang Shuo at his residence.

This change in the situation naturally made Cui Yinfu very worried. He knew that Zhang Shuo had many followers and was vindictive. If he could not defeat him completely this time, once he recovered, there would be endless troubles in the future, or even the outcome might be reversed.

Therefore, Cui Yinfu urgently needed to launch a new offensive and not let Zhang Shuo escape. However, the previous offensive had been planned for a long time, and it was difficult to find a new attack point in such a hurry.

"A Henan official is here to file a lawsuit? Nonsense! Doesn't he have officials in his prefecture to handle lawsuits?"

When Cui Yinfu heard the clerk report that an official from Henan Prefecture was outside seeking an audience, he immediately looked displeased, but then he quickly raised his head and asked in a hurry, "Who is being sued? Is he suing the Duke of Yan? Quickly, quickly bring him in!"

Soon the Henan official was led into the hall and told the story of Zhou Liang's son suing Zhang Shuo. However, when Cui Yinfu asked for details, he could not explain it clearly. After all, the lawsuit was still in the hands of the prefect Zhang Jingzhong and had not been made public.

Cui Yinfu was not willing to give up any possibility at this moment, and of course he did not expect that someone would use this opportunity to lure him out of the imperial city, so he hurriedly ordered the clerk to notify the Chief Censor Li Linfu to stay in the office, and he hurriedly left the Censorate and went to Henan Prefecture with the person who came to report the news.

When Cui Yinfu left the imperial city and galloped towards the south of Tianjin Bridge, Zhang Luo was squatting under the shade of a tree across the long street near the Zuoye Gate of the imperial city, playing a game of recognizing people and calling their names with others.

"That's Li Lingwen, Duke of Song. Give him money! That's Yang Wang, the Imperial Censor... and, and, the Imperial Censor Cui Yinfu. Come again, come again..."

A middle-aged man wearing a crotchless robe, with his sleeves rolled up to reveal half of his tattooed arm, and with a somewhat greasy face, pointed excitedly at the high-ranking officials coming out of the Duanmen Gate in the distance, and kept shouting and introducing them.

Zhang Luo cheerfully counted out dozens of coins to the middle-aged man, saying with a smile, "Brother, you are truly knowledgeable. You can actually identify so many officials in the court. I really admire you. I am convinced of my defeat!"

"It's nothing to just recognize a few officials! Unfortunately, Dongdu is not the territory of our Five Quarters heroes after all, and there are many inconveniences. If you go to Chang'an next year, I will take you to visit the royal residences without any problem!"

The middle-aged man counted dozens of coins back and forth, smiling broadly, then frowned again: "You're missing a coin. I remember clearly that Xu Gong and Su Yan also did it just now!"

"I forgot."

Zhang Luo directly took out two coins and threw them to the street urchin who wanted to take him to visit the royal residences in Chang'an, and sighed that this old Chang'an native was more boastful than himself.

If this guy could get into a royal family to beg for money, he wouldn't have to squat here for most of the day with his eyes wide open just to get some money to spend.

When he was walking out of Qinghuafang, he met this man from the Five Quarters who claimed to be the hero who accompanied the emperor to the east to be enthroned and was bragging on the street. He used words to provoke this street urchin to follow him to the south of the imperial city to identify people, and he would give him one penny for each person he identified.

Tang Dynasty regulations required officials to commute by horse or donkey unless there was a special reason, making it easy to identify officials entering and leaving. This Wufang hero wasn't bragging; he actually knew quite a few officials, and he even pointed out Cui Yinfu, whom Zhang Luo didn't recognize.

"Good boy, you're quite straightforward. But I'm just in a bad mood today. I need to raise some capital to make up for my losses, so I don't have time to talk to you in detail today. When you get to Chang'an in the future, just look for me, Liu Zhiliu of Yaofang, and I'll take you on a tour of the capital, and even get drunk in the north of Pingkangfang!"

The man put all the money into his pocket, then patted Zhang Luo on the shoulder and said proudly. When he heard the curfew drum sound, he quickly ran to Qinghuafang in Luobei, worried that he would be blocked outside the square and would not have time to go to the cockfight to make up for his losses.

Zhang Luo also walked out from the shade of the trees, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, and headed straight towards the Duanmen Gate.

(End of this chapter)