Inlaid With Jade - Chapter 91

Chapter 91
Reporting illness

Qin Mei’an entered the palace, Li Heming was in trouble, and Lin Jing became the most anxious person. He was worried about his pregnant wife in the palace and his baffled younger sister because her husband went to jail.

Few people in the court knew about Li Heming’s imprisonment for now. Lin Jing only learned about it from Yang Jinming after the court session on the third day. The Imperial Guards detained Li Heming, and Wei Lin personally tried him. To put it bluntly, it was the Imperial Guards’ self-investigation. Hence, Emperor Chong’an ordered Yang Jinming, a new Dali Temple judge with no power or support, to review the trial.

The Yang family was in trouble because Wei Lin led people to raid the house. The blood of countless people in the Yang family stained Wei Lin’s hands. In the eyes of Emperor Chong’an, the two were not accomplices. In addition, Yang Jinming was a disciple of Qin Zheng, who was Qin Mei’an’s grandfather, and Li Heming and Qin Mei’an were in-laws. Emperor Chong’an knew that the punishment of the Northern office was harsh. With this close relationship, he also wanted Yang Jinming to monitor Wei Lin’s degree of punishment so that Li Heming would not die in prison under torture.

If a good sword broke accidentally, making another one would be tough.

Yang Jinming was not an ungrateful person. Li Heming helped the Yang family before, and he kept this great favor in mind. Therefore, after learning about Li Heming’s imprisonment, he told Lin Jing about it.

Lin Zhengqing reported illness these two days and did not attend the morning court. After Lin Jing left the court, he hurried home and looked around. Finally, he saw his father, who had not recovered from his illness, painting in the study vigorously with his hands behind his back, looking calm and healthy. How could he be sick?

Lin Jing ignored why Lin Zhengqing pretended to be sick and asked for leave. He closed the study’s door, walked forward quickly, and lowered his voice anxiously: “Dad, did you know that Li Heming was imprisoned the night before yesterday?”

Lin Zhengqing didn’t respond to this. He took a pen and sketched the outline of the distant mountains on the drawing paper, saying: “Speak softly; don’t let your mother know and make her worry.”

Lin Jing saw that he was not in a hurry; obviously, he had known about it for a long time. He was very puzzled: “When did you know it? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Lin Zhengqing’s promoted disciples were all over the government, and countless people benefited from him. Although he didn’t form a clique for personal gain, people were constantly vying to do such a small thing as notifying.

Lin Zhengqing put down the pen in his hand, looked at the unfinished painting carefully, and replaced it with another pen on the holder, which was filled with thick ink. Then he slowly replied to Lin Jing: “The afternoon before yesterday.”

Lin Jing was so anxious that he didn’t care about the hierarchy that he took the pen directly from Lin Zhengqing: “Dad, don’t paint yet! I’m confused now. Tell me what’s going on first.”

Lin Jing rode home all the way, and his forehead was sweaty. Lin Zhengqing took out a handkerchief, shook his head, and said, “It’s not good to be too impatient. You are not as calm as Son-in-law.”

“He is calm; he was so calm that he went to jail!” Lin Jing remembered that Lin Yu used to call Li Heming “husband” in front of him, frowned, and said, “If Li Er gets into trouble, you will see how sad my little sister is!”

Lin Jing wiped the sweat from his forehead twice and threw the handkerchief on the table, causing the ink on the drawing paper to blur, which made Lin Zhengqing shake his head. He picked up the handkerchief stained with sweat and ink and handed it to Lin Jing with disdain: “Wash it and return it to me.”

Lin Jing took it, put it in his bosom, and asked: “What’s going on? Li Heming was imprisoned suddenly, and there was no news before. I thought it was because the eldest sister missed Mei’an that she summoned her to the palace to accompany her. Now that this happened, I feel that something is wrong.”

In the past, when Lin Jing asked about the court’s affairs, Lin Zhengqing kept nothing from him, but today, he did not explain too much, only saying, “Your wife will be fine; you can relax.”

However, Lin Zhengqing did not mention what would happen to Li Heming. Thus, Lin Jing hurriedly asked: “What about Li Heming?”

Lin Zhengqing shook his head slightly, not knowing whether he was saying that Li Heming was in danger this time or that he didn’t know. He said, “Go and see your little sister. She must be scared because she’s alone.”

When he said that, Lin Jing suddenly understood. Li Heming was imprisoned the night before yesterday. If there were anything, Lin Yu would go home to ask him and his father for help. Now, she was silent; Li Heming probably told her something beforehand.

Lin Jing didn’t stay any longer, turned around, and left: “Then I’ll go, Father.”

Coincidentally, Wang Yueying came to the study to call Lin Zhengqing for a meal. Seeing Lin Jing rushing out of the study, he perfunctorily said, “Mother,” and walked out in a hurry. She wondered, “Lunch is ready. Where is he going in such a hurry?”

Lin Zhengqing lied calmly: “He said he was tired of the food at home and wanted to go to Yu’er place to taste new food.”

Wang Yueying smiled and complained: “He only has that little salary a year. How dare he despise the food at home.”

Hearing this, Lin Zhengqing looked at Wang Yueying and said thoughtfully: “What about my salary? At least it’s a few more taels of silver than Jing’er. “

Wang Yueying retorted: “Your few taels of silver are not enough to make tea for you every year, not to mention that you always need to take some expensive medicine. No one in this mansion would have anything to eat and drink without the land and shops.”

Lin Zhengqing was not angry that his wife despised his meager salary but sighed with relief. He closed the study and smiled, and held Wang Yueying’s hand: “Thanks to Madam’s hard work in managing the family, I can have no worries. “

Wang Yueying shook his hand and smiled: “Then I indeed contributed a lot.”