Fanglian’s wish was actually very simple. The child had grown up and had been raised by Zhao for so many years. If she could get him back, that would be fine. If she couldn’t get him back, she didn’t want to force it.

After all, she had not fulfilled her responsibility of raising the child for a single day, and the child was raised quite well by Zhao. In addition, this was Mo Quan’s offspring, so if they were willing to follow Zhao, then that was fine.

She didn’t plan to remarry, firstly because it was too difficult, and secondly because she didn’t want to be a slave and serve others until her death.

So she decided to teach the girls to read. What she had learned over the years, although shallow, was enough for them to know how to read and write.

While doing odd jobs to earn money, it would be best if she could open a small school to give a chance to girls like her who want to learn literature but have no chance.

It can also be regarded as making up for the suffering I have endured in my half-life.

It was a sunny day. Ah-yi was standing in the courtyard wearing a thin spring dress, taking out all the books in the house to dry in the sun. “It’s not difficult. I support your idea, but you can take a long-term view and open a school directly. You can hire female teachers and accept female scholars. It will also be a good thing to benefit the people. I will pay for the necessary expenses for you.”

When she said this, the sun’s scattered light fell on her body, forming a layer of compassion. She was like a fairy from a storybook who traveled around the world and came to save all living beings from suffering.

Fanglian had long thought that since she could help them mother and daughter in this way, and agreed so readily, and lived in this royal mansion, she should not be an ordinary woman.

It was not until she was attending the trial in court that she learned her true identity.

Today, the case of the Mo family in Jiannan Road was publicly tried. Outside the courtroom, there was a bustling crowd. Half of the people came to watch the fun, and half came to see the princess and her husband.

The person who tried the case happened to be Su Yun, the nephew of Zhang Shilang, who had just been promoted to the position of judge of the Dali Temple. Su Yun grew up with his mother in Kezhou. After passing the provincial examination, he went to the capital to take the exam. Hengzhi also led civil and military officials to personally see him off outside Kezhou.

Although it was a common courtesy to scholars, it left a deep impression on him.

Su Yun was wearing an official robe and holding a scroll in his hand. He first greeted the princess and Marquis Zhao who were listening to the trial, and said, “I greet your highness, your highness, and I greet Marquis Zhao.”

Ah-yi held the tea bowl and smiled slightly, “No thanks.”

Hengzhi did not mention the fact that Su Yun was from Kezhou. Probably because he did not want this relationship to affect today’s verdict and to be sued for injustice again, so he just nodded.

“Your Highness, please allow me to report. I was appointed as a judge in the Dali Temple. Not long ago, I was ordered to go on a diplomatic mission to various places. The Empress Dowager has issued an edict to confer a higher title on me and ordered me to bring it along. As usual, I should announce the imperial edict first.”

Shen Ji was supposed to ascend the throne in May, but now it is neither legitimate nor justifiable. What is the Queen Mother doing?
Ah’ao did not want to make it clear here, as it would make her look like a bully and also give the Mo family room to argue, so she took the imperial edict from Su Yun.

This was an imperial edict to confer the title on Princess Xuancheng as Princess Pingchuan Chen Chang, and the conferment ceremony was held on the same day as the regent conferred the title.

Among the regulations on the rewards for the princess, this one is the most generous.

Pingchuan is the fertile land closest to the capital, and has always been a prosperous place without disasters. Since the establishment of the Dachong Dynasty, except for Taizu who enfeoffed Ping Wang for his founding contributions, no one has been enfeoffed since then.

A’ao looked at the red seal on the imperial edict and wondered whether Jin Niuniu knew the importance of this piece of land.

In name, she was Shen Ji’s cousin, so it was reasonable to give her the title of Princess. Adding the character Chen to her name would bring honor to the Chen family, and it was also considered thoughtful, so she had no reason to refuse.

Forget it. Instead of thinking so much, the red seal has been stamped. It would be better to calculate how much salary Princess Chen Chang can receive in a year.

A’ao rolled up the imperial edict and whispered to Su Yun, “I understand. There is no need to read it out. When the title is conferred, the whole world will know about it. When you return to Ducheng, tell the regent and thank him and the queen mother for their kindness.”

Before the trial began, Fanglian was standing behind A’ao waiting. She only took a glance at A’ao’s hand and saw the words “Princess” in large letters.

The black and white light was clear, and it rushed straight to Fanglian’s head. In an instant, her hands and feet felt cold and her knees felt weak. She was so scared that she almost fell down and grabbed her mother’s arm.

They were all common people, and they were so nervous and terrified even to meet the county magistrate. How could they be so lucky as to meet such a nobleman?

This edict was addressed to this Madam Cui, which meant that she was the eldest princess to be canonized.

The princess herself wrote a petition for her and gave her gold and silver to encourage her to open an academy. It was not as described in the previous arrest warrant that she was naughty and uneducated and disrespectful to the emperor.

A person who is willing to get into trouble when he sees injustice and thinks he is helping others is at least more kind and merciful than an emperor who levies heavy taxes and ignores the people’s grievances.

Su Yun sat in the main seat and the gavel was knocked, indicating that the court was officially opening.

“Wang Fanglian, you submitted a petition to this government a few days ago, accusing the Mo family of Jiannan Road of forcing you to be buried alive, taking away your offspring, and allowing their son to abuse you for many years. Is everything you said true?”

Fanglian knelt in the middle of the hall and straightened her back. “Your Excellency, every word is true.”

Su Yun looked at the Mo family couple standing beside him, “Mo, do you have any rebuttal?”

Of course there is. Mr. Mo immediately stepped forward and took out a piece of yellowed paper, “Sir, please allow me to report! Fanglian is not my son Mo Quan’s concubine, but was sold to my family by her father to be a maid. Here is the indenture as proof.”

The bailiff presented the indenture to Su Yun, and when he opened it, he saw that it directly stated that the body was being sold, and there was no mention of concubines.

“Your Excellency, I was deceived by my father ten years ago and thought that the marriage was arranged. After I got married, I found out that the Mo family lied to me and forced me to become a concubine. They also forced me to be separated from my two biological children. Now that Mo Quan is dead, these two people actually want me, a living person, to be buried with him. Where is justice!”

His words were full of anger and grievance, and they were so clear that everyone in the hall sighed with regret.

“You are slandering me!” Madam Mo could not help but said in a stern voice, “How could our Mo family agree to marry you, the daughter of a poor hunter? You came to my house to be a maid and you were not satisfied. You even climbed into my son’s bed and shamelessly gave birth to a child. Zhao was gentle and virtuous. She took care of your two children and raised them as her own. What else can you not be satisfied with!”

“Silence!” Su Yun frowned and slammed the gavel.

Fanglian glanced at A’ao, and A’ao gave her an affirmative look.

“Sir, since Madam Mo said that she bought a commoner girl to be a maid, you must know that according to the laws of our dynasty, no one with a registered household can be a slave. To buy and sell slaves, they must be homeless and willing to be sold to the master’s family to work for a living. I, Wang Fanglian, am from Qingheng, and my household registration is clearly recorded in the Qingheng County Court. How can there be a sale? Isn’t this against the law?”

This is why Ah-yi insisted on writing a petition and asking Fang-lian to take the case to court.

Ordinary people, unless they are candidates for imperial examinations who need to study law, would not take laws other than business taxes to heart.

It was precisely because of this point that Fanglian’s household registration was indeed in Qingheng and had never been moved, so this was where the Mo family’s loophole lay.

“Before I came to Shuyang, I had already requested a transfer order and brought my household registration documents with me. I am now presenting them for your review, sir.” Fanglian took out a document tightly wrapped in several layers of cloth, handed it to Su Yun through a yamen runner.

Mr. Mo here seemed a little guilty.

In the past, the buying and selling of slaves all went through the hands of human traffickers. They were all registered in the government, so there was no need to consider this at all.

When Fanglian first came to the Mo family, he had told his wife to transfer Fanglian’s household registration to the Mo family residence as soon as possible. But Fanglian was not very obedient when she first came to the mansion, so his wife trained her for a long time. Later, she became docile and forgot about it.

Mr. Mo was in the court, so he couldn’t get angry in front of her, so he turned around slightly and glared at Mrs. Mo, “What a bad thing you have done!” He lowered his voice for fear that others would hear it.

Mrs. Mo was obviously at a loss.

As a woman in the inner house, she had never learned any law and did not understand these things at all. When her husband brought Fanglian back home, he just told her to keep her as a concubine, and she did as he said.

Who would have thought that ten years later, she would still be able to make such a big move.

Ah’ao sat aside, covering her eyes with a teacup, and slowly observed the expressions of the couple.

According to Wang Xuan, Mr. Mo had been doing some odd businesses in the past few years. He became rich by investing some money by chance, and got close to the Wang family of Yunchuan. He then secretly opened the iron mine that the Wang family had embezzled and had been mining in secret.

With this relationship, Wang naturally borrowed a knife and wanted to kill people. The condition they proposed was to marry a foreign woman to the Mo family, but not to have children with the fool Mo Quan, and only give the concubine’s daughter to Zhao to raise. Then they secretly asked Zhao to find ways to kill Mo Quan early.

In this way, she is Mo Lin’s biological mother. No matter how long the two old guys live, the future Mo family will certainly be left to this son. Isn’t this equivalent to the entire family belonging to the Wang family of Yunchuan?
In the matter of borrowing the Mo family to open a mine, there was not any loss, and all those who knew about Wang’s private mining were eliminated, killing two birds with one stone without leaving any trace.

It’s a pity that although the plan was well-thought-out, Wang Xuan was lurking behind the scenes and had seen through it clearly.

Regardless of whether Wang Wan has the same intention as Wang Shi, he can no longer be kept here.

Not only did it solve the internal troubles in Shuzhong, but it also saved Fanglian from suffering. For A’ao, it was a win-win situation.

Su Yun read the document, opened the household law on the case, and said to the Mo couple, “The household law says that those who have registered household registration are not allowed to buy or sell. Otherwise, they will be exiled 300 miles and fined 100 strings of cash. Do you two understand?”

“My Lord, my Lord, please see clearly!” Upon hearing this, Mrs. Mo knelt on the ground with her knees weak, and begged for mercy in an instant, “Fanglian and my son have given birth to a pair of children, how can there be talk of human trafficking! Otherwise, otherwise you should send the two children for a blood test! They are the biological children of Fanglian and my son! It’s a pity that my son’s body is still warm, and his bedmate has taken his elderly parents to court. Why do you want me and this old man to suffer like this!”

at the same time–

“Sir!” A yamen runner stepped forward, “There is a woman surnamed Zhao who came with her two children to see you, saying that they are here to redress the grievances of their parents-in-law.”

This is much more exciting.

A’ao looked back at Hengzhi. He was sitting upright, but he forgot to put down the teacup in his hand. It was obvious that he was also very interested.

They are indeed a couple who love to watch the fun.

(End of this chapter)