Everything went as Mr. Zeng expected.

Hua Hou shelved the letters pleading for mercy, as if nothing had happened.

After receiving no reply for a long time, the officials who were close friends with Teng Zhiyuan became a little frustrated.

Taking advantage of the opportunity to go to court, several officials who had some friendship with Hua Hou found some excuses to get close to him.

But Hua Hou kept pretending to be deaf and mute, and never gave them any accurate words.

The officials did not dare to anger Hua Hou, so they could only disperse angrily and send their own people to pass the news to Teng Zhiyuan.

Teng Zhiyuan came from a poor family and was not from the capital.

Although he served as a capital official more than 20 years ago, he could not afford to buy a house in the capital.

This time, their family came to Beijing under the imperial decree. They had no house of their own to live in, and it was inconvenient to go to Chen Qingli's natal family, and they had no shame to stay at Wenyuanhou Mansion, so they had to stay in an inn.

His Majesty the Emperor has not summoned him, so he cannot enter the palace to have an audience, let alone run around.

Even if he invited several classmates and same-year students to have dinner and asked them to ask Hua Hou for a favor on his behalf, he could only arrange it in an inn.

When there were matters that needed to be handled outside the home, they were left to his two sons and his entourage.

After learning that his classmates and fellow students had failed, Teng Zhiyuan became increasingly anxious and walked around the guest room with his hands behind his back.

His eldest son, Teng Ji, was so dizzy that he said impatiently: "Father, we have been in Kyoto for several days, why not stay in the inn like this?!"

The younger son Teng Jun also echoed: "My mother was imprisoned in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment for no apparent reason, and there is no explanation for her for so long.

Father, even if we can't rescue my mother for the time being, we can at least find a way to visit her in the prison, give her some clothes and food, or even just say a few words to comfort her."

Although the two brothers didn't say anything harsh, the underlying meaning behind their words was that they were complaining about their father's incompetence.

Teng Zhiyuan has a gentle temper and has always played the role of a loving father at home.

But now that the situation is critical, he is still in the mood to make his sons happy.

He paused and angrily said: "You two are already fathers, can you be smarter when things happen?

This is the capital, not Bohai County where you can show off your power!

If you don't worry about mother, do you think I'm willing to let my wife suffer in prison?"

Teng Ji said: "We are not showing off our power, we are just worried about our mother's health..."

Teng Jun also said: "Using people's money to eliminate disasters for others, those people took so many benefits from my father, but it has no effect at all."

It's not that their brothers care about money, but the amount of money those people took was so huge that they were frightened.

My father, who was born in a poor family and became an upright official, and my mother, whose family was in poverty and had no one to rely on, actually had so much wealth.

They will not forget how their parents arranged the wedding when they got married a few years ago.

Not to mention compared with the wealthy families in Beijing, even those in Bohai County look shabby.

After listening to his sons' excuses, Teng Zhiyuan felt his temples pounding.

He suppressed his anger and said: "Money has to be spent! What's more, they have tried their best, but your cousin doesn't buy it."

The Teng brothers have met Hua Hou.

Local officials in the Wei Dynasty had to return to Beijing every three years to report on their duties.

My father has been the governor of Bohai County for more than 20 years. Every time he returns to Kyoto, he takes his brothers to Wenyuanhou Mansion to visit their cousin and aunt.

In my impression, my cousin is mild-tempered and generous. Although my cousin's attitude is not very warm, she still takes great care of their brothers.

They didn't expect that their cousin would act so decisively this time, and the two of them had to become suspicious.

Could it be that my mother really did such an evil thing?

Teng Ji thought for a while, but still didn't dare to ask his mother whether she hired anyone to kidnap Qinghan's cousin.

"Father, we cannot sit still and wait for death no matter what. Those officials are unreliable. We can only choose to save ourselves."

Teng Jun said: "Brother put it lightly, my cousin has misunderstood our Teng family so deeply now, how can we save ourselves?"

Teng Zhiyuan also stopped and looked at Teng Ji seriously, seeming to place his hopes on his eldest son.

Teng Ji pursed his lips: "Since the officials can't do it, we can only do it ourselves.

My cousin is not a cold-hearted person, and there may be room for change.

It’s just that we have to pay attention to a little strategy.”

Teng Zhiyuan and Teng Jun said in unison: "What strategy? Be more careful."

Teng Ji said: "My cousin is a smart man. Although he didn't pay attention to the officials who interceded, he can definitely guess how much money we spent on this.

He has always believed that our Teng family is poor, and after this incident, our wealth may have been completely wiped out.

The three of us might as well use the trick and go to him to make a fool of ourselves."

The corners of Teng Zhiyuan and Teng Jun's mouths twitched slightly.

I thought he had some good ideas, but it turned out to be such a bad idea.

It's easy to act cowardly, but it's harder to act miserable.

Although the officials were ordered to come to pick up the people that day, they were very polite to the family. This was witnessed by many people present.

They can't just break their arms or legs just to make a fool of themselves, right?

But it doesn't look like being miserable even if you don't suffer any physical harm.

Teng Ji sighed secretly.

My father has been an official for more than 20 years, but the scholarly spirit in his bones is still there.

In terms of decisiveness alone, he will never be as good as his mother.

Not to mention the second brother, he seemed to have inherited neither his mother's decisiveness nor his father's bravery.

"Father, don't be so particular at times like this.

We don't need to break our arms or legs to cry in front of our cousin.

My second brother and I went ahead and cried in front of my cousin for a whole day. If that didn't work, my father would go and cry again."

Teng Jun curled his lips: "I have no objection. I will do whatever the elder brother says."

Teng Zhiyuan shook his head vigorously: "It's impossible, it's impossible... We are also scholars after all, how can we be like beggars..."

When he was able to gain the appreciation of Hua Hou and even marry his cousin to him, apart from appearance and talent, integrity was the most important thing.

Although it would be difficult to maintain the relationship between their two families from now on, he was unwilling to let Hua Hou look down on him.

It's already embarrassing enough to pay someone to intercede. If he has to beg again, will he still be a human being in this life?

Teng Ji advised in a gentle voice: "Father, this is urgent. Can you please stop being so airy?"

Teng Zhiyuan: "..."

Teng Ji was helpless: "Well, since you don't want to, then resign as soon as possible.

After my mother's side settles the case, we will set off back to our hometown.

From now on, my second brother and I will stay at home and farm, and you will take your grandchildren to study..."

"That's not okay!" Teng Jun interrupted him: "You can't ignore your mother's life and death, as well as your sister-in-law and Su Niang.
Chapter completed!