Thousands of Miles

"Ximeng, your stepfather has been arrested by the government for stealing items from the palace. Mother begging you, you must save him... woo woo woo..." Wang Jiao dragged his nose and tears Ximeng cried, "I heard that those who steal the items in the palace will be beheaded. Without him, I would not be alive, woo woo woo..."

"How did this happen..." Ximeng quickly grabbed her mother's hand and comforted her softly, "Mom, please don't be sad. That's the fan my master gave me. I'll just go and get it back. It won't be so serious."

"Wuuuuuu...Ximeng, what he usually does is wrong, but it's not a big crime." Wang Jiao wiped her tears and cried, "It's also my fault, you came home secretly a few months ago Look at me and tell me that you are working in the palace. That night I saw him come home with a good fan. At that time, I should have thought that he reached out to you and robbed you of something in the palace. Damn it, I knew that I asked you to ask for money, and this time it was retribution for him. But you pity your mother, do you want to see your mother die again as a husband? After two husbands die, you will be your mother. How can I still be a human being? Huh, huh..."

"Mother, don't be sad." Ximeng wiped her tears with a handkerchief, pulled her hand and said, "Ximeng will definitely find a way for you, don't worry."

"Wuwuwu, Ximeng..." Wang Jiao hugged Ximeng and cried, "My son, are you serious? Don't lie to me...wuwuwu..."

"Yeah." Ximeng nodded, "Mom, don't worry."

Ximeng returned to the painting academy depressed, thinking about it and had no choice but to beg one person at the moment.

He lost his master's fan and hasn't found it yet. Ximeng never dared to tell him about it. Right now, the only person he knows who has official status is Wang Xueshi, the director of the Academy of Painting.Xueshi Wang is a kind person, so he probably wouldn't leave him alone.

Although Ximeng didn't like to beg for help, he had no choice.Early the next morning, he waited outside the Chui Gong Hall early, and held the hand of Wang Xueshi who had just come down to court.

Pulling Xueshi Wang to a secluded place beside the hall, Ximeng fell to his knees with a "plop".

"Ximeng? What's the matter?" Xueshi Wang quickly helped Ximeng up and asked, "What happened?"

"Scholar Wang, Ximeng has something to ask." Ximeng would not lie, and when he lied, he lowered his voice and said softly, "Ximeng's father died early, and his mother remarried and lived in poverty. Ximeng didn't know the rules of the palace. He mistakenly gave a folding fan to his stepfather as a pawn, but he was misunderstood for stealing items from the palace and seized by the government. Ximeng was self-defeating, and now he was desperate, so he had no choice but to ask Xueshi Wang to help him clarify In this matter, if there is any guilt, Ximeng is willing to bear it alone."

"It turned out to be like this." Xueshi Wang scolded, "You are too ignorant, don't you know what can and can't be? You don't have enough monthly money and you still want to be a folding fan in the palace?"

Ximeng quickly knelt down, bowed his head and begged, "Scholar Wang, Ximeng is willing to bear any responsibility for any crimes, but please save him."

"Oh, get up." Wang Xueshi had a flash of inspiration in his mind, and said to Ximeng, "It's not that I can't help you, but there is only one way. After all, I am only the chairperson of the painting academy, and I can't manage those lawsuits. The relevant officials I don’t know each other, and they don’t listen to me. Right now, only officials are in charge of everything, and they can do anything. Maybe I can talk to him a few words, how about asking him to come forward?”

"Official family?" Ximeng raised his head in surprise, and asked in a low voice, "Will the official family care about this matter?"

"I'll tell you, of course I'll give you a bit of a slap in the face." Xueshi Wang said with a smile, "But there is one thing, the official may ask you personally, when the time comes, do you dare to meet the official?"

"Yeah." Xi Meng nodded, kowtowed, "Xi Meng thanked Bachelor Wang."

"Get up quickly." Xueshi Wang helped Ximeng up, and said with a smile, "After receiving your kowtow, it seems that I have to help you. How about it, I will take you to the Wende Hall now. Zi has just retired from the court, and the officials should still be resting there for a while."

"Thank you, Bachelor Wang." Xi Meng said, and immediately wanted to kneel down again.

"Okay, stop kneeling." Wang Xueshi said with a smile, "You follow me."

The Wende Hall is located between the Chuigong Hall and the Zichen Hall. It is a place for the emperor to take a rest before going to court and after retreating. Zhao Ji just sat down and sipped his tea when he heard Wang Xueshi ask for an audience.

Seeing Xueshi Wang walking into the hall with a smile on his face, Zhao Ji said with a smile: "Xueshi Wang, what is your happy event today, and you are smiling like this?"

"I don't have any happy event, but your Majesty has a big happy event." Wang Xueshi laughed.

"Oh? Is there a wedding?" Zhao Ji asked.

Wang Xueshi winked, Zhao Ji immediately turned his back and asked, "What is so mysterious?"

"Hasn't Your Majesty always worried about how to reveal his identity to Lin Ximeng? It just so happened that something happened to his family recently, and his stepfather was taken by the government for stealing items from the palace." Wang Xueshi said, "If Your Majesty can use the emperor's name at this time I came forward to help with my identity, and comforted me with the friendship of master and apprentice, I think this is the best time for Your Majesty to reveal your identity."

"Yeah." Zhao Ji nodded in satisfaction, and said with a smile, "Xueshi Wang is really smart in doing things, and this is indeed a good strategy. Just do as you say!"

"Then, I will go and ask him to come in."

"No." Zhao Ji looked at Eunuch Zhang beside him, "Zhang Di, go ask Xi Meng to come in."

Ximeng was waiting outside the hall. When he heard that the official summoned him, he felt uneasy, so he had to follow Eunuch Zhang carefully into the Wende Hall.

"Meet the official family..." Ximeng didn't know what to say when he faced the official family for the first time, so he only kowtowed and fell to the ground without daring to lift his head.

"Give me a seat. Cough cough." Zhao Ji coughed twice, and Eunuch Zhang quickly stepped forward to help Ximeng up, helped him to sit on a chair beside him.

It's a pity that Ximeng still didn't dare to look up to see what the official house looked like.I just thought it sounded familiar.

Zhao Ji saw that Ximeng was scared, so he said: "I already know about you, I just ordered someone to release your stepfather, and your fan will be brought back to you later."

"Thank you, Guanjia." Hearing this familiar voice, Ximeng always felt that something was wrong, bit his lip awkwardly, lowered his head and didn't know what else to say.

But after a while, someone from the palace entered the palace holding a box and handed it to Eunuch Zhang, who then put the box on Zhao Ji's desk.

"I want to see what kind of fan this is." Zhao Ji opened the box with a smile, and was about to have a joke with Ximeng.

However, the moment he saw the fan in the box, Zhao Ji's full smile froze instantly.