Chapter 159 God Delivers a Message for the Lu Family

After eating and drinking, Gu Xingzhao remembered that when he first arrived, Lu Qing sighed, as if something had happened.

She suddenly felt a little embarrassed. At that time, she was only thinking about eating. She hadn't eaten barbecue for a long time and was very craving for it.

"By the way, what did you want to tell me when I came here just now?"

Lu Qing: "."

He really didn't expect that the old ancestor would ask him again, and he was about to keep the matter to himself.

Lu Qing repeated what he had said earlier. This time he spoke more fluently and filled in the gaps.

Gu Xingzhao was silent for a moment, recalling that in history, it took less than two years for Prince Su to rebel and then attack the capital and proclaim himself emperor.

She thought that Prince Su's rebellion would happen at least in another year or two, but she didn't expect it to happen so early.

Gu Xingzhao couldn't think too far ahead, he could only worry about the Lu family in front of him, "Does this matter have a big impact on you now?"

Lu Qing: "Not big."

Now Prince Su thinks that the Lu family is on the same side with him, but that is only what Prince Su and a few others think. Even if Prince Su succeeds, it will not be a matter of a few months, so the Lu family still has time to plan.

The worst case scenario is that Prince Su is defeated, which implicates the Lu family and gives the emperor a reason to openly eliminate the Lu family.

But the emperor also sent many people secretly.

The Lu family will always be labeled as a rebel, sooner or later.

Lu Qing had thought of all these, so it was necessary to send the relatives who were still in the capital to the north through Prince Su.

Whether it is to guard against the emperor or to guard against Prince Su.

After listening to Lu Qing's analysis, Gu Xingzhao felt relieved. She was very happy that the old man could cheer up in such a short time. It seemed that the momentum of the elder who once dominated the court had returned.

Gu Xingzhao thought that since the old man was so energetic, he couldn't hold him back, so he asked immediately, "What are your plans after you get to the North?"

Lu Qing sighed inaudibly, "Once you are exiled, you will have to serve three years of hard labor. People under 14, over 70, and their wives are exempted from hard labor. Those who hold official positions and have achieved meritorious service are exempted from hard labor. After the three-year hard labor period is over, you can return home on your own."

Gu Xingzhao was surprised, "Can I return home after the term expires?"

She thought that as long as she was exiled, without the emperor's pardon, she would just wait for death in exile. She never thought that she could return home.

Lu Qing nodded, "Only tattooing on the face will result in lifelong hard labor."

The most torturous part of exile is the 3,000-mile journey. Only a handful of people can endure the journey to the place of exile. It is not easy to perform hard labor afterwards. Less than five out of a hundred people can endure these two and return home after serving their term.

Thinking back to all this about exile, he had mentioned it to the late emperor back then. Many court officials opposed it, and it took three years before it was incorporated into the laws of the Jin Dynasty. Before that, anyone who was exiled, regardless of age, gender, official rank, or merit, had to serve ten years of hard labor and could not return home without special pardon.

Lu Qing really couldn't have imagined that the person who was protected by his compassion back then was actually himself.

Gu Xingzhao smiled and said, "That's good. When we get to the north, write down anything you need and tell me, and I'll get it for you."

She hasn't arrived yet and doesn't know what the situation is over there. She wants to prepare some things in advance, but they can only be daily necessities.

Tell Lu Qing in advance so that they can tell you in time if they need anything and I can prepare it in time.

Lu Qing felt a little ashamed. In fact, he said these things in the beginning just because of the words of his ancestors. Now that his ancestors did say them, he felt a little embarrassed. After all, he was not as thick-skinned as his grandson.

However, there are still many places where we need to be thick-skinned, such as now.

Lu Qing coughed lightly, "Thank you, ancestor. I wonder if you can get some writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone now?"

Gu Xingzhao was surprised: "But Youtang and the others want to use it?"

Previously, considering that it was inconvenient to get pens, ink, paper and inkstone, she prepared water writing cloth for Lu Youtang and Shunyu. Not long ago, she also bought pens, ink, paper and inkstone, thinking that she would send them to Lu Qing and others after they arrived in the north. Unexpectedly, they needed to use them now.

Lu Qing quickly explained, "To reply to the ancestors, I want to write a letter to my family members back to the capital, asking them to leave Beijing and go to Huaibei."

This is when pen, ink, paper and inkstone are needed.

Gu Xingzhao suddenly realized that Lu Qing had just said that he would write a letter back to the capital to bring all his relatives to Huaibei, and he would also need to borrow Prince Su's people to escort them.

"Wait a minute, I'll get it now."

After half a month, the Lu family felt the deep love and care of their ancestor again, and the mood became hot again. Those clan members who were originally worried that their relatives would suffer if they came to the north immediately made up their minds to listen to the old man and persuade everyone to reunite as a family.

With their ancestors around, they are not afraid of anything.

Soon, Gu Xingzhao took back the writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone and gave them to Lu Qing, who distributed them to the people at home and asked them to write letters.

She asked curiously, "How do you send these letters to the capital? How long will it take for them to arrive?"

Lu Qing replied, "Hire a messenger to deliver the letter. If it is sent to the capital by fast horse, it will arrive in about eight or nine days."

In fact, if you have more money, you can hire a more dedicated worker and deliver it in six or seven days.

Gu Xingzhao was silent. This was too long. It would only take eight or nine days by a fast horse, but it would take more than ten days by a slow horse. A lot of things could have happened during this time.

She suggested to Lu Qing, "How about this, you write the letter to me, I will deliver it to the capital for you, and then find someone to deliver the letter to your relatives for you?"

Hearing this, Lu Qing was deeply moved. "It would be great if you could trouble me to help deliver the letter. Thank you very much!"

The backstage offering value increased by dozens more, which shows how important this matter is to the Lu family.

Gu Xingzhao originally wanted to tell him that it had been so long and there was no need to say thank you to him, as it would seem distant.

But she thought about it and decided to let Lu Qing say more for the sake of offering value. "Then I'll come to pick it up tomorrow morning. You guys prepare the letter for me."

Lu Qing was full of gratitude, "Okay!"

After Gu Xingzhao left, Lu Qing went to find his eldest son and his wife, and told his son not to forget to write a separate letter to his granddaughter Lu Youtiao. His granddaughter had always been filial, and when the Lu family got into trouble, she had just come to report the good news.

I didn't see Lu Youtiao when I was exiled from the city that day. I guess she was concerned about her husband's family's situation and she was pregnant, so she couldn't see me off. I don't know how she is doing now.

Song followed her husband and was stunned when she heard her father-in-law say that he wanted to write a letter to his eldest daughter.

The letter to my mother's family was to persuade my father and mother to take my brother's family to the north for refuge. Why write to my daughter at this critical moment?

"Are you going to persuade Tiao'er to come to the north as well?"

My daughter is pregnant and my son-in-law is an official. How could they possibly come to the north?