010, Prince Ding

010, Prince Ding

At this time in Kyoto, all the major city gates had already been closed, the streets were empty, and the shops and teahouses on the streets were all closed. Only restaurants and inns were still open for business.

Most of the vendors selling things on the roadside have packed up their stalls and gone home. Only a few vendors are still setting up their stalls on the roadside to sell food in the cold night wind.

Night is when brothels begin to bustle with activity. Adults who have finished their shifts, wealthy masters, and young gentlemen gather in the brothels to drink, while the girls encourage them to drink and chat. Bursts of laughter and string music can be heard outside, attracting passers-by to take a look inside.

Occasionally, a horse-drawn carriage carrying people would pass by on the street, or a sedan chair carried by bearers would pass by, and inside them were all young masters from wealthy families.

“Da da da…”

Just at this moment, the sound of horse hooves was heard on the street.

A carriage was moving on the road, with guards on horseback following in front and behind. A large word "Ding" was written on the lantern hanging on the carriage.

Most people on the street recognized the carriage from Prince Ding's mansion when they saw the lantern hanging on it, and guessed that the mansion's prince was sitting inside. Because currently, Prince Ding's mansion in Kyoto Prefecture only had one master living in it, the prince who had just arrived in Beijing at the beginning of the month.

This matter started at the end of last year, when the emperor issued an edict ordering the princes of various vassal states to come to Beijing. This year, the princes of various vassal states came to Beijing one after another, and the prince of Dingwang Mansion was one of them.

In fact, anyone with a discerning eye could see that the emperor was ostensibly allowing the princes' sons to study in Beijing, but in reality, he was allowing the princes' legitimate sons to come to Beijing as hostages. Over the years, as the princes' power grew, they aroused the fear and dissatisfaction of the court and the emperor, leading to the emperor's decree allowing the princes' legitimate sons to study in Beijing.

When this imperial edict was delivered to the hands of princes in various places, these princes did not dare to disobey it. They could only grit their teeth and pack up their legitimate sons and send them to the capital to "study".

Zhao Lang, the prince of Ding, was ordered to come to Beijing to "study".

A carriage, escorted by guards, headed towards Prince Ding's Mansion. All the carriages and horses it met on the road pulled over to let the prince's carriage pass.

“Whoa—”

The carriage arrived at the gate of Prince Ding's Mansion. The driver pulled the horse in front and the carriage stopped steadily.

The guards on horseback, both in front and behind, reined in their horses at the same moment. They dismounted and quickly moved around the carriage, surrounding the Crown Prince's carriage in the middle. The captain of the guards, Li Qun, approached and asked the Crown Prince to disembark: "Prince, we're here."

When the carriage stopped, the servant took a stool and placed it beside the carriage, then stood aside waiting for the master in the carriage to get out.

The gateman of the palace heard the noise outside and saw that it was their prince's carriage returning, so he quickly opened the door.

After a while, Zhao Lang, who was in the carriage, lifted the curtain and got out. He got off the carriage with the help of the captain of the guards, with a cold face, and strode towards the gate of the palace.

As soon as the housekeeper received the news that his master had returned, he hurried out with a group of servants and maids. However, when he saw their young master's purple face, the housekeeper almost fainted from fright. "Oh my, my master, your face, your face..."

"Hurry, hurry to Huichun Hall to get a doctor!" The housekeeper turned around and ordered the servant following behind him to go and get a doctor.

"Yes, yes, I'll go right away." The servant responded and hurriedly walked around their prince and ran out of the mansion.

"Go away!" Zhao Lang was in a very bad mood at this time. He pushed away the dog servant who was blocking his way and walked back to the yard where he lived with angry steps, regardless of the group of servants and guards following him.

However, the housekeeper dared not say that the master was angry and ignored people, and they, the servants, also ignored the master.

While the housekeeper was following behind their master, he whispered to the maidservant who followed him to go to the kitchen to get some food, and also asked someone to notify the kitchen to prepare hot water and send it to their master for bathing at any time.

When they chased to the gate of the courtyard where their master lived, the housekeeper remembered to find the servant who served their master and ask him what happened to their master in the palace today and why he came back injured!

"I, I don't know. When I picked up the prince today, his face was already like this..." The servant Qingzhu, who was called to the butler to answer, was about to cry. When he picked up their prince and saw his face just now, he almost fainted from shock.

When they were in Beijun before, their precious prince had never even had his little finger bumped, but now he had just arrived in Kyoto Prefecture and was beaten up just a few days ago, and on the face!

Not to mention Qingzhu, a servant, who was angry, even the guards who followed their prince to Kyoto Prefecture were so angry when they saw the wound on their master's face that they wanted to pick up their swords and chop down anyone who dared to hurt their prince!

"If you can't even take care of your own master, what's the point of you following the prince?!" Although the butler knew that the prince was not allowed to bring servants into the palace where he was studying, but today their prince had such a big thing, he couldn't be angry with them, so he could only vent his anger on the servants who followed them.

In fact, these people knew very well that apart from the group of princes in the palace, who else could dare to hit their prince?

Thinking about how their prince had come all alone from Anbei to Kyoto Prefecture to "study" and now being bullied, the housekeeper felt even more miserable than if he had been beaten up himself! Woo woo woo, his poor prince was being bullied like this!

"What are you still standing here for? Hurry up and go into the house to serve the master!" Seeing that the little servant was still standing there stupidly, the butler glared at him and waited for him to leave.

"Yes, yes, I'll go right away." Upon hearing that, Qingzhu hurried into the house to serve his master.

The housekeeper also followed into the prince's room, but not long after, all of them were kicked out by the prince.

That night, the doctor from Huichuntang came to Prince Ding's mansion, but not long after, the doctor left with his suitcase on his back.

At the same time, the imperial physicians in the palace were summoned to various palaces overnight to "treat" several princes.

The emperor, who was still reviewing memorials in the imperial study, learned from an old servant beside him that the palaces had invited imperial physicians. After asking, he found out that several sons and nephews had fought in the Wenhua Hall during the day.

"These kids are really energetic." With just one sentence, the emperor classified the children's fight as a joke and did not intend to hold anyone responsible.

"Yes, yes, now that there are so many children in Wenhua Palace, it is quite lively." The old eunuch on the side continued what their majesty said.

That night, the concubines in several palaces knew the emperor's attitude towards what happened in Wenhua Palace that day. Even though they were furious, they did not dare to bring their children to the emperor to complain.