After leaving the palace, he just randomly picked a teahouse that looked lively to listen to more outrageous stories about overbearing princes. Unexpectedly, as soon as he walked up the stairs, someone started talking nonsense about Ming Xiaozhu.
With his violent temper, could he tolerate such a thing?
Of course I can't stand it.
"You, who are you?" Another person who was not hit looked at the row of sword-wielding guards behind the King of Chen and stammered, "According to our Dacheng laws, ordinary people cannot carry weapons on the streets. Those who violate the order will be beaten with twenty sticks and fined two liters of silver. You...you are openly violating the Dacheng laws!"
Prince Chen sneered, raised his hand and pointed at the person who was speaking, indicating that it was time for him to join in the argument.
"What do you want to do?" The person who was pointed at stepped back again and again.
"According to the Dacheng Law, when a prince goes out, he can bring 36 sword guards. Our prince doesn't like to show off, so he only took more than ten people with him." The long-servant stood up and explained with a smile: "If someone slanders the royal family without reason, the lighter punishment is ten strokes of the cane, and the heavier punishment is three years of forced labor."
After the explanation, the attendant obediently retreated behind the King, and the guards with swords brought the two people who were talking nonsense before the King.
"You, you are the prince?!" The two men's legs went weak and they fell to their knees without the guards having to do anything.
They just went to a busy teahouse to exchange a few words, how could they meet the prince?
No, what kind of sophisticated prince would come to such a noisy teahouse and be worthy of his noble royal bloodline?
"What a coincidence! I am the fifth son of the emperor, Prince Chen." Looking at the two people who were trembling with fear when they heard that he was the Prince Chen, Yun Duqing frowned slightly. They were so timid. Who gave them the courage to talk about the private affairs of a third-rank official in a teahouse?
At that time, the Zheng family was so arrogant that they asked Ming Xiaozhu to give way to them, but he could make Yun Yanze, the grandson of the Zheng family, bow his head and give way to him. Yet, there are still people who dare to talk about his fiancée in public.
Could it be that he has dealt with too few people recently, causing people to forget his temper?
"Your Highness." The attendant beside Prince Qi whispered, "From what I see, these two people seem to be servants of the Marquis of Pingyuan's mansion."
"Are you sure?" Through the gap in the screen, King Qi looked at Yun Duqing who was surrounded by guards, and his expression became serious.
"When I went to the Marquis of Pingyuan's mansion to deliver a message half a month ago, I saw them coming out of the mansion. A servant in the outer courtyard casually said that they were servants from another manor in the suburbs of Beijing, delivering fresh goods to the mansion." To be able to serve as an attendant to the prince, having good eyesight is the most basic ability.
Why would a servant from the villa of Marquis Pingyuan wear a green collar that scholars like to wear and say things that are unfavorable to the Ming family in a teahouse?
"You look elegantly dressed, you should be polite and reasonable people, but you speak so unbearably." The chief attendant of Prince Chen's mansion scolded: "What are your names, where do you live, have you ever passed the imperial examination?"
The two men were panicked. They had no achievements at all. They just wanted to make merit so as to be transferred to the Marquis' Mansion to work. After eavesdropping on the conversation between the two stewards, they boldly came here to discredit the Ming family's reputation.
Yesterday, two stewards secretly said in the woods that the Ming family had offended the Marquis's Mansion, and they wanted to pretend to be scholars and speak ill of the Ming family and ask for credit from the Marquis's Mansion, so that they would not have to work as stewards in other villas in the future.
They were both very brave, and since they had just been bullied by the steward, they made up their minds and decided to get the job done before the steward did. So they put on some makeup and went to a relatively busy teahouse.
They did not dare to go to those elegant teahouses frequented by dignitaries, and only dared to come to teahouses like this one, which had many guests but whose identities were not too prominent.
They didn't know yet that this teahouse had recently published a series of stories called "The Tyrannical Prince's Adventures in Heroes", which was very popular with female customers. Many ladies and rich girls sat behind the screen.
The two men didn't dare to say anything and knelt on the ground, shaking like chaff.
"Your Highness, these two people look strange." At this time, the chief attendant of Prince Chen's mansion also whispered in Prince Chen's ear: "Based on my small guess, these two people are likely to be sent by someone on purpose."
Prince Chen nodded slightly: "You teach them how to behave."
"You two, do you have your ID cards?" The long-servant immediately became alert and walked up to the two of them. "Since you don't have your ID cards, you might be a thief with bad intentions. Looking around the world, everyone knows that the Ming family has two top scholars and one third scholar. In order to uphold justice, the three masters of the Ming family would rather be exiled to the border than surrender to the traitors. Now you are here to slander the reputation of the Ming family. I suspect you are the remnants of the rebellion against the king."
Rebel King?! If you are involved with the rebel king from more than ten years ago, not only will you lose your head, but your family members will also be implicated.
The two men looked pale and kowtowed repeatedly begging for mercy.
When Jiuzhu saw the two people who were saying bad things about her family, she was so frightened by His Highness that she couldn't even speak clearly. She lifted her skirt and prepared to go to Prince Chen.
"Hey, don't go out." Miss Chen and Zhou Xiao grabbed her and whispered, "It's better to let His Royal Highness Prince Chen handle this matter."
"Yes." Miss Chen nodded: "Although the methods used by the Prince of Chen are... a bit cruel, this is the method that must be used to deal with people like him."
Jiuzhu put her face on the gap of the screen and whispered, "But Your Highness is not fierce at all, and he is very reasonable."
Although he hit the people who were talking nonsense with a chair at the beginning, it was because these people said too much and His Highness was very angry. From the time he entered the door until now, he has not said much, can this be called cruel?
Several young ladies looked at the sword-carrying guards behind Prince Chen who had serious expressions on their faces, and then glanced at the Prince Chen's mansion attendant who frightened everyone so much that they trembled as soon as he opened his mouth. Is this... called reasoning?
They almost don't understand what reason is.
"Jinwu Guards are patrolling. Who is carrying weapons privately in the capital city?"
A team of armored Jinwu guards rushed into the teahouse, looking stern: "We have received a report that someone is carrying weapons privately here. According to the Dacheng law, it is forbidden to carry weapons privately and to gather in groups to fight."
The teahouse owner was so frightened that he knelt down and said, "Sir, this is all a misunderstanding, this is all a misunderstanding."
The captain of the Jinwu Guard team raised his hand and asked the shopkeeper to step aside. He walked into the room and saw a man in red sitting lazily on a chair. The guards behind him were surrounding two men dressed as scholars and kneeling on the ground.
He frowned and prepared to step forward to stop it.
Just at this moment, the man sitting on the chair turned his head and looked at him. His movements were casual, but when he did it, it was full of dignity and elegance.
"Your humble servant greets His Majesty the Prince of Chen." The team leader stopped and bowed to the man.
As a captain of the Jinwu Guard, he had no chance to meet the high and mighty prince, but this prince was really capable of causing trouble.
Today he whipped a dandy in the street because the way he looked at women was too obscene and he felt disgusted; tomorrow he will make a man sell himself in the street to bury his father, and the father who pretended to be dead would run around the street shouting "I am a liar".
His methods of dealing with people are endless, and the Jinwu Guards receive reports of crimes every other day. Now, whenever he sees Prince Chen, the first thought in his mind is, who is defying the prince's eyes again?
"Why are you here again?" Prince Chen looked at the captain, "Is there no one else in the Jinwu Guard?"
Team leader: “…”
In fact, he also wanted to know why he had to meet this difficult master again.
He glanced at the two people kneeling on the ground, crying and snotting in fear: "Your Highness, I wonder what these two people have done?"
Prince Chen hooked his finger and motioned for his attendant to explain.
The attendant had been with the Prince for many years and had long understood the style of speaking that "small matters become big, and big matters are never over". He said, "General, these two people are slandering the officials of the court, speculating on the emperor's intentions, and insulting the royal family with their words."
To expose the family's faults and discredit the officials of the imperial court.
Using the title as an excuse to guess His Majesty's intentions.
Anyone who dares to accuse their prince of not following the Dacheng laws would be an insult to the royal family.
After the long-servant finished speaking, he straightened his back. Every word he said was true and not fabricated.
The two men kneeling on the ground with weak legs, when did they speculate on the emperor's intentions and insult the royal family? If they were so bold, why would they still be servants?
"Your Majesty, General, I am innocent!" No matter how stupid the two men were, they knew that something was wrong and kowtowed repeatedly: "Your Majesty, please look into this matter."
"I am neither a member of the government nor work in the Dali Temple. I will leave the investigation to the government." Seeing the tears and snot on the two people's faces, the Prince of Chen looked away in disdain: "You two like to chat so much, go stand by the window now."
The two of them couldn't even stand up, and the guards of Prince Chen's Mansion saw this and considerately dragged them to the window.
"You should curse yourself for half an hour first. The voice should not be too low, or I may not hear you. It should not be too loud, or you may scare passers-by." The Prince of Chen raised his chin and said, "There are many guests here. Be careful when you curse, and use more elegant words."
Both of them: "..."
They had never survived such outrageous demands.
Then they heard the sound of a blade being unsheathed.
Looking at the gleaming cold scabbard, they swallowed their saliva and said, "I'm ugly!"
"Your voice is too soft, Your Highness can't hear it." As a qualified lackey, the long-servant has rich experience in making things difficult for others: "Louder!"
"I'm ugly as a pig!"
Prince Chen frowned and said, "How dare you compare yourself with a pig? Change to another species."
The two wiped the tears from their faces. Were they not even as good as pigs? They wanted to cry, but they were afraid of the sharp swords.
If they had known earlier, they should not have rushed before the manager to do this kind of thing.
The captain of the Jinwu Guard turned his head silently, pretending not to notice their pitiful appearance. It was nothing but experience.
No one noticed that the two attendants of Prince Chen's Mansion hurriedly left the teahouse.
"Your Highness." After the two men left the teahouse, the attendant whispered in the prince's ear, "We have sent someone to check the identities of these two men."
The King nodded and looked at the two men who were crying: "Go on, I appreciate your courage to speak ill of me."
The two cried even louder, heartbroken.
They were clearly saying bad things about the Ming family, how did it become saying bad things about Prince Chen?
"Fifth brother." Prince Qi pushed aside the screen and walked out. He did not even look at the two crying people. "These two people made me unhappy. Just escort them to the government office. Why bother me?"
"It's Fourth Brother." Prince Chen raised his eyebrows and glanced at the opened screen: "It turns out that Fourth Brother has been here for a long time. It seems that you also think that these two people have offended me too much, so you help me deal with them?"
Prince Qi sat down next to Prince Chen and said, "They are just two ignorant villains. It is not worth it for Fifth Brother to make such a fuss."
"Fourth brother, you don't understand me. Even if a five-year-old child offends me, I will..." Prince Chen paused and turned to look at a screen that was only pushed open to half the width of a palm.
Why does he feel that the half of the face exposed in the gap looks a bit like Ming Xiaozhu?
"They are not five or six-year-old children. Don't they know what to say and what not to say?" Retracting his gaze, the Prince of Chen put down his crossed legs and straightened his outer robe and the jade pendant on his waist: "We agreed to half an hour, not even a stick of incense less."
He picked up the tea and pretended to take a sip, then glanced out of the corner of his eye at the two screens that had only a slit opened.
"Fifth brother, you've made such a big fuss..."
"They said bad things about me, but I can't get angry?" Prince Chen snorted coldly: "From childhood to adulthood, my father has never said this to me. Who do they think they are?"
Seeing that Yun Duqing killed these two people to make things difficult for him, King Qi immediately realized that Yun Duqing deliberately made a big deal out of this matter.
Are ordinary people interested in the affairs of a prince or a third-rank official?
Things like offending the prince and being forced to curse at oneself for half an hour are more suitable for common people to chat about after dinner.
Who will still care about these two people and what they said at that time?
For common people, the titles obtained by the Ming family had nothing to do with them. They didn't even know the rank of the titles. Anyway, they were definitely not as high as the princess's.
The chief attendant of Prince Chen's mansion walked to the window and smiled at the two men who were huddled together. "You two, our prince has a good character, is tolerant and kind, but I have a bad temper. If you don't continue, don't blame me for not giving you face."
"Sister Ming, what are you nodding for?" Zhou Xiao asked Jiuzhu.
"I think what that person said is right. Your Highness has a good personality, is tolerant and kind." Jiuzhu squeezed behind the screen and looked outside without blinking.
Even when she accidentally caused His Highness to fall into a snowdrift, His Highness never got angry with her.
Zhou Xiao: “…”
Other sisters: "..."
It's just outrageous.
Will Ming's younger sister be bullied if she marries into Prince Chen's mansion with her naive character?
Prince Qi knew that Yun Duqing was a stubborn person, so he simply stood up and prepared to leave.
"Fourth brother." Prince Chen called him, "You have always been friendly to your brothers. Don't you want to accompany me and teach these two villains who insulted me a lesson?"
Prince Qi, who was always gentle and good-tempered, had the urge to cover Yun Duqing's mouth with something.
"Since Fifth Brother wants me to accompany you, I will naturally not refuse." The King of Qi sat back down, and the attendants following behind him all had stiff faces.
The King of Qi was helpless, but the other guests behind the screen were watching with great interest. In order to avoid being discovered by the King of Chen, some even secretly took out their pens, inkstones, and began to pass small notes around to exchange opinions.
[As expected of a domineering prince, he speaks and acts with the dignity that only a royal family can show! ]
[A red dress with gold embroidery, who else can wear it so beautifully if not a domineering prince? ]
[The prince next to him is also very good-looking. 】
[All other princes are the same, only the overbearing prince is a different star. ]
[I just saw Miss Ming in the teahouse. I wonder if she has seen the domineering demeanor of the Prince.]
Plop.
Jiuzhu was squatting behind a screen. Because King Qi blocked her view, she tried to open the screen a little, but she slipped and fell out.
The attendants from Prince Chen's palace, Prince Qi's palace, and the Jinwu Guards all looked at her.
It's really her!
The Prince of Chen saw the person who had fallen out, stood up, walked to her side as if nothing had happened, and pulled her up from the ground.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu patted the dust off the hem of her skirt: "What a coincidence."
Prince Chen: “…”
"Are your legs numb from squatting?"
"A little bit." Jiuzhu looked back at the sisters behind the screen and found that the screen had been pulled tightly by them, leaving no gap at all.
Pretending not to know that there were other people behind the screen, Prince Chen glanced at the two people who were still scolding him and said, "Take them to Jingzhao Yin. There are women here, don't pollute their ears."
"Quick, quick, write it down." Miss Chen said to the sisters from behind the screen, "Do you understand the relationship between the overbearing prince and the delicate lady?"
The other young ladies nodded one after another. This was the real Overlord King and his Little Sweet Wife. The stories told by the storytellers were lacking in flavor and not realistic and delicate enough.
Zhou Xiao: “…”
She suddenly realized that she might be the only normal person among this group of sisters.
Hearing that they finally didn't have to scold themselves, the two were so moved that they shed tears again. This was hundreds of times more painful than having the managers scold them.
After the two men were dragged away by the Jinwu Guards, Prince Chen coughed and said, "I just..."
"Your Highness was extremely handsome just now." Jiuzhu looked at the King with blazing eyes: "Especially like a hero who descended from the sky and angrily denounced injustice."
Well, there's no need to exaggerate so much.
Prince Chen smiled and said, "It's just that I can't stand these people's nonsense. Lord Ming is an honest official with outstanding abilities and is praised by the people. How can I allow villains to slander him?"
What little girl doesn't like others praising the father she admires? At this moment, what filled Jiuzhu's eyes were not stars, but the scorching sun.
"Your Highness is as good as my father." Jiuzhu's smile was as sweet as if she had fallen into a honey pot.
King Qi looked at the young lady from the Ming family who was smiling brightly at Yun Duqing, and his eyebrows moved slightly. He couldn't understand why this young lady from the Ming family would trust and admire the ignorant, domineering Yun Duqing so much.
Did no one tell her about the past deeds of the Prince of Chen? Or was it true, as the rumors said, that she was trying to please Su Meidai and Yun Duqing for the sake of power and wealth?
Looking at Ming Jiuzhu's innocent smile, is Ming Jiuzhu really the person that her mother described as, a person who takes advantage of the situation and acts as an accomplice to the evil?
"Just normal, just normal. I still have a lot to learn from Lord Ming." Prince Chen raised his chin slightly, looking as arrogant as ever, but the corners of his mouth were curved and he couldn't suppress them for the time being.
He pinched Jiuzhu's hair bun and said, "You continue to play here. I will go to Jingzhao Yin in person."
If Yun Duqing's future in-laws and future princess were plotted against and he didn't seek revenge, where would his face be?
The sisters hiding behind the screen, knowing that they had been discovered by the King, quietly retreated to the table, picked up their teacups and pretended that they had never peeked.
They are respectable ladies from noble families, so how could they possibly peek at what's going on?
"Fourth brother." Before leaving, Prince Chen did not forget Prince Qi: "Accompany me to visit Jingzhao Yin."
Prince Qi looked at Prince Chen. He knew that this was not a request.
He smiled slowly: "Okay.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu quickly reached out and tugged at his sleeve: "I want to go too."
You are not a three-year-old child, why are you still so clingy?
The Jingzhao Yin Yamen was a mess, with common people often watching and making a fuss when cases were being adjudicated, so it was not suitable for a young girl to go there.
Looking down at the sleeve that was caught a little, Prince Chen gently tugged at the sleeve, but it didn't move: "Then you just follow me obediently and don't walk around."
I just... I'm afraid that she'll be unhappy and cry, I don't mean anything else.
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