After coming out of the palace, he just randomly picked a teahouse that looked relatively lively to listen to whether there were any more outrageous stories about overbearing princes. Unexpectedly, as soon as he reached the stairs, someone started talking loudly and making outrageous remarks about Ming Xiaozhu.
With his violent temper, could he tolerate such a thing?
Of course I can't tolerate that.
"You, who are you?" Another person who was not hit looked at the row of sword-wielding guards behind the Prince of Chen and stammered, "According to our Dacheng laws, ordinary people are not allowed to carry weapons on the streets. Those who violate the order will be beaten with twenty sticks and fined two strings of silver. You...you are openly defying 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 go and argue.
"What do you want to do?" The people who were pointed at stepped back repeatedly.
"According to the Dacheng Law, a prince can carry thirty-six sword guards when he goes out. Our prince doesn't like to show off, so he only takes more than ten people with him." The long-servant stepped forward and explained with a smile: "If anyone slanders the royal family without reason, the lightest punishment is ten strokes of the cane, and the worst is three years of forced labor."
After the explanation, the attendant retreated obediently behind the Prince of Chen, and the guards with swords brought the two people who were talking nonsense before the Prince of Chen.
"You, you are the prince?!" The two men's legs went weak and they fell to their knees on the ground without the help of their guards.
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, the Prince of Chen." Looking at the two people who were trembling with fear when they heard that he was the Prince of 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 the beginning, the Zheng family was so arrogant that they asked Ming Xiaozhu to give way, 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 the King of Qi whispered, "From what I see, these two people seem to be servants of the Pingyuan Marquis'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 a villa outside the capital, 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 the servant of the villa of Pingyuan Marquis wear the green collar that scholars like to wear and say things that are unfavorable to the Ming family in the teahouse?
"You look elegantly dressed, you should be polite and reasonable people, but you speak so badly." 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 overhearing the conversation between the two stewards, they had the guts to come here to discredit the Ming family's reputation.
Yesterday, two stewards secretly said in the woods that the Ming family had offended the Marquis' Mansion. They wanted to pretend to be scholars and speak ill of the Ming family and ask for credit from the Marquis' Mansion, so that they would no longer have to work as stewards in the villa.
They were both brave and had just been bullied by the steward, so they made up their minds and decided to get the job done before the steward did. So I dressed up and went to a relatively busy teahouse.
They didn't dare to go to those elegant teahouses frequented by dignitaries, and only dared to come to teahouses that had many guests but whose guests were not too prominent.
They didn't know yet that this teahouse had recently published a series of stories called "The Adventures of the Tyrannical Prince", which was very popular with female patrons, and many noble ladies sat behind the screen.
The two men didn't dare to speak and knelt on the ground, shaking like a sieve.
"Your Highness, these two people don't look right." At this time, the chief attendant of Prince Chen's Mansion also whispered in Prince Chen's ear: "From my humble guess, these two people are likely to have been sent here 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 get involved with the rebel king from more than ten years ago, not only will you lose your head, but even your family members will 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 scared 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 is needed to deal with people like this."
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 talked too much and His Highness was very angry. He hasn't said much since he entered the door. Can this be called cruel?
Several young ladies looked at the sword-carrying guards behind Prince Chen who had solemn expressions, and then glanced at the Prince Chen's mansion attendant who frightened people into trembling as soon as he opened his mouth. Is this... called being reasonable?
They almost don't understand what is reasonable.
"Jinwu Guards are on patrol. Who is carrying weapons in the capital?"
A team of armored Jinwu guards rushed into the teahouse, their expressions solemn: "We have received a report that someone is carrying weapons here privately. According to the Dacheng Law, privately carrying weapons is not allowed, and gathering to fight is not allowed."
The teahouse owner was so frightened that he kept bowing and saying, "Sir, this is all a misunderstanding, 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 surrounded two men dressed as literati 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 in the manner of a military general.
As a squad leader 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 the dude in the street because the way he looked at women was too obscene and he found it disgusting; tomorrow he will have to make the dude sell himself in the street to bury his father, and the father who pretended to be dead will 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 bothering this prince again?
"Why are you here again?" Prince Chen looked at the team leader, "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 old man again.
He glanced at the two people who were kneeling on the ground, crying and snotting in fear, and said, "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 speaking style of "small things become big, big things are never over", so he said, "General, these two people slandered the officials of the court, speculated on the emperor's intentions, and insulted the royal family with their words."
It exposes the faults of the Ming family and discredits 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 is 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 people knelt on the ground with weak legs. When did they guess the emperor's intention and insult the royal family? If they are so brave, why would they still be servants?
"Your Majesty, General, I am innocent!" No matter how stupid the two 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 at 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 gossip so much, go stand by the window now."
The two of them couldn't even stand up, and seeing this, the guards of Prince Chen's Mansion considerately dragged them to the window.
"First, curse yourself for half an hour. The voice cannot be too low, or I can't hear it. It can't be too loud, or it will scare passers-by." The Prince of Chen raised his chin and said, "There are many guests here, so be careful when you curse, and use elegant words."
They both: “…”
They had never survived such an outrageous demand.
Then they heard the sound of a sharp blade being unsheathed.
Looking at the gleaming cold scabbard, they swallowed and said, "I'm ugly!"
"The 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: "Speak louder!"
"I'm ugly as a pig!"
Prince Chen frowned: "How dare you compare yourself with a pig? Change to another species."
The two wiped the tears from their faces. Are they not even as good as pigs? At this moment, they wanted to hold their heads and cry, but they were afraid of the sharp knives.
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. There is no other reason, just proficiency.
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 people."
Prince Chen nodded and looked at the two men who were crying: "Go on, I appreciate your behavior of daring to speak ill of me."
The two cried even louder, heartbroken.
They were clearly speaking ill of the Ming family, so how did it become speaking ill of Prince Chen?
"Fifth brother." The King of Qi pushed aside the screen and walked out. He didn't even look at the two crying people. "These two people made Fifth Brother unhappy. Just escort them to the government office. Why bother Fifth Brother?"
"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?"
The King of Qi sat down next to the King of Chen and said, "They are just two ignorant villains. It is not worth it for my 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 did he feel that the half of the face exposed in the gap looked 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, Prince 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, pretended to take a sip, and glanced at the two screens that were only slightly opened out of the corner of his eye.
"Fifth brother, you've made such a big fuss..."
"They say bad things about me, and 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 had killed the two men to make things difficult for him, the King of Qi immediately realized that Yun Duqing deliberately wanted to make 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 scold oneself for half an hour are more suitable for common people to chat about after dinner.
Who will care about what these two people said at that time?
For the common people, the number of titles obtained by the Ming family has nothing to do with them. They don’t even know the rank of the titles. Anyway, they are 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 and 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 that person is right. Your Highness has a good personality and 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 because of her naive personality?
The King of 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?"
The King of Qi, who has always been 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 Prince of Chen, some people even secretly took out pens, ink, paper and inkstones and began passing small notes around to exchange opinions.
[As expected of a domineering prince, everything he says and does is noble and dignified like a royal family! 】
[A red dress embroidered with gold patterns, who can wear it so beautifully if not a domineering prince? 】
[The prince next to him is also very handsome.] 】
[The other princes are all the same, only the domineering prince is a different star. 】
[I just saw Miss Ming in the teahouse. I wonder if she has seen the Prince’s domineering demeanor. 】
Plop.
Jiuzhu was squatting behind the screen. Because the King of Qi blocked her view, she wanted to pull the screen open a little, but she slipped and fell out.
The attendants from Prince Chen's and Prince Qi's palaces, as well as the Jinwu Guards, all looked at her.
It’s really her!
Prince 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 her skirt: "What a coincidence."
Prince Chen: “…”
"Are your legs numb from squatting?"
"A little bit." Jiuzhu looked back at the little 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 little sisters behind the screen, "Do you understand how the overbearing prince and Miss Jiao get along with each other?"
The other young sisters nodded one after another. This was the real Overlord Prince and his little wife. The stories told by the storytellers were not quite right and were not realistic and detailed 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 cried again. This was hundreds of times more painful than being scolded by the stewards.
After the two men were dragged away by the Jinwu Guards, Prince Chen coughed dryly and said, "I just..."
"Your Highness was so handsome just now." Jiuzhu looked at the King with burning eyes: "Especially like a hero who came down from the sky and angrily denounced injustice."
Well, there's no need to praise it so sincerely.
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?"
Which girl doesn't like others to praise her admired father? At this moment, Jiuzhu's eyes were filled not with stars, but with scorching sunshine.
"Your Highness is as good as my father." Jiuzhu's smile was as sweet as if she had fallen into a honey pot.
The King of Qi looked at the girl from the Ming family who was smiling brightly at Yun Duqing, and his eyebrows twitched slightly. He couldn't understand why this young lady from the Ming family would trust and admire the unlearned and domineering Yun Duqing so much.
Has no one told her about the Prince’s past deeds? Or is it true as the rumors say, that she deliberately tries 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 her mother described as, a person who currys favor with the powerful and acts as an accomplice to the evil?
"Average, average. There is still a lot that I need 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 fight back, where would his face be?
The sisters hiding behind the screen, upon learning 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 wealthy families, with noble social status, so how could they possibly peek in on the fun?
"Fourth brother." Before leaving, Prince Chen did not forget Prince Qi: "Accompany me to visit Jingzhao Yin."
The King of Qi looked at the King of 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, and when cases were being adjudicated, there were often people watching to watch, so it was not suitable for a little girl to go there.
Looking down at the sleeve that was caught a little bit, Prince Chen gently tugged at the sleeve, but it didn't move: "Then you just follow me obediently and don't walk around."
It’s just… I’m just afraid that she’ll be unhappy and cry, there’s no other meaning.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
