"Your Highness." In the carriage, the attendant looked worriedly at the Prince of Chen who was riding in front, and whispered to the Prince of Qi: "I am worried that the Prince of Chen will find out the identities of those two people, which will be harmful to you."
The Pingyuan Marquis Mansion is the prince's maternal family. Although what these two servants did has nothing to do with the prince, in the eyes of His Majesty, it will seem that the prince is plotting against Prince Chen's in-laws.
"Whether they go or not, the identities of these two people cannot be changed." The King of Qi said calmly: "If I go with him, it can at least prove that I know nothing about this matter."
"Is the Marquis' Mansion holding a grudge against Concubine Su for summoning the Marquis's wife into the palace to reprimand her, so they sent people to do this kind of thing?" Although there was no empress in the palace, Concubine Su, as the highest-ranking woman in the harem, was almost tacitly regarded as the vice-empress. If she summoned the ladies of state to the palace to reprimand them, they would have no choice but to listen obediently.
The King of Qi was silent and thoughtful.
Seeing that the prince didn't say anything, the chief attendant didn't know what to say. He had some opinions about the Pingyuan Marquis' Mansion in his heart. Wasn't this holding the prince back?
The Prince of Qi lifted the curtain of the carriage. From where he was, he could only see the carriage of Prince Chen's mansion. Yun Duqing was riding a horse beside the carriage. He was dressed in a fiery red dress, so flamboyant that it hurt people's eyes.
He lowered the curtain and took a slow breath.
When he was very young, he often heard his mother complain about Su and Yun Duqing.
Su was a person of limited knowledge, she used her beauty to please men, she seduced people and brought disaster upon themselves. Even her son learned to please and please like her.
He worked hard to finish reciting an article and received praise from his father. Then he turned around and saw Yun Duqing peeling oranges for his father, making his father smile with joy.
Yun Duqing is about the same age as him, but he is not as good as him in academic performance, etiquette, and even his foreign family background is not as good as his. However, Yun Duqing is still the best son in his father's eyes.
He even knew that his father had originally wanted the daughter of the Sun family to marry Yun Duqing. If it weren't for the fact that the young lady of the Sun family was more fond of him, the Sun family, which was respected by countless scholars, would have become Yun Duqing's right-hand man.
The only thing he didn't expect was that the Ming family had a daughter who had been fostered in Lingzhou since childhood. Fortunately, the Ming family is upright and has never had a good impression of the Su family mother and son...
"Your Majesty, we have arrived at the Jingzhao government office."
Lord Wang, the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, looked at the prisoners who were personally escorted by the Jinwu Guards, stood up and asked the leading captain: "Young general, I wonder what crime these two have committed?"
If he hadn't committed a serious crime, why would there be so many people escorting him?
The captain of the Jinwu Guard bowed and saluted: "Sir, these two people have disrespected the royal family, slandered the court officials, and speculated on the emperor's will. Please investigate thoroughly."
Lord Wang took a deep breath, seeing these two people were so scared that they couldn't even stand up, how dare they dare to do such a big thing?
"Thank you, young general, for telling me." Lord Wang suppressed his shock and said, "I will detain them pending trial and will not let them off easily."
"Why wait until later to try him?" Prince Chen strode in: "I think today is a good day."
"Your humble servant greets His Royal Highness Prince Chen." Lord Wang saw that Prince Chen was followed by Prince Qi, so he quickly bowed again: "Your humble servant greets His Royal Highness Prince Qi."
"No need for these empty formalities." The Prince of Chen looked at the two people lying on the ground like mud and said, "These two people have offended me and speculated on the emperor's will. My Lord, you must interrogate them carefully to find out their identities, who sent them, and what their purpose is."
“Yes, yes, yes.” Lord Wang glanced at the two people on the ground. What kind of courage did they have to offend King Chen?
"Please take your seats, my Lords. I will start the trial now..."
"No need. I am only here to listen to the trial process and not to participate in the trial." Prince Chen pulled Jiuzhu, who was staring at the torture instruments, and sat down on the chair next to him.
Lord Wang glanced at the girl who was being pulled by Prince Chen to sit down. Although he didn't know her identity, he still bowed to her and turned to Prince Chen and Prince Qi and said, "Your Highnesses, I have the audacity to take the seat."
The King of Qi nodded slightly and sat down on the other side of the trial hall, right across from the King of Chen.
"Who is kneeling in the hall? What's his name and where he lives? Tell me as soon as possible." Lord Wang struck the gavel, and the bailiffs all took their positions. The killing sticks made a thumping sound on the ground, like a war drum on the battlefield.
The two servants had never seen such a scene before. They burst into tears on the spot and told everyone their identities.
"You said that you are servants of the Pingyuan Marquis Mansion in the suburbs of Beijing. Do you have any evidence?" Lord Wang secretly glanced at King Qi. The Pingyuan Marquis Mansion is King Qi's in-laws.
"Yes, yes." The two men hurriedly took out their badges. The servants in the villa must have this badge to enter and leave the villa.
The bailiff presented the badge to Lord Wang. Lord Wang took a look at it and turned to look at Prince Chen: "Your Highness, look..."
You royal princes should not embarrass a poor prefect of Jingzhao with your secretive tactics.
"Continue the trial." The Prince of Chen waved away the bailiff who was about to show him the badge and said, "I said that today I am only here to watch you try the case."
Qi Wang Mosuo put on the jade pendant on his waist and smiled faintly: "Fifth brother is right, such criminals must not be forgiven lightly. Of course, we can't wrongly accuse unrelated good people."
Who is the irrelevant good guy?
Pingyuan Marquis Mansion?
Prince Chen sneered and hooked his finger at Jiuzhu, motioning her to put her ear closer. Noticing his movements, Jiuzhu leaned her head over.
"Have you ever heard of what is called pretense?" Prince Chen lowered his voice and said, "My good fourth brother definitely qualifies as such."
Jiuzhu secretly glanced at King Qi and whispered like King Chen: "Marquis Pingyuan's Mansion is King Qi's maternal grandfather's home. Will he protect bad people?"
"He dares?" Prince Chen snorted coldly: "I am still here."
"Yeah." Jiuzhu felt relieved immediately.
"Tsk." Prince Chen looked at the little girl who believed everything he said. What's wrong with her brain? She wouldn't be fooled by someone giving her a string of candied haws, right?
The King of Qi looked at Yun Duqing, who was whispering with the girl from the Ming family from time to time, with a smile on his face that never faded. The expression of this young lady from the Ming family was so easy to guess. He could tell at a glance that they were talking about something related to him, and it was not a good thing.
Pretending to be unaware of the undercurrent between the two princes, Lord Wang slammed the gavel again: "First, drag him away and give him twenty lashes." After thinking for a moment, he added two more sentences: "Drag the concubine to give him a beating, so as not to pollute the noble's eyes."
Jiuzhu watched the two people being dragged away like cooked noodles, and she was a little confused. Since they knew that doing such a thing would bring terrible consequences to themselves, why did they still do it?
Suddenly, two warm hands covered her ears, and she turned her head to see the approaching face of His Royal Highness Prince Chen.
"Little girl, don't listen to the howling of ghosts and wolves."
Because his ears were covered, His Highness' voice sounded a little unreal, and Jiuzhu blinked.
"Have you ever seen anyone being beaten with a stick before?"
Jiuzhu shook his head.
"That's right." Prince Chen turned his head and looked at the side hall separated by wooden fences. The two prisoners had been pressed on the wide black lacquered wooden benches. He lowered his eyelids and said in a mocking tone: "No matter how tough a person is, he will look particularly ugly when he cries and howls."
Jiuzhu wanted to follow his gaze and turned her head to look.
"Don't look." Prince Chen grabbed her face and accidentally used too much force, squeezing her rosy little mouth into an upturned duck-like mouth.
Seeing Jiuzhu's big eyes looking at him in confusion, he quickly reduced his strength: "I told you it's ugly, little girl, you have to be obedient and don't look at it secretly."
Jiuzhu heard a man's screaming, the sound was very vague and distant, so vague that she could hardly hear it.
The hand on her ear was still so warm, and Jiuzhu couldn't help but think that a man as gentle as His Highness must have been sent by God.
After the screams ended, Prince Chen loosened his hand. Seeing Jiuzhu looking at him stupidly, he couldn't help but poke her forehead: "Are you fooled by my grace?"
Jiuzhu thought about it and nodded seriously.
Prince Chen turned his head and coughed dryly.
I know, I know, I know that you admire me very much.
He lowered his head and picked up his fingers. Is Ming Xiaozhu's face made of tofu?
It was so soft and tender that it seemed like her face would be broken if a little more force was used.
The servant who was beaten with the stick was dragged up and told everything, including what the two managers said and why they did it.
"Your Highness, since this matter involves the steward of the Marquis's Mansion, you see..." Lord Wang smiled flatteringly at the King of Qi, "It is always better to investigate the matter thoroughly."
Given the kindness and talent of His Royal Highness the Prince of Qi, it is absolutely impossible for him to send anyone to do such a thing. It’s a pity that the Pingyuan Marquis’ Mansion did not manage his subordinates well, causing such incidents and affecting the reputation of the King of Qi.
"It's my duty." The King of Qi nodded and said to his attendant behind him, "Go and bring over the steward these two people mentioned."
"Don't worry, Fourth Brother. My people have already gone." Prince Chen smiled, "I'm sure Fourth Brother knows that there are many good horses in my palace. I love riding horses. The palace guards are also good at riding horses. They are fast, so we can wait here for a while longer."
"Fifth brother, you are very thoughtful." The King of Qi paused while stroking the jade pendant with his thumb. "It was Fourth brother who forgot that you have many fine horses in your house."
"It's okay. If you accidentally forget next time, I'll remind you." The Prince searched in his waist pouch, but didn't find anything to eat, so he gave up. "This Prince never minds such trivial matters."
Jiuzhu noticed his actions, took out some dried meat from her purse and put them in King Chen's hand.
Prince Chen turned his head to look at Jiuzhu, who blinked and smiled at him.
Lord Wang took a deep breath as he looked at Prince Chen and the girl in pink skirt sharing snacks.
Someone just got beaten with a stick, how can these two people eat?
The guards of Prince Chen's Mansion were indeed very fast. Not only did they bring the stewards mentioned by the two servants, they also brought a steward from Marquis Pingyuan's Mansion.
After hearing what happened, the manager of the villa looked bewildered: "Sir, we are just the managers of the villa, how dare we do such a treasonous thing?!"
The two servants heard this and asked angrily, "It was obviously you who came up with the idea and we did this!"
"I remember that you two secretly drank alcohol while on duty a few days ago, and I fined you for that. Is that why you hold a grudge against me and are using this method to slander me?" The steward retorted, "The selection of stewards in the Marquis' Mansion has always had strict standards. How could you transfer me to the Marquis' Mansion for such a ridiculous reason?"
Lord Wang nodded, thinking that what the steward said made some sense. No master would like a servant who acted on his own. Let alone transferring him to the marquis's mansion, it might be too late to drive him away.
Jiuzhu didn't have the energy to listen to what they said. She looked at the steward of the marquis's mansion with a scar on his chin and curled up her fingers on her knees.
This scar was cut by her with a silver hairpin. When the blood dripped onto her face, it was sticky and fishy.
That silver hairpin was the first small silver hairpin that the masters bought for her after saving for a long time. She took good care of it and wiped it every day before carefully inserting it into her hair.
When she was tied up, gagged and thrown into the river, the little silver hairpin fell somewhere and perhaps sank into the mud at the bottom of the river, never to see the light of day again.
"That guy." Prince Chen pointed at the steward of the Marquis' Mansion and said, "Stand further away. Don't let me see your face. You are so ugly."
After saying that, he stuffed a piece of dried meat into Jiuzhu's mouth and said, "Are you hungry? I see it's time for lunch."
Jiuzhu came back to her senses. She turned her head to look at King Chen, chewing beef jerky without saying a word.
The scarred butler, who was bluntly told by the Prince of Chen that he was ugly, had a gloomy look in his eyes, but he did not dare to refute. He forced out a twisted and flattering smile, retreated to a corner, and turned sideways to prevent the Prince of Chen from seeing his face.
"Are you in a daze again?" Prince Chen raised his eyebrows and looked at her.
Jiuzhu touched the hairpins on her temples. She no longer knew how to comb her hair.
"Your Highness." Jiuzhu lowered her head and gently pulled the forbidden belt hanging around her waist.
"Um?"
"Nothing." Jiuzhu shook her head, looked up and gave him a big smile.
Prince Chen pointed to the pouch on her waist and asked, "Do you have any dried meat?"
Jiuzhu nodded: "Yes."
After saying that, he took off the entire purse and put it in Prince Chen's hand.
Prince Chen ate the dried meat while listening to Lord Wang's trial. Finally, after the two servants signed and confessed their guilt, he slowly spoke: "I have heard about the style of the Pingyuan Marquis's residence. I didn't expect that their servant committed such a serious crime, and no one from the Pingyuan Marquis' residence came to speak up."
The scarred manager standing in the corner: "..."
Before he came, Prince Chen's Mansion just said that a servant in the villa had done something wrong. Who knew it was this kind of thing?
"Oh, I forgot." Prince Chen looked at Prince Qi and said, "Marquis Pingyuan is Fourth Brother's uncle. With a nephew like you around, it's normal for everyone in Marquis Pingyuan's mansion to feel so relieved."
The expression of the chief attendant of Prince Qi's mansion suddenly turned ugly. What did Prince Chen mean by this?
"I have suffered such a great humiliation, but I have not seen the Pingyuan Marquis Mansion come to apologize. I guess they don't take me seriously on weekdays." Prince Chen stood up and stuffed the dried meat that Jiuzhu gave him into his sleeves. "Fourth brother, there is no need to plead for the Pingyuan Marquis Mansion. I will go to the palace to meet my father and ask him to make the decision for me."
The chief attendant of Prince Qi’s mansion: “…”
His prince clearly didn't say a word, so what did Prince Chen mean by talking to himself?
After all this fuss, and bringing the person to Jingzhao Yin to judge the case, the final conclusion is that Pingyuan Marquis Mansion doesn't take him seriously?
"Fifth brother..."
"Fourth brother, there is no need to say more. As your younger brother, I know how difficult it is for you to deal with this matter." The red sleeves of the Prince of Chen drew a graceful arc in the air, and his face was full of tolerance: "Don't worry, your younger brother will not vent his anger on you because of this matter."
After saying that, he winked at Jiuzhu.
Jiuzhu stood up quickly. She thought for a moment, raised her fair little chin, snorted at the two servants kneeling on the ground, shook her sleeves like Prince Chen, and followed Prince Chen out of the gate of Jingzhao Yin.
"Hmph! Despicable villain." After the chief attendant of Prince Chen's mansion uttered this in a sarcastic tone, he left with the other attendants and guards. Suddenly, half of the Jingzhao Yin's office was empty.
Lord Wang hurriedly bowed to the door through which Prince Chen was leaving, then turned around and gave Prince Qi an awkward smile, "Your Highness..."
"Thank you for your hard work, Lord Wang. I'm taking my leave." The King of Qi turned and left Jingzhao Prefecture.
Lord Wang took off the black gauze hat on his head and kept wiping the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeves. As the prefect of Jingzhao Prefecture, he never had a day of peace.
"Your Highness, what should we do now?" The chief attendant of Prince Qi's mansion did not expect Prince Chen to do things so casually. As soon as he left the gate of Jingzhao Yin, he said anxiously, "I am worried that Prince Chen will use this matter to wrongly accuse you."
"Tell the prince of Pingyuan Marquis's mansion to stop Prince Chen before he enters the palace and apologize to him." The King of Qi said sternly, "The more sincere the apology, the better. Even if you have to kneel down in the street to apologize, people must see the sincerity of Pingyuan Marquis's mansion in apologizing to Prince Chen."
"I will do it right away!" The long-time attendant mounted his horse and became increasingly dissatisfied with the Pingyuan Marquis' Mansion. The prince was not favored by His Majesty, and he never dared to take a wrong step or say a wrong word in his daily words and deeds. Pingyuan Marquis's Mansion usually travels around the capital in the name of the prince, but not only can they not be of any help, they also hinder the prince.
After sending Ming Jiuzhu back to Minister Ming's residence, Prince Chen turned around and walked towards the palace.
He said he would go to the palace to file a complaint, and he would definitely not wait until tomorrow.
Halfway through the journey, Prince Chen saw the owners of two restaurants arguing across the street, accusing each other's chefs of not cooking authentic dishes.
"My restaurant serves authentic Beijing cuisine. Your restaurant makes everything taste like Lingzhou cuisine. How dare you call yourself a century-old Beijing restaurant?"
Prince Chen pulled the reins of his horse, pointed at the restaurant owner who was accused of not serving authentic Beijing cuisine, and said to his attendant, "Please bring the chef who can cook Lingzhou cuisine back to the palace to cook."
The attendant said quickly, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. I will bring the person to the palace before dark today."
Hearing this, Prince Chen turned his head to look at him. He didn't have a very good reputation outside, which was partly due to this servant who couldn't speak.
"Your Highness, please stay!"
Prince Chen looked back at the Prince of Pingyuan Marquisate who was chasing him on a fast horse, and said to the guards, "You can't ride a horse in a busy city. Go and stop the man."
After saying this, he patted his horse and continued walking slowly towards the palace.
Want him to stay?
snort.
As a prince, he needs an idiot from Pingyuan Marquis's Mansion to teach him how to do things?
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