Chapter 18 Cockfighting: You can rest assured, this king is not interested in the south wind!
Yangliu Hutong is far from Yujie Street, so you can't see the bustling Yujie Street from here. It was only when people who went there early in the morning to set up stalls that they came back and told others about it as an interesting story that it attracted a crowd.
The students from impoverished families were criticizing Prince Jin, who was currently in their Yangliu Hutong. It's no wonder they were curious.
Just then, the man was speaking with great enthusiasm when he saw the Prince of Jin suddenly rush out of the alley. Thinking that the Prince was coming to beat him, he was so frightened that he quickly shrank back.
But Qi Jingxuan simply ran past him, ignoring him completely, and headed straight for his carriage.
Qi Jingxuan's carriage was stopped at the entrance of the alley. He couldn't wait for the driver to put down the saddlebags, so he climbed on with both hands and feet and hurriedly ordered, "Go to the Imperial Street, quickly!"
The coachman agreed, cracked his whip, and drove the carriage toward the Imperial Street.
The people at the street corner looked at each other, then after a moment they started chatting excitedly again, their interest was high.
………………
About half an hour later, Qi Jingxuan finally arrived at the Imperial Street.
By this time, a large crowd of onlookers had gathered on the street, pointing and whispering among themselves at the dozen or so students sitting quietly on the Imperial Street.
Qi Jingxuan breathed a deep sigh of relief upon seeing only those poor scholars in front of the Imperial Street and not a single Imperial Guard in sight. He was even secretly glad that he had stayed at the Shen family's gate last night instead of returning to the Prince's Mansion.
Otherwise, if he sleeps until late morning in the Prince's mansion and then finds out, it will probably be too late.
The grand court assembly should still be in session, and his father might be getting scolded in the Golden Palace. News of these students gathering and causing trouble probably hasn't reached his father yet, and even if it did, his father wouldn't send anyone out to drive them away right now.
Qi Jingxuan jumped off the carriage and looked at the students sitting in silence, a surge of anger rising in his heart.
His miserable past lives all started with these students causing trouble. If they hadn't been instigated, and some hadn't been bribed to willingly walk into the line of fire, things wouldn't have escalated to such an extent, leading to his tragic end.
Thinking of all this, Qi Jingxuan became furious. After getting out of the car, he pushed through the crowd and strode over, shouting, "What are you students doing here instead of studying?"
The shout startled the surrounding crowd, and the students who were sitting quietly turned around.
Although they had been there for some time, they did not shout loudly. Instead, they only recounted the evil deeds of the Prince of Jin when they first gathered and expressed their demands for the Prince of Jin to be severely punished and for justice to be served for the Shen family. After that, they sat down quietly and only spoke when officials passed by. The rest of the time, they simply sat in protest, so the area where they sat was quieter than other places.
At this moment, they heard a loud shout and thought it was the academy's teacher coming. They were startled and turned around, only to see a young man in brocade robes and wearing a jade crown.
The man was handsome with broad shoulders and a narrow waist, and looked very dashing. However, his clothes were disheveled and wrinkled, his hair was messy and obviously unkempt, and his face was covered with several mosquito bites, making him look rather comical.
Some people frowned, puzzled, while others recognized Qi Jingxuan and whispered, "He is the Prince of Jin. He is the one who humiliated Lord Shen's daughter and then relentlessly pursued the Shen family, forcibly asking for her hand in marriage."
Those who didn't recognize Qi Jingxuan, upon hearing that he was the very person they had just been verbally attacking, showed a hint of disgust in their eyes, while others couldn't help but feel a sense of fear.
They were prepared to be driven away before they came to demonstrate, but they didn't expect that the Imperial Guards wouldn't arrive, but instead, the Prince of Jin himself appeared.
The student in blue robes who was the leader stood up and said, "We came here because we heard about what happened at the Marquis of Cheng'an's residence yesterday. As students of the Great Qi Dynasty, and also from humble backgrounds, we cannot stand the Prince's behavior and have come here to seek justice for the Shen family."
"Now that Your Highness has arrived, we would also like to ask you: As the Prince of Jin, personally appointed by His Majesty and a member of the imperial family, enjoying the tribute of our Great Qi, why do you not think of serving your country and sharing the burdens of the emperor, but instead commit such acts? What is the meaning of this? Are we, people of humble origins, destined to be bullied by you imperial nobles?"
He was dressed simply, yet exuded an imposing aura, like a lone pine tree standing tall, which inspired the students behind him to stand up as well, expressing their shared hatred of the enemy.
Although some people were already feeling fear, they had come as one, and it would be too late to back out now; they would be labeled as cowards. So, regardless of what they thought, they eventually followed suit.
Faced with these people's questions, the "culprit," Qi Jingxuan, not only showed no remorse, but also stood tall with his hands on his hips, confidently retorting: "Stop trying to make yourself look good. Just because you're from humble backgrounds doesn't mean you can compare to Lord Shen. There are so many poor families in the world, do you think I look down on all of them? You say I bully people from poor families? Then tell me, besides the Shen family, which other poor family have I ever bullied?"
He then pointed to the crowd of onlookers: "I have committed countless evil deeds since I was a child, and I am notorious in the capital. Many storytellers in restaurants and teahouses have turned my deeds into stories."
"Ask the people around you, who hasn't heard of one or two of my misdeeds? Ask them again, apart from the Shen family, when have I ever bullied someone from a poor family?"
The scholar in blue robes never expected that he would use his past misdeeds to clarify that he had never targeted poor families. All the prepared arguments in his mind were rendered useless, and he didn't know how to refute them.
The onlookers, who were initially somewhat uneasy, couldn't help but chuckle when they saw that Qi Jingxuan wasn't angry about being reduced to a storyteller's tale, and even used it to refute these poor scholars.
One person started laughing, and the people around him joined in. The tense atmosphere caused by Qi Jingxuan's arrival suddenly became lively. Someone boldly hesitated before speaking up and said, "It seems there really isn't one. The Shen family is the first."
“Yes,” someone echoed, “Although we often heard that Prince Jin had fought with so-and-so’s son or burned down so-and-so’s house, they were all officials. There was never any poor family that he had harassed.”
Everyone discussed it animatedly, digging up all the misdeeds of Prince Jin that they knew about over the years, and found that apart from the Shen family incident, there was really nothing related to poor families.
For a time, some people even praised Prince Jin, saying that although he was not a good person, he never oppressed the poor and had a conscience compared to other纨绔子弟 (sons of wealthy families) in the capital.
Some people say that the affairs among these high-ranking officials and nobles are complicated, and maybe it's not entirely the Prince of Jin's fault, but rather a case of dogs fighting each other.
The common people have always enjoyed watching the infighting among officials.
Of course, he lowered his voice considerably after that, not daring to let Qi Jingxuan hear him.
Qi Jingxuan raised his chin and looked down at the dozen or so poor scholars in front of him, whose faces were ashen. He said, "Did you hear that? I have never laid a hand on anyone from a poor family other than the Shen family. Since that's the case, there's no way I'm deliberately bullying people from poor families. And don't use this as an excuse to say that people from poor families deserve to be bullied by the imperial family. If anyone bullied you, go find them. Don't start spouting nonsense before anything has even happened."
"I took advantage of Miss Shen when I was drunk because I was in love with her and made a mistake in a moment of confusion. It had nothing to do with whether she came from a poor family or not."
"If I truly intended to humiliate her because of her humble origins, shouldn't I have just let her go and allowed her reputation to be ruined? Why would I still be so eager to marry her?"
His persistent pursuit of Shen Yan was already common knowledge. People from Yangliu Hutong had mentioned it earlier that morning, and now those who had firsthand information were excitedly recounting it to those around them.
“He was already calling his father-in-law on the street before they were even married. Lord Shen disagreed, but he said that he would accept the marriage, so he immediately changed his address to Father.”
"It seems she was beaten at the Shen family's house. When she came out, her face was swollen and there was a very obvious handprint. But she didn't seem angry. She was crying and begging to stay. In the end, she was forcibly dragged away by several soldiers from the palace. She was howling so pitifully when she left. If you didn't know better, you would think someone was slaughtering a pig."
“He slept on the ground in front of the Shen family’s house last night and kept watch all night. Look at the bumps on his face, those are from mosquito bites he got while sleeping on the street last night.”
As these words spread among the crowd, they could understand why Qi Jingxuan looked so disheveled. He probably hadn't had time to wash up or change before rushing over.
The dozen or so students who came to protest were humiliated by Qi Jingxuan. Not only did the onlookers not speak up for them, but they were also swayed by Qi Jingxuan's twisted logic. One student, unable to contain his anger, said, "We are just sympathizing with each other. Even if His Highness has never bullied people from poor families before, it is not true that he has humiliated the Shen family."
"If you like Miss Shen, you should have gone through the proper courtesies and formalities to propose marriage. What kind of behavior is it to humiliate her first and then propose? Isn't that just bullying her?"
"Mistakes made in the wrong way"
Qi Jingxuan scoffed: "Are you the same kind of person as Lord Shen? You're just eager to sympathize with someone of your kind."
"When Lord Shen was young, he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi. Later, he was framed and suppressed and served as a county magistrate in a small county government for more than ten years. During his tenure, he worked hard and never complained. In addition to managing local affairs, he also took the time to compile the 'Yingzhou Chronicle', 'Taiping History', and 'Hui'an Poetry Collection'. He made a name for himself with his real skills and was personally summoned to the capital by my father, the emperor."
"Who are you lot? How many years have you studied? Do you even have the title of Jinshi? Don't even mention Jinshi, some of you probably aren't even Xiucai (a lower-level degree) yet. How dare you compare yourselves to Lord Shen?"
"How come there are so many poor people in the world, does being poor make everyone the same? Has poverty become your legitimate reason to climb the social ladder?"
"Or do you think you're as talented and beautiful as Miss Shen, and are worried that I might take advantage of you one day when I'm drunk?"
"You can rest assured, I am not susceptible to the south wind!"
These words drew another burst of laughter from the onlookers. Upon hearing the news, a storyteller dropped what he was doing and rushed over, taking out his notebook and writing down every word of the Prince of Jin's words so that he could use them when compiling his own storybooks in the future.
Seeing that Qi Jingxuan had the upper hand, one student stubbornly retorted, "You are a prince, and His Majesty has always favored you the most. Who knows how many bad things you've done over the years?"
"Maybe what's been said is just one or two examples. People like us from humble backgrounds, even if you bully us, we probably have no way to seek justice and will just be suppressed."
"If Miss Shen's matter hadn't been discovered in public, she might have been left with a bitter pill to swallow, unable to express her grievances and forced to suffer in silence."
"Oh," Qi Jingxuan sneered, glancing at him coldly, "you're just some student who hasn't even entered officialdom yet. You haven't even held a single official position, and you're already trying to learn how to report rumors and gossip to the emperor."
"I've lived for over a decade. If I truly possessed such extraordinary abilities, would my reputation be as tarnished as it is now? Or do you think those powerful families I've offended are all fools, who, despite such a good opportunity, didn't seize it to find fault with me, allowing me to suppress the matter without letting a word of my misdeeds leak out?"
"A censor should at least have some prior information before submitting a report based on hearsay. You have neither evidence nor any prior information; it's purely fabrication out of thin air."
"A person like you should never become an official, otherwise you'll be able to convict others entirely based on your own imagination. You can suspect someone of some crime and they'll be accused of it. You're exactly the kind of person who suspects their neighbor of stealing an axe."
The scholar, his face flushed with anger, gritted his teeth and said, "The fact remains that you bullied Miss Shen this time. What's wrong with us demanding that the court severely punish you!"
"That's right!"
Qi Jingxuan said.
"I did bully Miss Shen, and I have confessed. My father has never said he would protect me. The civil and military officials are probably cursing me in court right now, and my father is probably being cursed as well."
“If you think I should be severely punished, you can join forces with the teachers of the academies to petition the court. Each academy has its own channels to reach the emperor's ears. You can curse me, sue me, and demand that the court punish me severely in your petition.”
"But why didn't you submit your petition through the academy? What kind of nonsense is this, skipping classes and gathering here to cause trouble? Surely it's not that your academy's teachers have no integrity, are afraid of the court and imperial power, and dare not stand up for you, forcing you to cause trouble yourselves?"
Regardless of which academy these students belong to, if this gets out, their teachers' reputations will inevitably be affected. If that happens, their days at the academy will likely be difficult.
Some panicked and hurriedly said, "No, our teacher knows nothing about this. We... we only gathered here because we were filled with righteous indignation."
Qi Jingxuan nodded, saying meaningfully, "So after you learned about my affair with Miss Shen, you didn't write a petition, didn't consult with the teachers at the academy, and just came here under the guise of seeking justice for the Shen family."
"Are you truly acting for the Shen family, or are you simply using this opportunity to gain public recognition and a reputation for not fearing imperial power?"
Upon hearing this, the students' expressions changed drastically. Some turned pale, cold sweat beading on their foreheads, while others blushed and angrily retorted, "You...you mustn't spout nonsense! We scholars would never do such a thing to seek fame and fortune!"
Qi Jingxuan snorted coldly, taking in the reactions of the dozen or so students.
"I don't know if you are or not, but there must be some of you who are."
"I advise you to leave quickly and think it over carefully when you get back. See if you were instigated and used by someone with ulterior motives today, or if you were made a scapegoat."
“My affair with Miss Shen happened only yesterday afternoon, less than a day ago. The court hasn’t even decided how to punish me yet, and you all act as if you’re certain I’ll be protected and indulged, rushing to the Imperial Street to stage a sit-in protest.”
“Those who know you will say you are acting out of loyalty among scholars, but those who don’t will think you’ve been bribed by my enemies, which is why you’re rushing here to cause trouble.”
Qi Jingxuan was certain that there must be such a person among them, but he didn't know who it was for the time being.
In his previous lives, he was always confined to the palace shortly after the incident, and could only get a general idea of what was happening outside.
He remembered that every time these students clashed with the Imperial Guards, it was always a student surnamed Liang who died, and this time, the student surnamed Liang must be among them.
Qi Jingxuan's gaze swept over them, memorizing their appearances one by one, and he made a plan in his mind.
The students couldn't resist his "fallacies and heresies" and were defeated. Some wanted to give up and left with their companions, while others wanted to stay, but seeing more and more people leaving, they eventually followed suit.
Qi Jingxuan stood with his hands on his hips, proudly raising his chin, looking down on everyone. Coupled with his disheveled clothes and messy hair, he looked like a victorious fighting rooster.
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