Chapter 214 Wowo
After exchanging a few words with the Crown Prince of Qin, Qi Rong dismissed him. The Crown Prince of Qin, Qi Rong, and the Crown Prince of Chu were all childhood friends.
Li Mingxiao may seem like a spoiled and arrogant playboy, but he is actually quite shrewd. His father, the Prince of Qin, was ambushed on the battlefield and almost died.
At a young age, he was sent to the Chu King's residence by the King of Qin, who feared that if he were to meet with misfortune, his family's heir would be harmed.
When the late emperor was alive, the King of Qin was stationed on the frontier, and he led the Qin Royal Guard to conquer a large area of territory in Guanzhong.
Perhaps his achievements overshadowed the emperor, or perhaps the late emperor was wary of him; first, the Qin King's military power was stripped, and then he was rewarded with many gifts.
King Qin had spent half his life on the battlefield, but in a later defensive battle, he was wounded by an internal traitor. The wound was so severe that it almost damaged his heart. Almost three days after King Qin was injured, the late emperor ordered that King Qin and his family be moved to the capital so that King Qin could recuperate.
In addition, they would find someone else to take over the military power of the Qin King's fiefdom. They didn't even bother with the pretense and directly sent people to bring the Qin King to the capital. Although the rewards were plentiful, they had nothing of substance. It seemed like a great honor to keep the vassal king in the capital, but in reality, it was just to take back the Qin King's military power and keep him under surveillance in the capital.
If the King of Qin hadn't been so seriously injured that he was barely able to move, the late emperor probably would have sent people to carry him there.
The King of Qin had no choice but to send his eldest son, Li Mingxiao, to the Chu King's residence.
When Li Mingxiao first arrived, there were five or six assassination attempts against him, both overt and covert. Later, Li Mingxiao became a playboy, spending his days doing nothing but teasing cats and dogs, and even at a young age, he went to gamble.
This gradually made the imperial court lower its guard.
Later, Li Mingxiao continued to be known for his bad reputation. As a Qin prince who was almost crippled and a vassal king without a qualified successor, the court naturally no longer needed to be wary of him.
Several years later, after no one was monitoring the father and son anymore, the Qin Prince's mansion finally calmed down.
Lin Changning nodded as Qi Rong slowly explained the reason to her, and couldn't help but ask, "Second Brother, you dare to tell me such secrets of the palace?"
Qi Rong touched his lips to the teacup: "Xiao Liu is one of our own, so he's naturally trustworthy."
Hearing Qi Rong say this, Lin Changning smiled and was about to say something when he suddenly heard Lao Han shouting from outside.
"Brother Lin, there's a fight going on in the west of the city. Would you like to come with me to take a look?"
Lin Changning looked up at Qi Rong, and was about to speak when Qi Rong waved his hand and said, "Go."
Lin Changning nodded, turned and left the tent. Old Han, who looked somewhat troubled outside, asked, "What's wrong, Old Han?"
Old Han looked rather unwell. There had just been a disturbance caused by vagrants in the western part of the city, who had stolen food from many people. If it had just been a local ruffian, it would have been easier to deal with, but when he went over to take a look, he found that they were all twelve or thirteen-year-old boys.
If it were an adult committing rebellion, they could simply be beheaded, or at the very least, forced into hard labor. But a group of immature teenagers makes things a bit more complicated.
“There’s a group of delinquent teenagers in the west of the city who have formed a gang and are always robbing food from refugees.”
Lin Changning was somewhat puzzled: "Just arrest them, what's so difficult about that?"
Old Han rubbed his hands together: "How should I put it? Chang Ning, you'll understand once you come with me."
Lin Changning followed Lao Han on horseback to Xicheng, completely bewildered. As soon as they arrived at the refugee gathering place in Xicheng, they saw a group of ragged refugees gathered in a circle, clenching their fists and indignantly cursing something.
The refugees stopped their commotion and fell silent as they made way for Lin Changning and Lao Han.
A man with blood dripping from his ear stood at the front of the crowd. Seeing the two men with knives approaching, he bent down and pointed at the group of boys who were surrounded, saying viciously, "Sir, it was him. He not only stole our food, but also bit off a piece of my ear."
Lin Changning frowned slightly as he looked at the shifty-eyed man. Then he looked at the four or five teenagers surrounded by the crowd, and then at the group of children about five or six years old behind the teenagers. His frown deepened.
"What happened?"
The shifty-eyed man was about to speak when the boy beside him, his eyes red with rage, interrupted him fiercely: "Shut up! Why can you take our food but we can't take yours? If we don't take our food, we'll starve to death."
Old Han looked at Lin Changning and spread his hands: "Now both sides have their own version of events. The refugees next to him said that they did see the group of teenagers snatching the man's food."
Lin Changning coughed lightly, her sharp gaze sweeping over the man: "Is what he said true?"
The shifty-eyed man waved his hand, his voice slightly stammering, "Sir, I have my own food every day. When have I ever robbed them? Besides, there are so many of them, I couldn't possibly take their food."
Two little girls from among the boys leaned out from behind and pointed at the man, shouting, "You're lying! You clearly stole our nest a few days ago!!"
In fact, Lin Changning already understood the situation perfectly. So many refugees only had so little food each day. Not to mention the children, even the adults were probably not full. They were just barely maintaining their vital signs.
These teenagers didn't seem to be under anyone's control; rather, they looked like a group of people who had banded together for survival after losing their closest relatives.
The man jumped up and down anxiously: "I didn't! You little brat, don't talk nonsense. Besides, your stories are all one-sided. Did anyone see me steal your food? It's a clear fact that you stole my food today; so many people saw it!!!"
The boy in the lead stared at the man with bloodshot eyes, his ferocious expression suggesting he wanted to tear the man apart.
Lin Changning pointed directly at the man and said, "Men, take him away and make him a laborer."
The man looked at Lin Changning with a bewildered expression, cupped his hands in a fawning smile, and said, "Sir, have you arrested the wrong person? These brats came to steal my food!"
Lin Changning chuckled: "Men, strip him naked!!!"
He noticed it when he first arrived; the man's waist was bulging, though not very noticeably. It was clear that this group of people had been starving for a long time, and most of them were dressed in rags and were extremely thin.
However, although this man was thin, his complexion was much better than that of other pale and thin people. His thin body, coupled with his bulging waist, clearly indicated that he was hiding something in his waist.
Upon hearing this, the soldiers quickly restrained the man, and after tearing open his shirt, several silver ingots and a broken cornbread fell to the ground with a thud.
Lin Changning picked up the cornbread from the ground and handed it to the man: "The daily food rations are rationed. Everyone eats the food on the spot as soon as they get it. I want to ask you, where did you get this cornbread?"
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