Chapter 327: Capture and Take Away
The emperor sneered and sat there quietly listening. His expression was indifferent, but everyone was worried about what he was actually thinking.
This—what a coincidence! I really shouldn't have come out today.
The attraction of royal gossip was obviously very great. The four people were completely unaware that there was an all-powerful person listening silently at the scene. They talked excitedly and vividly.
The emperor sneered slightly, glanced at the people sitting there, and said calmly, "Have you all heard about this?"
A certain Lord Fu nodded slightly and chuckled softly, "Your Majesty, these people are just ordinary people. What do they know? They are just talking nonsense out of boredom. Their words cannot be taken seriously!"
"Yeah, yeah! Don't take it seriously!"
“Yes, yes!”
"That's not what I'm talking about," the emperor said coldly. "Even if these are rumors, have you ever heard of these 'rumors'?"
"this--"
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing how to answer.
This has been spread all over the streets, how could they not know?
It's not appropriate to tell the truth, but as for lying, who would dare to lie in front of so many colleagues and in front of the emperor? Even without colleagues around, I wouldn't dare!
"Ha!" The emperor glanced at everyone and sneered, "It seems that everyone knows, except me."
No one dared to look up.
Zhao Xiang sighed softly, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I don't know how this matter got around, but it's just a rumor and shouldn't be taken seriously. Without any concrete evidence, how could we, your servants, tell such nonsense in front of Your Majesty? Wouldn't that make us look like villains trying to sow discord? Countless rumors spread like this in the capital every day. Even if people occasionally hear them, they just laugh it off. Rumors, after all, will die down after a while. Your Majesty is so busy with his affairs that he shouldn't waste his energy on such nonsense."
"Yeah yeah!"
"Master Zhao is absolutely right!"
Everyone nodded and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that if anyone else spoke up at this time, they would probably be scolded to death by the emperor, especially Lord Zhao.
The Emperor's expression softened upon hearing this, and he snorted, "You've done a great job of shirking responsibility! Don't I know what you're thinking?"
You must have believed this "rumor" in your heart, right?
In fact, not only would they believe it, but even the emperor himself believed it to some extent. Because the rumor was so well-founded and there were so many details, it was hard to say that it was completely fabricated.
Besides, he knew his own son well. The Second Prince had a cheerful and heroic personality, but his martial arts skills were mediocre. After all, if one wanted to achieve success in martial arts, one had to endure a lot of hardships and practice diligently from a young age. How many of the royal princes and grandsons could endure such hardships? Besides, it was unnecessary!
If a country reaches the point where its princes have to mount horses and lead the charge into battle, then the country is almost finished.
The princes and grandchildren of the emperor, the best of the best, only need to sit in the central military tent and make plans.
He knew a little about the level of the guards in the Second Prince's mansion. There were only fifty people accompanying him that day, and at least ten of them were supposed to follow closely and protect his son. That was to say, there were no more than forty people who actually hunted. How could they have such a big harvest in such a short time?
Zhou Hansheng is different. He is very good at martial arts.
At the time, he had a vague feeling that something was amiss. When had his son's guards become so formidable? With only a few dozen men, they had managed to hunt so many wolves, bears, and even several wild boars.
You know, these prey in the wild are not so easy to hunt. Although he himself has rarely hunted in recent years due to poor health, he loved hunting when he was young and he knew the nature of wild beasts very well.
But maybe he was too happy at the time, or maybe Zhou Hansheng's harvest was so rich that his son's harvest seemed reasonable in comparison, so he didn't think much about it.
But Zhou Hansheng, can it be the same?
Besides, who would be so bold as to help Zhou Hansheng in a duel between his son and him? Zhou Hansheng didn't grow up in Beijing with many close friends; he didn't even have a single decent friend! It was even more impossible for anyone to help him.
Now, after listening to these people chatting, he finally understood that this was the truth.
Things that were previously ignored now surface clearly.
Zhao Xiang also remained silent.
He and the second prince had a bad relationship to begin with, so it was not appropriate for him to say anything more.
After all, there is no evidence for this matter, and we should not talk nonsense about things without evidence.
Only the emperor can say it.
The emperor lost interest and didn't want to listen any further. These words were too unbearable. Even if they were true, they were still very infuriating.
Just as he was about to get up, he heard a flurry of footsteps. In the blink of an eye, he saw a dozen people who looked like patrolling soldiers coming up.
The emperor was still wondering what these people were doing when he saw the four people who had just been gossiping about his beloved son with great enthusiasm suddenly change their expressions and stood up in panic to escape.
Before the emperor could react, he heard the leader of the patrolling troops shout, "Catch them!"
How could these four ordinary people with the appearance of weak scholars be a match for the fierce and ferocious patrol soldiers? They were quickly captured and taken into custody.
"Why are you arresting us? We haven't broken any laws!"
"That's right! Why? You're just bullying me! The government is full of scoundrels and scum to have people like you!"
"Shut up!" The leading soldier slapped the man who had spoken first in the face and sneered sinisterly, "How dare you, lowly people, spread rumors and make fun of His Highness behind his back? You're so bold! Now follow me to the Shuntian government office and wake up! I'll teach you that you can eat whatever you want, but you can't say whatever you want!"
The man who was beaten was very angry: "We didn't, we didn't spread rumors! We heard it from somewhere else, and we just said a few words casually."
"Yes, yes, sir, please forgive us! We really didn't mean it! We won't dare to do it again next time, never again! Please have mercy on us, sir!"
"Please have mercy, sir, please have mercy!"
The leading sergeant sneered, "You regret it now? Oh, it's too late! Don't you know how many people have been thrown into jail these days? And you still dare to talk nonsense behind my back! Oh! Since you are so bold, then bear the consequences yourself!"
He shouted "Take them away!" and the soldiers immediately took the four people away with murderous intent.
At this moment, there were three or four tables upstairs, all of whom were sitting there stiffly like quails, not daring to move or breathe.
(End of this chapter)
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