The three were Prince Yanping, Tang Ze, and Lu Cheng.
He became famous overnight.
The news that they had arrested Master Tang during their three night patrols spread like wildfire throughout the streets and alleys of the capital, and to teahouses and taverns.
They talked about it almost from morning till night.
The city patrol office suddenly became the most formidable government agency in the capital.
The princes of Yanping were already of noble status, and on their first day in office, they used the prestige established by their fathers to immediately raise the morale of the city patrol.
Any local thug who dares to steal chickens or dogs will be whipped until their skin is torn and bleeding by the city patrol officers' whips.
Let any spoiled brat who dares to bully others try it and see if they dare to arrest him and have him taken to the city patrol office to have a proper talk about the rules.
The new official had barely started his campaign when, before he could even fully enjoy it, the security situation in Kyoto improved to an unprecedented level.
Moreover, the Prince of Yanping and his family could never have imagined that the night they arrested Master Tang would solidify their official conduct: "duty-bound and righteous, even at the cost of family ties"—these eight words would follow them for the rest of their lives.
They served as officials their entire lives, and not a single person ever tried to bribe them through back channels.
Tang Ze, "..."
Lu Cheng, "..."
Prince Yanping, “…”
...
Prince Yanping and his entourage served at the city patrol office for two days before taking a break.
To express their gratitude for Xie Jingyan's recommendation, they specially hosted a banquet at Deyuelou to invite Xie Jingyan to dinner, and also invited Shen Du, Cheng Yi and others to accompany them.
Deyuelou, second-floor private room.
When Xie Jingyan arrived, Tang Ze, Shen Ducheng, and Yi were already there, but the Prince of Yanping and Lu Cheng had not yet arrived.
Tang Ze asked curiously, "Why are they so slow today? They agreed to arrive before 9:45 AM, and it's already been 5:45 AM."
They were always punctual; they would never be late unless there was something else going on.
Tang Ze was worried.
After waiting for about half a cup of tea's time, the Prince of Yanping finally arrived.
Seeing him come in, Tang Ze stood up and asked, "Why are you so late?"
The Crown Prince of Yanping said, "Something came up and I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."
He sat down next to Xie Jingyan, very carefully, his brow twitching slightly as he did so. When he looked up and saw everyone staring at him, the Prince of Yanping said awkwardly, "It's nothing, my butt is fine."
“You’ve confessed without being asked,” Shen Du laughed.
Prince Yanping, “…”
Awkward.
Cheng Yi asked, "Who hit him?"
If it's a brother asking, I can brush it off, but if it's my future brother-in-law asking, I can't keep quiet about the Prince of Yanping.
“Who else could have done it? My father,” said the Crown Prince of Yanping, looking distressed.
Tang Ze then asked, "Why did the Prince of Yanping hit you?"
The Crown Prince of Yanping sighed, "It's all my fault. I spoke too quickly and got myself beaten..."
After leaving the yamen yesterday, he returned to the Prince of Yanping's mansion. Since Tang Ze dared not return to the Duke of Tan's mansion, he and Lu Cheng stayed with him at the city patrol office for two days. However, since the court was on holiday, it would be unreasonable not to return to the mansion.
During dinner with his father and mother that evening, the conversation inevitably turned to the incident of arresting Master Tang that night. His father asked, "If I had been on the street that night, would you have arrested me too?"
Without even thinking, he blurted out, "Is that even a question? Of course we'll arrest them."
He spoke too quickly and only realized what he had said afterward. When he looked up, his father's face looked almost identical to that of the captured Master Tang.
However, this was just a hypothetical situation, and with his mother smoothing things over, his father did not react on the spot.
The king even showed unusual concern for his son, serving him food and saying that patrolling the city was tiring and that he should eat more.
The words were spoken with great concern, but the dish contained chicken butt.
Can he eat a chicken butt?
He protested.
Then--
He was scolded by his father for being a picky eater, and then he was beaten with a feather duster for talking back.
The Crown Prince of Yanping was truly wronged.
Tang Ze, the main culprit who arrested his own father, hadn't been beaten yet, but this accomplice had already been punished.
The Prince of Yanping had been thinking about this beating for two days. When he heard at the morning court that they had arrested Lord Tang and taken him to the city patrol office, he knew that if it had been him that night, he would have been taken to the city patrol office to spend the night. Before the ministers congratulated Lord Tang with gloating, they congratulated him and Marquis Xuanping. He and Marquis Xuanping were not taken to the city patrol office, but in the eyes of their colleagues, they had already been there.
The Prince of Yanping held back for two days, fearing he might wrong his son. He even asked him a question first, and sure enough, his guess was correct.
After the Prince of Yanping finished complaining, the whole table burst into laughter, which made the diners upstairs and downstairs curious about what they were laughing about.
Lu Cheng entered the house amidst laughter. He asked curiously, "I could hear you laughing downstairs. What were you laughing about?"
Tang Ze rubbed his cheek and said, "Brother Zhixun was beaten up by his father, the Prince of Yanping, on some pretext."
Even after this beating, I feel he can't escape.
But with the Prince of Yanping by his side, he felt much more at peace.
After Tang Ze finished answering, seeing that Lu Cheng wasn't laughing, he said, "Isn't it funny?"
Perhaps it's because he's not naturally inclined to smile.
Lu Cheng said, "You've all gone too far. Brother Zhixun was beaten, and you're all laughing so heartily. Aren't you just rubbing salt into his wounds?"
The Crown Prince of Yanping was deeply moved.
After Lu Cheng got off, he patted Lu Cheng on the shoulder, "Good brother, you're the one who understands me best..."
Sizzle.
The words of the Prince of Yanping were interrupted by Lu Cheng's muffled pain.
Everyone looked at him again, and Chen Du, choking on his drink, said, "No way, you got beaten up too?"
Lu Cheng, "..."
Lu Cheng rubbed his sore shoulders and said, "The three of us did it together. If the other two are going to get beaten up, how could I possibly escape?"
"So what was the reason you were beaten?" Tang Ze asked.
Lu Cheng said, "During the meal, my father didn't cause me any trouble, but when I was leaving after finishing my meal, I saw my mother's parrot on the veranda. It greeted me, so I teased it a little, and the parrot cursed at me. My father came out and heard it, and said that I had instigated the parrot to curse at him, and then..."
Lu Cheng's expression was extremely complicated.
I felt a little angry, a little depressed, and a little happy.
After all, he's grown up, and this is the first time his dad has ever hit him. He had to find an excuse. If he had walked faster, he would have avoided the beating.
Lu Cheng looked at Tang Ze and said, "I think you're going to get a beating anyway, so you might as well go home and take it."
Just as Tang Ze was about to speak, a servant entered from outside and said, "Young Master, the Duke wants you to go back."
Tang Ze immediately laughed and asked the servant, "Did my father get scolded by my grandfather?"
The servant said, "Master was scolded terribly. If you don't go back, he'll get scolded again."
Tang Ze looked smugly at the Prince of Yanping and Lu Cheng, "I'm different from you. I have my grandfather protecting me, and my father doesn't dare to hit me."
The Crown Prince of Yanping remarked, "I was beaten because I'm a picky eater."
Lu Chengdao said, "I did it because I instigated the parrot to swear."
"It has nothing to do with arresting your father."
The two spoke in unison.
Tang Ze's smug expression froze, and his face cracked.
The Prince of Yanping said, "If you don't get a beating when you go back today, I'll wash your horse for a month."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
