Chapter 284 Action (Two Chapters in One)
After Li Qing left the yard, he called a few of his confidants and selected fifteen Jinyiwei, a total of twenty people.
This time when he left the capital, he brought fifty Jinyiwei with him. Excluding Yang Fan who was imprisoned, and nineteen people including Ding Gao, there were still thirty people left.
Among these thirty people, five are the only sons in their families, three are not married yet, and two have just gotten married and have no children yet.
Li Qing asked these ten people to guard the road leading from the mansion to the farm, and he took another twenty people and went straight to the courtyard where the fourth prince lived.
In addition to the fifty Jinyiwei, there were fifty other people in the team escorting the Fourth Prince, including thirty guards from the Prince's Mansion and twenty runners from the Ministry of Works.
Among them, twenty runners from the Ministry of Works followed the officials to the front line, and among the guards of the prince's mansion, another twenty followed Liu Wang to Huiji Warehouse. Among the remaining ten, four were responsible for guarding the gate, and the other six were in the fourth prince's courtyard at this moment.
The four people guarding the gate had no idea what was happening inside. When they saw the ten Jinyiwei coming, they asked, "Are you going out?"
The leading Jinyiwei said, "The governor has ordered that the alert be heightened. We will assist you in holding this position."
The four of them were startled and asked hurriedly, "The alert has been upgraded? What does that mean? Could it be that the disaster victims are going to rebel?"
The Jinyiwei thought to themselves, it seems that you also know that the people are about to be forced to rebel.
"Maybe. The governor didn't say anything, and we didn't dare ask. We just followed his orders."
Although these four people are guards of the royal palace, the Fourth Prince's Palace used to be the least visible among all the princes' palaces. It was only in the last six months that it gradually got better. Moreover, all those who were regarded as confidants by the Fourth Prince followed Liu Wang to Huiji Warehouse. Those who are left now, especially those who are sent to guard the gate, are originally the lowest level among the guards.
The Jinyiwei were well-known and used to being arrogant, so these four guards felt inferior to them. When the Jinyiwei said they came to help them guard the gate, they could only thank them and did not dare to ask any more questions.
Over there, Li Qing led twenty Jinyiwei and headed straight for the Fourth Prince's courtyard. He had noticed when he came just now that there were two guards at the door, a eunuch in the gatehouse who was responsible for communicating, and the other four guards were in the courtyard, ready to be dispatched at any time.
The two guards at the door were a little surprised to see Li Qing coming with a team of Jinyiwei. Usually, every time Li Qing came to see the Fourth Prince, he would only bring two subordinates with him at most, and these two subordinates would not enter the yard, but just wait outside.
But today, when Li Qing walked to the door, the Jinyiwei did not seem to be waiting outside, but surrounded the two of them.
The two guards exchanged glances quickly and were about to speak when they heard Li Qing say, "Lie down if you know what's good for you!"
The two of them were worried. Was Li Qing going to rebel?
Seeing the two men standing still, Li Qing gave a wink and swung the two embroidered spring swords towards them.
One of them immediately drew his sword, while the other fell to the ground before the embroidered spring sword could fall.
The knife was only half drawn out, and the embroidered spring knife had already swung down. Before the man was chopped down, he shouted: "Come here——"
Blood splattered everywhere. Li Qing kicked him away and rushed in with everyone before the four guards in the yard rushed out.
The four men heard the shouts outside the door and were about to rush out when they bumped into Li Qing. Li Qing shouted, "Anyone who stands in the way will die!"
The Fourth Prince, holding a yellowed booklet in his hand, was lost in thought as he stared at the six copper coins on the table. How could this be a great omen? It must not be allowed. Try again.
He took the six copper coins again, shook them, and scattered them on the table. He opened the booklet again to check, and it was still a bad omen!
The fourth prince’s breathing became heavy. No, count three times before trying again!
He picked up the coins one by one. When he picked up the fifth one, a eunuch rushed in and said, "Your Highness, Li, Li Zhenfu is here!"
The Fourth Prince was displeased: "Why is he here again? Did he say something?"
"No, Li Zhensu, he..."
Before the eunuch finished speaking, there was a bang and the door was kicked open from the outside. Twenty Jinyiwei rushed in in two columns, with Li Qing walking at the end.
With a few crisp clinking sounds, the copper coins in the fourth prince's hand fell to the ground.
"You, you... who let you in without permission? Get out! All of you, get out!"
Li Qing stood there without moving, and neither did the Jinyiwei.
The fourth prince finally realized that Li Qing had come with ill intentions!
"Come here, protect the emperor!"
Two shadow guards appeared silently beside the Fourth Prince, protecting him.
Li Qing chuckled, "Fourth Prince, you really did send Chen Feng and Chen Lei back to the capital. It seems that there are more important things for you now than disaster relief."
The Fourth Prince's face turned pale. He had experienced life and death and almost became a marginalized person. He relied on himself to get to where he is today step by step.
But his attention was all on his father and brothers, and he never paid attention to these little people. Yes, although Li Qing was a member of the Jinyiwei, he had no background and was not from a noble family. In the eyes of the Fourth Prince, Li Qing was just a dog of Lu Gan.
Although he was a prince and was afraid of being bitten by a dog, a dog was still a dog. How could he care about a dog?
So even if Li Qing suddenly rushed in with his men, the Fourth Prince would have thought that Li Qing and these Jinyiwei were arrogant and did not take him, the prince, seriously.
But now, meeting Li Qing's deep and unfathomable eyes, he understood that Li Qing was going to rebel!
"Li Qing, do you know that this is a crime of deceiving the emperor?"
Li Qing sneered, "Your Highness, are you still waiting for Liu Wang to return with 500,000 silver coins?"
The Fourth Prince was horrified: "You, how did you know?"
Li Qing snorted coldly, "Of course it's because Liu Wang and the twenty guards you assigned to him were all arrested. Oh, and they were caught while doing business with a merchant, caught red-handed!"
"Impossible, impossible! Absolutely impossible! You are talking nonsense, you are talking nonsense, Jiao Ran, Xiong Chuan, kill him!"
Jiao Ran and Xiong Chuan were the two shadow guards. Most of the shadow guards were carefully selected from the Jinyiwei, such as Chen Feng and Chen Lei before, but Jiao Ran and Xiong Chuan were not. Li Qing did not know the origins of these two people, let alone the depth of their martial arts skills.
But at this moment, Li Qing had no time to think about it. He had to win this battle.
"Brothers, go!"
This was not the most tragic battle Li Qing had experienced since becoming a member of the Imperial Guard, but it was definitely the most dangerous.
Half an hour later, the battle ended with one of the shadow guards dead and one injured, four Jinyiwei dead and ten injured. Li Qing also had several wounds on his body and face, but fortunately they were all superficial injuries. He did not care and held the fourth prince's hands tightly behind his back with his big hands like iron clamps.
The Fourth Prince never expected that Li Qing not only captured him, but also took out a cowhide rope from his arms and tied him up.
"How dare you! Untie this prince!"
The Fourth Prince struggled hard, but for some reason, the more he struggled, the tighter the leather rope became, cutting deeper into his flesh.
The pain of being tightly bound by the leather rope was far less than the pain he had experienced in the past, but what hurt him most was the humiliation he suffered at this moment.
He is a prince, he comes from the Zhao royal family, and his father is the emperor!
He should have been high and mighty, admired by all people, but now, he was tied up like a prisoner.
The one who ordered him to be kidnapped was not the emperor, but the lowly Jinyiwei, a bunch of dogs!
"The Emperor will cut you into pieces and execute you. Just wait for your entire clan to be exterminated!"
The Fourth Prince gritted his teeth. Although Li Qing ignored him, every word he said hit Li Qing's heart like a hammer.
Yes, if he lost this bet, then as the Fourth Prince said, he and these twenty people would be executed by slow slicing. Even if they were not executed along with their entire clan, they would still be unable to escape the punishment of having their entire family confiscated and their property exterminated.
But what if the bet wins?
What will be waiting for them?
Li Qing didn't dare to think about it, but no matter what, it would be better than now.
Li Qing knew that from the moment Yang Fan and Ding Gao agreed to go along with Liu Wang and the others, he, as a member of the Imperial Guard, had no choice.
Those two bastards have blocked his way. Either he goes back to Beijing to take the blame and become a scapegoat for the Fourth Prince, or he cooperates with Xiao Zhen, makes the matter bigger, and lets the Fourth Prince's scandal be exposed to the world.
If he hides his head, he will be cut; if he sticks his head out, he will also be cut. He has no choice but to go ahead.
Fortunately, Xiao Zhen left him a glimmer of hope and sent over the person who could support him.
Li Qing breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand: "Tie up all those eunuchs, and then inform the prefect Qian to gather all the useful yamen runners under his command and have them stand by at the manor!"
Ever since the Fourth Prince summoned him yesterday, Prefect Qian has been restless.
The Fourth Prince said that not only would he not be held responsible for Madam Qian's escape alone, but he would also be assigned to one of the Six Ministries or the Dali Temple.
Of course, if he doesn't want to stay in the capital because of his relationship with the Yue family, that's fine. The term of Luling prefect has expired and he will be transferred back to the capital next year. As long as he is willing, the Fourth Prince can help him make arrangements and let him be promoted to the position of Luling prefect by taking credit for the disaster relief work in Tongzhou.
Qian Zhizhou's term of office was about to end. If it weren't for the flood, he could have just lied down and waited until the end of his term.
But now, the flood has come, and with it come opportunities and risks.
Qian Zhizhou was a Jinshi, and every Jinshi was full of vigor and ambition when he first entered the officialdom.
However, over the years, Qian Zhizhou's lofty ambitions have long been worn away by being cuckolded and tortured. Now he just wants to find a strange place to start his whole life after completing his term. As for whether this place is good or bad, for him, as long as he is not demoted, he can accept it.
But what the Fourth Prince promised him was too attractive.
He didn't want to go to Beijing, but the position of Luling prefect was too lucrative.
The previous prefect of Luling was a disciple of Feng Ke, who was to join the Six Ministries. The position of prefect of Luling was just a transition. Qian Zhizhou had never dared to dream of this position before. Of course, it was useless to think about it, as it would never be his turn.
But now the Fourth Prince said that he could be given that position.
Qian Zhizhou covered his heart and told himself over and over again not to believe it, not to believe it.
The person who had previously not even bothered to look at him suddenly made promises to him. What else could it be? It must be a matter of life and death!
Qian Zhizhou thought about what Xiao Zhen had said to him. Although Xiao Zhen did not say it explicitly, he could guess that the Fourth Prince must be planning to use the disaster relief grain. He wanted to make a fortune from the national disaster.
He knew that his adopted eldest son had been taken away by Xiao Zhen. That bastard was both his shame and his leverage.
But now this handle is in Xiao Zhen's hand. Not only that, Xiao Zhen also has other handles on him, so he dare not offend this person.
So Xiao Zhen asked him to deliver the hawthorn cakes to the Fourth Prince, and he did so.
Xiao Zhen said that as long as he did as he was told, he would definitely see the benefits.
Even though the Fourth Prince had painted a rosy picture for him, was this the benefit he could see?
Although this pancake is delicious, it requires your life to buy it.
If the Fourth Prince wanted to get relief grain, he couldn't get around him, the prefect of Tongzhou, so the Fourth Prince had to pull him in and make him obey his orders. Of course, if something went wrong and caused chaos, he would be the one to take the blame in the end.
But Xiao Zhen has already intervened. If Xiao Zhen can even accomplish such a difficult task as relocating the people, what's the difficulty in making this matter bigger?
So if he agreed to the Fourth Prince, he would be the one who would suffer in the end.
But the conditions offered by the Fourth Prince were too tempting.
Qian Zhizhou paced around the room again and again, making his staff dizzy. Just as they were about to offer some advice, a long-servant came in and said, "Sir, the Jinyiwei has come with a message. The Fourth Prince wants you to mobilize all the yamen runners and wait at the manor house."
Qian Zhizhou was stunned. "Is this the order from His Highness the Fourth Prince? Who delivered the message?"
The attendant said, "It's the Jinyiwei."
Qian Zhizhou waved his hand to let his attendant retreat. He frowned and continued to walk around in circles.
The staff member asked, "Sir, is there anything wrong?"
Qian Zhizhou asked, "Why did the Jinyiwei come to deliver the Fourth Prince's order instead of the eunuchs or the guards from the Prince's Palace?"
The staff didn't know either, so he tentatively asked, "Perhaps this was a joint decision made by His Majesty the Fourth Prince and Governor Li, which is why they sent the Imperial Guards to deliver the message?"
Qian Zhizhou sighed and said, "That can only be the reason. Go and send a message to all the yamen runners in the village to gather here."
A moment later, all twenty-nine yamen runners arrived. These were not all the yamen runners of the provincial government. There was also a group of people outside searching for the living and salvaging the dead. These twenty-nine people were all the people who stayed in the manor today.
Qian Zhizhou looked at the twenty-nine people in front of him in a daze.
He always felt that something was wrong with what happened today.
He said to his staff, "Go and ask what His Majesty the Fourth Prince has ordered."
The staff could not see the Fourth Prince. All he could do was to give some silver to the eunuchs to get information.
But today, the staff couldn't even enter the mansion and were stopped by the Jinyiwei.
"Just wait as I tell you to. Don't move around without permission. Just wait for instructions."
So Qian Zhizhou and the twenty-nine yamen runners became like wooden men, staring at each other, and no one dared to move.
At this moment, in the mansion, Li Qing personally pushed the bound Fourth Prince back to the small courtyard where he lived. He pushed the Fourth Prince in front of the followers and said, "Now that the person is here, what should we do next?"
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