Li Bangyan forced a bitter smile, "Your Majesty, Shi Qian, the drum flea, sneaked into my humble bedroom last night, and then..."
He hesitated for a moment and pointed to his head. "He shaved my hair while I was sleeping and left a message on my head."
Everyone in the hall looked stunned.
You didn't wake up even after someone shaved your hair. How soundly must you be sleeping?
Zhao Huan asked anxiously, "What words did he leave on your head?"
Li Bangyan's face flushed, and he stammered, "The words he left behind are... are..."
He gritted his teeth, reached out and took off his futou, and said, "Your Majesty, please see for yourself."
Zhao Huan and his ministers looked at his head together and saw that the middle part of his hair was shaved bald. A hairless area as wide as a palm ran across the top of his head, like a striking boundary river, dividing his hair into two halves.
In the shiny hairless area, there are a few big words written: Shi Qian was here.
Everyone was stunned at first, and then burst into laughter.
Although it's impolite, I really can't help it.
Shi Qian is so wicked that it's bad enough that he just shaved the other person's hair, but he even left a note.
Even Zhao Huan couldn't help laughing and grinned.
Li Bangyan smiled awkwardly and put his hat back on.
Zhao Huan suppressed his laughter and turned his gaze towards Geng Nanzhong and Zhang Bangchang. "Could it be that Shi Qian also shaved your hair?"
Geng Nanzhong and Zhang Bangchang looked at each other, nodded, and took off their hats at the same time.
Everyone looked up at their heads, and what they saw made them laugh even harder.
The right half of Geng Nanzhong's hair was shaved off.
Zhang Bangchang was the opposite, with only his left half shaved.
The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, complement each other.
As expected, there was Shi Qian's calligraphy on the shaved skin: Shi Qian was here.
The hall was filled with laughter. Some people fell down while others bent over, crying out, "Ouch! Ouch!"
Zhao Huan stopped laughing. He stared at the two men's heads in a daze, feeling a chill in his heart.
Shi Qian's actions were not a simple prank, but a demonstration to the court and the government.
His meaning was very clear. Since he could shave a person's hair without anyone noticing, it also meant that he could take the person's head at any time.
Thinking of how Shi Qian crossed the high palace wall in broad daylight, broke through the obstruction of many guards and broke into Yanfu Palace, and then kidnapped the emperor and left calmly, Zhao Huan couldn't help but feel a chill down his spine.
The defense of the imperial palace must be strengthened to prevent any unexpected events.
When the ministers had almost finished laughing, Li Gang came out and said, "Your Majesty, I have an idea of someone who may be able to capture the Liangshan bandits."
Zhao Huan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he asked, "Who?"
"There were many bandits at Liangshan Marsh, the most famous of whom was Song Jiang. He gathered on the fugitive route and later plundered his way through Shandong, capturing cities and territories. He destroyed every prefecture and county he encountered, leaving them shaken. To stamp out this banditry, the court appointed Zhang Shuye, the Minister of Rites, as the Governor of Haizhou and the Recruiting Envoy. Upon assuming his post, Zhang Shuye set an ambush, lured the enemy deep into their territory, defeated the bandits in one fell swoop, and recruited the remaining 36 of Song Jiang's men."
Zhao Huan then asked, "Since the Liangshan rebels have already accepted the amnesty, then what about Shi Qian, Lu Zhishen, and Li Kui?"
"Your Majesty, please summon Zhang Shuye to the court and ask him. You will know the answer."
Zhao Huan looked at Li Bangyan and the others, "What do you think?"
Li Bangyan and others hated Shi Qian to death, so of course they had no objection.
Zhao Huan immediately asked someone to draft an edict and sent someone to Haizhou to summon Zhang Shuye to the capital.
After discussing this matter, Zhao Huan glanced at his ministers and said worriedly, "I'm sure you've heard that the Jin posthouse was massacred last night. The Jin envoy, including his deputy, was killed, a total of twelve people. Fortunately, the Jin envoy, Ning Shuge, left Kaifeng yesterday, otherwise they would have been killed."
Zhao Huan paused, then continued, "The murderers also left their names on the gate of the inn. They were Shi Qian's accomplices. One was called the Flower Monk Lu Zhishen, and the other was called the Black Whirlwind Li Kui."
Li Bangyan cried out, "Ah! So it's these two thieves!"
Zhao Huan nodded. "These two men broke into Fanlou and attempted to assassinate the Emperor, but failed. They then fled and committed this bloody crime last night."
"I was there at the time and saw them with my own eyes. They had ferocious faces and were extremely fierce and brave. All the guards were injured by them. Fortunately, Zhang Shixun was there and fought a fierce battle with the two thieves. In the end, the two thieves were defeated and fled in panic."
"I have ordered Wang Shiyong to organize forces to capture them. I hope he will not disappoint me."
Geng Nanzhong said worriedly, "Your Majesty, if such a serious case occurs, it will be difficult to explain to the Jin Kingdom."
"Yes," Zhang Bangchang also said, "The Jin Kingdom has always been eyeing the Song Dynasty covetously. If all their envoys are killed in one go, they will definitely not let us go."
"What should we do?" Zhao Huan was completely clueless. "I'm afraid the Jurchens will take advantage of this and launch another southern invasion."
Li Bangyan said, "Now that the incident has happened, we must find a way to make amends. For now, we should quickly send an envoy to the Kingdom of Jin to apologize."
After hearing this, Zhao Huan had no choice but to do so.
Just after finishing the discussion, Wang Shiyong hurried to the palace. When he saw Zhao Huan, he said with a sad face: "Your Majesty, I am incompetent and I have come to resign."
Zhao Huan's face suddenly darkened. "You, Lord Wang, came to the palace to ask for my leave?"
Wang Shiyong bowed and stammered, "The Liangshan bandits are rampant and lawless. As the prefect of Kaifeng, I have not only failed to fulfill my duties, but have been bullied by these bandits. I am deeply ashamed of this, so today I specially report to the emperor..."
"Wait a minute." Zhao Huan interrupted him and asked, "What kind of bandits are coming to our house? Explain clearly."
"Well..." Wang Shiyong lowered his head. "Yesterday at midnight, Shi Qian sneaked into my residence and shaved off half of my hair while I was asleep. That would have been fine, but he also left words on my head that I can't wipe off... Your Majesty, as a minister of the Great Song Dynasty, I am ashamed to be humiliated by such a traitor."
Li Bangyan couldn't help but stepped forward and pulled off his fu hat.
Everyone looked at Wang Shiyong's head and saw that the front half of his hair was gone, and on the shiny green skin were written a few eye-catching big words: Shi Qian was here.
Now it's all done.
Li Bangyan has a "middle part".
Geng Nanzhong and Zhang Bangchang are the "yin and yang" on the left and right.
But Wang Shiyong is a "yin and yang" person.
The ministers wanted to laugh, but they couldn't.
Shi Qian committed the crime so arrogantly, it is a slap in the face.
They were all slapping the faces of the prime ministers of the time.
Shi Qian was nothing more than a bandit from Liangshan. Logically speaking, he should have been the king of the mountain and robbed people on the road.
But he gave up his good job as a bandit and instead went to the capital to stir up trouble.
Is this still a bandit?
And they came together, Lu Zhishen and Li Kui were responsible for killing people, and Shi Qian was responsible for shaving people.
…
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