Watching the carriage gradually moving away and finally disappearing into the night, Xu Jingzong hurriedly turned around and walked towards the scene of the incident. No matter what, he couldn't let anything happen to the prince's maid, otherwise, the prince would never let him go.
As for the people the prince ordered to protect Xia Zhi, Xu Jingzong racked his brains, but he had no idea who those people were. And looking at Xia Zhi's expression, it seemed that she didn't know who these people were either?
So, do His Majesty and the Queen know? Xu Jingzong walked among the crowd, thinking about this last question.
As the onlookers looked at Helan Minzhi and saw him about to kick the boy on the ground to death, the voices of discussion began to grow louder.
But no one dared to step forward to stop it, and at this moment, a clear female voice, although not loud, but in this situation, it exploded in the crowd like thunder.
"Stop." Xia Zhi's face was cold. He forced himself to remain calm and walked slowly to a place not far from Helan Minzhi.
"Hey, who are you? You have no right to interrupt here!" Zheng Jiangdu, the city guard, didn't wait for Helan Minzhi to give orders. He grasped the hilt of the sword in his right hand and walked over with a ferocious look.
"Get out of the way, you have nothing to do here." Xia Zhi said without even looking at Jiang Du, staring straight at Helan Minzhi.
"You are such a rebel. How dare you do this..." Before Jiang Du could finish his words, a cold knife was already placed on his neck, forcing him to swallow the second half of his words.
...
...
Xia Zhi took a look at the city guard with a knife at his neck, and suddenly felt more confident. He took two steps forward again, repeating Li Hong's words in his mind, that he must embarrass Helan Minzhi to win the hearts of the people.
So he looked straight at Helan Minzhi's handsome face and said coldly again: "Take your foot off."
Helan Minzhi did not look at Xia Zhi first, but looked around first. He had just seen this woman today, so he naturally remembered that she was just a maidservant beside Li Hong. Seeing that he did not see the figure of the prince, he sneered and said, "Xia Zhi, what's wrong? Do you want to fight for justice?"
"I'm asking you to take your foot off. This is the last time." Xia Zhi imitated Li Hong's way of dealing with things. He glanced at Xu Yanbo, whose head was stepped on by Helan Minzhi's foot, and continued to stare at Helan Minzhi and said.
"Xia Zhi, let alone you, even if your master was here, I'm afraid you wouldn't dare to talk to me like this, you..."
"You really think you're someone important." Xia Zhi interrupted Helan Minzhi and suddenly raised his foot, kicking Helan Minzhi's knee with a sound of wind, directly kicking Helan Minzhi's leg to the side.
"You..." Helan Minzhi was caught off guard and was almost knocked down by Xia Zhi's kick, and he felt a faint pain in his knee.
"How dare you, this bitch, treat Master Helan like this!" When Wu Yuanshuang and Wu Yuanqing saw that the situation was not right, they immediately stepped forward to help.
"Hmph." Xia Zhi snorted coldly. He looked at Wu Yuanshuang and Wu Yuanqing who were rushing towards him. He raised his leg and kicked Wu Yuanqing over again. Then he dodged to the side and took advantage of the situation to grab Wu Yuanshuang's wrist and flipped it upwards. With another force, he heard a "click" and Xia Zhi broke one of Wu Yuanshuang's wrists.
“Go on, everyone…” Wu Yuanqing’s chest felt like it was hit hard by a sledgehammer. He endured the severe pain and shouted to the city guards.
"Wait." Helan Minzhi interrupted Wu Yuanqing in time, and the city guards were under control, so those guards did not surround Xia Zhi immediately.
"What on earth do you want to do?" Helan Minzhi's leg was still aching slightly, and he yelled at Xia Zhi with a flushed face.
He knew better than anyone that each of the four palace maids and four eunuchs serving the prince was a master of martial arts.
Moreover, looking at the person behind Xia Zhi, although he was standing there calmly like an outsider, for some reason, he seemed to see the shadows of those people who had kidnapped him in that person.
"I'm not doing anything. I just can't stand you bullying others by taking advantage of your power. I'll apologize to him first, and then get out of here." Xia Zhi said proudly with his head held high.
Since she started taking action, she was no longer afraid and even vaguely found some of the chivalrous feeling of Hong Fo Nu, the wife of Duke Weiguo Li Jing.
"You...Xia Zhi, do you know who you are! Or do you not know who I am? How dare you stop me!" Helan Minzhi said viciously, but his eyes were darting around in the crowd. He wanted to see if Li Hong was in the crowd watching all this.
“Hehe… ? What is your identity?” Xia Zhi was waiting for him to say this. As long as he said this, Xia Zhi could make his actions his own, rather than actions related to the royal family.
"You...Xia Zhi, I warn you again, leave here immediately, otherwise, don't wait for me to come back and make you pay." Helan Minzhi did not find Li Hong in the crowd, but saw Xu Jingzong walk into the venue and help Xu Yanbo up together with his son.
But the less he saw Li Hong, the more uneasy and nervous he felt. Moreover, what kind of personality did Li Hong have? He knew it very well. His father and his mother would sometimes give in to Li Hong. Although he was favored by the queen and could ignore those princes, he dared not despise or offend Li Hong.
"Helan Minzhi, you are just a small man from a founding county. What do you think you are? Oh? Do you mean that you can enter and leave the palace freely, and you are deeply blessed by His Majesty and the Queen, and are nobler than other nobles? Haha, let me tell you that it is the kindness and compassion of His Majesty and the Queen that give you this privilege, and they take their family affection into consideration. Do you really think that the royal family will indulge you for your misbehavior?" Xia Zhi said to Helan Minzhi with disdain.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw two figures in the crowd flash into the restaurant, and seemed to greet the person behind her vaguely.
So he felt relieved. As long as Madam Han Guo and the Minister of War and others on the second floor did not show up, everything Helan Minzhi did today would be his own personal behavior and not condoned by the royal family.
Thinking of this, Xia Zhi couldn't help but look at Xu Jingzong. Although she hadn't figured out why the prince was angry with Xu Jingzong, she knew that if Xu Jingzong said a few more words loudly at this time, everything Helan Minzhi did today would have nothing to do with the royal family, but would be his personal behavior.
Xu Jingzong looked at Xia Zhi looking at him. How could he not understand what Xia Zhi meant? He sighed in his heart that his plan was gradually being disintegrated by the crown prince. Not only was he powerless, but he also had to help the crown prince to push this matter as far away from the royal family as possible.
"Man from Helan County, although you are a royal relative of the Great Tang Dynasty, His Majesty and the Queen have never shielded or protected royal relatives. If you commit a crime, you will naturally be punished according to the laws of the Great Tang Dynasty." Xu Jingzong looked at Helan Minzhi and said with a heavy expression.
After he finished speaking, Xia Zhi was still staring at him. It was obvious that this was not satisfactory. He sighed silently and continued, "I am Xu Jingzong, the Duke of Gaoyang County. I was appreciated by Your Majesty and was entrusted with the important task of Right Prime Minister of the Ministry of Shangshu. I was also a third-rank official in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and was promoted to Guanglu Doctor. I have always been aware of the kindness of Your Majesty and the Queen, and have never protected any noble relatives for personal matters."
Xia Zhi saw that the onlookers were all surprised after learning Xu Jingzong's identity. He knew that such a high-ranking official would definitely not lie.
As a result, people immediately started discussing Xu Jingzong's words. It seemed that many people no longer believed that Helan Minzhi dared to be so arrogant and domineering because he was protected and condoned by the royal family. It was simply because of his narrow-mindedness.
Xia Zhi walked up to Xu Jingzong and whispered in his ear, "Taifu Xu, praise the Crown Prince again."
Xu Jingzong's face sank, and he wanted to refute, but looking at the beautiful cheeks and gentle smile of the summer solstice symbol, he sighed helplessly and continued: "I am deeply grateful for the grace of your majesty and the queen, but I am old, and I wanted to resign and retire, but unexpectedly, your majesty took pity on my poor talent. While allowing me to resign, he let me enter the East Palace as one of the three officials, the prince's tutor, hoping to help the young prince learn righteousness, learn to promote talents without avoiding relatives, and learn to appoint people without relatives! And our Tang Dynasty is prosperous, your majesty is wise and powerful, and the prince is smart and studious. He has never privately sheltered or protected any royal nobles. I have been the prince's tutor for more than five years, and I have always admired your highness for this point, and your majesty has always been sincere and taught, so that the prince has inherited the fearless, fearless, and selfless style of our Tang Dynasty! This is the blessing of our Tang Dynasty, the blessing of the country, and the blessing of the people."
Xia Zhi felt a little embarrassed by Xu Jingzong's words, and Helan Minzhi's face was even gloomier. He now understood the purpose of these people. They wanted him to take the responsibility for everything that happened today and get rid of all the royal family members. What a cruel method.
Helan Minzhi really regretted what he had just said: "Do you know who I am?"
If it weren't for what I said, I could have escaped safely today. But now, Xu Jingzong's words have completely severed my relationship with the royal family. If I am to be punished, I will have to bear all the blame alone.
Thinking of this, Helan Minzhi couldn't help but look towards the second floor of the restaurant. However, at this moment, the windows on the second floor were tightly closed. Both the Vice Minister of Justice and the Vice Minister of War were silently staying inside. Even his mother Wu Shun, no one came down to speak for him.
"Xia Zhi, you... have such a cruel heart." Helan Minzhi looked at the people watching around him and knew that Xia Zhi was making excuses for the royal family. If he dared to say the word "prince" at this moment, Xia Zhi might kill him immediately.
So he walked closer to Xia Zhi and whispered, "What exactly does the prince want?"
"Crown Prince? His Highness is in the East Palace. What does this have to do with the Crown Prince? You'd better apologize immediately and then go to the Ministry of Justice to confess your guilt. Maybe this way you won't be looked down upon." Xia Zhi said leisurely.
Even though Jiangdu was a fool, he could see that the situation was not good for Helan Minzhi.
He also knew that he had come to stand up for Helan Minzhi because of a word from the Minister of War, and was hanging himself - he wanted to die too long. At this moment, with the knife on his neck, he wanted to cry but had no tears, and began to regret his so-called "righteousness".
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