Chapter 29: Various Counties (V) “My Lord, I am a sinner…
"My Lord, this is all I know. I hope you will spare my life for the sake of my clear confession."
In the dilapidated temple outside Zhu County, cold wind blew into the temple through the broken door covered with spider webs and the holes in the roof, making a humming sound. The Buddha statue in front of the main hall was covered with dust and its appearance was blurred.
Li Zhubo and Liu Shiye knelt in the center of the temple, their fine clothes stained with dirt and grass from outside the temple, their hair disheveled and in disarray. Wang Shiye straightened his hair and spoke flatteringly. Li Zhubo seemed to be frightened and collapsed to the ground, his eyes cloudy.
In front of the altar, Xiao Wangshu stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the gods and Buddhas hidden in the darkness. Not far from him, Chihua was sitting cross-legged on a cushion with his eyes closed, resting.
The silence lasted only a moment, and then Master Liu crawled forward two steps.
"Master Xiao, the sky is high and the emperor is far away in this land. This is what it means to be rich and powerful." He gave a thumbs-up gesture to Xiao Wangshu who turned around. "From now on, we will naturally follow your orders. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west!"
Seeing Xiao Wangshu was indifferent, he gritted his teeth and said:
"Master Xiao, just give your orders. I will go through fire and water to help you!"
Xiao Wangshu scoffed and said:
"What a great chief clerk! What a great legal advisor! Now the chief clerk is putting the blame on the dead, but he is just relying on the fact that there is no cure for the crime." At this point, his tone suddenly changed, "I will not investigate the past anymore, but the act of exploiting the people and levying heavy taxes will not be enough to appease the public anger unless I kill you two~".
His eyebrows and eyes were curved, like a cunning fox. It all depended on whether this Wang Zhubo was smart enough.
"Master Xiao, who doesn't love power and wealth? I just made a mistake that everyone in the world would make. These counties are just poor and remote areas. If you don't study this, there will be no hope of promotion. When will you be able to return to the capital?
What's more, this kind of trend originated from Bian Jing, so it's not up to me to decide.
But I also listened to what Li Zhubo said!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Li Zhubo, who looked like a dead body, was like a frightened bird, with light in his eyes. He pulled Liu's collar with a ferocious look. However, he was used to enjoying himself and was now at an age. After several hours of fighting, he was no match for Liu, who was in his prime.
Both of them are also scholars. Now you pull your clothes and I pull your hair. How can you have any composure at all?
But they were pulled apart in a moment, and An used a long knife to separate the two. Li Zhubo was still muttering some obscene things, but when the long knife appeared, he was so scared that he knelt down again, lowered his head and trembled constantly.
After watching the farce, Xiao Wangshu said to Master Liu slowly:
"You are quite clever. I do have an important mission on this trip. I don't need to elaborate on the reasons. All you need to know is that I am working for the royal family. If you do your job well, I might even spare your life."
This is of course false. The two men levied heavy taxes and colluded with bandits outside the city. They had killed countless people and their lives should not be spared.
"Of course, of course. Sir Xiao, just give the order, and we will serve you till our death."
This time, Li Zhubo got the upper hand.
"No need. I will deal with the general in this city later. When you return, just say that we have fled to other counties. If you still try to play tricks on me, the people who come will be from the capital."
The two of them nodded repeatedly.
"You two, tell me about the situation in the mountain stronghold outside the city."
Seeing that the two of them had no other thoughts, Xiao Wangshu turned to inquire about other situations.
"This mountain stronghold outside the city is called Fenglin Stronghold, and it's located on the top of Tiger Roaring Mountain. That group of people won't amount to anything, so there's nothing to be afraid of."
The first to speak was Li Zhubu, who knew the situation of the stronghold very clearly and even knew which mountain it was located on.
"That stronghold was originally formed by the gathering of nearby villagers. Lord Li sent people to watch over it, thinking that handing it over to the general before the New Year would be considered an achievement."
Then Master Liu spoke.
"I want to go to that mountain stronghold to investigate. Do you have any way?"
“Yes, yes, but…”
This time it was Li Zhubu who spoke. Halfway through his words, he looked at the other people around him with hesitation. Xiao Wangshu naturally understood what he had not yet expressed.
"Two people will do."
After saying this, he turned to Mr. Chihua behind him and asked:
"Would you like to go with me, sir?"
Mr. Chihua opened his eyes and smiled, but before he could speak he was interrupted by a voice.
"No, the master told me to keep you safe."
It was An who had just retracted his knife. These words made Xiao Wangshu frown.
"In that case, Miss Nianyue and I will cover up for a while and stay in the city."
With a chuckle, Mr. Chihua was able to resolve the situation.
"Then I'll trouble you, sir."
After a half bow to Chihua, the matter was settled.
After Mr. Chihua and Nianyue took the two men away, they waited in this dilapidated temple for Li Zhubu to arrange someone to pick them up.
"Did His Highness give you any other instructions?"
Looking at the clear sky outside the door, Xiao Wangshu had a calm expression, only his clenched fists revealed a hint of emotion.
"His Highness instructed me to abduct you and bring you back to the capital if you don't return in two years."
Sure enough, Xiao Wangshu thought to himself, but did not show it on his face. Since An had spoken, this was what His Highness wanted to tell him.
Two years is his final deadline.
He and His Highness had known each other since childhood, and they had been together and knew each other well. Even though His Highness had many faults, the way he treated him was a debt he owed in his previous life.
But the emperor should not have any feelings, and he should not fall in love with him.
He originally thought that as long as he pretended not to know, and assisted His Highness to ascend the throne in the future, the debt would be paid off, but now even he doesn't know what to do.
At the same time, in the city of Bianjing, everyone under His Royal Highness the Crown Prince was doing their job with their tails between their legs.
If His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is in a bad mood, then the rest of the princes won't be feeling well either.
Originally, ever since His Majesty personally selected the number one scholar in the spring examination and hinted at the other princes through his essay, the factions headed by the Fourth and Sixth Princes had ceased their activities and the situation had been quite peaceful for a while.
However, since some day, the two factions suddenly started to confront each other, and the court and harem were in chaos. The emperor was furious and reprimanded the two princes on the spot. Since then, the two of them have openly torn their faces apart.
It happened to be the year of the selection of concubines. Several princes, headed by the eldest prince, had reached the age, and His Majesty wanted to arrange marriages for them. The Fourth Prince was the legitimate son, and the selection was handled by the Empress, so he naturally had an advantage over the Sixth Prince. However, after all, the Sixth Prince's biological mother was still alive, so he couldn't be much worse off.
Now the Seventh Prince is still young and is not among the arranged marriages. There are only the eldest prince and the crown prince. One of them has a mother of low status and is ill, and the other is not favored and now has a "personality" that is dying. Naturally, they have been completely ignored, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
The Crown Prince didn't care. He only cared about Xiao Wangshu and looked down on the others. However, his ministers took the initiative to find him two concubines, and even the eldest prince was appointed to marry the daughter of a minor official.
"Your Highness, those two have been packed. What do you think of the arrangements?"
Eunuch Wei, holding a whisk, smiled with wrinkles on his face and half bent over to answer. Now that Young Master Xiao was not in the capital, only he and his godson could talk to His Highness.
"Have someone watch over him."
Xie Xuanhui was lying on the couch, looking boneless, with a look of resentment between his brows. He was playing with a round, emerald green jade pendant in the shape of Pisces, but his mind was elsewhere.
"yes."
The person on the couch waved his hand impatiently. Eunuch Wei bowed and was about to leave the room, but was suddenly stopped by the person on the couch.
"etc,"
He extended his hand towards Eunuch Wei, who naturally came over with his body lowered. Then Xie Xuanhui continued,
"Is there that?"
He suddenly stopped talking halfway through. Eunuch Wei felt puzzled and looked up, and saw that Xie Xuanhui's face was flushed. Suddenly, a light bulb went off in his head and he understood what His Highness meant.
"It's my fault. Your Highness is old enough now, and it's time for you to take charge of things. I need to make arrangements for you..."
“No need.”
Eunuch Wei's words were interrupted by a harsh voice. He didn't know why the prince's expression suddenly changed. He was frightened for a moment and knelt down to apologize.
"A picture album will do."
"yes."
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