The cat, which was originally lying down, suddenly squatted up, and its messy white whiskers trembled slightly with its movement.
Its nose moved, as if it was sniffing something, or as if it sensed something, and looked in the direction where Gu Yanfei had just left.
Gu Yanfei had already arrived at the gate of Tianyin Pavilion and vaguely heard the sound of a cat.
Qingguang seemed to be having a lot of fun.
Gu Yanfei looked back at the second floor of Tianyin Pavilion, curled his lips, and got on a carriage.
After Gu Yanfei sat down, the carriage set off directly.
The carriage shuttled through the criss-crossing streets, heading towards the palace.
There was a lot of noise outside the carriage and the streets along the way were very noisy.
Gu Yanfei opened the curtains with one hand and saw the people gathered in twos and threes, discussing the disappearance of the children last night:
"Have you heard that those missing children were taken to... 'that place'?"
"I heard about it. Someone is sick, right?"
"Yes, yes. A little girl escaped with great difficulty, and now her father has gone to the right gate of Chang'an to beat the drum to appeal for justice!"
"This...isn't this a way of killing yourself?"
"Oh. That's right. I just saw a group of officials heading towards the right gate of Chang'an."
“…”
Gu Yanfei glanced at the people who were talking, then looked away calmly.
When the carriage arrived at West Chang'an Street, there were more people on the street, and it was bustling with people. They were all heading towards the right gate of Chang'an.
The street was congested, with passers-by jostling each other and moving slowly forward. But when the carriage that Gu Yanfei was riding in drove past, someone automatically made way for the carriage to pass smoothly.
The carriage drove smoothly all the way to the right gate of Chang'an, and the closer it got to the palace gate, the more people there were.
At this moment, hundreds of people gathered in the square outside the right gate of Chang'an. There were families of missing children, enthusiastic people who came to show their support, and idle people who came to watch the fun. Standing in the front were Zhang Shusheng and his daughter, and the middle-aged woman who had lost her son.
Confronting these indignant people was a team of imperial guards guarding the right gate of Chang'an.
These imperial guards wore bronze helmets and iron armor, held spears in their hands, and had an aura of majesty that kept strangers away.
The chief flag-bearer of the imperial guards, carrying a long sword, warned him in a cold tone, "Scholar, you must think carefully. Once the drum for reporting is sounded, there will be no regrets. Even if you regret not reporting, you will still be punished with thirty strokes of the cane."
“This is the Dajing Law!”
The last sentence was powerful and awe-inspiring.
The people around were somewhat suppressed by the imperial guards' aura and became much quieter, all looking at the scholar.
Zhang Shusheng was not afraid at all. He held the little girl's hand, looked at the imperial guards with his head held high, and said resolutely with gritted teeth: "I will sue!"
He wanted justice and clarity for his daughter.
The middle-aged woman next to him also choked up and echoed: "I want to sue too!"
As soon as the last word fell, a gruff male voice shouted angrily, "What are you suing for?!"
"Get out of the way, everyone!" More than twenty tall yamen runners carrying long swords ran over here, all with stern faces, showing an ill-intentioned aura.
The leader of the squad first bowed to the commander-in-chief of the imperial guards, then said with a polite smile, "Captain Li, leave these unruly people to me."
Beating the drum to report a complaint to the emperor is no small matter, but if it can be reduced to a small matter, that would be even better.
The people around suddenly became agitated and whispered to each other. Words like "Jingzhao Prefecture", "yamen runners", "beating Zhang Shusheng" and so on floated over in the wind.
When the squad leader turned to face the common people, he changed his expression again, looked around at everyone with a haughty look and said: "This is an important place in the capital, under the feet of the emperor, you are making such a commotion, are you trying to gather a crowd to cause trouble?"
An old man with a hunched back bowed to the squad leader and explained in a low voice: "Officer, we are not causing trouble, some children are missing... Ouch!"
Before he could finish his words, the old man was rudely kicked down by a burly fat yamen runner. He fell on his back and screamed in pain.
"Aren't they just some beggars and refugees?" the squad leader shouted angrily, "Their lives combined are not worth even a finger of yours!"
Zhang Shusheng, the middle-aged woman and other people were deeply hurt by the words of the squad leader. Their simple faces turned red and their eyes were filled with anger.
"How can this be possible!"
An indignant male voice sounded from the crowd, his voice loud and clear.
"What right do you have to beat people?!" A young man in gray raised his chin and shouted angrily at the yamen runners, "Are the lives of us civilians not lives?!"
The other people were also infuriated by the yamen runners' brutality, and they all echoed, "That's right!"
"So many children were lost overnight, and the government did nothing about it."
"They don't even treat us as human beings!"
“…”
The people were becoming more and more agitated, feeling angry and aggrieved, and all holding their breath.
The squad leader snorted disdainfully, raised his hand and pointed at the shouting people, saying: "You unruly people, why don't you all retreat? Otherwise, you will be killed without mercy!"
As the last word fell, the yamen runners he brought with him drew their swords.
More than a dozen long swords were flashing coldly, and when the tips of the swords were pointed at people, it made people feel a little cold in their hearts.
There was a strong smell of gunpowder in the air. The two sides were confronting each other, and the situation was on the verge of breaking out. It seemed that someone would be killed at any time.
The civilians present had never seen such a murderous scene before and were frightened to some extent. Most of them did not dare to move.
Li Zongqi of the Imperial Guards saw that the two sides were on the verge of a fight, and was afraid that a bloodbath would break out. Just as he was about to step forward, the squad leader came towards him and whispered in his ear, "Li Zongqi, they are just common people, they can't cause any big trouble. Our lord will remember your kindness."
General Li looked back and forth at the two sides with a frown, weighing the pros and cons.
The two sides were in a stalemate when a young man with ordinary appearance and wearing a coarse blue shirt came out. A corner of his black shirt was exposed at the collar. He tried to be a peacemaker and advised Zhang Shusheng: "Brother Shusheng, I think we should just forget about this matter."
"Shangqing Zhenren said that everything in the world has its own destiny. Your daughter is fine anyway, so why bother to make trouble?"
"You are the one who can speak human language." The fat yamen runner laughed contemptuously, waving his long sword and pointing at everyone, "The eldest princess is in danger of death. Saving the princess is a great blessing. You unruly people should not be ungrateful."
"Yes, yes." The young man in green nodded repeatedly. "Shangqing Zhenren is a living immortal in this world. He used the children's heart blood to make elixirs for the princess. That was also to accumulate blessings for the children. Everyone has their own destiny!"
These few words were like adding fuel to the fire, making the people present even more enraged, with raging anger on their faces.
The people should not fight against the officials, let alone the case involving a noble from the royal family. However, this scholar and the woman just wanted to beat the drum to appeal for justice.
They originally thought that Shangqing Zhenren was a living immortal, but now it seems that he is just a sorcerer who is in collusion with the powerful.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
