Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 337: Being Unique
Seeing Zhang Shou pulling Zhu Ying out of the house leisurely, Xiao Huasheng couldn't help but glance at the distraught eldest prince, as if he wanted to engrave this noble who had hurt so many people in his heart, and then hurriedly chased Zhang Shou. Zhu Er had no interest in meeting or talking to the eldest prince, and also ran away quickly.
As for Ah Liu, what the hell did he have to say to the eldest prince? However, he found that Lao Xianyu still stayed in front of the door and did not leave. He thought about it. Although he felt that the safety of Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying was the first priority, it didn't matter what Lao Xianyu wanted to do to the eldest prince. But out of consideration for less trouble, and believing that Zhu Ying's force was enough to deal with emergencies, he still stayed.
However, the young man, now quite scheming, swiftly dodged into the shadows.
Sure enough, Lao Xianyu found that everyone seemed to have left. He had been standing outside the threshold just now, so he stepped over the threshold and stopped six or seven steps away from the eldest prince. Seeing that the man was sitting on the ground with his head drooped, like a lifeless clay sculpture or wooden statue, he said softly: "Emperor Taizu would definitely regret it if he saw his descendants become like this."
The eldest prince suddenly raised his head when he heard the Emperor Taizu, a term that was not often mentioned in front of him. When he saw the old man who had carried him to the front to face a group of rioters, he could not help but say angrily: "How can a traitor like you get away with it? Are Zhu Tingfang and Zhang Shou so partial and pervert the law?"
"First, I am an innocent person being hunted down by the Changlu County Magistrate Xu Cheng and those tycoons you scolded. I cannot bear the title of traitor. Second, before you accuse them of bending the law for personal gain, think about what you and your gang of villains have done!"
In all these years, Old Salty Fish had never faced the sons of a dragon and grandsons of a phoenix at such a close distance. When he heard the words "snakes and rats from the same nest", he felt extremely happy. Therefore, when he saw the eldest prince's visceral resentful eyes, he remained calm and fearless, and instead sneered.
"The capital is a place suitable for people like you who play power games and are greedy. Cangzhou does not need people like you!"
After watching the old salted fish leave quickly, Ah Liu flashed out from the shadows and returned to the door. Seeing that the eldest prince's face was twitching because of the scolding, he didn't say anything, just looked at him quietly, until the eldest prince raised his head as if unconsciously, and his eyes happened to meet his, then he raised the corners of his mouth.
However, his smile was not a soothing weapon. The eldest prince immediately became like a frightened rabbit. He supported himself with his hands and feet and backed away desperately until his back hit the leg of the table.
"You...what do you want to do?" He knew that this kid was Zhang Shou's most capable lackey!
"Nothing to do, just a look." Ah Liu blurted out these eight words, and then he shrugged his shoulders slightly with disinterest, just like an ordinary idler watching a show. "In the end, there's nothing to see."
Ah Liu's completely idle tone - if Zhang Shou was here, he would definitely say that he was bored to death - immediately angered the eldest prince. However, the previous experience of being ravaged by Zhu Ying made him dare not challenge Ah Liu, who was obviously much higher than Zhu Ying, and he could only shrink there and grit his teeth.
"You won't be so proud forever!"
Ah Liu naturally had no interest in responding to the wail of such a loser. He glanced at the eldest prince calmly, then turned and walked away. Even if he heard the most nasty abuse and curses behind him, he had no impulse to retort. But when he was about to reach the gate of the courtyard, he suddenly stopped, took off the short bow he carried with him, turned around and shot an arrow.
The eldest prince, who was cursing Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying as adulterers, suddenly heard a sharp sound of a bowstring. Having suffered such a threat before, he shuddered with fear and dared not move. Sure enough, the next moment, a short arrow flew past his cheek, and the strong wind that broke through the air cut his face painfully.
When he turned his head with difficulty and saw the short arrow nailed to the table behind him, with the arrow feathers even trembling, the eldest prince finally became furious. He struggled to get up, grabbed the arrow feathers with one hand and tried to pull it out. He was always afraid of pain and had even made up his mind to stick the short arrow into his arm after pulling it out, and then shouted assassin.
He just didn't believe that Du Heng, the commander of the left camp of the Ruiqi Battalion, would turn a blind eye to his assassination!
But when he was doing this, he heard a chilling voice in his ear: "This short bow and short arrows were given to me by the emperor because he appreciated my archery skills for fending off the rebels and assassins from Rongshui Village."
You'd better use your brain when you frame me...Besides, if I were serious, you'd be dead long ago!
The eldest prince's face turned pale, but he still tried his best. But then he was dumbfounded. It was not because the arrow was so deeply embedded in the wood that he could not pull it out. It was because... with just that much force, the arrow was actually broken by him... It just broke into two pieces! Wasn't it a gift from the emperor? How could it be so unaffected by force?
Although he did not see the eldest prince's stunned look, Ah Liu could imagine what the eldest prince would do. Therefore, on the way to the small kitchen, he kept a smile on his face and even remembered what the emperor said to him.
"The wood and bowstring used for this short bow are both very rare. The short arrow is more like a weakened one than a specially made one. Not only is it not tough, but it will break without much force. I don't know what the craftsman who made it was thinking. So this bow has never been used, so I'm giving it to you. I think the only advantage is... the arrowhead will be embedded in the flesh when you pull it out?"
"A-Liu, where have you been? You almost made me go to Du Heng to look for you. I was worried that he would stop you!"
Hearing this impetuous voice, Ah Liu, who was daydreaming, suddenly came back to his senses. Seeing that it was Zhu Ying, he was silent for a moment, then his ears suddenly moved, and then he said, "General Du is tolerant and generous, he won't do that."
Separated by a wall, Du Heng, who was said to be tolerant and generous for the first time in his life, suddenly turned black. He was not sure whether Ah Liu said so because he heard him coming, or whether the simple, direct and rude boy really thought so. At present, he came here to ask Zhang Shou in person what to do with the eldest prince and what to do with Xian Yunhe and other people who had caused chaos.
He still wanted to know what Zhang Shou was planning to do in Cangzhou and what he wanted him to do, but at this moment he suddenly felt that it was unnecessary.
He heard the report when Zhang Shou and others were entering the palace, so he quietly went around the wall of the eldest prince's residence and heard the whole process of these people going to see the eldest prince. They all said that he had a bad temper and a strange temper, but today he finally saw what a real bad temper and a strange temper meant... Even if the eldest prince had a thousand sins, he was still a prince after all!
Zhu Ying saw Ah Liu winking at her, and as smart as she was, she immediately realized that the walls had ears. Although she wanted to ridicule the commander of the left camp of the Ruiqi Battalion who was eavesdropping, she finally laughed with a dull smile: "Yes, yes, it's because Commander Du is tolerant and generous that Ah Shou and I went directly to see the eldest prince. Otherwise, we should have gone to see him ..."
Du Heng finally couldn't bear it anymore. He should not see them anymore and have less dealings with them... or else he would be pissed off to death!
Only after hearing the extremely light footsteps leaving did Ah Liu say to Zhu Ying, "The person has left."
"Hmph!" Zhu Ying snorted heavily in annoyance, and then said fiercely, "With big brother here, there is no need for Du Heng to stay here. Let him lead the troops to escort the eldest prince back to the capital. This annoying guy will be completely eliminated, and Ah Shou and big brother will have time to clean up the situation in Cangzhou!"
After saying this, she saw that Ah Liu was silent again. Then she remembered the reason why she came here. She coughed heavily and said, "Okay, don't think too much. Ah Shou will take them to see Xian Yunhe!"
Ah Liu's eyes, which had seemed a little distracted just now, suddenly became sharp: "He went with the Second Young Master Xiao Huasheng?"
"And the old man who just joined us..." Zhu Ying had just said this when she saw Ah Liu rushing forward. She was slightly startled and then realized what he was worried about. She quickly ran after him, "Xian Yunhe is the main culprit. He must be in handcuffs. He can't do anything to Ah Shou!"
Don't be afraid of ten thousand, just be prepared for one... This thought flashed through Ah Liu's mind, but he didn't explain it. Instead, he hurried faster. When he came to the seemingly remote yard, he heard Zhu Er's shouting.
"Did Du Heng do this on purpose, or was it accidental? Isn't this the firewood room where you imprisoned the eldest prince?"
Ah Liu was slightly startled, and then he heard the crying voice of Peanut: "Uncle Yunhe, Uncle Yunhe, what's wrong with you? Open your eyes and look at me... Speak!" Realizing that the situation was a little delicate, he didn't care about anything else and rushed over in two or three jumps. When he saw Lao Xianyu kicking open the door of the woodshed, his eyes became even sharper.
Zhu Er felt that this scene was familiar, and immediately felt mixed emotions. Seeing Old Salted Fish and Little Peanut rushing in one after the other, he saw that Ah Liu had already come to Zhang Shou, so he quickly leaned over and whispered, "The eldest prince was also imprisoned here , and was only given one meal a day. He was so hungry that he had no strength left. Old Salted Fish couldn't wait for the key and broke in."
Zhang Shou once heard Zhu Er brag about how he had tricked the eldest prince. Now seeing that old and wrinkled salted fish acting so bravely, he glanced at Ah Liu and understood what the young man was worried about for rushing over so quickly.
Seeing Zhu Ying running in like a gust of wind, with beads of sweat on her forehead, he smiled and handed her a handkerchief, and then came to the door. Seeing that Xian Yunhe, who was shackled, had woken up, but spoke weakly, he couldn't hear clearly at the door, so he simply went in.
With so many people crammed into this small woodshed, there was naturally not much space left. After Xiao Huasheng carefully wiped Xian Yunhe's face with his sleeve, he saw that the white cloth wrapped around his wrist seemed to be the same one that Zhu Tingfang had wrapped on the day he came. There was blood on it, and his eyes couldn't help but turn red: "They... How could they do this to you?"
"Then how do you think we should treat a rebellious criminal?" It was not Zhang Shou who interrupted Xiao Huasheng, but Lao Xianyu. Seeing Xiao Huasheng was stunned, he sneered and said, "You only sent one meal a day to the eldest prince, and now we treat Yunhe the same way. What's wrong? He is a serious criminal, and you still expect someone to change his medicine and take good care of him every day?"
Seeing that Xiao Huasheng was speechless, Lao Xianyu said calmly: "The winner is the king and the loser is the bandit. You should understand this principle well."
"Uncle...Uncle, Peanut is still young..."
Xian Yunhe said a few words with difficulty. Seeing that Lao Xianyu glared at him fiercely, he had to smile apologetically at Xiao Huasheng, and then looked up at the people behind Lao Xianyu.
He did not recognize Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying, but at least he recognized Zhu Er. Anyone who could make Zhu Er, the second son of the Duke of Zhao, follow him must be more important than Zhu Er.
Two days ago, he was detained by Zhu Tingfang in the temporary palace, and coincidentally, it was the firewood room where the eldest prince was once imprisoned. He soon learned that the Ruiqi Battalion had sent another group of soldiers and horses to guard the Cangzhou Palace.
Although these soldiers were not the one hundred men who had been stripped naked and had their weapons taken away by him before, there was inevitably some friendship between their colleagues, and the previous incident could not be hidden, and as they were all from the Sharp Cavalry Battalion, it was inevitable that they would help others vent their anger. Even if they were strictly ordered not to torture him as a serious criminal in public, as long as they were careless in their food and changing of medicines, he would naturally become weak and frail.
Even so, he knew that his uncle was right. He couldn't expect others to treat him as a serious criminal and treat him as a guest of honor. He calmed down and said with a wry smile, "Uncle, you are right. I am already a prisoner. I dare not ask for anything. All the mistakes are my fault. I am the first offender. The others are just subservient to me."
He paused, and said word by word, "Moreover, I was the only one who decided to do it on my own, without consulting you, uncle. That's why you were hunted down along with the Second Young Master without knowing anything. And Peanut is only fourteen years old this year, very young. He was just brought by me, and he actually knew nothing..."
Zhang Shou suddenly interrupted Xian Yunhe and said, "Youth is no longer an excuse to escape punishment these days. You should know that in the Tang Dynasty, two filial sons who were both under the age of fourteen set traps and killed their enemies just to avenge their fathers who were wrongly killed. This blood revenge was praised by countless people, and most public opinion was on his side, but in the end he was still executed by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang."
At this point, he emphasized his tone and said, "Do you think that you can exonerate Xiao Huasheng by taking all the blame? If he is really held accountable for what he did, his guilt is no less than yours!"
Xian Yunhe's heart skipped a beat and he immediately looked at Xiao Huasheng, his face full of disappointment. How dare you admit to something as serious as disguising yourself as a woman and holding the eldest prince hostage in front of outsiders?
