Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 646: Distance Does Not Disturb Relatives
It was late at night, and in the east warm room of the Qianqing Palace, the emperor was still sitting there with great interest, listening to the fourth prince talking endlessly about the grand scene of the Lu Mansion tonight. The third prince standing by listened with a smile, although he felt a little sorry that he could not go over to join in the fun, but he was not as active as the third prince, so there was no envy or jealousy.
But what he didn't expect was that after the Third Prince had finally finished speaking, he rushed to him, grabbed his hand and said, "Brother Crown Prince, the Lu family has invited a chef who failed in the Imperial Chef Selection Competition to be the chef tonight, and also invited the guy named Song to make dessert! That dessert is delicious. I went to the kitchen to find the guy named Song, and he immediately agreed to make it for you in the future..."
"Ahem!" The emperor finally couldn't help but cough twice. Seeing that the fourth prince immediately shut up and stood up straight, he scolded with a stern face, "Don't call her Song all the time. Hailing is also your cousin. In the future, he will be your brother-in-law. How can you treat him as a cook?"
"But he is a chef who loves to make desserts..." The fourth prince whispered in his heart, but he kept nodding his head. Because he knew very well that if he said this in his heart, his third brother beside him would definitely scold him severely!
Ever since he received a slap in the face that day, he had keenly sensed that the Third Prince had become more attentive to him, but also stricter. He couldn't tell whether he was becoming more like a crown prince, or more like a brother!
The father and his two sons chatted for a while, and seeing that it was getting late, the emperor thought of his two sons who had to get up before dawn to study, so he had to order someone to take them downstairs and settle them down. Since the third prince studied in Ciqing Palace, he had set up the residence of the two brothers in Zhaoren Hall, with the central room used for living, and the east and west warm rooms used as bedrooms, with the third prince living in the east and the fourth prince in the west.
What made him helpless and relieved was that, since they moved in together, the Fourth Prince always complained that it was too dark to sleep alone, so most of the time, the two brothers slept with their feet touching in the east warm room of Zhaoren Palace.
But just as the two older female officials came up to take the brothers away, the newly appointed Qianqing Palace Manager Chen Yongshou hurriedly reported outside that there was an urgent matter. Seeing someone rush in and whisper to his father, the fourth prince instinctively grabbed his brother, hoping that he would not leave for the time being, and pricked up his ears to listen to the movement, but he was undoubtedly scolded by the third prince again.
"Fourth brother, the emperor must have some important state affairs to attend to, let's not disturb him!"
But when the Fourth Prince reluctantly followed the Third Prince to the door, he heard the Emperor laugh: "Haha, there is no urgent state affairs, but there is a strange family matter! Sanlang, Silang, you don't have to leave, stay! Chen Yongshou, go and bring everyone here."
The fourth prince was already full of curiosity, and when his father said this, he was immediately overjoyed, and quickly pulled the third prince back to the emperor. However, although his eyes were rolling around, he resisted the urge to ask rash questions.
The Third Prince knew that his Fourth Brother’s patience was limited, so he had no intention of testing it. He immediately asked, “Father, is there something wrong in the palace? The two Imperial Concubines are in charge of the palace affairs. Do you want to invite them…”
Before he could finish his words, the emperor interrupted him with a laugh: "It has nothing to do with the two imperial concubines. This is not something they can control. Li Shanggong, go there in person and call all the officials in charge of the Imperial Household Department and the imperial attendants in the palace."
Seeing that the Queen Mother personally selected Li Shang Gong, who was transferred to the Qianqing Palace as a steward, solemnly agreed, bowed and hurried away. This time, not only did the Third Prince have some guesses in his mind, but even the Fourth Prince was surprised. The two brothers looked at each other and turned into statues with their eyes looking at their noses and their noses looking at their hearts.
Growing up in the Qianqing Palace, they were certainly not naughty children. Even as lively as the Fourth Prince, he would never make a fuss when the Emperor was handling state affairs. As for the Silijian... the Silijian said it was a family affair, but in fact it could also be classified as a state affair!
However, compared to the eunuchs from the Imperial Household Department, Zhang Shou, Zhu Ying, and Zhang Chen arrived first, while Hua Qi and Ah Liu, who were behind, were holding a person together. Seeing this, the Third Prince was only surprised, but the Fourth Prince couldn't help himself and blurted out, "Teacher, Sister Yingying, what are you doing..."
Zhang Shou smiled and didn't speak first. Zhang Chen didn't even have time to speak, Zhu Ying rushed to tell him the whole story. Of course, the plot between Zhang Chen and the Fourth Prince was completely ignored, and it was only said that Zhang Chen was confused and had a quarrel with Zhang Shou, so he found a secluded place to drink alone, and he was almost tricked.
After Zhu Ying finished speaking, Zhang Shou bowed calmly and said, "It happened suddenly. Master Hua Qi and Ah Liu took the man back to the Lu Mansion for questioning..."
"Your Majesty, they have arbitrarily arrested the imperial attendants and abused private punishment to extract confessions. Please help me, Your Majesty!"
The imperial attendant who was being held tightly by Hua Qi and Ah Liu like a dead dog suddenly started yelling, which not only interrupted Zhang Shou's words, but also made everyone in the east warm room of the Qianqing Palace change color. While others were still either dazed, thinking, or furious, someone had already taken decisive action, and that was...
Without a doubt, the most active Fourth Prince took the lead, rushed forward and slapped the other person in the face. Although he didn't quite understand what the three words "hypnosis" Zhu Ying just said were for, it didn't sound like a good idea. Zhang Chen was lucky not to fall for it. If he had followed Zhang Chen's words and acted as bait, wouldn't he be the one in trouble?
The fourth prince, filled with fear, slapped the man once, but still not satisfied, he simply raised his foot and kicked the imperial attendant fiercely. But he had just kicked twice when he felt two hands pass through his armpits, then grabbed his shoulders forcefully and dragged him back. After a slight pause, he realized who it was and immediately struggled hard.
"Brother Prince, please let me go and let me beat this bastard to death!"
"How can you be so presumptuous in front of our father! No matter life or death, you should obey our father's decision!" The third prince was only half a year older than the fourth prince, and they were about the same size and strength. Of course, at this moment, he could only barely carry the person and drag him back.
Seeing that the Fourth Prince was still angry, he said sternly, "Fourth brother, if you continue to act like this, I will report to the Emperor and have you banished to Zhaoren Hall to reflect on your mistakes!"
The Fourth Prince was not afraid of being confined to reflect on his mistakes, but he could not bear not seeing what happened next. So, he could only let the Third Prince drag him back to the side in a sullen manner. Seeing the Emperor glance at him with a half-smile, he was sulking with his head down, but he did not expect that after the Third Prince let go of his hand, he actually walked in front of the beaten imperial attendant.
"You just said that someone privately arrested you, the imperial attendant, and abused you to extract a confession?"
The Third Prince was only four feet tall, and he was not wearing any fancy robes at the moment, but the imperial attendant certainly knew that he was the newly crowned Crown Prince, and also Zhang Shou's student. The Fourth Prince's actions just now had already told him what it meant to not alienate relatives, but with life and death at stake, he had to take a gamble even if it was only a one in a thousand chance.
Therefore, while Zhang Shou did not open his mouth to defend himself, he hurriedly said loudly: "That's right, I was just ordered to protect the Fourth Prince. I saw the eldest son of the Duke of Qin drinking alone, and there was no one else in the whole yard. I was worried that something might happen, so I went to check. Who knew that he was drunk and crazy..."
"This is ridiculous! When have I ever been drunk and crazy?"
Zhang Chen was so angry that he almost exploded, and he wanted to rush up and beat him up like the Fourth Prince just did. Fortunately, Zhang Shou was quick-witted and quickly grasped the man's shoulder, thus stopping this noble son who was as impulsive as the Fourth Prince.
Seeing Zhang Shou stopping Zhang Chen, Zhu Ying sneered, "No wonder the Fourth Prince was furious. You bastard are really good at confusing right and wrong! Did you think no one heard you hypnotizing Zhang Chen? Uncle Hua, Ah Liu, and I saw you sneakily performing monkey tricks there, and we even heard your voice!"
"Besides, you didn't have time to feed Zhang Chen the bottle of wine with added ingredients at that time, and we brought the evidence with us!"
"You can always find a pretext to accuse someone of something! You're a family, so of course you can say whatever you want. It's not impossible to fake the evidence. Just put some drugs in that bottle of wine and you can put the blame on me!"
Although he could sense the murderous aura around him and knew that his life was in the hands of the two people beside him, the imperial attendant had already given up. He shouted in extreme grief and anger: "Your Majesty, please understand, Your Highness, please understand, everything I said is true! If I had not confessed before, I would have been suffocated to death by the torture of Hua Qi, the retainer of the Duke of Zhao's mansion!"
The emperor smiled but said nothing. The Fourth Prince's shoulders trembled slightly with anger, but having just been reprimanded by the Third Prince, he did not dare to act rashly at this moment. He could only stare at his brother's back with expectant eyes.
The Third Prince had a solemn expression and pursed his lips. After the other person finished speaking, he looked at Hua Qi and asked word by word, "Master Hua Qi, do you take what he said seriously?"
Hua Qi laughed and nodded very readily, "I don't dare to be called Master Hua Qi by His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Just call me Hua Qi. He is right. I admit that I did resort to private punishment. It was at the Lu family, and it was also the day of Lu Sanlang's wedding. If the torture caused blood to be shed, it would inevitably ruin the joy of the couple, so I had to use this simplest method that would not cause bloodshed."
Seeing that the imperial attendant was obviously relieved, he said calmly, "But who asked me to question him in the first place? As soon as he opened his mouth, he pushed all the charges onto the eunuch Chu, the seal holder of the Imperial Household Department? I suspected that he was using chicken feathers as a token of authority to fool me. In addition, the trainee's waist badge was not an official ivory badge, and I didn't know whether it was real or fake, so I had to be ruthless and interrogate him."
Zhang Chen, who was still being held down by Zhang Shou, was stunned at this moment.
He didn't expect Zhang Shou to not defend himself, Zhu Ying to not refute him, and Hua Qi to openly admit to abusing private punishment, and the one he dealt with was a royal attendant...even if he was an apprentice! He just felt sweat on his back, and wanted to look up to see what the emperor's expression was, but in the end, his attention was attracted by the words of the Crown Prince.
"In other words, you did execute him first without knowing his identity and then report him to the police?" After receiving Hua Qi's nod, the Third Prince said calmly, "Logically, it is not appropriate to do so, but since he has not been harmed in any way and he was sneaky first, although you made a mistake, it is an emergency and can be forgiven."
Unexpectedly, the Third Prince would be so nonchalant. The imperial attendant was simply stunned, and then he subconsciously shouted: "How come there is no damage? I almost died..."
"Are you dead?" The Third Prince stared coldly at the anxious fellow and asked word by word, "Are you injured?"
Zhu Ying almost laughed out loud when she saw the Third Prince telling lies in such a serious manner. Zhang Shou also tasted the sophistry in it and couldn't help laughing. However, the one who reacted the most was not someone else, but the current emperor, because he not only laughed out loud, but even laughed so hard that he pounded the armrests.
After hearing the emperor's laughter, the imperial attendant was stunned for a moment, and then, as if he had grabbed a life-saving straw, he immediately shouted loudly: "Your Majesty, the Crown Prince is biased towards them, I really..."
"Really? Do you really think I will believe you?" The emperor stopped laughing. He interrupted the other party impatiently and stood up. "I trust everyone here, except you! You just said that you were punished once and nearly lost your life? Very good... Hua Qi, you stay here and give me the punishment. Let's see if he can escape with his life again!"
After this was said, there was a moment of silence, and Hua Qi immediately coughed and said, "In the East Warm Pavilion of the Qianqing Palace? His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince are also here, isn't this... inappropriate?"
"There's nothing wrong with it. The worst that can happen is just killing a person. This palace was originally built on the ruins of the Yuan Dynasty's imperial palace in Dadu. Who knows how many bones are buried underneath. We don't mind if a few more people die!" The emperor laughed nonchalantly, then glanced at the stunned Fourth Prince and the Third Prince who was trying to remain calm, and uttered a sentence lightly.
"As for Sanlang and Silang, it's time for them to see blood."
"That's great." Hua Qi chuckled, loosened his hands and let Ah Liu hold the imperial attendant alone, but rolled up his sleeves, "This kid almost peed his pants after just three layers of paper. I'll try to be more agile and at least stick five or six layers, otherwise the skills I learned back then will be wasted! Someone, prepare some paper for me, I want that yellow paper!"
The emperor and Hua Qi teamed up, and the others remained silent. The imperial attendant saw that Hua Qi was really shouting recklessly in the Qianqing Palace, and his last bit of luck finally disappeared without a trace. Almost subconsciously, he cried out in a crying voice: "The one who ordered me to go to Lu's house to spy was the eunuch Chu, the seal holder of the Silijian, and I didn't lie at all!"
