Volume 4: Gathering of Sages Chapter 728: Recognizing Fraud
Although Xiao Cheng was not professional in playing the ghost last night, the Fourth Prince was sure that if it were him, he would speak more seriously and respond to situations, but he would definitely not be able to stand the smell of chicken blood on his face! Therefore, he still admired Xiao Cheng, but at this time he just felt that this little guy really had no awareness of sharing happiness and difficulties.
Wouldn't it be better if he and Peanut could do something together? Besides, when dealing with the Chen, Fang, and Gao families yesterday, it was almost always him and Peanut who were dealing with them. Xiao Cheng was just watching from the side most of the time. This kid is serious, but he is honest and clumsy. It's okay if he meets an honest person, but it's easy to get into trouble if he meets a tricky person!
The fourth prince quickly put on his shoes and hurriedly prepared to go out, complaining angrily: "The teacher's family is the same, why didn't they stop him!"
"Don't mention it. That stubborn guy has become smart this time. He keeps saying that it was Brother Zhang who told him to go to the public school after getting up. Since Brother Six was not at home, they let him out at the door and even gave him a horse!" Xiao Hua was furious when she heard this. "I've never seen this kid so smart. What's wrong with him this time? What's the point of him going alone?"
The two little guys walked and complained indignantly all the way, but when they arrived at the stable in the front yard, they found that it was not so easy to walk.
It turned out that Zhang Shou used a carriage when he went out in the morning, Wu took the carriage to the Duke of Zhao's mansion to discuss the marriage, and Mr. Song took Fang Qing to the Jiangdu Palace to do some business - it was probably related to someone's marriage; plus, four of Ye Mengqiu's brothers were summoned by the emperor today, and went to discuss the calendar revision with other astronomical talents, so they left in the carriage, leaving only three carriages in the stable.
These three carriages were used by Zhang Yuan's servants when they went out. They were usually tidied up and although they were not leaky, they were still shabby and crude. As for the carriage that the Fourth Prince and his companions rode back last night, it was still being cleaned and wiped thoroughly. Otherwise, if the smell of blood and messy groceries was not removed, how could people still ride in it?
Seeing this, the Fourth Prince naturally claimed that he could ride a horse and asked to bring two horses. However, the steward in the stable could let Xiao Cheng go, but he would never dare to let the Fourth Prince go just like that. After all, Zhang Shou had specifically instructed him to keep an eye on the naughty boy when he went out in the morning and wait for Ah Liu to come back to pick him up before letting him go. Therefore, no matter what the Fourth Prince said, he just refused to give him the horse.
The anxious Fourth Prince didn't want to waste any more time, so he simply grabbed Peanut, who was still trying to persuade them, and ran away. But when they reached the gate, they were stopped by several doormen. An Lu, the leader, limped and spoke politely and respectfully, but when it came to releasing the people, he refused to give in at all, which made the Fourth Prince jump up and down in anxiety.
Just when the two sides were at a stalemate, a crisp voice suddenly came from outside the door: "What are you arguing about?"
Peanut was stunned when he heard this. Just as he looked up, the Fourth Prince started yelling, "Sister Yingying, help me. I want to go out, but they won't let me go. I have something urgent to do. It's really urgent!"
"Hey, it's you two?" Under the Fourth Prince's eager and expectant gaze, the curtain of the carriage opened, revealing a face that was both smiling and angry. It was Zhu Ying.
"Ah Shou told Aunt Wu about the two of them, and Aunt Wu went to Zhao Guogong's mansion today and told me about it. So I thought they would definitely go out again today to clean up the mess."
Zhu Ying pointed at the Fourth Prince and Peanut who were stopped by several doormen. Seeing that they were just grinning at her, she said to An Lu and the other doormen in a friendly manner, "I'm idle at home anyway, so I might as well come over to pick them up. How can such a lively event be without me?"
Originally, he wanted to explain Zhang Shou's instructions, but when An Lu heard the eldest lady say that she already knew the whole story and said something that he could not refuse, although he wanted to wait for Ah Liu to come back, he thought that even if Ah Liu came back, he would probably have to obey orders in front of Zhu Ying. So he waved his hand to signal the doorman to make way, and watched the Fourth Prince dragging Xiao Huasheng to the carriage.
When Zhu Ying saw the two kids get on the car, she said to An Lu, "By the way, send someone to the public school to tell Ah Shou that I'm taking them away. With me here , no one can do anything to them. Ah Liu doesn't need to rush over, just stay by Ah Shou's side!"
"Yes, then I'll leave it to you, Miss." An Lu would not argue about this at all. He bowed and then gave a few instructions to Yang Hao beside him. Then he ran to the stable. He saw Zhu Ying nodded with a smile and lowered the curtains. After a while, the group of people gradually went away and disappeared from his sight. He couldn't help but rubbed his temples with a headache.
When Ah Liu brought the three little guys back last night, he was shocked when he recognized the Fourth Prince. When he saw Xiao Cheng covered in blood, he thought something had happened, but when he found a pile of dry goods and various foods in the car, he was dumbfounded. Until now, he still couldn't figure out what these four strange people did in the middle of the night.
Now Zhu Ying also came over, eager to get involved, and he suddenly realized that he no longer wanted to know what was going on. If the Fourth Prince was prone to causing trouble, and Ah Liu was not afraid of causing trouble, then this Miss Zhu... was always thinking about how to cause trouble to relieve her boredom!
With Zhu Ying as his savior, the Fourth Prince heaved a sigh of relief when he climbed into the carriage. However, Peanut, who also got into the carriage, became a little hesitant after discovering the luxurious and exquisite furnishings in the carriage. After all, even Ah Liu, who wanted to make room for Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying to enjoy their own world of two, was so scared that he ran away as soon as he got on the carriage, let alone him.
Although Zhang Garden is large, its furnishings are not luxurious, unlike this carriage, where everything looks very valuable!
However, Zhu Ying did not notice Xiao Huasheng's reaction, because Wu had only given a brief account of the incident at Duke Zhao's mansion - after all, the information people told her, her grandmother, and her mother came from Zhang Shou - so at this moment, she could not help but ask with great interest about the strange case that the three of them had investigated yesterday.
As the Fourth Prince spoke vividly, Peanut's nervousness about sitting in a luxury car gradually disappeared, and he would occasionally interrupt and add a few words. Until a commotion came from outside the car. Zhu Ying opened the curtains and found that they had arrived at the city gate. The two little guys in the car were afraid that their conversation would be heard by people outside, so they immediately shut up. Then, they heard a voice outside.
"Miss, we have arrived at Xuanwu Gate. Someone over there is saying that there is news coming from Huairou Royal Manor, saying that..."
Zhu Ying, who had just returned from Huairou Royal Farm yesterday morning, could not help but feel her heart skip a beat when she heard the word Huairou, and she could not help but frown. Especially when she found that the driver was hesitant to speak, she said impatiently: "Don't hesitate, just say it if you have something to say, what are you afraid of!"
"Huairou Royal Manor sent a messenger to report the news. I don't know if he encountered any questions at Xuanwu Gate or for some other reason, but the messenger started yelling and saying that he had urgent news to deliver to the city. He also said that while Grand Secretary Kong was personally comforting the people in the Royal Manor, the eldest prince... the eldest prince committed suicide."
“…”
The three people in the car stared at each other. Xiao Huasheng had no good feelings towards the eldest prince. After all, he was the biggest culprit of the chaos in Cangzhou and the person he had deceived by disguising himself as a woman. If he had not kidnapped the eldest prince and released Xian Yunhe and others to the palace, he would not have met Zhang Shou by chance, and Xian Yunhe and many others would not have been exiled to Qiongzhou Prefecture to plant trees.
However, he did not hate Zhang Shou or Zhu Tingfang at all, but hated the eldest prince to the core. Now that he heard that the eldest prince was dead, he was glad that his embarrassing incident of dressing up as a woman might be hidden forever, but he could not help feeling a little angry.
That greedy, shameless, cruel idiot... but he is finally dead! What a relief for him!
The fourth prince had hated the two guys who were nominally his brothers since he was a child. When he heard that the eldest prince was dead, instead of sighing, he couldn't help but muttered in a low voice, "It's a good thing he died." As a result, Zhu Ying glared at him fiercely the next moment.
"It's fine to say that in front of me, but if you're in front of the emperor, you must control your mouth! You have to remember that the emperor has already lost two sons, you have to put yourself in his shoes!"
Seeing the Fourth Prince nodding his head immediately, Zhu Ying frowned and muttered to herself, "Why did this guy die at this time instead of earlier or later?"
After she arrived at the Huairou Imperial Manor, she did not show off in front of the eldest prince like a winner, because she did not like that guy and did not want to meet him at all. In addition, there was an incident of rioters besieging the imperial manor later, and she was busy dealing with that group of people. She only took a look at the eldest prince, this hot potato, before leaving, and hurried back to Beijing without saying a few words.
But suddenly, Zhu Ying thought of the biggest problem, and immediately took a breath and said, "Master Kong has gone to appease the people, so what about Aunt Yuquan? Will Aunt Yuquan take the blame in the end?"
This time, even the Fourth Prince couldn't help but frown. The Queen Mother was ordinary to him and the Third Brother in the past, and she is still ordinary now, without any excessive closeness, but Yuquan has always been good to them.
A few years ago, when he and his third brother were just insignificant , they often went to Qingning Palace together to pay their respects to the Queen Mother, and would often "coincidentally" encounter the eldest prince and the second prince showing their courtesy to the Queen Mother.
At this time, Yuquan would not bring them over to serve as a foil, but would specially take them to another room to wait, and prepare tea, snacks and other delicious food for them.
Not only that, Yuquan would personally talk to them, asking about their daily diet and daily life, and how the servants around them treated them. Before they left, he would ask them to take some snacks that were often made in the small kitchen of Qingning Palace, as well as small things that others gave to the Queen Mother. Although this was not as valuable as the rewards that the Queen Mother gave to the eldest and second princes, the fourth prince remembered this kindness very much.
Therefore, he forgot about Xiao Cheng who had left earlier, and couldn't help asking, "Sister Yingying, what should we do now?"
Zhu Ying was originally frowning, but at this moment, an idea suddenly struck him. He suddenly pounded the carriage wall and said in a deep voice: "If it is really a messenger, he is most likely from the Sharp Cavalry Battalion. He would not be so ignorant as to cause a dispute with the gate guards at Xuanwu Gate and even shout out such a message in public. This is a trick!"
Almost at the moment of saying this, the eldest lady immediately opened the car door and shouted, "Come here, call the guy who claims to be a messenger to me. I want to question him personally!"
The driver outside the carriage had already jumped off the carriage when he heard Zhu Ying shout that this was a fraud. When Zhu Ying gave the order, the driver, who used to drive for the old lady, knew who the young lady was ordering, and immediately looked at Zhu Hong. In an instant, he saw Zhu Hong and two guards rushing towards the noisy messenger and the gate guard.
However, the flow of people in and out of the city and the crowd of onlookers were so large that when the three guards of Duke Zhao's Mansion were trying to find a way out of it, someone had already gotten ahead of them.
"You claim to be a messenger coming back from the Huairou Royal Farm to report the news. Which battalion are you from, the left, the center, or the right? What is your current position? Who is your superior? Who ordered you to return to the city to report the news? Where is the token? Why did you make a loud noise at Xuanwu Gate and leak important information? Do you still want to be killed?"
The questions were getting louder and louder, and the last one was like a thunderclap. Even Zhu Hong couldn't help but look in the direction of the sound. He saw the crowd of onlookers making a slight commotion, and then they were forced to make way for them. He recognized the young nobleman who was leading the way with an arrogant look. Wasn't that Zhang Chen?
What a coincidence, Zhang Chen and Zhu Ying also happened to encounter the same scene!
But Zhang Chen didn't see Zhu Hong. His tone just now was aggressive, and his actions at this moment were equally aggressive. He rode his horse and pressed forward step by step. Seeing that the messenger could not help but step back, he sneered and pointed his sword at him, saying word by word: "Can you explain clearly what I just asked you?"
The man who claimed to be the messenger did not expect to be questioned like this. He was at a loss for words. After he reacted, he shouted, "Who are you? Why do you care about my Sharp Cavalry Camp?"
“Who am I? Hehe…hahaha…hahahaha!” Zhang Chen suddenly laughed, and then shouted angrily, “Someone, capture this traitor pretending to be the messenger of the Sharp Cavalry Battalion!”
As he shouted, Zhu Hong, who was ordered to come over, saw several guards behind Zhang Chen rushing forward without hesitation, so that he didn't even have a chance to attack, and watched the messenger being captured alive without even resisting a round. Then, Zhang Chen slowly came to the other party and said, "You don't even recognize me, Zhang Chen, and you still call yourself the Sharp Cavalry Battalion!"
