Ask the Nine Ministers

Chapter 154 Making trouble
Two carriages slowly drove into Dongsheng Street.

The carriage was exquisite, and the servants were dressed in uniform. It was obvious that they were from a wealthy family, and they were very eye-catching in this bustling street.

"Freshly baked cakes, so fragrant and sweet!"

"The finest silk, with all kinds of patterns and colors, would you like to come in and take a look?"

Dongsheng Street has always been bustling with the sounds of hawkers shouting one after another, shops lined up on the street with signs standing in all directions and banners fluttering, and people coming and going among the dazzling array of goods. It is the most prosperous place in Xuandefang.

Xue Sui turned his head slightly and said softly, "The sun is getting higher, Princess, please have some snacks..."

Before he could finish his words, there was a sudden commotion outside the carriage.

"Murder! Someone killed someone——"

The sound was so sharp that it instantly cut through the noisy city noise.

Xue Sui was startled and quickly opened the curtain.

At the entrance of the silk shop, a sharp scimitar was being pulled out of a passerby's chest, and blood splattered on the silk shop's "Goods to All Parts of the World" flag, which was particularly eye-catching...

The murderer was wearing the clothes of Daliang people, but if you look closely at his facial features, he doesn't look like a Zhongzhou person.

A passerby fell down, followed by bursts of screams.

The thug who committed the crime was not just one person, but a group of people.

They were crazy and violent, and when they killed people, they screamed something in an incomprehensible Sitz language...

Xue Sui felt a little nervous.

Could this be what Wen Jia said, the assassins sent by King Ashina of Xizi to the capital with the intention of beheading the royal family and court officials?
"Xiao Zhao." She whispered.

"The maid is here." Xiao Zhao's eyes were burning, "Kill him?"

"Protect the princess." Xue Sui gave her a look.

The last time he encountered an assassin on the way to the palace, he fought with the assassin. Afterwards, Xue Sui used Xiao Zhao's martial arts competition as an excuse to evade the issue. Therefore, Xiao Zhao's martial arts competition was no longer a secret in Prince Duan's mansion.

"I understand." Xiao Zhao's eyes were bright as he stared at the movements outside the car.

The thugs were like crazy beasts, killing anyone they saw.

Pedestrians were running around in panic, some fell to the ground, some were separated from their families in the panic, screams, shouts, and cries were intertwined...

The scene was chaotic.

Miss Guo San was so frightened that her face turned pale. She hid in Madam Luo's arms and trembled, her voice filled with tears and she was almost choked with sobs.

"Mother, blood...so much blood..."

Mrs. Luo was also very scared.

"Close your eyes and don't look."

She protected her daughter with her hands and shouted the driver's name.

"Hurry up, get away from here..."

However, at this moment, the crowd on the street was surging like a tide, causing chaos. The carriage was stuck in it, so how could it get out?
What was even more terrifying was that when the thugs saw the two gorgeous carriages in the crowd, their eyes lit up, and they shouted at their companions, then brandished their long knives and led the charge towards this side...

In another carriage, Xue Yuechen was also horrified.

Her lips were pale and she was clutching her handkerchief tightly.

"Has anyone reported it to the authorities?"

"Why did the Jingzhao government officials take so long to arrive? Did they allow these thugs to commit crimes openly in the streets?"

"I'm afraid he is not an ordinary thug..." Xue Sui's eyes were hard and cold. He slowly pressed Xue Yuechen's head on his shoulder, reached out to hold the short blade for self-defense, and stared out of the car curtain without blinking.

"Don't be afraid, Princess!"

The fleeing people stopped the mob.

Blood was splattered all over the streets, and pools of blood could be seen everywhere...

Xiao Zhao couldn't hold back any longer and her eyebrows raised.

"You bold lunatic are courting death!"

She cursed loudly and pretended to rush out.

Just at this moment, a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds came from the end of the long street.

A group of East Palace guards rushed over like lightning. They were dressed in bright armor and their hooves were pounding. The sound instantly drowned out all the noise in the street.

"All those who are outside, disperse immediately!"

"Scatter quickly, don't block the road!"

The most eye-catching person in the crowd was Li Zhao.

He was dressed in a dark robe, with a black jade belt around his waist. He had sword-like eyebrows, bright eyes and an upright posture. He completely ignored his status as the crown prince. He clamped his legs around the horse's belly and rushed into the chaotic crowd amid the neighing of his horse, with the long sword in his hand flashing with a cold light.

"Your Highness the Crown Prince..." When Guo Yunrong saw Li Zhao appear, she lifted the curtain with trembling hands, as if she saw a god descending from heaven. She was nervous and shy, and her hands unconsciously grabbed the corners of the curtain.

"Your Highness, be careful! Be careful!"

Li Zhao did not respond.

He pursed his lips tightly, his expression stern, and he didn't look like he was injured. The Qingfeng sword in his hand was like a silver lightning, waving through the crowd, as if to tear apart this hellish madness.

The shouts of killing shook the sky.

The criminals gradually lost their advantage in front of the East Palace guards.

The common people loved to watch the excitement. When they heard about the rescue and saw the officials from Jingzhao Prefecture rushing over, the crowd that had been fleeing in all directions quickly gathered around and crowded the street.

The carriage was stuck in the crowd and couldn't move forward.

In the chaos, Xue Sui suddenly spoke.

"Right back!"

Although Li Zhao did not look back, he reacted very quickly.

As if responding to her reminder, he turned his hand and slashed diagonally to the right, piercing the thug's chest with a sword, cleanly and sharply...

The thug's eyes widened and he fell down in shock.

Guo Yunrong screamed in admiration. "Your Highness has great skills."

Li Zhao: "I want him alive!"

Before he finished speaking, he heard Guan Ya's anxious shout.

"It's too late! They have a deadly poison in their mouths..."

The thug whose arm was just cut off by Guan Ya sneered with a twisted face, and suddenly bit the poison sac in his teeth. A stream of black blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, and almost in the blink of an eye, he fell straight down...

Killed in the street.

Li Zhao frowned.

He had just returned from a thorough investigation of illegal salt at the riverside and was passing through Dongsheng Street...

Are these Sitz people going crazy here just to take advantage of the chaos and kill a few civilians on the street to vent their anger?

Li Zhao glanced at Xue Sui.

Across the chaotic crowd, the two men's eyes met.

"Not good!" Li Zhao's expression changed slightly.

Killing people wantonly on a busy street is to attract attention and make a feint to the east?
Not far from Dongsheng Street, there is a granary. It is an official granary specially set up by the imperial court to regulate the grain supply of the capital. A large amount of grain is stored in the granary, which is related to the livelihood of the people in the capital.

Li Zhao suddenly realized something and looked up in the direction of Yongfeng Warehouse.

There was a billowing black smoke rising from there -

He glanced at Xue Sui coldly.

"Yu Qianshan, take people to Yongfeng Warehouse! Guan Ya, I leave this to you!"

Li Zhao gave the order decisively and then galloped away on his horse.

Without leaving a word, he took away Miss Guo San's endless attachment.

"Mother……"

Guo Yunrong looked at the direction where Li Zhao left, tightly grasped Madam Luo's hand, and said in a mosquito-like voice, "If the Crown Prince favors me, my daughter will have no regrets in this life."

Mrs. Luo looked at her with a loving smile.

"You, when Queen Xie summoned you to the palace that day, weren't you somewhat resistant?"

The tips of Guo Yunrong's ears turned red as if dripping blood, and he lowered his head slightly.

"My daughter was confused for a moment and believed the one-sided words of Lu Xi and others, and misunderstood His Royal Highness the Crown Prince..."

She explained shyly, fearing that her mother would laugh at her. She leaned forward, lifted a corner of the carriage curtain, and stuck her head out. Seeing Xue Sui frowning, she asked with concern:

"Mrs. Ping An, are you and the princess all right?"

Xue Sui turned around and said, "The princess and I are fine. I wonder if Madam Luo is frightened?"

Guo Yunrong responded: "It scared my mother and me..."

At this time, the wind carrying the smell of burning blew over. On the bloody long street, the crowd was still in chaos and disorder, but with the evacuation of the officials from Jingzhao Prefecture, the road surface was gradually unblocked.

"Why don't we go to Puji Temple as soon as possible? We can pray for the souls of those innocent people who lost their lives..."

Xue Sui responded and lowered the curtain.

Xue Yuechen asked with a pale face: "What are the origins of those people? How can they be so cruel and kill anyone they see without any grudges?"

Xue Sui: "They don't kill just for the sake of killing..."

Xue Yuechen frowned slightly, "What's that for?"

Xue Sui sighed, "To burn down the granary."

She thought of Li Zhao's cold look just now.

Could it be that he thought that asking him to thoroughly investigate the smuggling of salt was a cover for the Xizi people so that the purpose was to burn down the granary?
Although she hated some people in the Daliang court, she would not do anything that would harm others and benefit herself.
-
In the Xuanzheng Hall, Emperor Chongzhao threw the memorial heavily to the ground.

"Prince, this is the good job you have done as assistant to the Ministry of Revenue!"

The memorials were scattered all over the floor.

All of them accused Li Zhao of disrupting people's livelihood, interfering with the grain transport, and acting arbitrarily. What's worse, some said that he abused his power at the grain transport dock and killed people on Dongsheng Street, causing chaos in the market, panic among the people, and boiling public resentment.

Emperor Chongzhao said: "As the crown prince, the heir to the throne, how many eyes are watching you? How can you act so recklessly and let people criticize you?"

Li Zhao's sleeves hung to the ground, and the dark python pattern reflected the candlelight in the hall, making his eyebrows and eyes look colder and sharper than usual.

"Father, do you really think that this is my negligence?"

He picked up the memorial, brushed his fingertips over the four words "Jiangzhou Caoyun", raised his head slightly, and looked directly into Emperor Chongzhao's eyes.

"I dare to speak frankly. This is a conspiracy by the Xizi forces to collude with the treacherous officials in the court to disrupt the foundation of Daliang and shake the country..."

Emperor Chongzhao narrowed his eyes and snorted heavily.

"You mean... someone deliberately framed you?"

"More than that." Li Zhao chuckled and shook out a blood-stained account book from his sleeve.

"I received a tip three days ago that the Xiao family had close ties with the Jiangzhou prefect. This account book was found in the escort officer's residence, and it contains more than just the illegal salt trafficking."

Emperor Chongzhao's pupils shrank slightly.

He flipped through the account pages with a gloomy face...

With each page he turned, his brows furrowed more tightly.

The state salt tax, iron ore smuggling, and even the horse trade with the Xizi border were all inextricably linked to the Xiao family.

Li Zhao made further report.

"Xiao Jing, who was exiled to Lingnan, appeared on the grain ship heading to Jiangzhou. Father thought it was a coincidence, or that the Minister of Revenue Luo Huan had a vested interest in him and had to protect him..."

"Okay, very good!"

The emperor laughed in anger, his knuckles clicked on the armrests, making a dull sound, "Let me thoroughly investigate this matter, and anyone involved, regardless of rank, will be severely punished!"

Xue Sui: Someone seems to have misunderstood something...

Li Zhao: You know there is a misunderstanding, but why don’t you come to me to apologize?