Catching Monsters

Chapter 590 Criticism Meeting

In the backyard of the Jiang residence.

"Sister-in-law, have I caused trouble for you and my brother?"

At this moment, Jiang Qiaoqiao and Xu Suwen were in the backyard. Xu Suwen was busy with embroidery, while Jiang Qiaoqiao sat beside her, holding a sweet cake and looking worried.

Although she didn't see the scene outside the academy today, she knew she had caused trouble just by hearing the shouts and cries of battle.

His master, Fang Tingzhi, a great Confucian scholar, was usually a calm and composed person. However, upon hearing that he had struck the Crown Prince and that the Crown Prince had even mobilized the Imperial Guards, his face turned grim. He hid him in a secret compartment in the back courtyard, fearing that he would be captured and interrogated by the Imperial Guards.

Later, Qi Da, the commander of the thousand households, came and personally escorted her back to the Jiang residence.

"Don't worry, it's alright." Xu Suwen raised her hand and patted Jiang Qiaoqiao's head, saying this to reassure Jiang Qiaoqiao so she wouldn't worry too much.

But she wasn't sure either. As someone who had lived in the capital for a long time, she knew all too well what kind of thing it was when the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Imperial Guard fought each other.

If things go wrong, it could be a matter of losing your head.

Just then, Yun Pingchuan rushed over: "Madam, Miss, Master has returned and is discussing important matters with Commander Qi in the living room."

"Let's go take a look." Jiang Qiaoqiao quickly got up.

At this moment, in the living room, Qi Da was spitting as he spoke: "Lord Jiang, rest assured, none of our brothers died today. More than twenty were seriously injured, and about a hundred were slightly injured."

"But the Imperial Guards didn't fare any better either. I estimate that there are at least a hundred seriously injured and countless others with minor injuries."

"I even took advantage of the chaos to kick Gu Zhengyu, almost knocking him off his feet."

"It's just that Xiao Jingqing is too far away to kick him, otherwise I would have pleaded with him to kick him for you and vent your anger."

Of course, Zidane was just saying that; he actually had a chance to kick Xiao Jingqing, but he was quick-witted.

While it's important to curry favor with Lord Jiang, one shouldn't ruin their own future. If Xiao Jingqing ascends the throne in the future, how can someone who has kicked him out still survive?
Hearing Zidane talking animatedly, Jiang Yun asked with a smile, "How are you? Are you alright?"

As she spoke, Jiang Yun glanced at the bandages on Zidane's body.

Zidane: "I suffered a minor injury, it's nothing serious."

"What I mean is, just take it, don't try this." Jiang Yun rolled her eyes at Qi Da. When the fight broke out, this guy took the opportunity to kick Gu Zhengyu.

Then you can stay safely by your side and not get hurt anywhere.

Zidane awkwardly took off the bandage and put it in his pocket: "I'll need it again later. Lord Li Wangxin wants me to go and report on the situation. I can't let this make me look like a hero."

"Then we'll bring them along after we get to Lord Li Wangxin's place," Jiang Yun said, watching Xu Suwen and Jiang Qiaoqiao come in from outside. He then said, "Suwen, you've come at just the right time. Go and get some silver."

"The seriously wounded brothers will each receive one hundred taels of silver, the lightly wounded brothers will each receive thirty taels of silver, and the other brothers of our Eastern Garrison will each receive ten taels of silver."

Upon hearing this, Zidane paused for a moment, then made a rough estimate and said, "Sir, this is a huge sum of money, you..."

"Alright, stop talking nonsense. Just do what I tell you to do," Jiang Yun said, frowning.

"Yes, sir."

Xu Suwen didn't say much, but smiled and nodded, saying, "I'll have Uncle Yun send the silver notes to you later."

"Alright, Madam Jiang, then I won't disturb you any longer." Qi Da said, then wrapped his bandages around himself and went out.

Xu Suwen asked Jiang Yun in a low voice, "Is Commander Qi injured?"

Jiang Yun smiled, unsure how to explain. Jiang Qiaoqiao, however, asked softly, "Brother, did I cause you any trouble? If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have beaten up that prince."

“You didn’t cause any trouble, so it was good that you beat her. If she does this again, then beat her as well. Even if the sky falls, I’m here for you.” Jiang Yun solemnly touched Jiang Qiaoqiao’s forehead and then said, “Alright, take the maid out to buy some food and relax later.”

"I need to talk to your sister-in-law about something."

"Okay." Jiang Qiaoqiao breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this.

After Jiang Qiaoqiao turned and walked out of the living room, Xu Suwen hurriedly asked what happened.

Jiang Yun remained silent for a moment before recounting everything that had happened in the Imperial Study.

After listening, Xu Suwen said in a deep voice, "Jiang Yun, His Majesty's other words are not important. What's truly important is his final advice to you..."

"His Majesty probably already understands that you and His Highness the Crown Prince are irreconcilable enemies, and even believes that you might plot to kill the Crown Prince, which is why he is giving you this warning."

Jiang Yun was silent for a moment, then nodded: "I was thinking about this when I came back, but as long as one is loyal to His Majesty..."

“It’s no use.” Xu Suwen shook her head, glanced around to make sure there were only the two of them in the living room, and then lowered her voice: “His Majesty has promoted you, so you are loyal to him. When he is healthy, it’s fine…”

"Based on our experience and understanding of this matter in the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion, if His Majesty is about to pass away, he will probably purge a group of people in order for the Crown Prince to ascend to the throne."

"If our Jiang family doesn't improve its relationship with the Crown Prince, we'll probably be among this group."

After hearing Xu Suwen's reminder, Jiang Yun sat down in the chair and closed his eyes: "Yes, no matter how much His Majesty favors me, the Crown Prince is still his own son."

Fortunately, he has more than one biological son.

Jiang Yun slowly opened his eyes, as if he had made a firm decision: "If the Crown Prince has a grudge against us, then we'll just replace him with a different one." After saying that, Jiang Yun slowly took out the waist token that Xiao Jingzhi had left with: "Tomorrow is the morning court session, and I need to visit a few officials."

……

The next morning, when Jiang Yun arrived at the palace gates, many people were already waiting there.

"Jiang Yun".

Not far away, Li Wangxin leaned out of a sedan chair and waved.

Jiang Yun hurriedly ran forward and respectfully said, "Lord Li."

"You did a good job, kid." Li Wangxin smiled faintly and said in a low voice, "Although you caused a big disaster, at least our Embroidered Uniform Guard won."

"You've won. I won't bother to reprimand you, but you'd better watch out in court today. I shouldn't say too many good things about you."

"I understand." Jiang Yun nodded respectfully and said, "I am very grateful that Lord Li does not blame me for mobilizing the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the Imperial Guard to fight."

"Look at what you're saying. You're my trusted subordinate. If I can't help you, would I hold you back?" Li Wangxin glared at Jiang Yun. "It's a pity that His Majesty arrived before the people from the Northern Garrison arrived yesterday."

"Otherwise, how could the Imperial Guards have suffered only such a small number of casualties?"

As the saying goes, a tree's shadow reflects a person's name.

Li Wangxin was known for being fiercely protective of his own, and that was certainly true.

Some cowardly officials, upon seeing their subordinates commit such a serious mistake, would have already distanced themselves from the matter and given them a severe dressing-down.

Soon, the palace gates slowly opened.

The morning court begins.

Jiang Yun followed Li Wangxin into the court.

The officials stood at attention.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jiang Yun also caught sight of Gu Zhengyu and Xiao Jingqing, whose faces were grim.

Xiao Jingqing closed his eyes, his face looking rather pale.

Gu Zhengyu's face turned pale and his body trembled slightly. After returning yesterday, Xiao Jingqing approached him and asked him to take full responsibility for mobilizing the Imperial Guards.

This is a capital offense!

Xiao Jingqing said he would definitely plead for him and spare him the death penalty.

But Gu Zhengyu was unsure.

Furthermore, the Imperial Guards themselves were quite dissatisfied with what happened yesterday.

Although no one died, over a hundred people were seriously injured, and more than four hundred were slightly injured.

The key point is that someone heard that the Embroidered Uniform Guard would give hundreds of taels of silver to those seriously injured, and would continue to pay them their salaries until they recovered.

On the Imperial Guard's side, Xiao Jingqing had just become the Crown Prince, and although he received many congratulatory gifts, most of them were not easy to convert into cash immediately.

We simply couldn't come up with that much cash, and besides, the Imperial Guards numbered even greater, with even more wounded...

In the end, they could only give him some money to get rid of him.

Many of those who were seriously injured or disabled were dismissed from the Imperial Guard.

Comparing the two, the Imperial Guards naturally had many complaints.

Xiao Jingqing glared at Jiang Yun with hostility.

Jiang Yun remained calm, and soon, Feng Yu's voice rang out: "His Majesty has arrived."

Many ministers knelt down.

After Xiao Yuzheng slowly sat down, he glanced at the crowd below and said slowly, "You should all have heard about what happened yesterday, so I don't need to say more."

"Tell me about it."

"What do you think?"

Soon, a senior official from the Ministry of Rites stepped forward and said respectfully, "Your Majesty, I was quite shocked when I heard about this yesterday. Those were the Imperial Guards and the Embroidered Uniform Guards, yet His Highness the Crown Prince transferred them to fight privately with someone."

Xiao Jingqing sensed something was off when he heard those words!

A private fight? This guy didn't even mention Jiang Yun's name.

He figured that these civil officials would probably all side with Jiang Yun.

Isn't this just turning into a self-criticism session?
(End of this chapter)