The rebellious grandson of Emperor Zhenguan of the Tang Dynasty: Please, Your Majesty, be called Cro

Chapter 108 Thirty guests from Chang'an, one day heading to Shangzhou

Li Chengqian's gaze remained fixed on Li Xiang's face. Seeing his composed expression and lack of any intention to back down, he was first slightly taken aback, then shook his head with a wry smile.

Well, this child is stubborn and has already made up his mind not to back down.

He sighed inwardly, about to offer further words of advice, when light footsteps sounded outside the courtyard. Li Jue skipped and hopped into the house, calling out loudly, "Brother!"

"Someone's looking for you outside!"

"Outside?" Li Xiang looked surprised.

"Yes!" Li Jue nodded vigorously. "It was the Imperial Guards guarding the door who came in to deliver a message, saying that someone is waiting outside and wants to see my brother."

Li Xiang pondered to himself that the people who had come must be Sun Fujia and his group. He bowed to Li Chengqian to apologize, then turned and walked out.

Li Chengqian stared at his departing figure, lost in thought for a long time.

Li Jue, standing beside him, gazed longingly at the doorway, his little hand gently tugging at Li Chengqian's sleeve. He looked up at Li Chengqian and asked, "Father, when can we leave this house?"

Li Chengqian fell silent for a moment, then gently patted his son's head.

Past disappointments, betrayals, and the frustration of being imprisoned, along with the warmth finally felt after being confined, all intertwined in his heart.

A few days ago, I learned that Xiang'er was imprisoned. Later, the list was successfully sent out through the Imperial Guard. All of these things must have been approved by that person.

He couldn't figure out what the other party intended, but the successive loosening of these checkpoints undoubtedly tore a crack in this heavily guarded prison.

His drooping hand slowly tightened, and a sinister glint flashed in his eyes.

"Even a cornered beast will fight."

"And what about people?"

Strangely enough, whether it was Li Er's oversight or the old man's deliberate act, after Li Xiang was sent back to Longqingfang, Li Er did not rescind his decree to temporarily lift Li Xiang's confinement.

During this period, Sun Fujia, Song Shenzhi, and others frequently visited Li Xiang. Although visiting the deposed Crown Prince Li Chengqian was still forbidden, they could only send a note and some gifts outside the residence.

However, this was already a disguised way of slightly easing the house arrest on Li Chengqian.

However, this is a good thing for Li Xiang; at least he no longer needs to use a VPN.

That guy named Liu Zhi won't be demoted and have his salary reduced anymore. It seems he's been reduced to a common soldier?

"Perhaps that old Deng is so preoccupied with his own posthumous memorial that he forgot about revoking the imperial decree?" Li Xiang thought maliciously.

Thinking about the current situation in the court, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

A "last memorial" pushed the Shandong gentry to the opposite side of imperial power; in the East Market, members of the aristocratic families were surrounded and rebuked by the people, and were beaten, and the scandal spread throughout Chang'an.

Nowadays, the memorials of impeachment and debate inside and outside the court are probably already piled up like mountains. It would not be surprising if Li Er were so busy that his pants were blown off and he was overwhelmed by the memorials.

You old bastard used a fake execution to scare me, making me happy for nothing.

As Li Xiang pondered this, he supported his still aching lower back and hips and limped out.

Looking up, Sun Fujia was standing in the outer room, dressed in casual clothes, waiting. Several Confucian scholars with restrained expressions were also standing beside him.

"You brat, you're still not fully recovered?" Sun Fujia frowned as he saw Li Xiang still limping and aggravated.

"It's all because of the deadly measures taken by your Dali Temple." Li Xiang rolled his eyes at Sun Fujia. Then he greeted the people next to Sun Fujia.

The people beside Sun Fujia were the leaders among the poor scholars who had knelt before Li Xiang that day.

Among them were Song Shenzhi and Dong Jiming, as well as Chen Zhijian, Wang Xuance, and others, whom Li Xiang later met as well.

Wang Xuance had met Li Xiang once before, when they were at the Imperial Academy. Moreover, he seemed to have heard of Li Xiang before his transmigration. Therefore, Li Xiang paid close attention to him.

Moreover, although this person was from a poor family, he was among the first batch of people to pass the imperial examination.

Although as a scholar from a poor family, he was unlikely to obtain a good official position during the selection process.

But at least he could obtain an official position. His support for the reform of the imperial examination system, and even his leading role in inciting many candidates from the provincial examinations to risk their lives to petition the emperor at the Zhuque Gate, was truly commendable.

Sun Fujia sighed softly, "I've come here to inform you that I've been transferred to the post of Prefect of Shangzhou. That's why I've come to bid you farewell."

"Saying goodbye?" Li Xiang was taken aback, his expression slightly grim. "Those people's methods?"

Although a prefectural governor is a high-ranking official of the third rank, it seems like a lateral transfer. However, the status of officials in the capital and local officials is naturally different.

Old Sun had served as a legal officer in Wannian County since the end of the Sui Dynasty, and had never been appointed to any other post in his life. His sudden transfer clearly indicates that there's more to it than meets the eye.

Sun Fujia could only smile wryly: "I've been rooted in Chang'an for nearly thirty years. It's good that I'm taking up a post in Shangzhou."

"We also intend to accompany Lord Sun to Shangzhou. Therefore, we have come to bid farewell to Your Highness." Wang Xuance and the others also clasped their hands in farewell to Li Xiang.

"You guys are going too?" Li Xiang asked, somewhat puzzled.

"The imperial court has issued an edict to re-examine the special imperial examination. Why don't you stay in Chang'an to further your studies and prepare for the examination?"

Wang Xuance and the others looked embarrassed and exchanged glances. Song Shenzhi then said to Li Xiang, "Your Highness is unaware that we have already been expelled from the Imperial Academy." Song Shenzhi said with a wry smile.

"Now that we've left the Imperial Academy, we'll have no more books to read. We might as well go with Master Sun to Shangzhou and see his collection of books."

Dong Jiming also said, "Lord Sun is also willing to hire us as his advisors. It will not be too late to return to Chang'an to take the imperial examination after the matter of the special examination is settled."

"I can only temporarily protect a few people," Sun Fujia said, stroking his white beard with a worried expression.

"Without me in Chang'an, the rest of the poor scholars will be left without protection. You, though unreliable, at least have some connections. You should be the one protecting those poor young men."

As the third-rank official of the Court of Judicial Review, Sun Fujia had been protecting scholars from humble backgrounds during this period. Now that he has stepped down, without such protection, these scholars would surely struggle to withstand the backlash from powerful families.

Li Xiang then realized that the lack of books to read was one aspect, but the reason why Wang Xuance and several other leading scholars followed Sun Fujia out of the capital was actually to avoid disaster.

Looking at the group of people forced to leave the capital to avoid disaster, Li Xiang felt a surge of emotion.

He could make a scene and be done with it, then simply pack up and go back to the modern world to find pretty girls and eat abalone. But those he had incited had no way out.

With boundless passion and a spirit that defied fate, he finally achieved some success, even prompting the court to change the imperial examination system. Yet, he still had to temporarily avoid the sharp edges of those powerful families. Such hardship is truly lamentable.

He composed himself and asked, "When do you plan to leave Chang'an?"

"Things are not yet settled, so I will probably have to stay for a few more days," Sun Fujia replied in a low voice.

"Since we have a few more days to stay," Li Xiang pondered for a moment, then immediately said, "the day after tomorrow, I will host a small farewell feast for Old Sun and you all."

Upon hearing this, Sun Fujia frowned and hurriedly dissuaded him: "Now that the eyes of the court and the public are on us, holding a banquet to bid farewell is too conspicuous. You brat, don't cause any more trouble because of us."

"Don't worry, Old Sun," Li Xiang said with a smug smile, "I'd love for them to have the guts, it'll be a good opportunity to blunt their arrogance."

Even if they don't come looking for him, he's still thinking about going after them and causing trouble for Prince Wei, Li Tai.

Wang Xuance and the others hesitated, but they understood Li Xiang's nature; once he made a decision, he wouldn't easily change it.

After several unsuccessful attempts to decline, the group finally agreed to the farewell banquet.