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

Chapter 113 You went into a brothel without paying? Are you even human?!

"Your Highness, something seems amiss here—"

Behind Li Xiang, Wang Xuance tugged at his sleeve and whispered a reminder.

"I know," Li Xiang nodded, deeply agreeing.

While slandering the emperor was a punishable offense under Tang law, Emperor Li Er was not actually a tyrant. In ordinary times, when people grumbled or complained about the emperor, no one took it too seriously.

Even if these officials wanted to extort some money, they would surely back down after learning Li Xiang's identity, and would not hesitate or delay here.

Moreover, there were hardly any people in the restaurant when they were chatting. What a coincidence that they would run into such a loyal and patriotic person who would go to Wannian County to report them for slandering the emperor?

Moreover, even the county magistrate of Wannian County has come?

Damn it, in the whole of Chang'an, who doesn't know that I'm a professional at slandering the emperor? Li Er didn't even say anything, and now Wannian County is suddenly trying to overstep its bounds?

There must be someone backing them up.

Seeing the unfriendly look in Li Xiang's phoenix eyes, Sima Yuanjing trembled with fear, regretting that he couldn't take back all his arrogant words from before.

On one side of this place was the untouchable, ruthless grandson of the emperor, and on the other side was the powerful and influential Prince Wei's mansion. Caught in the middle, every second he stayed was torture.

With a sudden thought, he quietly took half a step back, forced a smile onto his face, and was about to ask for a way out.

Just as he made a slight movement, his robes suddenly tightened behind him, and someone whispered behind him, "Is that you, County Commandant Sima?"

"Your Highness knows what you're doing and understands that you don't want to directly break ties with the imperial family's grandson. You don't need to do anything to Li Xiang, nor do you need to question him at all."

"You just need to follow the law and detain and imprison these poor scholars around him who have no official rank or title, who are just chatting idly and making irresponsible remarks about current affairs."

"Once this matter is resolved, the Crown Prince will naturally remember your contribution."

"But if it's not right—hehe."

Sima Yuanjing was taken aback.

"Your Highness's plan is brilliant. It only deals with those peasants. That brat has no official position or power, so he can't do anything about it."

L

Inside the elegant pavilion, Li Xin coldly observed the scene below from the window, while Zhang Shen beside her fawned over her.

No matter what, Li Xiang was a grandson of the emperor, and any action taken against him naturally required the emperor's approval.

But the people around him were different; they were just a bunch of poor peasants. They dared to associate with Li Xiang and slander the emperor—they could be manipulated however they pleased.

This method is even better than having Fang Yi'ai call Li Xiang up to humiliate him. After all, we've heard too many rumors about Li Xiang's madness these past few days. If he goes crazy in this private room, even though we have many people and aren't afraid of him, he is the heir of the Prince of Wei, a scholar, and a gentleman uses words, not fists.

It wasn't that she was afraid of affecting her gentle and refined image in front of her grandfather.

On the contrary, hiding in the shadows is the most suitable approach. It is perfectly reasonable and legal for the county magistrate of Wannian to teach those peasants a lesson, and even if that brat wants to go crazy, he will certainly not be able to find a way to stop him.

"Those peasants around him, I'm afraid, were also involved in the turmoil in the East Market."

"Afterwards, once they are detained in Wannian County, we will arrange for them all to be killed."

Li Xin's eyes were indifferent, but a smile played on her lips as she won people over.

"This can be considered as my Wei Prince's Mansion avenging your fathers."

"Your Highness is truly virtuous! You still remember our ancestors!"

"Yes, His Majesty ordered the Court of Judicial Review to investigate the case, but the people there have been investigating for months without a single clue. It's outrageous; it's clearly a cover-up!"

"These peasants deserve to die. Today we should kill these few first, so they'll know the difference between heaven and earth."

A group of young noblemen watched the spectacle downstairs, laughing and joking as they pledged their loyalty to Li Xin.

Li Xin felt a sense of satisfaction as she hid behind the window, feeling as if she were truly in control, and watched the scene with a smug expression.

"You're the county magistrate Sima, right? Who's behind you? Tell me."

"I can spare your life."

Li Xiang lowered his head, took a sip of wine, and sat upright behind the table, his tone quite arrogant.

He had just promised Old Sun that he would take good care of these poor scholars.

Someone came to bully us, trying to take advantage of us.

—That works too. This Sima Yuanjing is also a disciple of the King of Wei, isn't he? Starting with him is a good idea.

The trembling of the aristocratic families begins here!

Whether my cheap dad's little notebook works or not, we can try it out here.

Li Xiangxin thought to himself.

Meanwhile, Sima Yuanjing had already figured out the crux of the matter.

The Crown Prince of Wei did not want him to confront Li Xiang head-on, but rather to use him to eliminate the supporters from the poor families gathered around Li Xiang!

In an instant, countless pros and cons were rapidly weighed and weighed in Sima Yuanjing's mind.

Retreat? If he cowers and backs down today, he will completely offend the King of Wei. He will immediately lose his lucrative post in Wannian County and will never have a chance to rise again in Chang'an. The Sima family, which has fallen into decline, will also have no hope of reviving.

"Enter? Only take scholars from humble backgrounds, without touching the imperial grandson in the slightest. This gives the Prince of Wei a way out and does him a favor, while also being dutiful and not directly offending the court."

Risks are manageable, and credit can be earned.

Although the grandson of the emperor, Li Xiang, was arrogant and unruly, he held no real power or position!

As for the grievances of those few scholars from humble backgrounds? They are insignificant compared to his future prospects.

In an instant, all of Sima Yuanjing's hesitation vanished, and greed and the will to survive completely overwhelmed any remaining concerns.

"—Your Highness, the imperial grandson has overstepped his bounds. The Court of Imperial Clan Affairs shall make the judgment. This county magistrate dares not presume to make such a statement."

"However, these commoners in plain clothes, without rank or position, openly mingle in taverns, gather crowds to discuss politics, and spread dissenting opinions, which has violated the laws of the Tang Dynasty. I, as the county magistrate of Wannian, —"

"etc."

Sima Yuanjing was speaking when Li Xiang interrupted him.

Seeing Li Xiang casually pull a notebook from his robes, pat the cover, and ask, "Sima Yuanjing, is that right? Are you sure you won't tell me who sent you here?"

"It's my duty, no one ordered me to do this." Sima Yuanjing said righteously, but his eyes couldn't help but look at the book in Li Xiang's hand.

What is that thing?

"I see," Li Xiang replied casually. He began flipping through the pages in his hands...

"On the second day of the third month of the fourteenth year of Zhenguan, a gang fight broke out in Pingkang Ward over territory, resulting in serious injuries. However, someone suppressed the case file and concealed the incident. Did you handle this?"

Sima Yuanjing's expression froze, and he suddenly stopped speaking halfway through his sentence.

"In April of the same year, merchants in the neighborhood were robbed. You claimed the bandits had escaped and told the merchants to accept their bad luck. That night, however, you got drunk in a brothel and told the prostitutes that you had made a large sum of money. What was this sum of money?"

Sima Yuanjing opened his mouth, and cold sweat began to bead on his forehead.

"In the fifteenth, sixteenth, and seventeenth years of the Zhenguan era, you spent over a hundred nights in brothels, yet you never paid for your services—what? You went to brothels without paying? Are you even human?"

Is this a hidden perk of being a county magistrate for ten thousand years? Li Xiang would never admit that he was envious.

However, that cheap old man is really too sinister. He even investigated this kind of thing in such detail. Are those Crown Prince's assassins he kept actually spies?

No wonder Kong Yingda and Yu Zhining said he was sinister; they were right—if he had become emperor, he would have created the Embroidered Uniform Guard hundreds of years earlier.

Using this to sow discord between the powerful families and the King of Wei was indeed a good strategy. Unfortunately, it was never used in the end.

"Wait! Your Highness! Wait a minute!" Sima Yuanjing was already covered in cold sweat and tried to interrupt loudly.

How did this imperial grandson know about these things? He looked at the notebook in utter horror.

Could that book be the Book of the King of Hell?

Li Xiang, however, seemed not to hear, and continued reading word by word: "On the second day of the second month of the seventeenth year of Zhenguan, you worshipped the ancestors of the Sima family in your private residence, weeping bitterly, claiming that your descendants were unfilial and unlike their ancestors, and even composed a poem—oh?"

His eyes lit up.

"Sima Gong is truly a talented poet! Your poem rivals the works I have written!"

"Excellent, excellent, just to my liking! Let me read it aloud—"

"It's the Crown Prince of Wei! It was the Crown Prince of Wei who sent someone to summon me here!" Sima Yuanjing's expression changed drastically, and he blurted out the words as quickly as beans spilling from a bamboo tube.

My little darling, that poem—

Reading that poem aloud could be fatal!

>