Chapter 47: 'Thieves' Also Have Their Way

  Liáng Shī Chéng was stunned. How could a 'robbery' still ask for money? He hastily waved his hand and said, "Your Highness, no need!"

  "Hey, Old Man Liang, you don't know that thieves also have rules? We operate on a clear pricing system, no cheating, one-time payment for unlimited times within a day. One person is two coins, each horse is five coins, and if you have a carriage, you need to add another ten coins. However, we offer discounts for the elderly, 50% off, so we'll only charge you half! These knife-wielding thugs will be charged double, and since they took your horses away, consider it a fine! Zhao Tie handed over a string of copper coins to Liang Shicheng and gestured for his servants to come forward and lead the horses!"

  "Your Highness, we have come to proclaim the imperial edict. Can you please be lenient?" Liang Shicheng thought to himself that the fine was too high. The toll for a person and a horse was only seven coins, and a mediocre horse was worth twenty taels. Not to mention the saddle and other equipment, Liang Shicheng tightly grasped the reins of his horse as he stepped forward to plead with the imperial guard.

  "Li Da Guan, give the horse to Wang Ye, I'll go back and explain myself!" On the other side, Cai You, who was kneeling, had had enough, with a knife pressed against his neck, still haggling over a few horses.

  "Alright, alright, all of you dismount and give your horses to the king!" Although Liang Shicheng was jealous of Cai You, he also feared his family's power. Earlier, when the king killed the horse with such ferocity, he was afraid that if they didn't comply, he would really chop off Cai You's head. So he hastily agreed, anyway, the prime minister's family had so much money that they didn't know where to put it, and he was willing to take it on himself - why not?

  The soldiers reluctantly dismounted, their faces pale as they handed the reins over to the young servants of the Zhao family. They stood by the side of the road, feeling stifled. In the past, whenever they went out to deliver imperial edicts, they were always treated with great fanfare and respect, with people coming from all sides to greet them. But today, as they trudged along this muddy road, they even had to pay a toll to pass through. The lead officer was still lying there, his life hanging in the balance, and although they were angry, there was nothing they could do about it.

  "Wow, there's a beautiful woman here!" Zhao Yi lifted the curtain of Cai You's sedan chair and saw a stunning beauty with disheveled hair and half-covered clothes cowering in the corner. "Zhao Xin, I'll give this beauty to you as your wife!" he said with a smile, turning his head to face Zhao Xin who was following behind him.

  "Second Master, you're bullying me!" Zhao Xin's face turned red with rage as he stomped his foot and exclaimed.

  "Old man gives you a wife, and you still say I'm bullying you. If you don't want her, take her away!"

  "Second Master, you dare to want a woman like this?" Zhao Xin said with his mouth agape in surprise.

  "Heh heh, I'll sell him to Wase, with this physique and appearance, he's worth at least ten or eight taels of silver!" Zhao Che said as she lowered the curtain.

  "Your Highness, this is the concubine of the prefect of Gongzhou. She has a master!" Liang Shicheng hastily stepped forward to explain, thinking to himself that this prince was indeed as demonic as Tian Shi had said - no, even more so than demonic.

  "So it was Chen Tang's little wife, but how did he end up in Xiao Cai's carriage? Doesn't that go against etiquette? Is that right, Old Mother Liang?" Zhao asked, turning to the still petrified Liang Shicheng.

  "This" Liang Shicheng also didn't know how to explain it, he stood there with his mouth agape and his face red.

  "Your Highness, can't this kid be chopped? My arm is getting numb from holding it up!" At that moment, a shout came from the other side by Pan Long.

  "Chop, chop, I've never seen anyone chopped before!" Zhao Che threw down Liang Shi Cheng and ran over to kill him.

  "Your Highness, you can't do this! He's an imperial envoy! If you kill him, the Emperor will blame you!" Liang Shicheng hastily chased after him and shouted. This prince wouldn't actually kill the envoy just for killing someone, would he?!

  "Kill!" The king has arrived, Pan Long wiped his knife on the sole of his shoe and raised it high, Xue Bao lifted Cai You's arm, Cai You leaned forward in pain, stretching out his neck, looking like a turtle.

  "'Can't kill'!" Liang Shicheng shouted with his eyes closed, silently sighing 'Xiao Cai, I've pleaded for you, don't blame me when you become a ghost, it's the prince who wants to kill you!'

  "Spare his life!" someone came running from afar and shouted loudly.

  Pan Long hesitated at the shout, he wasn't stupid either, and recognized Huang Jingchen's voice. He shifted the blade slightly, grazing Cai You's scalp as it passed, cutting off his hair knot. Fortunately, there was no bloodshed!

  "It's all because of you, I'll spare this little brat!" Zhao Che spat out a mouthful of saliva and cursed, earlier that instant he had truly moved to kill, wanting to take the punishment and get rid of these two people. Cai You is an unlearned and unskilled guy, every day only knowing how to deceive the Emperor into doing foolish things, leading to the downfall of the Song Dynasty's 'allying with Jin against Liao' he was also one of the main culprits; Liang Shi Cheng is even more one of the six traitors, relying on the Emperor's trust, daring to imitate the Emperor's handwriting and massively forge fake imperial edicts, in Chinese history this is an unprecedented treachery.

  "Huang Da Guan, save me!" Xue Bao released Cai You, who fell to the ground paralyzed. When Huang Jing Quan came over, he crawled a few steps and hugged his leg, crying out loud.

  "Master Cai, get up quickly! The king is just joking with you!" Huang Jingchen helped Cai You up and patted his shoulder to comfort him.

  "Not fun, when the beheading scene was performed on stage, they all shouted 'my head is gone, but only a bowl-sized scar' in an iron-like tone, no one cried, Little Cai you're too..." Zhao Yan shook his head with disappointment.

  "Under official, under official" Cai You had just escaped with his life from the knife's edge, and he was still dazed. He had been panting for half a day but couldn't squeeze out even a fart. Meanwhile, Liang Shicheng on the side secretly congratulated himself that he hadn't taken the lead first, otherwise he would have ended up no better than the eldest son of the prime minister's family.

  Zhao Zilong picked up the hat that had fallen to the ground, dusted off the dirt and handed it to Cai Mao, saying: "Little Cai, you haven't finished paying for scolding my father earlier, we'll settle the account slowly later." After finishing speaking, he led the young servants to lead the horses and left with a flourish.

  Cai You pursed his lips, feeling like crying. What was the point of all this? The second prince's method of dealing with him was exactly the same as how he had dealt with Chen Tang - just a change in soup but not in medicine. Yesterday, he had just scolded Chen Tang for being disobedient, and today he himself was being disobedient! Why hadn't he taken a closer look before speaking? He didn't know if Chen Tang's method of flattering the prince would still work or not. Would he also be made to stand on the street and slap his own face a hundred times?!

  "Your Excellency!" Liang Shicheng had just risen to prominence at this time. Although he was a new noble, he still had to pay his respects to his former superior.

  "Oh, Da Liangzi, you're not serving in the palace, how did you end up here?" Huang Jingchen asked with a surprised expression.

  "Your Excellency, the Second Prince has been promoted to Imperial Prince, and we have come to deliver the imperial edict. We didn't expect Your Highness to be 'acting' here. Chancellor Cai spoke out of turn and offended you. Please, speak!" said Liang Shicheng with respect.

  "Oh, this is a good thing! Issuing an imperial edict is a major matter that cannot be delayed. Let's take care of the proper business first, I'll come down and explain it to Prince Wang later!" Huang Jingchen said excitedly, urging them to hurry back to the mansion.

  "What are you still standing there for? Set up the ceremonial equipment!" Liang Shicheng shouted at the ordinary yamen runners and guards.

  The yamen runners had already taken their money and were hiding far away, enjoying the good show. The people from Beijing who came to eat humble pie were relieved and happy. They were happy because they couldn't afford to offend this young master before, so taking a small loss wasn't a big deal for them now; they felt balanced in their hearts. They were relieved because these masters from Beijing had been beaten and scolded by them, treated like servants, and now they were unlucky, how could they not be happy? The yamen runners stood neatly under the command of the squad leader, formed a queue, beat the gong to clear the way, and 'clang clang' sounded the bell to open the road.

  The soldiers' horses had already been 'confiscated', the cavalry was changed to infantry, and the bright armor on their bodies had become a burden at this time. But there's no way about it, fortunately, the king gave them some face, left some dignity for the imperial envoy, didn't take away their carriages, otherwise they would have to carry them, a group of people walked dejectedly behind the imperial envoy's sedan chair, slowly heading towards the royal mansion.

  A group of people arrived at the Wang Fu, but found the main gate tightly closed. The doorman said that because the imperial envoy had come suddenly, the mansion was busy preparing an incense table and the master was bathing and changing to receive the edict, asking the gentlemen to wait a little while. After finishing speaking, he withdrew his head and closed the door again, giving them a cold reception.

  I didn't expect this wait to be so long, at first the yamen runners were still standing holding their plaques, then they were leaning on them, and later they simply sat down on the ground, not even afraid of catching a chill. The imperial guards initially could still stand upright to set an example for the lazy yamen runners, but the heavy armor of the Song Dynasty weighed over 40 pounds, although they wore half-armor for cavalry, plus swords and spears added another 20-30 pounds, normally they only wore them during court meetings or grand ceremonies, with shifts in between. Now it had been a whole morning without taking off their armor, and it was really getting unbearable, first one, then two, three slowly sat down.

  "Li Ban Tou, is the king usually like this?" The Imperial Guard officer who fell off his horse and lost a front tooth, speaking with some air leakage, sat down next to Li Ban Tou in the government office and handed him a string of copper coins, asking. This might be like us now offering a cigarette as a courtesy, getting familiar and easy to talk to.

  "Prefect Wang, I heard that although Master Wang is young, he's a reasonable person. That day, the son of our county magistrate also rode his horse and collided with Master Wang. At first, Master Wang only beat him up and didn't do anything to him. It was only later... The leader of the group is a clever person, how could he not understand the prefect's intention? He still worried about what happened earlier and feared that Master Wang would cause trouble for him, so he came here to probe. His words trailed off as he spoke."

  "Li Ban Tou, what happened later?" The county lieutenant asked hastily, but suddenly Li Ban Tou became speechless, only staring at the silver bag tied around his waist. "Oh, Li Ban Tou, you're an old-timer in this area, we don't understand the local rules, please tell us." The county lieutenant again pulled out a piece of broken silver weighing about two taels and stuffed it into Li Ban Tou's hand, with a smile on his face but hatred seething inside, yet he couldn't afford to show disrespect when seeking help.

  "Commander Wang, what's going on here!" Li Ban took it with a mix of reluctance and willingness, opened the conversation box, "There are no outsiders here, I'll tell you the truth. That day, our young master was asking for trouble, Commander Wang let him off, but he actually ordered his servants to shoot an arrow at Commander Wang, and the next day, he sent his farmhands to surround the Wang Manor, trying to seize their land. This enraged Commander Wang, who led people to the prefecture to file a complaint. As a result..." Li Ban gave Commander Wang a knowing glance.