Chapter 104 Shaless Audacity
Chen LaoWu* was a seller of counterfeit spices. Although the job was not respectable, due to the scarcity of people willing to do it, he earned a good amount of money every month. However, the capital city was filled with influential people, so he usually went out to work at night. During the day, he helped with household chores, and life was quite comfortable for him.
[*Lao Wu here ans Old Fifth, indicating that he is a certain Chen family’s fifth son.]
Before it got dark, he changed into his worn-out clothes that had been hanging outside. Before he could even leave the house, several n dressed in ordinary attire burst in.
He was startled and was about to shout when one of them covered his mouth.
“Ugh, what do you want?” He turned pale with fear, especially when he noticed that these n were carrying knives. Afraid of provoking their anger, he dared not speak.
“We are the Golden Armor Guards investigating a case. Please cooperate,” one of the n said, taking out his identification token, “The Crown Prince wishes to see you.”
“The… Crown Prince?” Chen LaoWu’s tongue was tied in countless knots, and he beca even more afraid. Could it be that his previous statent about the Crown Prince’s future wife being a beauty had reached the Crown Prince’s ears?
After calming his family down and changing his clothes, Chen LaoWu noticed that his cousin was also in the carriage. It was the bamboo shoot seller from the market.
“Cousin,” the bamboo shoot seller saw Chen LaoWu but dared not look him in the eye. He had a feeling that they had been caught possibly because of his comnt about Xie Fuma wearing a green hat in the afternoon.
“Why have you been caught too?” Chen LaoWu whispered, “I heard that these people are under the command of the Crown Prince?”
In the hearts of ordinary commoners, the Crown Prince was like a person from another world, mysterious and untouchable.
“Maybe… maybe everything will be fine,” the bamboo shoot seller stamred, “The Crown Prince’s betrothed is General Hua’s daughter, and General Hua is a good person. If the Crown Prince is marrying his daughter, he must be a good person too.”
Chen LaoWu felt that sothing was amiss, but he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was wrong. He could only nod along.
After a while, the carriage stopped, and the Golden Armor Guards opened the carriage door. As they stepped out, they realized that they were not at the imperial palace, which left them sowhat disappointed.
Wasn’t the Crown Prince supposed to live in the palace?
Although they couldn’t read, they recognized that they were at the Ministry of Justice, which made them even more nervous. So, idle gossip could lead to being brought to the Ministry of Justice?
With trepidation, they followed the Golden Armor Guards through the gates of the Ministry of Justice. One of the guards seed to sense their nervousness and smiled, “Don’t be afraid. We have already sent people to protect your family.”
Upon hearing this, their fear intensified. How could their families be involved?
The bamboo shoot seller couldn’t control his fear any longer and knelt before the Golden Armor Guard, crying, “Noble lords, I was wrong! I promise I won’t talk about Xie Fuma wearing a green hat anymore!”
“What green hat?” a man in a brocade robe walked in, followed by several others.
The bamboo shoot seller cried so much that his tears mixed with snot, but when he looked up and saw the person entering, he forgot to cry. Why did the world have such a handso man?
Feeling a bit embarrassed, he wiped the tears from his face. He felt that even appearing ssy in front of this person would be an offense.
The Crown Prince looked at these two bewildered individuals and said, “You are not criminals, so why are you kneeling? Get up.”
Not knowing who this man was, they instinctively chose to obey him. They stood up obediently, and even though soone brought them chairs, they did not dare to sit.
“What’s the matter with Xie Fuma wearing a green hat that you ntioned earlier?” The Crown Prince lazily asked while sitting on a carved wooden chair.
“Noble lord, I was just speaking nonsense…”
“Tell ,” the Crown Prince said with interest, “Gu is quite interested in this matter and won’t pursue it.”
“Just so you know, this is the Crown Prince,” a eunuch of the Eastern Palace interjected loudly, flicking his folding fan, “You should speak the truth about what you know and not hide anything. Understand?”
“Cro… Crown… Crown Prince?” Chen LaoWu’s legs weakened, and he knelt down again.
Oh my goodness, the Crown Prince is actually so good-looking?!
“Don’t be nervous. Gu just wants to have a chat with you,” the Crown Prince had the eunuch help the two commoners sit down. He caressed the pearl bracelet on his wrist and raised his chin slightly, “Speak.”
Chen LaoWu was not good with words and hesitated about what to say. Fortunately, the bamboo shoot seller, who was accustod to interacting with commoners, saw that the Crown Prince was genuinely interested and began to speak.
As he spoke, he observed the Crown Prince’s expression. Seeing that the Crown Prince didn’t get angry and even revealed a smile, he quickly understood. It seed that the Crown Prince didn’t like this Xie Fuma?
So, he embellished the story with popular market gossip, describing how a person in black ca out of the princess’s estate, making it seem like the entire estate was shrouded in an everlasting green haze that even the wind couldn’t disperse.
“Interesting,” the Crown Prince chuckled twice, paused his movent of playing with the bracelet, and raised his hand, “Bring that person in black here and let him be identified.”
A’Da had never encountered soone so annoying in his life.
Since he had been thrown into this prison cell, his fellow cellmate had been talking nonstop. Even when he slept, he would mutter a few words.
What he couldn’t understand even more was that the people in the neighboring cells had no objections at all.
“If my ancestors hadn’t caused any trouble thirty years ago, I would have been a young master by now.”
He had heard this statent at least twenty tis.
“Sigh.”
He had heard at least fifty sighs.
“Brother, what did you do to end up here?”
He had asked this question at least ten tis.
“Hey, you look sowhat like the brother who ca to visit Yunhan a few days ago,” the prisoner knocked on the cell pillar and called Yunhan over, “Hey, take a look at this person. Does he resemble your long-lost brother?”
Yunhan had long been annoyed by this prisoner and didn’t even bother to raise his head, “I don’t have a brother!”
“You shouldn’t say that. Your brother brought you food a few days ago,” the prisoner sighed, “I wish I had a long-lost brother coming to find .”
A’Da was shocked. When he impersonated Yunhan’s brother, he used a disguise, yet this prisoner could still notice so resemblance?
“Don’t daydream,” another prisoner next to him mocked, “You’ve been locked up for months. Has anyone co to see you?”
“Can’t I even dream?” the prisoner touched the beads around his neck and sneered, “You all should show so respect. My ancestors lived a lavish life.”
Everyone burst into laughter, not knowing if they were mocking him or finding his statent amusing.
A’Da looked at the jade bead on the prisoner’s neck and furrowed his brow.
At this mont, he saw several people entering from outside. He didn’t know what these people said to the guards, but they walked straight toward him.
“You, co out,” They pointed at him and opened the door.
It’s a perfect opportunity!
Without hesitation, A’Da prepared himself to escape. However, these people appeared casual but were actually prepared. They imdiately tied him up.
“So, you are quite skillful at escaping,” The person who tied him up sneered and dragged him out.
These people are all experts!
A’Da was greatly shocked. These people were prepared. Could it be that his identity had been exposed?
After walking through nurous twists and turns, A’Da was brought to a well-decorated room that was emitting a faint fragrance.
He sniffed and recognized the fragrance that could be found in his master’s study. It was said to be very precious.
There were nurous guards lurking around the room, indicating that there must be soone of great importance inside.
He looked up at the man sitting at the head of the room but remained silent.
The Crown Prince raised his chin, gesturing for Chen LaoWu to identify him, “Take a look, is this the person?”
“Yes, it’s him. He ca out from the side door of the princess’s estate late at night, looking secretive. Clearly, he is not a decent man,” Chen LaoWu exclaid excitedly, “It was already curfew ti, so why would a decent person be out at that hour?”
“Good, reward them,” The Crown Prince toyed with his bracelet, leaning lazily in his chair. He instructed the officials from the Ministry of Justice to take the bamboo shoot seller and Chen LaoWu back. Then he lazily gazed at A’Da, “Speak, who are you in Princess Leyang Estate?”
A’Da remained silent, glancing at Chen LaoWu with a murderous look in his eyes.
“Why are you staring at others?” The Crown Prince’s gaze turned cold, “Do you know about the assassins who infiltrated the Ministry of Justice last night?”
A’Da remained silent.
“Gu likes people with character,” the Crown Prince didn’t get angry either. He turned to Pei Jihuai and said, “Co, help this person write a confession.”
Pei Jihuai took out a pen and paper.
The Crown Prince asked, “Are you a subordinate of Xie Fuma?”
A’Da remained silent.
The Crown Prince continued, “Did Xie Fuma send you to kill Xie Yao?”
A’Da remained unfazed.
The Crown Prince asked a few more questions, but A’Da did not utter a word.
“Is everything recorded clearly?” The Crown Prince adjusted his bracelet and turned his head to look at Pei Jihuai.
“Your Royal Highness, everything has been docunted,” Pei Jihuai said, blowing on the ink on the paper before handing it to the Crown Prince.
After reading it, the Crown Prince nodded in satisfaction, “Very well, as Gu expected, Xie Fuma harbors ill intentions and is disloyal to the imperial family.”
“I haven’t said anything!” A’Da angrily shouted, “You’re distorting the truth.”
“What?” The Crown Prince raised an eyebrow in surprise, “So you can speak after all?”
A’Da’s heart felt suffocated.
“As the saying goes, silence is equivalent to agreent. Since you didn’t refute what Gu said earlier, it ans my speculations were correct,” the Crown Prince handed the written confession back to Pei Jihuai, “Seal it and keep it in the Ministry of Justice’s archives as evidence.”
“You are falsely accusing innocent people!” A’Da roared.
“Gu is accusing Xie Fuma. What does it have to do with you? Why are you so angry?” The Crown Prince suddenly realized, “Oh, Gu forgot. You are his subordinate. Naturally, you want to defend him.”
“I have no connection with Princess Leyang Estate.”
“Of course, you have no connection with Princess Leyang Estate because you have a connection with the Xie family,” the Crown Prince slapped the armrest of his chair, “Gu doesn’t care what you intend to do, but the capital city is not a place for your scheming and conspiracy!”
A’Da sneered, “You are falsely accusing loyal and righteous people.”
“Gu is the Crown Prince,” the Crown Prince stood up, “What Gu says goes. Who acknowledges that Xie Fuma is loyal and righteous?”
“Gu said Xie Fuma harbors ill intentions, so he must have a problem.”
“The Crown Prince is right!” one of the palace eunuchs in the Eastern Palace exclaid, “Xie Fuma has a narrow mouth and a sinister appearance. Clearly, he has a problem.”
Another eunuch chid in, “He even plotted against his own daughter to escape bla. Truly malicious.”
“A private assassin group? He must be planning a rebellion!”
“Look, the eyes of the masses are sharp,” the Crown Prince clicked his tongue, “It’s clear that Gu hasn’t wrongly accused him.”
A’Da: “…”
He had never seen such shaless audacity before.
“Now that the matter is clear, Gu doesn’t want to waste any more ti here,” the Crown Prince said to Pei Jihuai, “Detain this person properly. If anything happens to him accidentally, it will definitely be Xie Fuma trying to silence him. If he did, we can add another charge against him.”
“Yes!” Pei Jihuai readily agreed.
“Crown Prince, aren’t you afraid of retribution for handling the case so hastily?” A’Da glared at the departing figure of the Crown Prince, wishing he could tear a piece of flesh from him.
“Gu is upholding justice and has a clear conscience. Even if there is retribution, it should fall on Xie Fuma, not Gu,” the Crown Prince smiled, “Don’t worry, Gu has dealt with many people before. Has anyone ever been wrongly accused?”
A’Da’s heart trembled. Although he had been in the south for many years, he had heard rumors about the Crown Prince.
It was said that the Crown Prince had a peculiar temperant. Sotis, when he beca angry, he wouldn’t give anyone face. What was even stranger was that anyone he had troubled would ultimately be found to have significant issues.
“Considering your loyalty, Gu has decided to imprison Xie Fuma earlier, fulfilling the bond between you as master and servant,” the Crown Prince raised an eyebrow, “Don’t thank Gu too much.”
A’Da: “…”
Why isn’t there a lightning bolt to strike him down?
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