Chapter 44: Bold and Unruly People
There is a kind of people in this world who are extremely lucky. They are born into a good family and are given a silver spoon in their mouth. They have a smooth life for most of their lives and have never fallen badly. Except for force majeure, their life can be considered perfect.
The eldest princess Yuan Heng is such a person. Her father and brother are both emperors. The only imperfect life is that her husband died of illness and she became a widow at an early age. Apart from that, she is the only eldest princess in Southern Qi. There are still many variables in the future for a little girl like Yuan Shu who grew up relying on the favor of the imperial concubine. Unless the second prince becomes emperor, there is really no comparison between him and her.
As for the little beggars on the street, they were just like ants. The eldest princess, who was used to looking down on others, did not think it was a big variable. Her expression gradually calmed down. While waiting, she considered how to regain the emperor's trust, and prepared one, two or three response plans in her mind regarding the emperor's emotional response. At this time, she could not help but cast her eyes on Jing Huai, the master of peacemaking.
For the sake of her son's future, it seems that she should ask the old man for advice in her spare time.
While the princess was lost in thought, the little beggar was brought into the hall by the warriors in front of the palace.
In the court, the courtiers standing in the back took a quick look and said: "Oh, this kid is wearing ragged clothes, has dark skin, and wears a tattered felt hat. Isn't he just an ordinary beggar on the streets of Beijing? However... going to the palace in this manner is a breach of etiquette in front of the emperor!"
The little beggar stepped into the palace gate, as if frightened by the palace full of nobles. He rolled up his sleeves, hunched his shoulders, and dared not raise his head. He walked to the front row under the gazes of the civil and military officials. He glanced around and saw the Fourth Prince on the low couch. It was as if he had met an old friend in a foreign land. He ran over excitedly, pointed at the blood on his face and shouted: "Your Highness, did the fat guy hit you again?"
Fatty Huan Yanbo: “…”
The Grand Princess: “…”
She had always dealt with the powerful and wealthy class. The Cavalry Department was only responsible for investigating officials, and the cases of ordinary people would still be handed over to the Three Departments for trial according to normal procedures. There was no need for her to deal with such thugs in person.
The little beggar grabbed the Fourth Prince's weak hand and looked him up and down excitedly. He seemed to have forgotten even his fear and just kept shouting, "Your Highness, don't move. You can't move anymore. Some wounds may not look serious at the time, but they may be fatal. Xiaorong in our temple was hit on the head by a stone, and he looked fine at the time. He slept for a night and never woke up again..." Cerebral hemorrhage can be fatal!
All the ministers in the palace: "..."
Fu Chen lowered his head and tried hard to hold back his smile.
His Majesty the Emperor: "Imperial Physician..."
The fourth prince raised his hand to stop the imperial physician who came over to clean his wound, and said sadly: "It is not a pity for me to die, but I would like to trouble Brother Zhang to come to the palace to testify for me!"
The Grand Princess could no longer bear it and shouted, "How dare you! How dare you make noise in the Golden Palace?"
The little beggar seemed to be frightened by her. He shrank back to the side of the Fourth Prince's couch and asked in a low voice, "She... who is she?"
The second prince kindly said, "This is the eldest princess, cousin Huan's biological mother."
The little beggar took a step forward, as if he was unsure, and then took a step back. He looked fierce but weak, but he shouted so loudly that everyone in the palace could hear: "When I was begging and passing by the school, I heard the teacher say that it is the father's fault if the son is not well educated. Your fat son...that son pinned down His Highness and beat him. Isn't it because you, as a mother, didn't teach him well?"
The eldest princess choked angrily: "You are a troublemaker!"
The fourth prince reminded her with difficulty: "Father... Second Brother Zhang hasn't saluted Father yet?"
The little beggar seemed to have just woken up from a dream. He raised his head and peeked upwards. Immediately, an eunuch stopped him: "How dare you look directly into the eyes of the emperor?"
The Emperor of Southern Qi raised his hand to stop the eunuch.
He actually felt that what the little beggar said made sense. Wasn't it the mother's fault for not teaching the prince well and refusing to discipline him?
Moreover, when the eldest princess entered the palace, she didn't even say a word of concern for the Fourth Prince's injuries. The little beggar who had no relatives or friends entered the palace and went straight to the Fourth Prince. The balance in his heart couldn't help but tilted a little more.
The little beggar was straightforward. He immediately knelt on the ground and kowtowed three times to the Emperor: "I am Zhang Er, the humble man. I greet His Majesty!"
The emperor asked in person: "Zhang Er, I heard from the Fourth Prince that you saved him yesterday, but Huan Yanbo said that you teamed up with the Fourth Prince to beat him up. What do you say?"
Tang Ying quickly turned her head and glanced at Huan Yanbo's face, full of surprise: "Master Huan said that I teamed up with the Fourth Prince to beat him, but how come there is no bruise or red mark on his face, while the Fourth Prince was beaten to the point of almost losing half his life?"
All the court officials looked at Huan Yanbo's plump, white and round face carefully, even the Emperor was no exception. However, there was not a single blue mark or even a small scratch on it. Huan Yanbo's plump face was like a steamed bun just out of the oven, soft, white and plump, and looked great.
——Is this a face that has been hit?
Compared to his face, the Fourth Prince's unrecognizable face was more convincing and more like a victim.
Huan Yanbo also discovered this, but the little beggar did not hit him in the face at that time. His fat face was almost distorted with anger, and he cursed: "You bastard, didn't you kick me at that time?" He was used to being spoiled in front of the emperor, and in his anxiety and anger, he didn't care about etiquette at all.
The Grand Princess hurriedly stopped him: "Yan'er, shut up!" But she was used to spoiling her son and let him do whatever he wanted. Huan Yanbo would not listen to her at all. She not only scolded him but also pretended to hit him.
"It's unfair, Your Majesty!" Tang Ying saw that the situation was not good and dived into the crowd. She didn't care whether the old man was wearing purple or red, and hid behind him. But her voice was loud and hoarse, which resounded throughout the hall: "We are beggars who travel around the world. Loyalty is the most important thing. I at least manage the beggars in four streets. My brothers are watching us. Would I pick a fight for no reason? Yesterday, I took a few brothers to pass by the alley next to Yan Yue Tower and found a fat man - oh no, it was Master Huan who was beating a skinny young man, beating and scolding him, saying that it was useless even if you complained, and that your mother was lowly and you yourself..." She seemed to have stopped talking in time, but no one in the hall knew the second half of her words.
His Majesty the Emperor frowned.
——So even the people outside the palace knew that Huan Yanbo bullied and beat the prince at will?
Huan Yanbo: "You are courting death, you rascal!"
Tang Ying yelled, "Your fist, as big as a bowl, almost beat someone to death. I couldn't bear to see it, but I was afraid of getting my brothers into trouble, so I asked them to evacuate and act accordingly, and then I ran over to push you."
"Were you pushing? You were clearly kicking!" Huan Yanbo was a completely spoiled child. Today, he was so angry that he refused to listen to advice and lost his composure in the hall: "I'm going to tear your mouth apart today!" He chased after Tang Ying to beat her up.
The eldest princess was exhausted and asked for help from several adults nearby: "Please hold him back!"
But Huan Yanbo was like a mountain of flesh, rushing around recklessly. The adults in the front row were all old and weak, and would not tolerate being hit by him. They could do nothing but move aside to make way for him.
Jing Huai also comforted the Grand Princess: "Prince Huan was just angry for a moment, Your Majesty will not punish him severely." After so many years, who has ever seen Huan Yanbo suffer in the palace?
The almighty Emperor watched coldly without saying a word, allowing the situation to deteriorate, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Tang Ying raised her arms and dodged while showing them to the people in the hall: "I haven't had a full stomach yet, and my arms are weak, how can I push you? If I don't use my feet, maybe the Fourth Prince will be beaten to death in the alley, and that would really be fatal!"
Commander Fu really wanted to go up to her, pull down her sleeves, cover her blackened arms, and scold her harshly: Just go to the palace, why are you exposing your arms and pulling her sleeves?
In front of all the civil and military officials in the hall and the Emperor, he suppressed his impulse and his expression became even colder, like a refrigerator that was started up at high speed. The generals standing in front and behind him took advantage of the chaos and silently moved a few steps to the side.
When the ministers saw the thin and desolate arm and compared it with Huan Yanbo's fat and big-eared appearance, they thought: This little beggar is really brave. Three of him put together are not as heavy as Huan Yanbo, and yet he dared to come forward to save people. He is really ... I don't know if he is stupid or should we say that he is naive and kind?
But what the little beggar said is right. If she can't push it, then she must kick it, right?
Wang You stood in front of Tang Ying to stop the furious Huan Yanbo from hitting someone, but he was shouting at the Grand Princess: " Does Your Highness know what the crime is for committing a crime in the palace?"
Even though the eldest princess was extremely intelligent, she was almost mad at such a stupid teammate, and kept trying to stop him: "Yan'er, come back!"
How could Huan Yanbo listen to that?
He was so enraged by the little beggar that he wanted to kill the unruly man on the spot, but he didn't know that Tang Ying deliberately provoked him in order to confuse the Grand Princess so that she could act according to the situation.
She poked her head out from behind Lord Wang You and shouted half-truthfully, "You dare to hit someone in front of the Emperor, you will kill people when you leave the palace, right?" She immediately sat on the ground and started to rage, "I won't hide anymore. Even if I hide now, I might not even see the sun tomorrow when I leave the palace." She shouted at the top of her voice, "Your Majesty, I am just a beggar, my life is cheap, but the Fourth Prince is so precious, how can he endure such humiliation? Is the eldest princess's son more precious than the prince?"
As soon as she said this, the eldest princess's expression changed drastically.
Even though she looked down on the Fourth Prince in her heart, she could never admit it in front of the civil and military officials.
But this unruly commoner, who was barefoot, was not afraid of those who wore shoes, and actually revealed this truth on the spot. Wouldn't this make the emperor feel resentful?
"How dare you, a rude man? How can we allow you to sow discord among our royal family members?"
Tang Ying: "If I hadn't passed by and acted chivalrously and saved the Fourth Prince, I would have been beaten to death. Are you still afraid of alienation? This is not our own flesh and blood, but our enemy!"
Huan Yanbo: "I will beat you to death today!"
There was chaos in the Golden Palace. The Fourth Prince was clamoring to get off the bed to protect his savior. The Second and Third Princes supported him. The rest of the ministers tried to stop the fight, some stood by and watched, and some even wanted to hit Tang Ying... The morning court was turned into a mess.
The Southern Qi emperor slammed the dragon table and said, "Shut up!"
The warriors in front of the palace rushed over and arrested Huan Yanbo who was about to kill someone. The civil and military officials returned to their posts and finally stopped this farce.
