Volume 3: Dragon and Snake Movement Chapter 318: Dog bites dog
When the eldest prince was carried by Lao Xianyu and Xiao Huasheng to the front yard where the main entrance of the palace was located, what he saw was a scene of chaos.
On the wall, County Magistrate Xu and the wealthy families offered large sums of money to encourage the red-turbaned men who tried to climb over the wall with the help of ladders to retake the palace. The spinners in the palace had white cloth tied on their arms and fought back desperately on the simple wooden platforms built along the wall, but even so, some of them still slipped through the net - and even if they did land, they would still be chased and blocked by people several times their number.
Often, several people with white cloth tied around their arms, holding sticks or spears, surrounded a strong man with a sword and a red scarf on his head, and the fight was quite tragic. Seven or eight people were lying on the ground, some motionless, some groaning in pain, and the ground was covered with blood.
Seeing this scene, the eldest prince suddenly felt dazed when he recalled the scene when the spinners unexpectedly attacked the palace and took him hostage.
The father was far away, and he had money. His subordinates tried to curry favor with him, but he didn't care about the peasants at all. He was obsessed with beauty and couldn't extricate himself. He even deliberately met the beauty on the street because the beauty sent to him was not good enough. As a result, he was dazzled by a graceful woman. Before he succeeded in getting close to her, Xian Yunhe showed up with his men.
And he, a dignified prince, was held hostage at knifepoint by that woman without even realizing it!
Those trusted guards wanted to save him, but he was so frightened by the sight of blood that he desperately ordered the guards to put down their weapons. As a result, the guards had no choice but to surrender. Under the threat of Xian Yunhe, he had to lead people into the palace, write a warrant, and transfer the 100 soldiers of the Ruiqi Battalion that sent him out of the capital. When he met them, he watched them drink the spiked wine.
But when all these threatening people were taken down one by one, Xian Yunhe, who had been a little polite to him, immediately turned hostile and beat him up! It was only then that he realized that this was not an ordinary conspiracy, and that the target was him!
At the moment, the eldest prince was also unsure whether the guy whose voice he felt was somewhat familiar was using Xian Yunhe to use him again. However, life and death came first, honor and disgrace came later, and he really didn't trust that bunch of incompetent officials and greedy wealthy people - if they could be more alert and realize the movements behind, he didn't think he would be so miserable!
Let him get through this first. Once he escapes, as a prince, how can he not be able to deal with a bunch of peasants?
Therefore, when the old man beside him suddenly yelled, shocking many people to stop, the eldest prince couldn't help but shiver, and finally he mustered up the courage to shout loudly: "I am the eldest son of the emperor, Zheng Jun, everyone stop it!"
Seeing that Old Salted Fish and Little Peanut, who had been holding his arms, had let go of their hands, the thorny feeling in his back finally eased a little, and he immediately started yelling.
"I was deceived by those corrupt officials and profiteers. They colluded with each other and blocked the channels of communication, so that I could not hear the voices of the people. I didn't know that many innocent people were desperate because of their suspension of work and business. Now someone just used drastic measures to see me. It's pure nonsense to say that I was held hostage and the palace was occupied by others!"
Although the eldest prince's voice was a little hoarse, he roared with all his strength, so most people inside and outside the wall could hear it clearly. In addition to the servants of various families, the red-turbaned strongmen who attacked were also recruited bullies and thugs from the streets. When they heard what the eldest prince said, many people couldn't help but look at each other in surprise.
So, the eldest prince is being held hostage?
Not to mention the red-turbaned strong men who were fighting for money and were at a loss, even the spinners who occupied the Cangzhou Palace and then used the destruction of their homes and the lack of livelihood as their slogan and tied white cloth on their arms as a mark, deciding to fight to the end, were equally at a loss.
Didn't they capture the palace and hold the eldest prince hostage? Did they just come to seek justice from this son of the emperor? Was that right?
Although Xian Yunhe had heard Xiao Huasheng's suggestion before, he didn't hold out much hope in his heart - he had tricked the eldest prince to death. First, he used a little brother with a feminine appearance to seduce him, and then he held people hostage to force the guards to surrender their weapons. He tricked someone into giving a warrant to transfer his personal soldiers, spiked the wine, drugged it, and then disarmed and locked him up. Most importantly, he couldn't help but beat the eldest prince up!
If the eldest prince could let go of past grudges, he would be a saint!
But at this moment, he clearly heard the eldest prince say with certainty that it was just a misunderstanding with them, the "rebels", but he accused those outside as corrupt officials, evil gentry and profiteers!
What kind of wonderful person did his uncle make friends with? How could he convince the eldest prince who always treated them as pariahs?
Seeing that his words still had some effect, the eldest prince tried to go a little further and control the situation. He immediately said loudly: "Xu Cheng, the magistrate of Changlu County, is trying to rescue me under the guise of rescuing me! If you can bring him and those corrupt merchants to me, I will report to my father and reward you handsomely!"
He paused, then shouted in a more serious tone: "Whatever reward Xu Cheng and the others give you, I will double it!"
Hearing this, many red-turbaned men who had just been skeptical were moved. Working for the local county magistrate and those masters and officials, how could it be compared to working for the eldest prince? Not to mention, the reward money was doubled! Even those servants, faced with such generous conditions, couldn't help but be tempted.
But at this moment, a voice with the same hoarse voice came from outside: "Don't be fooled by those traitors inside! That's not the eldest prince, he's just a traitor they found to pretend to be the eldest prince..."
Before he finished speaking, the eldest prince, who had been skeptical about someone's words, suddenly flew into a rage. Recognizing the voice, he cursed: "Xu Cheng, you evil-minded villain, how dare you say that this prince is a fake? You are the culprit of this chaos in Cangzhou!"
Xu Cheng, the magistrate of Changlu County, who rushed in after hearing the news, looked as ugly as a pot-bottomed pancake. The eldest prince's stubbornness could be detected after just a few dealings with him. However, after those wealthy families talked to him and he accepted generous gifts, he felt at ease and allowed them to do whatever they wanted. But who knew that the eldest prince would be so stupid!
At this moment, he had completely guessed why the eldest prince put all the blame on him and others. Even if he was a prince, in the face of life and death, honor and disgrace, he had to go to hell. How could he back down? He immediately shouted back.
"This is ridiculous! The eldest prince is a humble person. How could he be like a fake like you? You keep saying that you are the prince. You are like a nouveau riche and make people laugh at you!"
Not far away, Zhu Er, who had followed quietly, overheard this and squatted on the ground, holding his stomach, and kept pounding the wall: "I knew it, I knew it would be like this... upstarts, hahahaha, the eldest prince who always prides himself on being noble is actually being called an upstart! He deserves it! He acts arrogantly all day long, he deserves to be scolded! This dog-eat-dog thing is really fun!"
Zhu Yi also had a strange look on his face. He thought that the second young master's provocation would not work, but it turned out to be a dog-eat-dog situation... However, unlike Zhu Er's gloating, he considered it more long-term and whispered, "Second Young Master, if that County Magistrate Xu really said that the eldest prince was a fake, I'm afraid the two sides will still have a fierce battle."
"No way? Even if Changlu County Magistrate Xu Cheng dared to give such an order, others would not dare to really do it, right?" Zhu Er still didn't quite believe it, but when he saw Zhu Yi's solemn expression, he couldn't help but feel a little nervous. Sure enough, the eldest prince seemed to be choked and speechless, and the next moment, he only heard Xu Cheng's voice coming from outside.
"Don't be fooled by these rebels! That's a trick to delay time. The rewards from this county have already been distributed. Now we are issuing a new reward. Kill one rebel and you will get ten strings of cash. The more you kill, the more you will get. We will never break our promise! If the eldest prince had fallen into the hands of these rebels, he might have died a long time ago!"
Outside, the Changlu County Magistrate Xu Cheng had already decided to go all out and directly threw out the biggest weight. With the eldest prince shirking the responsibility, he no longer cared about what would happen afterwards, because if he was reluctant to spend money now, he would be trampled to death in the blink of an eye. Sure enough, as soon as he finished speaking, many of those who were originally hesitant changed their expressions.
It was still unknown whether the one inside was the eldest prince, but the one outside, Xu Xianzun, was genuine, and the reward money was also genuine! Compared with the mob that had been scattered by the rush before, they really got the money in advance, and Xu Xianzun had the support of those big families behind him, and several big money boxes had been put out!
"Xu Cheng, you are trying to murder the prince. You are so audacious and crazy!" The eldest prince in the front yard was already furious. Of course, he, the precious prince, could pass the blame, but how could Xu Cheng, a small county magistrate, dare to harm him?
"What nonsense! Who would believe you if you said you were the eldest prince? If you have the guts, open the gate of this palace and let people see your true face! You are hiding behind this high wall and shouting nonsense, pretending to be the eldest prince. Do you think everyone else is a fool?" While scolding righteously, Xu Cheng laughed secretly.
Judging from the eldest prince's pus-filled appearance, it would be strange if he dared to show up!
Sure enough, the eldest prince's face turned pale, and he even shuddered. If he was still brave before, and Xu Cheng hadn't dared to say that he was a fake, maybe Lao Xianyu and Xiao Huasheng would have dared to show up if they had urged him, but he didn't dare to do that at the moment! He was afraid that if he showed up, he would be shot with an arrow!
When Zhang Shou and Zhu Ying were in Rongshui Village, wasn't that the case with the assassin? A son of a wealthy family cannot sit in the hall, he can't take the risk!
Thinking of this, he was about to speak, but unexpectedly Xian Yunhe suddenly turned around and glanced at him with disdain, and then shouted angrily: "The dog official outside dared to murder the eldest prince, not to mention colluding with profiteers and evil gentry to harm the people! We, the righteous people, obey the order of the eldest prince and swear to kill the dog official!"
His roar was much more effective than the eldest prince's shouting. Suddenly, voices echoed from all directions: "Swear to kill the dog official!"
Xian Yunhe was very satisfied with the collective response, and immediately shouted again word by word: "Swear to kill the corrupt merchants and evil gentry!"
"Swear to kill the corrupt merchants and evil gentry!"
He looked back again. The eldest prince originally thought that the other party was looking at him. When he realized that the look was not right, he quickly turned back and found that more men with white cloth tied around their arms came out of the two doors behind him. Although these people were all wearing the uniforms of the Ruiqi Battalion and carrying the weapons of the Ruiqi Battalion... he would never believe that they were from the Ruiqi Battalion!
Xian Yunhe pulled out the knife he had seized from the eldest prince's guards, stretched out his finger and flicked it lightly. Hearing the clear voice, he immediately laughed and said, "I didn't want to make a big fuss, but since the dog official is so bullying, I won't be polite. I have to kill everyone and make a river of blood! Brothers, follow me!"
The clanging sounds of swords being drawn could be heard all of a sudden. The few red-turbaned men who had rushed into the courtyard saw the neat uniforms of these people and shouted without even thinking, "We surrender, we surrender!"
Their voices inevitably affected the others who had climbed up the wall and were preparing to attack, and there was a commotion for a while. When the palace gate suddenly opened, a large number of men wearing the uniforms of the Sharp Cavalry Battalion and holding weapons rushed out. Xu Cheng, whose face suddenly changed, finally figured out the last question.
He had always wondered why the eldest prince's guards and soldiers had allowed others to occupy the palace without making any move... Now it seemed that the rebels had used some unknown method to knock them down, strip them of their clothes, and take their weapons! When a group of unarmed rebels with only brute force suddenly armed themselves like this... How could they fight?
Xu Cheng, with a pale face, trembled and could not make a sound. The servants, whose eyes were red with the reward just now, did not have Xu Cheng's judgment ability. Their first reaction was that the person inside was really the eldest prince. Now the officers and soldiers really came out to kill! Almost in an instant, they seemed to be full of momentum and suddenly dispersed, leaving Xu Cheng and a few confidants in front of the battle.
The two looked at each other. Xian Yunhe, who rushed out first, saw that County Magistrate Xu was trembling like a sieve. He remembered that he had gone to great lengths to meet him, but when he heard that he was complaining on behalf of the spinners, the magistrate drove him away with an impatient look on his face. He immediately laughed.
That smile was ferocious and cruel, as if he had made up his mind to release all his malice.
"Xu Xianzun, when so many people in Cangzhou City were suffering, you turned a blind eye. Are you finally afraid now? It's too late!" With this roar, he rushed forward with his sword, raised high and chopped down heavily on the horrified face. Just as he showed a smug smile, he suddenly heard a sharp sound of breaking through the air.
Instantly, he felt a sharp pain in his wrist, his five fingers loosened, and the steel knife in his hand fell to the ground with a clang. He subconsciously looked up and saw a dozen riders coming at lightning speed. The leader had a scar on his face, and the longbow was still in his hand.
