Lu Lisu was even more confused. His retainers were beaten by a eunuch under the command of a palace maid without King Xu's permission. Moreover, according to the retainers' account, the identities of the four people were indeed palace maids and eunuchs. It is true that he has great respect for King Xu and Li Shangjin.
How could he, who respected his master so much, dare to take action without waiting for his permission? Do they only respect King Xu superficially
"Your Majesty Lu Lisu has met His Royal Highness Prince Xu." Lu Lisu led the ten beaten retainers and saluted respectfully at Prince Xu's Mansion.
"Li Changli and these retainers are here to raise an army to question the king?" Li Shangjin said calmly after taking some time off.
Li Shangjin didn't even ask Lu Lisu to sit down and talk. Instead, he sat down slowly and looked at the ten retainers and Lu Lisu who had just been beaten by Hua Meng, with a look of arrogance that you can do nothing to me.
Lu Lisu was stunned. He didn't expect that King Xu, who had always been reserved and gentle, would speak so sharply now that he would skip even the most polite words and directly ask himself if he was here to investigate.
Looking at the two maids and eunuchs standing behind King Xu, they were obviously the four people who arrived in Yizhou early. The maids were graceful and picturesque, and they were all beauties.
The two eunuchs, well-dressed and powerful, carried a fierce killing aura. Their expressions seemed calm, but their eyes exuded ruthless depth like eagles, watching him and the ten embarrassed men behind him vigilantly. A miserable retainer.
"I...I don't dare to question His Highness King Xu. I took the liberty to come here overnight. I just want to ask His Highness King Xu when the food minister can be taken away." Lu Lisu thought about the excuses for asking for the crime all the way, and even how to talk to King Xu. His Highness had prepared a draft for the verbal exchange, but no matter what, he did not expect Li Shangjin to be so straightforward, and he choked back all the words he had prepared.
"Don't you dare? Do you really dare not or do you mean you don't dare?" Li Shangjin glanced sideways at Lu Lisu. Until now, he had no intention of letting Lu Lisu sit down and talk. He pointed at the ten people behind Lu Lisu who had just been beaten up by Hua Meng. Li Shangjin continued to ask with a relaxed smile on his face: "Since you don't dare to raise an army to investigate the crime, then I don't know what the purpose of Lu Changli, led by the ten retainers behind him, who was just reprimanded by the king, came here late at night." What's the matter? You ate too much at night, why don't you go out to eat?"
"This..." Lu Lisu felt a headache. It seemed that he had misjudged the situation. After all, he was also your Majesty's prince. It was not in line with etiquette for him to rush over so late at night, and he was carrying someone behind him. Looking at the retainer who had just been beaten by King Xu, who would believe it if he said that he did not raise an army to investigate the crime
But just now he saw the retainer being humiliated, and the anger in his heart was hard to calm down. Coupled with his relationship with King Ji, and King Xu's always gentle and courteous attitude towards him, he ran over without thinking too much. , originally hoped that the fact that the retainer was beaten would force King Xu to return the food to him.
But now it seems that my thoughtless behavior has trapped me in a passive position. In any case, I should not have mobilized a large number of troops to lead the beaten retainers to Prince Xu's Mansion. If this happened, if the news spread to the court, , even if I am ten points reasonable, I will still be seven points weak.
"I don't have enough manpower in my house. If I want to take away the food, I'm afraid I'll have to ask them to transport it, so I can only bring them here."
"I promised to return the grain truck to you? The people in the Yizhou Governor's Mansion don't need it, so why did Lu Changli use his own retainers to transport grain? Is there any hidden secret in it?" Li Shangjin's words became more and more serious. Quickly and urgently: "You took the retainers who harassed me at night and broke into my house angrily in the middle of the night. You said you were asking for food? When did the Governor's Mansion start late-night governance? For my sake, In the face of Uncle Ji, he just ordered someone to reprimand your retainers and then let them go back. But you, Lu Lisu, did not repent. You committed the crime and brought your retainers to question me again. You really thought that I left Chang'an. Is it necessary to be controlled by you, Lu Lisu? I’m afraid even Uncle Ji is here, and he wouldn’t dare agree with you to accuse the royal prince!”
Lu Lisu was startled by Li Shangjin's turbulent words. As a veteran who had been immersed in officialdom for many years, as Li Shangjin slapped the table for the last time, his body and mind instantly went cold. At the same time, he also understood that he was You were fooled!
All of this was planned by King Xu. He did not accidentally pass through the grain transport route, but premeditatedly seized the grain carts and beat his own retainers. All he did was to seduce himself into thinking that he was gentle and courteous. , will not use heavy pressure, and is sure that after he is humiliated by his retainer, he will definitely rush over to question him as soon as possible!
King Xu was a good strategist. Not only was he sure that his retainers would come to ask for grain carts on their own initiative, but he was also sure that he would definitely come to raise an army to hold him accountable! In this way, he, Lu Lisu, could not escape the accusation of lax upbringing and the wanton behavior of his retainers.
I am afraid that I will be convicted of being disrespectful because of my recklessness when I forced myself into Prince Xu's Mansion late at night and raised an army to accuse His Highness Prince Xu, right
"I don't dare. Even if you lend me thousands of courages, King Xu, I don't dare to be disrespectful to you! In fact, I came here with my retainers to apologize to you, but I have been unable to find you." I have to give you the right time to speak, which is why Your Highness has such a big misunderstanding." Lu Lisu began to sweat on his forehead and palms. Looking at the furious King Xu and Li Shangjin, he hurriedly bowed to apologize, and at the same time turned to the ten retainers behind him. He snorted coldly: "Hurry up and kneel down to apologize to King Xu! Who asked you to come to Prince Xu's Mansion in the middle of the night? Where did you get the news that there would be villains robbing food and grass at night?"
A retainer is worthy of being a retainer. Compared with the servants in the palace, he has a high degree of tacit understanding with his master. Hearing Lu Lisu's voice softened, when Lu Lisu spoke, he knelt down. In unison, they begged His Royal Highness King Xu to forgive me.
Li Shangjin looked at the embarrassed and panic-stricken Lu Lisu. For the first time since he left Chang'an and Luoyang, he felt that he had a hint of the majesty and momentum of a royal prince. Not to mention how comfortable he felt, his whole person became elated and high-spirited.
It has been four or five years since I arrived in the fiefdom. In these years, whether I was interacting with Lu Lisu, officials at lower levels, or provincial governors, I was always cautious and polite, and I was deeply afraid that I would be careless. , causing these ministers to impeach the court for their wanton behavior in the fiefdom.
After several years of being cautious and on tenterhooks, today, thanks to Lao Wu's support, my back was finally straightened up.
Who could imagine that just before he left for Luoyang, he accidentally learned that Lu Lisu had made changes to the collected grains. Not to mention how nervous he was at the time, knowing the secrets of local officials was not a good thing!
If they find out, he may be jointly framed by them. At the very least, he may be kicked out of the fiefdom, reprimanded by his father, and demoted to the governor of Zhongzhou and Xiazhou.
In those few days, I would be awakened even from my dreams. I didn't even dare to go out of the palace gate. I declined invitations from Lu Lisu and other officials on the grounds of being ill.
But when he was about to be unable to bear the pressure, he suddenly thought of Prince Li Hong. He knew that the only one who could let him survive the difficulties in Yizhou fiefdom safely and smoothly now was the fifth son Li Hong.
No one dares to mess with that evil star, not even his father and mother. If they push the evil star hard, he will dare to fight against it! When he was three or four years old, he dared to go alone to the cold palace where Xiao Shufei, who had been deposed as a commoner, and Li Sujie's mother-in-law lived, amidst the overt and secret fights among the concubines in the harem, and killed a eunuch who was close to his mother after a disagreement. .
Although he was scolded by his mother in the end and even received a slap in the palace, who asked about the murder of an eunuch? No one asked, it was as if it never happened. The father and mother just turned a blind eye and let it pass!
This is the noble treatment that only he, the fifth child, can receive. Who would dare to do it to any other prince? Not to mention killing a eunuch, even in the palace, whether it is Li Shangjin, Li Sujie, or the sixth brother Li Xian, the seventh brother Li Zhe, if he molests the palace maids or physically punishes the eunuch too seriously, he will attract the father and the queen. Strict warning, let alone killing eunuchs at will!
Among all the princes, he was the first to have personal maids and eunuchs. Once he had four maids and four eunuchs! What a grace this is!
Thinking about it later, the imperial court deliberately broke the glazed pagoda, the most precious treasure donated by another country. I originally thought that Li Hong's life was over since he was four years old, but who would have thought that this was actually a scene between him and his father. A double act!
The purpose of performing this double act is to ask his father to cooperate with him in running out of the palace to play. Once he goes out, he will be a month younger.
Moreover, after he came back, not only was he not punished, but he was even more pampered by his father and mother. The Imperial College, Hongwen Hall, and Chongwen Hall were the ones who chose him to study. Which gentleman would dare to say anything about him in front of his father and mother? Isn’t it good for Li Hong to come
Everyone knows that after talking about it, the unlucky one is definitely not his fifth brother Li Hong, it must be the snitch or their prince, or the prince's son!
When Li Shangjin was in a daze, someone in the Zhenguan Hall of Luoyang Palace was also in a daze. It wasn't until the shadow of a feather duster flashed in front of his eyes that someone woke up from the daze: "Ah? Well... we... just went out for a walk, and then got lost. So I ran to the granary."
"Yes, the slave and the prince are indeed... the one is lost." Bai Chun respectfully followed someone to tell lies.
"You, Li Hongneng, are lost? OK, I believe you are lost, so tell me. If you are lost and you don't come back quickly after drinking tea and resting, why are you wandering around in other people's granaries? You show how capable you are. Ah! Forget it, even if you, Li Hong, are a kind and filial prince of the Tang Dynasty and care about the sufferings of the people, then tell me, what are you doing wandering around on the edge of Luoshui after you return to Chang'an? For more than an hour, if the patrolling Wuwei hadn't annoyed you enough, would you have planned not to come back?" Wu Mei's face was ashen, her forehead was covered with black lines, and she was ready to use the feather duster in her hand. If she had any disagreement, she would throw it at the unfilial son. greetings on the body.
(End of chapter)