Chapter 253
After hearing Ye Chutang’s suggestion, some of the common people rushed to the market, while others returned home.
At the market, there were endless piles of rotten vegetable leaves to gather. At home, there was stale water that had yet to be thrown out, along with stones scattered across the ground.
As for rotten eggs, some households raised chickens and were able to find a few.
While the people busied themselves preparing things to humiliate Prince Yong’s residence, Han Chong took the emperor’s token and went to the prince’s residence.
The elderly Prince Yong had not slept all night, and his face looked even more haggard.
He remained by his feverish son’s side and asked the palace physician, “How is Rui doing?”
“Your Highness, the heir is not only seriously injured, but the inflammation in his wounds has also caused a high fever. If the fever cannot be brought down, the heir may not survive.”
Prince Yong had not expected the situation to be this serious. Enraged, he kicked the palace physician to the ground.
“If you cannot save Rui, this prince will have your life!”
After shouting that, he said to the maidservant standing nearby, “I don’t care what method you use. You must bring Imperial Physician Jin here!”
The maidservant had tried to leave the residence to summon Imperial Physician Jin the previous night, only to be stopped by the constables.
Forget summoning the imperial physician—even a message could not be sent out.
Thinking of this, she immediately fell to her knees.
“Your Highness, this servant is incompetent. I tried to leave last night, but I couldn’t get out.”
Prince Yong was so furious that his heart began to ache.
He kicked over a stool and roared irritably, “Jizhou City is this prince’s fief! How dare the local authorities surround Prince Yong’s residence? They’re courting rebellion!”
As soon as he finished speaking, a loud bang rang out. The room’s door was kicked off its hinges.
“Crash!”
The door slammed into the table in the main room and broke apart.
Prince Yong’s heart leaped in fright, and he nearly fell to the ground.
“Who is it? Which fool dares disturb Rui’s recovery?”
“It’s me, Han Chong!”
Prince Yong did not know who Han Chong was, nor did he know what had happened at the prefect’s residence the night before.
He was about to continue cursing when Han Chong entered Zhao Sirui’s bedchamber, holding the emperor’s token in his hand.
“Seeing this token is the same as seeing His Majesty. Prince Yong, kneel and pay your respects.”
Although Prince Yong had not been favored when he was still a prince, he had lived in the imperial palace for more than a decade and had seen this token inscribed with the words, “As if the Emperor himself were present.”
Reluctantly, he knelt.
“Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty! Long, long live!”
When he finished, he prepared to stand.
Han Chong, however, planted his foot on Prince Yong’s shoulder, forcing him to remain on the ground.
“Your Highness, His Majesty has ordered this official to thoroughly investigate corrupt officials and those who abuse their authority for personal gain along the way, and to restore peace to the people.”
Prince Yong stared at the filthy foot beside his face, his expression turning dark as the bottom of a pot.
“You don’t really think that holding a token makes you the emperor, do you? This prince is a member of the imperial family. Even if I have committed a crime, I am to be tried by the Court of Judicial Review. It is not your place to point fingers!”
He deeply regretted not having raised a private army. Otherwise, he would not have been in such a passive position.
Then he remembered that the emperor would never interfere in Jizhou’s affairs, and his mind immediately relaxed. He shot Han Chong a provocative look.
“That token of yours may command the local officials, but it cannot command a member of the imperial family—”
Before Prince Yong could finish, Han Chong jammed the toe of his boot into his mouth.
“Enough noise.”
Han Chong had no interest in listening to Prince Yong’s nonsense, so he dislocated the man’s jaw.
He turned to the constables who had accompanied him and ordered, “Take the prince and the heir to the prefect’s residence.”
Ignoring the excruciating pain in his mouth, Prince Yong immediately rushed to the bed and spread his arms protectively over his unconscious son.
“Aaah! Aaah!”
He could no longer speak and could only make frantic noises, like a mother hen shielding her chick.
The constables seized Prince Yong first, then Zhao Sirui, and took the father and son to the prefect’s residence.
The prefect’s residence was completely surrounded by the people.
Prince Yong saw the commoners carrying baskets of vegetables, buckets of stale water, stones, and rotten eggs. The hatred in their eyes frightened him, and he lowered his head to avoid their hostile gazes.
Once he entered the courtroom and saw the anxious Princess Consort Yong, along with the cold-faced governor, inspector, and commander, he knew that he was finished.
“I am the master of Jizhou City! Are you trying to rebel?”
Governor Kong corrected him. “Prince Yong, Jizhou City belongs to its people. You are merely a prince granted a fief so that you can collect their taxes.”
Governor Liu said, “In the past, His Majesty ignored Jizhou City. We submitted memorial after memorial, but none ever received a response. Now that His Majesty’s trusted aide is willing to handle the matter involving a prince, we will naturally cooperate with all our strength.”
Prince Yong angrily pointed at Han Chong. “You have already pledged yourself to Qi Yanzhou. You are no longer one of the emperor’s men, so you have no right to act on His Majesty’s behalf!”
“His Majesty has not taken back my token, so I still have that right. If Your Highness is dissatisfied, you may send a letter to His Majesty and see whether he will disregard the law and blindly protect you.”
“You know perfectly well that His Majesty never reads the letters sent from Jizhou!”
Han Chong let out a soft laugh as he watched Prince Yong rage.
“Didn’t Your Highness indulge the heir in oppressing the people precisely because His Majesty never read the memorials from Jizhou?”
The emperor had once ignored the lives of Jizhou’s people. Now he was ignoring Prince Yong’s life.
It was only fair.
Prince Yong clenched his back teeth. “I am an imperial prince! How can I be compared with those lowly commoners?”
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. You’ll soon be a commoner yourself!”
After saying that, Han Chong walked to the bench and sat down.
He looked at Yuan Wei, who was kneeling on the floor, and took out the evidence placed on the desk.
“Yuan Wei, you hired people from the martial world to assassinate Young Master Qi and Madam Qi. The evidence is conclusive. Do you confess?”
With both the evidence and witnesses before him, Yuan Wei had no choice but to confess.
Otherwise, he would be subjected to torture.
“This commoner confesses!”
Han Chong asked again, “Why did you try to kill Young Master Qi?”
Yuan Wei secretly glanced at Princess Consort Yong before answering, “I wanted to avenge my cousin, the heir.”
He knew very well that implicating his aunt would bring him no benefit.
“Before hiring the assassins, did you meet with Princess Consort Yong?”
That question made Princess Consort Yong’s heart leap into her throat.
Yuan Wei admitted, “I did. Because my cousin, the heir, was injured, my aunt returned to her family home and spoke of her worries. I was furious after hearing her, so I decided to hire assassins.”
He had barely finished spinning his fabricated story when Qi Yanzhou pushed through the crowd and threw Princess Consort Yong’s personal maidservant and Old Master Yuan into the courtroom.
“These two know better than anyone what Princess Consort Yong did at the Yuan residence.”
Old Master Yuan felt as though every bone in his body had been scattered by the fall.
He immediately pointed at Princess Consort Yong and said, “Wei’er hired people from the martial world to kill Young Master Qi because the princess consort ordered him to!”
Princess Consort Yong’s personal maidservant hurriedly confirmed the same.
Han Chong looked at the bewildered Yuan Wei and asked again, “Yuan Wei, whose idea was it to assassinate Young Master Qi?”
Before Yuan Wei could answer, Old Master Yuan roared, “Wei’er, this is a courtroom. You must tell the truth!”
The authorities had already obtained all the evidence. Continuing to conceal the truth would only doom the entire Yuan family.
Seeing that even his father had told the truth, Yuan Wei had no choice but to confess.
“It was Princess Consort Yong. To avenge the heir, she ordered this commoner to find some wandering martial artists and deal with Young Master Qi.”
After hearing this, Princess Consort Yong collapsed to the floor, her face ashen.
Han Chong took out some of the evidence Governor Kong had compiled the previous night and had the bailiff show it to Yuan Wei.
“All of these are crimes you committed after hiring people from the martial world. Is that correct?”
Yuan Wei stared at the thick stack of evidence, his face deathly pale.
His lips trembled for a long while before he finally forced out a single word.
“Yes.”