This Chu family is obviously not generally unpopular in Xijing City. Seeing this Mr. Chu Wu, who used to be domineering and domineering in the past, he actually kicked an iron plate today. Not only will he be unlucky, but the Chu family, who he has always relied on, may also be unlucky. What's more, the people watching didn't expect that this young man who looked ordinary was actually the prince of the current dynasty.
These kind-hearted people who had been watching, and who had been worried about this young man in their hearts before, couldn't help but burst into cheers. At this time, everyone around him, even fools, knew that the Chu family was probably going to be in trouble. Don't look at that guy, he keeps talking about the King of Shu and the King of Song, but no matter how ignorant you are, you know that the status of the prince is higher than that of any other king.
If you offend the prince, no matter how many people support you, who can be greater than the current prince? Now that the evil-doing Chu family is about to suffer, it is obviously very satisfying. Not to mention the merchants, even the ordinary people who came to visit the East Market were very happy. The guard didn't even need to open his mouth. When he saw that the prince wanted to mobilize his troops, several merchants immediately brought their horses over.
After the guard left, Huang Qiong turned around and motioned to the merchants and common people who had knelt on the ground and kept kowtowing to him to get up quickly after hearing his identity. He personally leaned over and helped several older men up one by one. Huang Qiong's people-friendly demeanor obviously made the merchants and people who were also frightened by this young man's identity relax a lot.
At this time, Mr. Chu, who was pinned to the ground by Huang Qiong's two guards and unable to move, heard that Huang Qiong was going to bring five hundred officers and soldiers to visit their house. The original domineering spirit had long since disappeared, and all he could do was keep kowtowing: "Prince, you are really young and blind, and you don't know the true face of the Crown Prince. You are so brave that you want to compete with the Crown Prince for a woman."
"I really know that I was wrong. Please treat me as a fart and let me go. I promise that as long as the prince raises his hand, I will get out of Xijing City immediately and never do it again." Appearing in front of the Crown Prince is an eyesore for you. You must stay as far away from those two women as possible. Please forgive me, the Crown Prince, I am really blinded by lard this time."
But no matter how much this guy begged, Huang Qiong, who was talking to the people he helped up, ignored him at all. Huang Qiong didn't have to wait long. Dust was flying outside Dongshi. The five hundred troops dispatched by Huang Qiong had already arrived. As the bodyguard of Huang Qiong, the current crown prince, he has extremely heavy responsibilities. Now I even sleep with one eye open.
Now that they have experienced the test of war, they are no longer as lazy as they were when they were in Jingzhao Mansion. Not to mention the veterans, even some civil servants don't like them. The military orders were overwhelming, and after receiving the transfer order, a military attaché who was leading the team on duty today thought that something had happened to the prince. He was so anxious that he didn't even bother to ask the superior officer for instructions, so he immediately gathered his team and rushed over.
Seeing his bodyguards arriving, Huang Qiong sent someone to escort Qingzi Erluo back to the palace first. He was getting on his horse and pointed at the ground with his riding crop. At this time, there were several guys like a puddle of mud. He said to the military attaché leading the team: "Let this Mr. Chu lead the way for us. We are going to meet the head of the Chu family. Let's see who the head of the Chu family is. He can actually command the imperial officials."
Even that Fifth Master Chu refused to leave. But as a wealthy Chu family, the high-rise compound is very conspicuous in Xijing City and is easy to find. Huang Qiong came to the Chu family with five hundred soldiers, escorting the fifth master Chu and several of his lackeys. But when they arrived at the gate of the Chu family, Huang Qiong saw a row of official sedans placed in front of the magnificent gate of the Chu family.
These sedans are obviously official sedans, and they range from second-grade to seventh-grade sedans. The Fifth Master Chu was indeed right. Judging from these official sedans, his family really had a close relationship with Xijing and the officials on Shaanxi Road. Looking at these official sedans, the smile on Huang Qiong's face became brighter and brighter, but her eyes were extremely cold. Anyone who knows him well knows that this man is obviously really angry.
The servants outside the Chu family saw so many officers and soldiers coming outside their house. The fifth master of his family was even tied up with a rope, and his whole body was as sweaty as a mud monkey. He hurriedly rolled back to the house to report. Huang Qiong got off his horse and left three hundred people to surround the Chu family. Before the Chu family could come out, he led two hundred of his troops to knock open the Chu family's door and swarmed in.
As soon as I entered the gate, I saw a group of officials and an extremely wealthy middle-aged man in his forties running towards the gate in a hurry. When the middle-aged man saw Huang Qiong, he didn't have time to say anything. The officials around him turned pale with fright after seeing Huang Qiong. He hurriedly knelt down on the ground and said that he didn't know the prince was coming and didn't have time to go out to greet him.
When the middle-aged man heard the official address the young man dressed as a scholar in front of him as the prince, he was so frightened that he almost fell to the ground. Looking at the pale Master Chu who is tightly tied up with ropes, can't you guess what's going on? His trouble-making younger brother didn't know what trouble he had caused outside, and he directly offended him at the hands of the prince.
This middle-aged man knelt down directly in front of Huang Qiong, wanting to apologize. But Huang Qiong ignored him at all. Instead, he smiled at the group of officials and said: "Let me take a good look. There are censors on the left and right of the censorship platform, bachelors of the Hanlin Academy, ministers of the Ministry of Industry and all the principals. The chief officials of the Nine Temples Sir, there are also Shaanxi Road Inspectors, Academic Affairs Officers, Transfer Envoys, Inspectors and Censors, and Chang'an Prefecture's Tongzhi and Tongjian."
"Oh, there are also military preparations, supervision, grain and salt in Xijing, Taotai of the third level, and the seventh-rank magistrate of Wannian County. It's very good, not bad, really good. There are actually officials from the first grade to the seventh grade, from In Xijing, there are all the officials from the chief seal to the local third-rank officials, from inspectors to chief seal officials. It is an eye-opener for me today. I have never seen so many officials in the court. "
"Today, I met so many officials at a businessman's house. I have been to Xijing for several months. I have never seen many officials in the palace, but I met them for the first time in a businessman's house. No wonder. Some people claim outside that their Chu family is so powerful that they can walk around without anyone in Xijing City, and they can send people to Chang'an Mansion Prison at every turn."
When Huang Qiong said these words, the smile on his face did not diminish at all. Some officials who knew this man's temperament were frightened. On the other hand, the middle-aged man who didn't know Huang Qiong's temperament was still relatively stable at this time. Compared with his younger brother who only knows how to be domineering, Mr. Chu is obviously much smarter in being able to take charge of such a large family business and be on good terms with these officials.
Seeing his younger brother tied up in an extremely embarrassing state, he roughly guessed the reason why the prince came to his house today, even though he was breaking out in cold sweats. Knowing that this matter might not be settled today, he could only kowtow helplessly and said: "I didn't know that the prince was coming, so I couldn't leave the house in time to greet him. Please forgive me for my sin. This younger brother has always been a good person. It’s downright confusing.”
"He was my father's son before he was alive, so he was raised a little arrogantly by his father since he was a child, and what he said seems a little careless. Today, it must have been his nonsense that angered the prince, or he did something. What he shouldn't have done offended the prince's divine power. But please rest assured, prince, no matter what this bastard did, the Chu family will definitely give him a satisfactory explanation."
After all, he is a shrewd man. On the surface, Mr. Chu's words seemed to be asking for forgiveness, but in fact, he immediately put all the responsibility on Mr. Chu himself. Huang Qiong smiled faintly at Mr. Chu's apology: "How dare I punish you? There are more officials in your house than in the palace today. If I punish you, Didn’t you offend so many ministers?”
Seeing Huang Qiong say this, the smile on his face grew stronger. Those officials suddenly remembered that this man had always been rumored to be a smiling tiger in Jingzhao. The year before last, he killed more than a hundred officials in Zhengzhou, but the smile on his face did not diminish at all. I couldn't help but beat a drum in my heart. The minister of the Ministry of Industry said tremblingly: "If I go back to the prince, we are just here to gather together."
"We are just celebrating the Chinese New Year. We happened to meet here. It was definitely not a pre-arranged appointment. The things we talked about were just some romantic affairs and did not involve any government affairs. We and the Chu family are just friends. In Chang'an City, there are just some interactions, and there is no real relationship. I have never done anything to protect the Chu family, and I ask the prince to keep a close eye on it."
Among the officials he saw, someone finally spoke. Huang Qiong glanced at the minister of the Ministry of Industry, who was sweating profusely, and said with a smile: "We meet here by chance? This coincidence is really a coincidence. . You, the minister of the Ministry of Industry, unexpectedly got together with so many officials. In the house of such a big businessman, it is really incredible that you happened to get together. "
"Since you don't have any ghosts in your heart, why are you panicking? Look at the cold sweat during these nine days, you are really not afraid of catching cold. I never said that you are here to gather people to rebel. What do you have to fear? Are you gathering together? It’s not that I don’t allow it, and I haven’t violated any laws of the court. What do you feel guilty about? It’s just that I don’t know whether you and this Master Chu are from the same hometown or the same age?"
"Furthermore, I am also a little puzzled. As high-ranking officials of the imperial court, you don't get together at your mansions, at the yamen, or at the various buildings in Xijing City. Instead, you run into a big businessman's house. We come together inside, but we still keep claiming that we have a close relationship with the King of Shu first and then the King of Song. Do we really have no room in this huge Chang'an city?"
"Although the imperial court does not have any laws that stipulate that officials are not allowed to gather together. But I remember that the imperial court has repeatedly issued strict orders that officials are not allowed to have close contacts with businessmen, and they are not allowed to make friends with princes without purpose. You are gathering here. You know you are talking about romance, but you don't know I thought you were treating this Chu Mansion as a place where you try to curry favor with a certain prince. Haha, this is very, very good."
Huang Qiong said this in a very calm tone, and the smile on his face did not diminish even a little. Just as soon as the words "haha" were uttered, almost all the officials present broke out in cold sweat. The Minister of the Ministry of Industry hurriedly said: "Please be aware that the Chu family is just an ordinary businessman and has no direct connection with the King of Shu and the King of Song. We really have nothing to do with any prince."
"It is indeed a violation of the law for us to gather here and not to have close contact with businessmen. But please, the prince, please forgive us this time for the sake of our many years of service to the court?" Waiting for this time is really not an intentional mistake. Besides, we really only talked about Fengyue here, never about political affairs, nor did we receive any benefits or give any care to the Chu family. "
