The Rebellious Officials and Traitors of the Late Han Dynasty

Chapter 534: The Wise King
Qin Chengji walked out of the prison. He looked up at the gradually clearing sky, with a faint smile on his face. Although the weather was cold, he was very happy. Zhuge Liang's words were still echoing in his ears, and the word "virtuous" that was blown away by the night wind seemed to be engraved in his heart.

"Your Highness, are you going back to the palace?" asked the personal bodyguard Zhao Wujiu in a low voice.

Qin Chengji shook his head: "No hurry, let's go to the West Market first."

He took off his conspicuous clothes and changed into ordinary cloth. After listening to Zhuge Liang's advice, he felt more and more that he needed to personally understand the real situation in Chang'an City.

The West Market was the most prosperous place in Chang'an. Even in the cold weather, it was still bustling with people. Qin Chengji was walking through the crowd with two guards when he suddenly heard a commotion coming from the front.

"Old thing, how dare you fool me with this inferior wine?" A young man in gorgeous clothes was whipping an old man kneeling on the ground with a horsewhip. The old man's forehead was bleeding, but he just kept kowtowing and begging for mercy.

"That's Wang Chan, the third son of the Wang family of Langya." The guard Zhao Wujiu whispered in Qin Chengji's ear: "He is a well-known playboy."

Qin Chengji's eyes flashed with a gleam of light. He straightened his clothes, strode forward, and shouted loudly to stop him: "Stop!"

Wang Chan turned around and saw a young man in ordinary clothes. He snorted disdainfully and said, "Who are you who is meddling in other people's business? Do you know who I am?"

"I don't care who you are. Beating civilians in the street is a violation of the laws of the Tang Dynasty!" Qin Chengji said sternly, his voice so loud that the people around him could hear it clearly.

Wang Chan laughed loudly, pointed at the other party and sneered: "Law? In this Chang'an City, my Langya Wang family is the law!" As he said that, he raised the whip and was about to hit Qin Chengji.

Zhao Wujiu took a quick step forward and easily snatched the whip. Wang Chan then noticed that the guards around him were very skilled. His face changed slightly and he asked nervously, "Who are you?"

This is Chang'an City, the capital of the peerless killer Emperor Tang. No one knows how many dignitaries live here. The Wang family of Langya is not a powerful family.

Zhao Wujiu took out a token from his arms, looked at the other party with disdain, and said: "The person standing in front of you is His Royal Highness the Second Prince of the Tang Dynasty."

Wang Chan's face turned pale in an instant.

"Your Highness!" His knees went weak and he fell to the ground.

"Someone come here!" Qin Chengji shouted, "You are committing a crime in the street and you are disregarding the law. Give me twenty lashes!"

The accompanying guards immediately held Wang Chan up and whipped him in public. The sound of the whip hitting his brocade clothes was crisp and loud. Wang Chan tried to hold it back at first, but by the tenth whip he was howling. The people around him were silent at first, then some people cheered quietly, and finally there was a cheer.

"Your Highness is wise!"

"This is our good prince!"

.......
Qin Chengji helped the restaurant owner up, brushed the dust off his knees, and comforted him, "You are frightened. Take these ten taels of silver to treat your injuries, and the rest is compensation."

The old man's eyes were filled with tears, and he bowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you, Your Highness, thank you, Your Highness."

After the flogging was over, Qin Chengji glanced coldly at Wang Chan, who was lying on the ground groaning. With murderous intent flashing in his eyes, he snorted coldly: "Today is a small punishment for a big warning. If I hear that you oppress the people again, I will not let you go easily!" After saying that, he turned around and left amid the admiration of the people.

On the way back to the palace, Zhao Wujiu whispered: "Your Highness, Wang Chan is a direct descendant of the Wang family of Langya after all. It is too shameful to humiliate him in public like this."

Qin Chengji raised his lips slightly: "Wujiu, send someone to the Imperial Hospital to get the best medicine for wounds, and prepare some supplements, and send them to the Wang family's residence in Langya. Just say that I handle official affairs impartially, and I still care for these meritorious officials in private." Zhao Wujiu was stunned at first, and then he suddenly realized: "Your Highness is smart!"

Did the Wang family of Langya have any merit? Yes, but not much.

The residence of Wang Clan of Langya in Chang'an is located in Chongrenfang, covering an area of ​​dozens of acres, with exquisite pavilions and towers. At this moment, Wang Chan was lying on the brocade bed, with a burning pain from the whip wound on his back, and he was even more ashamed and angry.

"Third brother, you are too careless." The eldest brother Wang Jing sat on the bed and said with a reproachful tone, "Although Qin Chengji is not the crown prince, he is still a prince. How could you..."

"How could I have known that he would go on a secret visit!" Wang Chan gritted his teeth, "I must avenge this!"

As he was talking, the butler came in hurriedly: "Master, Master, someone sent a gift outside the door, saying it is from the Second Prince's mansion."

Wang Jing and Wang Chan looked at each other, and Wang Jing signaled the butler to bring the things in. It was an exquisite sandalwood box, and when it was opened, it contained top-grade golden wound medicine and several hundred-year-old ginsengs.

"This..." Wang Chan was stunned and couldn't help asking, "What does he mean by this?"

Wang Jing pondered for a moment, and suddenly laughed: "What a good Qin Chengji, he is going to play a trick of self-torture."

"Big Brother means"

"He sets up a virtuous image in front of the people, but shows goodwill to us in private." Wang Jing stood up, paced around the room, and shook his head. He smiled bitterly and said, "It seems that the second prince also has ideas about that position."

Wang Chan's eyes flashed with excitement, and he immediately felt that his injuries had improved a lot. He immediately said loudly: "Then let's..."

“No hurry.” Wang Jing waved his hand and chuckled, “I have to report this to my father. Come on, prepare the car. I want to visit the Lu family of Fanyang and the Cui family of Qinghe.”

Three days later, Wang Yan, the head of the Wang family of Langya, rushed to Chang'an from Luoyang. In the Wang family ancestral hall, Wang Yan sat in the main seat, and below him sat Wang Jing, Wang Chan, and several elders of the clan.

"I've heard about it." Wang Yan stroked his gray beard, looked at everyone and asked, "What do you think?"

An elder spoke first: "Master, the Second Prince's move is obviously to win over our family. But the Emperor has always been wary of the family. If we rashly take sides..."

"Uncle Wu, this is wrong." Wang Jing retorted: "It is precisely because the emperor suppresses the noble families that we need to find new people to rely on. The prince is close to the poor, and if he ascends the throne one day, the status of our noble family will be even more worrying."

Wang Yan nodded: "Go on."

"The second prince's mother is the daughter of Cai Yong, and they already have a connection with our family. Now that he has taken the initiative to show his goodwill, it is a godsend opportunity." Wang Jing lowered his voice and said: "As far as I know, he has secretly contacted the Sima family in Henei, and he may want to marry the Sima family's legitimate daughter."

There was an uproar in the ancestral hall. The influence of the Sima family in the army was well known. If even the Sima family sided with the second prince.
Wang Yan raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet: "This matter is serious, we need to act with caution. Chan'er, after you recover from your injury, go visit the Second Prince in person and feel out his attitude. Remember, do it in the name of apologizing."

Wang Chan responded respectfully: "I understand."

(End of this chapter)