good season

After leaving the courtyard, Li Qing summoned several of his trusted confidants and selected fifteen Imperial Guards, making a total of twenty men.

He brought fifty Imperial Guards with him when he left the capital. Apart from Yang Fan, who was imprisoned, and nineteen others including Ding Gao, there are now thirty men left.

Of these thirty people, five are only children, three are unmarried, and two have just gotten married but have no children yet.

Li Qing assigned these ten men to guard the road leading from the mansion to the estate, while he led another twenty men straight to the courtyard where the Fourth Prince lived.

In the escort team for the fourth prince, in addition to the fifty Imperial Guards, there were fifty other people, including thirty guards from the prince's residence and twenty yamen runners from the Ministry of Works.

Twenty of the Ministry of Works' yamen runners went to the front lines with the officials, while twenty of the prince's guards went to Huiji Granary with Liu Wang. Of the remaining ten, four were responsible for guarding the gate, and the other six were currently in the Fourth Prince's courtyard.

The four guards at the gate, unaware of what was happening inside, asked when they saw ten Imperial Guards arrive, "Are you going out?"

The leader of the Imperial Guards said, "The Commander-in-Chief has ordered an upgrade in security, and we will assist you in guarding this place."

The four were taken aback and hurriedly asked, "Upgraded alert? What does that mean? Could it be that the disaster victims are about to rebel?"

The Imperial Guards thought to themselves, "It seems you also know that the common people are about to be forced into rebellion."

"Perhaps. The garrison commander didn't say, and we didn't dare to ask. We just followed orders."

Although these four men were guards of the Prince's residence, the Fourth Prince's residence used to be the least prominent among all the princes' residences. It was only in the last six months that things gradually improved. Moreover, all those whom the Fourth Prince considered his confidants had gone to Huiji Granary with Liu Wang. Those who remained, especially those assigned to guard the gate, were originally from the lowest ranks of the guards.

The Embroidered Uniform Guards were renowned and used to being arrogant. These four guards felt inferior to them. When the Embroidered Uniform Guards offered to help them guard the gate, they could only thank them and dared not ask any more questions.

Meanwhile, Li Qing led twenty Imperial Guards straight to the Fourth Prince's courtyard. He had already noticed when he arrived that there were two guards at the gate, an eunuch in the gatehouse responsible for announcing things, and four other guards in the courtyard, ready to be dispatched at any time.

The two guards at the gate were somewhat surprised to see Li Qing arrive with a squad of Imperial Guards. Usually, when Li Qing came to see the Fourth Prince, he would only bring two subordinates, and these two subordinates would not enter the courtyard but would just wait outside.

But today, when Li Qing reached the door, the Imperial Guards didn't seem to be waiting outside; instead, they surrounded the two of them.

The two guards exchanged a quick glance, about to speak, when Li Qing said, "If you know what's good for you, lie down!"

The two men were on tenterhooks. Was Li Qing going to rebel?
Seeing that the two were standing still, Li Qing gave a signal, and two embroidered spring knives were swung towards them.

One man immediately drew his knife, while the other fell to the ground before the embroidered spring knife could fall.

The knife was only half-drawn when it swung down, and the man shouted before he was cut down, "Guards—"

Blood splattered everywhere. Li Qing kicked him away and, before the four guards in the courtyard could rush out, led the others inside.

Hearing the shouts outside the door, the four men were about to rush out when they bumped into Li Qing, who yelled, "Those who block your way shall die!"

The fourth prince held a yellowed booklet in his hand, staring blankly at the six copper coins placed on the table. How could this be a bad omen? It can't be right, let's try again.

He took the six copper coins back into his hand, shook them, and scattered them on the table. He then opened the booklet to check, and it was still a very bad omen!

The Fourth Prince's breathing became heavy. "No, you have to count three times. Try again!"
He picked up the copper coins one by one, and when he picked up the fifth one, a eunuch rushed in: "Your Highness, Commander Li... Commander Li has arrived!"

The fourth prince asked, displeased, "Why is he here again? Did he say he had something to say?"

"No, it's Commander Li, him..."

Before the eunuch could finish speaking, the door was slammed open from the outside, and twenty Imperial Guards rushed in in two lines, with Li Qing at the very back.

With a few crisp clinking sounds, the copper coins in the fourth prince's hand fell to the ground.

"You, who gave you permission to come in without announcing yourselves? Get out! All of you, get out!"

Li Qing stood still, and so did the Imperial Guards.

The Fourth Prince finally realized that Li Qing's visit was not friendly!
"Come here, escort me!"

Two shadow guards appeared silently beside the fourth prince, protecting him.

Li Qing chuckled: "Fourth Prince, you have indeed sent Chen Feng and Chen Lei back to the capital. It seems that there are things more important to you than disaster relief now."

The fourth prince's face was ashen. He had experienced life and death and almost became an outsider. He had gotten to where he was today step by step on his own.

However, his attention was focused on his father and brothers, and he never paid attention to these insignificant people. Yes, although Li Qing was the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, he had no background and was not born into a noble family. In the eyes of the Fourth Prince, Li Qing was just Lu Qian's dog.

Even a prince like him, though afraid of being bitten by a dog, would never care about a dog.

So even if Li Qing suddenly led his men in, the Fourth Prince only thought that Li Qing and these Imperial Guards were arrogant and didn't take him, the prince, seriously.

But now, meeting Li Qing's unfathomable eyes, he understood: Li Qing was going to rebel!

"Li Qing, do you know that this is the crime of deceiving the emperor?"

Li Qing gave a mocking smile: "Is Your Highness still waiting for Liu Wang to return with 500,000 taels of silver to report back?"

The fourth prince was shocked: "How...how did you know?"

Li Qing snorted coldly: "Of course it's because Liu Wang, along with the twenty guards you sent to him, have all been captured. By the way, they were caught red-handed while trading with a merchant!"

"Impossible, impossible! Absolutely impossible! You're talking nonsense, you're talking nonsense! Jiao Ran, Xiong Chuan, kill him!"

Jiao Ran and Xiong Chuan were the two shadow guards. Most shadow guards were carefully selected from the Embroidered Uniform Guard, such as Chen Feng and Chen Lei before. However, Jiao Ran and Xiong Chuan were not. Li Qing did not know their background, let alone their martial arts skills.

But at this moment, Li Qing had no time to think further; he had to win this battle.

"Brothers, come on!"

This was not the most brutal battle Li Qing experienced after becoming a member of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, but it was definitely the most dangerous.

Half an hour later, the battle ended with one Shadow Guard dead and one wounded, four Embroidered Uniform Guards dead and ten wounded. Li Qing also had several wounds on his body and face, but fortunately they were all superficial wounds, so he didn't care. His iron-like hands firmly pinned the Fourth Prince's hands behind his back.

The Fourth Prince never expected that Li Qing would not only capture him, but also take out a leather rope from his pocket and tie him up.

"How dare you! Untie me!"

The fourth prince struggled with all his might, but for some reason, the more he struggled, the tighter the leather rope became, digging deeply into his flesh.

The pain of being tightly bound by the leather rope paled in comparison to the agony he had suffered years before, but what tormented him most was the humiliation he was experiencing now. He was a prince, born into the Zhao imperial family, and his father was the emperor!

He should have been high above, revered by all, but now he is bound hand and foot like a prisoner.

It wasn't the emperor who ordered his arrest, but the lowly Imperial Guards, a pack of dogs!

"Your father will have you executed by slow slicing and tearing to pieces, and you will all be exterminated along with your entire family!"

The fourth prince gritted his teeth. Although Li Qing ignored him, every word he said struck Li Qing's heart like a hammer blow.

Yes, if he loses this bet, then as the Fourth Prince said, he and these twenty people will all be executed by slow slicing. Even if they are not exterminated along with their entire families, they will still be subjected to confiscation of their property and extermination of their entire households.

But what if you win the bet?
What awaits them next?
Li Qing dared not think about it, but no matter what, it would be better than now.

Li Qing knew that from the moment Yang Fan and Ding Gao agreed to collude with Liu Wang and others, he, as the commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, had no other choice.

Those two bastards have blocked his path. He either has to return to the capital to confess his crimes and become a scapegoat for the Fourth Prince, or he has to cooperate with Xiao Zhen to make a big scene and expose the Fourth Prince's shameful deeds to the world.

He had no choice but to grit his teeth and face the consequences, whether he kept his head down or sticked out.

Fortunately, Xiao Zhen left him a glimmer of hope by sending over the person who could provide him with a safety net.

Li Qing let out a long sigh and waved his hand: "Tie up all those eunuchs, then go and inform Prefect Qian to gather all the yamen runners he can use and have them stand by at the manor!"

Since the Fourth Prince summoned him yesterday, Prefect Qian has been restless.

The Fourth Prince said that not only would he not be held responsible for Madam Qian's escape, but he would also be assigned to one of the Six Ministries or the Court of Judicial Review.

Of course, if he doesn't want to stay in the capital because of his wife's family, that's fine too. His term as prefect of Luling has expired, and he will be transferred back to the capital next year. As long as he is willing, the Fourth Prince can help him get promoted to the position of prefect of Luling by taking advantage of the disaster relief efforts in Tongzhou.

Prefect Qian's term is almost up. If it weren't for this flood, he could have simply stayed put and waited until the end of his term.

But now, with the flood comes both opportunity and risk.

Prefect Qian was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and every Jinshi was full of vigor and ambition when they first entered officialdom.

However, over the years, Prefect Qian's lofty ambitions have long been worn away by being cuckolded. Now he only wants to find an unfamiliar place to start his new life after his term ends. As for whether the place is good or bad, as long as it is not a demotion, he can accept it.

But the promises the fourth prince made to him were too tempting.

He didn't want to go to the capital, but the position of Prefect of Luling was too lucrative.

The previous prefect of Luling was a protégé of Feng Ke, who was destined for the Six Ministries. The position of prefect of Luling was merely a transitional one. This was a position that Prefect Qian had never even dared to dream of before. Of course, even if he had, it would have been pointless, as he would never have had the chance.

But now the fourth prince says that he can get that position for him.

Prefect Qian clutched his chest, repeatedly telling himself not to believe it, not to believe it.

Someone who wouldn't even bother to look at him before, suddenly starts making grand promises to him—what could it be? It must be something that could cost him his head!

When Prefect Qian thought of what Xiao Zhen had told him, although Xiao Zhen hadn't said it explicitly, he could guess that the Fourth Prince was definitely eyeing the disaster relief grain; that prince wanted to profit from the national crisis.

He knew that his adopted eldest son had been taken away by Xiao Zhen; that bastard was both his shame and his weakness.

But now this weakness is in Xiao Zhen's hands. Not only that, Xiao Zhen also has other weaknesses in his hands, so he dares not offend this person.

So Xiao Zhen asked him to send those hawthorn cakes to the Fourth Prince, and he did as he was told.

Xiao Zhen said that as long as he did as instructed, he would definitely see the benefits.

Is this all the benefit he can see, the promises made by the Fourth Prince?
This pie is delicious, but you have to trade your life for it.

If the Fourth Prince wanted to take advantage of the disaster relief grain, he couldn't avoid having to deal with him, the prefect of Tongzhou. So the Fourth Prince wanted to involve him and make him obey orders. Of course, if things went wrong and chaos ensued, he would be the one to take the blame in the end.

But Xiao Zhen has already intervened. If Xiao Zhen can handle something as difficult as getting people to relocate, what difficulty is there in making this matter bigger?
So if he agrees to the fourth prince's request, he will be the one who suffers in the end.

But the conditions offered by the Fourth Prince were too tempting.

Prefect Qian paced around the room, making his staff dizzy. Just as they were about to offer some words of advice, a servant entered and said, "Sir, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has sent word that His Highness the Fourth Prince has ordered you to gather all your constables and have them stand by at the estate."

Prefect Qian was taken aback: "Is this an order from the Fourth Prince? Who sent the messenger?"

The attendant said, "It's the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

Prefect Qian waved for his attendant to leave, his brows furrowed, and continued pacing in circles.

The aide asked, "Sir, is there something amiss?"

Prefect Qian said, "Why was the messenger from the Embroidered Uniform Guard sent instead of a palace eunuch or a guard from the prince's residence to deliver the Fourth Prince's order?"

The advisor was also unsure, so he tentatively asked, "Or was this a joint decision by the Fourth Prince and Commander Li, which is why they sent the Embroidered Uniform Guard to deliver the message?"

Prefect Qian sighed: "That can only be the reason. Go and give the order to all the yamen runners in the manor to gather here."

A moment later, all twenty-nine yamen runners arrived. These were not all the yamen runners from the prefectural government; there was another group searching outside for living people and retrieving the dead. These twenty-nine people were all the people who remained in the manor today.

Governor Qian stared blankly at the twenty-nine people in front of him.

He felt that something was off about what happened today.

He said to his advisor, "Go and ask the Fourth Prince what his orders are."

The advisors couldn't see the fourth prince; all they could do was slip some silver to the eunuchs to inquire about information.

But today, the staff members couldn't even get into the mansion before being stopped by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

"Just wait here as instructed. Do not move around without permission. Just wait for further instructions."

So Prefect Qian and the twenty-nine constables stood frozen in place, staring at each other, none of them daring to move.

Meanwhile, inside the mansion, Li Qing personally pushed the bound and gagged Fourth Prince back to his courtyard. He shoved the prince in front of his attendants and said, "We've brought him. What's next?" (End of Chapter)