Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 453 You did it on purpose

"I didn't notice whether this young master looked down on you, but I found your behavior suspicious. Please come to the quiet room over there; I have some questions for you."

Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, the middle-aged man's eyes darted around, and he suddenly opened his mouth wide and shouted.

"They're hitting me! They're going to hit me! The guards from the Royal Library are attacking me, a commoner, without even asking what happened! Everyone, come quick! I might be dragged away and beaten to death any minute now! Please, everyone, save me!"

His voice was already noisy and had attracted the attention of some people, but with that hoarse, raspy voice, it directly attracted the attention of the vast majority of people.

Everyone remembered the instructions given by the guards outside when they came in: not to make a lot of noise. However, with so many people in the Royal Library, even if everyone was careful and moved in the same direction, there was still a buzzing sound.

Seeing that he had attracted so much attention, a hint of triumph flashed across the middle-aged man's eyes before he continued his performance.

"I heard that this Royal Library was specially set up by His Highness Prince Chen for us commoners. How come I, an ordinary citizen, can't even enter now? What did you mean by what you just said? Aren't you just accusing me of stealing books here? I'm always upright and honest, how could I possibly steal? I think you're just slandering me and looking down on the clothes I'm wearing. Although my clothes are tattered, I earned them all through my own hard work, and I've never cheated or swindled. You're taking me to the quiet room next door without even asking what happened, just to search me, aren't you? I didn't steal anything, but if you take me to the classroom and search me, whether I stole anything or not will be up to you to decide. I may be a poor citizen, but I also have dignity! Aren't you just trampling on my dignity?"

Who is this person? Do you know him?

"I don't know him. He has a really loud voice. I was reading it just now, and his shout almost made me tear the pages apart. Thank goodness it wasn't damaged, otherwise I would have had to pay for it."

"He said he was a poor commoner, but he didn't sound like someone who couldn't read. Ordinary people wouldn't dare to mess with the royal guards, would they? And this captain of the guards looks so fierce, yet he doesn't seem afraid at all."

"I think he's deliberately causing trouble. His Highness opened this library and provided us with so many conveniences. Instead of taking care of it properly, he dares to deliberately cause trouble. He's really no good."

"Exactly! I can't stand ungrateful people like this. If they're really innocent, why are they afraid of a search? Someone shouting so loudly, there's no doubt something's up."

"..."

The people around him were buzzing with discussion, but to the middle-aged man's surprise, these supposedly foolish commoners didn't blindly follow him as he expected. Instead, they started gossiping about him. Something was wrong. Weren't they supposed to be the most foolish of all? Why didn't they believe his instigation?

Just as he was questioning the meaning of life, Bai Baihu stepped forward and extended his intact right hand.

The middle-aged man didn't see the movement clearly; he only felt a blur before his eyes and immediately screamed as if he had been chopped down.

"Someone's been assaulted! Someone's been assaulted! The guards that Prince Chen hired have attacked people without any explanation!"

Bai Baihu stopped what he was doing and looked innocently at the man's chest. A sliver of a dark blue book cover was visible on the man's chest; judging by its appearance, it was clearly a book from a library. The middle-aged man's eyes flickered, his fierce exterior masking his inner weakness.

"What? Just because I'm poor doesn't mean I can't have my own books? Let me tell you, I bought these books from outside! They have absolutely nothing to do with the ones in your library!"

Before Bai Baihu could speak, a mocking voice suddenly came from the crowd.

"Who would believe you? The color of your book cover is exactly the same as the ones in the library. You must have been caught stealing books from the library and you're pretending to be wronged. You're just showing off, aren't you? The guards in the library are all disabled soldiers that His Highness Prince brought from the Northern Border. They are loyal and patriotic men who have fought on the battlefield. How could they wrong a mere commoner like you?"

Upon hearing this, a chorus of agreement immediately arose from those around him, who began to criticize the middle-aged man. The middle-aged man looked even more aggrieved, simply clutching his chest to prevent others from seeing.

Jiu Que watched from the side, his eyes slightly narrowed. This middle-aged man is quite formidable…

I just don't know if Bai Baihu can handle it.

Just then, Bai Baihu spoke.

“I wasn’t searching you just now; I was just reminding you that your book was about to fall out. And I didn’t say a word that you stole any library books. From beginning to end, what I’m investigating is your disrespect for library staff, your abusive language, and your deliberate disruption of library order and endangerment of public safety.”

Those listening nearby were practically rolling their eyes. They couldn't quite understand what Captain Bai was saying. What did he mean by "disrupting order" and "endangering public safety"? Oh, so the people stamping the library cards here are called "staff members"? That sounded quite novel.

Huh? Why did Captain Bai say he never wanted to pursue the matter of him stealing the book? Isn't that book he's hiding in his arms a library book? It looks exactly the same.

Everyone was bewildered by this sudden development. Did Captain Bai say something wrong?
Jiu Que nodded approvingly, and at the same time pointed with his eyes to the few people who had just emerged from the crowd. The guards behind him immediately moved over silently, subdued them quietly, dragged them to the back of the crowd, gagged and tied them up, and the series of actions were completed in one go.

At this point, the middle-aged man was genuinely panicking. His eyes darted around, trying to find a way out, but everyone had been drawn over by his shout, and now the congestion made it impossible to find a way out.

"So, will you cooperate with the questioning?"

"I... I'm just a commoner from Dajing, a farmer living right under the city walls. Even if I've committed a crime, I'd have to go to the Ministry of Justice or the county government. And where did you come from...?"

At this moment, a divine intervention came from afar.

"You claim to be an ordinary farmer, constantly referring to yourself as a commoner, but commoners don't know as much as you, and they don't speak in a refined manner. You must be educated! You're pretending to be an ordinary farmer to cause trouble here; you must have something to do with it. I noticed earlier that the book you're carrying isn't very big, and you're wearing thick clothes. If you really wanted to steal it, you could have hidden it without leaving a trace. But you deliberately left a corner exposed, leading us to question you. If you look closely, your book looks exactly the same as the one in the library, but the cover material is different! You're deliberately trying to make us admit you stole a book! You're deliberately trying to cause a disturbance!"