The prince is more stable

Chapter 42 Killing Horses and Smashing Carts

Liu Zhi was once the prime minister. His students and former officials were all over the country. He was the leader of the old party...

Liu Zhi had various identities. Not to mention Zhao Xiaoqian, even his father Zhao Hao could not afford to offend Liu Zhi.

But today, at this moment, Zhao Xiaoqian didn't want to endure it anymore.

For thousands of years, Chinese people have been switching back and forth between two personalities: one is "be patient a little longer", and the other is "go to hell with it".

There is a threshold between the two, and the conversion will be automatic when this threshold is reached.

Zhao Xiaoqian was already in a "fuck it" state at this moment.

He is no longer the cowardly Prince of Chu. He comes from a thousand years later and he will not indulge anyone.

Chen Shou stood beside Zhao Xiaoqian with an expression of surprise and hesitation.

As the commander of the imperial guards, Chen Shou knew Liu Zhi's identity and was even more aware of the consequences of killing horses and smashing carriages.

In principle, Chen Shou should not obey the prince's orders. If the matter gets out of hand, Chen Shou will also be held responsible.

Holding the hilt of the knife at his waist with one hand, Chen Shou couldn't help but look at Zhao Xiaoqian.

Zhao Xiaoqian looked at him with a cold gaze, and Chen Shou's heart sank. He knew that Zhao Xiaoqian was not trying to scare him, but was serious.

"Chen Shou, are you going to do it? If you don't dare, give me the knife and I'll do it." Zhao Xiaoqian was impatient.

The arrow was already on the string. Chen Shou gritted his teeth and suddenly shouted, "Why wouldn't Chen dare?"

After saying this, he waved his hand, and more than 20 imperial guards behind him rushed forward.

Liu Zhi's face was originally full of sarcasm. He thought that Zhao Xiaoqian was just speaking in anger. Killing the horse and smashing the carriage of the former right prime minister in the street was something no one in the court dared to do, let alone a powerless prince of a royal family.

However, when he saw Chen Shou and the imperial guards surrounding him, Liu Zhi's face finally changed.

Judging from the murderous expressions of the imperial guards, Zhao Xiaoqian is serious and he really dares!
"Prince of Chu, how dare you be so presumptuous! Do you know the consequences?" Liu Zhi was furious as he sat in the carriage.

Across the carriage, Zhang Dun's expression was also quite surprised. He had never expected the Prince of Chu to have such a strong character. He was afraid that this matter today would become a big deal.

Confronting Liu Zhi in the street was one thing, and Zhang Dun could at least gain some reputation in the New Party, but he did not want the matter to become a big deal.

The new and old parties are currently engaged in a fierce struggle. Zhang Dun's involvement in this matter today will be detrimental to his future.

"Prince Chu, wait a minute..." Zhang Dun hurriedly got off the carriage and prepared to stop him.

But with a clang, the imperial army's sword was unsheathed.

Chen Shou stared at the horse pulling the carriage from Liu's mansion, gritted his teeth, and shouted loudly. A white light flashed, and the knife fell.

The horse neighed sadly and fell to the ground in an instant. Blood gushed out from its neck and mixed with the bluestone floor tiles.

Liu Zhi was horrified, but saw Chen Shou pointing at him and shouting, "Pull him down!"

Several imperial guards stepped forward, grabbed Liu Zhi by the collar and threw him out without saying a word. Liu Zhi screamed and fell heavily to the ground.

"The car was smashed!" Chen Shou continued to shout.

More than twenty imperial guards stepped forward and smashed the shaft, wheels and carriage with great force.

At this time, the people gathered at the intersection of Imperial Street to watch, and among the crowd were many government officials, including those from the Palace Front Office and Kaifeng Prefecture.

But these officials were very tactful and did not dare to show up. They even bent their knees and quietly hid in the crowd, blending in with the world.

The gods are fighting, and the matter is too serious. The constables are not qualified to intervene.

Liu Zhi fell to the ground and was in a daze for a long time. He watched Chen Shou and the imperial guards kill the horse. The carriage was also smashed to the point of being shaky and finally broke into pieces.

Liu Zhi was shocked and angry, pointing at Zhao Xiaoqian and trembling all over: "Good, how dare you! Zhao Xiaoqian, you have brought great disaster to your father!"

Zhao Xiaoqian sneered: "Since you have done it, you are not afraid of getting into trouble!"

After saying that, Zhao Xiaoqian stepped forward, grabbed Liu Zhi by the collar, and lifted him up. The two men faced each other, and Zhao Xiaoqian stared at him with a frosty face.

"Liu Zhi, you are living like a dog at your age. Didn't your mother teach you how to speak human language when you were a child?" Zhao Xiaoqian raised his hand and slapped Liu Zhi hard.

Liu Zhi screamed again and was stunned by the slap.

"Let me tell you, it's not me who caused trouble today, but you."

"The King of Chu is a relative of the Song Dynasty, a royal noble. You, Liu Zhi, humiliated the King of Chu in the street, insulted a relative of the royal family, and committed treason and bullied the royal family!"

"You even denounced the government in public, harboring a grudge against it for your demotion. Your personal future is jeopardized, yet you accuse the government of being incompetent. You deserve death!"

"Chen Shou, escort this thief to Kaifeng Prefecture. I want to file a complaint against this disloyal and unkind villain who has no respect for his king or his father!"

After saying that, Zhao Xiaoqian kicked Liu Zhi away.

Chen Shou and the imperial guards immediately lifted Liu Zhi up.

Liu Zhi's face was pale now, no longer as arrogant as before. He kept muttering, "No, I'm innocent... The Prince of Chu is slandering me!"

Zhao Xiaoqian put one big hat after another on his head. At this moment, Liu Zhi was anxious and no longer cared about trivial matters such as having his horse killed and his carriage smashed.

Because he was suddenly awake now.

Under normal circumstances, he would have just sneered at the accusations that Zhao Xiaoqian put on him. Such quarrels would never be resolved, especially since the political environment of the Song Dynasty was still very peaceful. The literati and officials were not subject to punishment, and no one would take the quarrels between court officials seriously.

But times have changed. Now that the government is in charge, it is a time of transition from the old to the new. Many old parties in the court have been purged and dismissed. At this time, any small movement by the old party members may be magnified infinitely and eventually severely punished.

Zhang Dun, who was standing by, became anxious and stepped forward to advise, "Prince, there is no need to be like this. Let's both save some face so that we can meet again in the future."

Although Liu Zhi had been Zhang Dun's political enemy for many years, Zhang Dun had to come out and speak for his political enemy at this time.

As the leader of the New Party, Zhang Dun did not want the matter to become a big deal. After all, the struggle between the New and Old Parties was becoming increasingly fierce. It was hard to say whether today's incident would be used by the Old Party as a weapon to attack the New Party.

Zhao Xiaoqian sneered, "I have no intention of ever meeting him again, so why should I bother showing him any favor? Why didn't he even think of showing him some respect when that bastard was scolding my father and me?"

Turning to look at Chen Shou, Zhao Xiaoqian said, "What are you still waiting for? Send him to Kaifeng Prefecture, get my official card from the Prince of Chu's Palace, and sue him openly!"

Chen Shou clasped his fists and accepted the order. The imperial guards carried the pale-faced Liu Zhi towards Kaifeng Prefecture.

Zhang Dun smiled bitterly and said, "My Lord, today's incident... has become quite a big deal. I wonder how lively the court will be tomorrow."

Zhao Xiaoqian smiled and said, "That is a matter for the ministers and court officials. If they want to report me, feel free to do so. I will take it on."

"Sometimes, using more drastic measures isn't necessarily a bad thing..."

Zhao Xiaoqian pointed to the killed horses and the torn-to-pieces carriage and said with a smile, "Look, Mr. Zhang, the thunderbolt method has eliminated the things that shouldn't be there. Isn't the road now open?"

Forbidden Palace.

Emperor Zhao Xu was taking a nap in Funing Palace. He had been handling state affairs all night long last night. He had a meal at noon and then lay down to sleep.

After being in a daze for half an hour, he was carefully awakened by his personal eunuch Zheng Chunhe.

"Your Majesty, something happened in Bianjing City..."

"What's the matter?" Zhao Xu, who had just woken up, was a little confused.

"Zhao Xiaoqian, the crown prince of Chu, killed Liu Zhi's horse in the street, smashed his carriage, and took Liu Zhi to Kaifeng Prefecture, saying he was going to file a lawsuit against him."

Zhao Xu became more and more confused and felt like he was still dreaming.

"You mean, Zhao Xiaoqian killed Liu Zhi's horse, smashed his carriage, and is now suing Liu Zhi?"

"Yes."

Zhao Xu was stunned. After a while, he muttered, "Why did Liu Zhi offend Zhao Xiaoqian so badly...that he even dug up his ancestral grave?"

Zheng Chunhe stood aside timidly, wanting to say something but stopping himself.

Theoretically, you and Zhao Xiaoqian share the same ancestral tomb...

(End of this chapter)